Any Trading Cards guys? (Sports, etc) (1 Viewer)

[Gottabesweet]

I collected sports cards big as a child around 10-15 years old.  My son is almost 8 and I'm trying to get him involved.  He's not really into Pokémon.  So I bought him some hockey and WWE cards  for his stocking on Christmas.  Does anyone collect cards? Sell them? or hung on to old ones from when they were a kid?

Seems like there is a ton of product out there right now.  When I collected Upper Deck was the best for hockey and Topps ran football.  Now it seems like Panini is for football.

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

I still have mine from childhood and a few (graded cards, newer rookies) that I bought in adulthood, but the high cost of the all the newer stuff priced me right out of the game. I still wouldn't mind trying to buy and sell some to play the market a bit, but I'd need to put in more time to research brands, trends, etc. 

 

[Gottabesweet]

I still have mine from childhood and a few (graded cards, newer rookies) that I bought in adulthood, but the high cost of the all the newer stuff priced me right out of the game. I still wouldn't mind trying to buy and sell some to play the market a bit, but I'd need to put in more time to research brands, trends, etc. 

I've gotten into some case breaks, but not heavy into it.  I haven't really hit but that seems like the best way from a profit standpoint.  I just do the "random" teams one.  A breaker will open a case of 8-12+ boxes, you get a random team and get all those cards.  It's pretty interesting. 

The sharks generally join the "Pick Your Team" one's and study the checklists.  For Example the Browns/Giants - are typically the most expensive this year (Mayfield/Barkley) but those teams cost the most - but if you hit, they are selling pretty well online.

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

I've gotten into some case breaks, but not heavy into it.  I haven't really hit but that seems like the best way from a profit standpoint.  I just do the "random" teams one.  A breaker will open a case of 8-12+ boxes, you get a random team and get all those cards.  It's pretty interesting. 

Interesting. Haven't looked into that. Purchased online? And any particular brand?

 

[dgreen]

I still have all mine from when I was a kid. It's fun to look through with my sons. They've bought some cards the last couple years, but nearly on the scale that I was buying them as a kid.

 

[Gottabesweet]

I still have all mine from when I was a kid. It's fun to look through with my sons. They've bought some cards the last couple years, but nearly on the scale that I was buying them as a kid.

Yeah it's tough.  I'm trying to limit screen time and was hoping he'd be more interested in the cards or action figures.  I bought an NFL and NHL sticker book but that had zero interest in completing a set.

 

[Gottabesweet]

Interesting. Haven't looked into that. Purchased online? And any particular brand?

TopShelfBreaks is good, entertaining breaker.  Crack open a beer and when he goes live just hang out and hope you hit.  I also use Dave & Adams live breaks.

Depends what your into.  So many varieties of ways to break.  TopShelfBreaks does "random divisions" but breaks up the cases into fourths and halves to lower the cost a bit but increase your chance if you hit.

Everything is broadcasted live and there are many hobby stores that participate and run breaks often.

 

[stbugs]

I still have all mine from when I was a kid. It's fun to look through with my sons. They've bought some cards the last couple years, but nearly on the scale that I was buying them as a kid.

I sold a ton years ago. Most that I sold was my good stuff pre 90s when production exploded. My kids were a little interested but packs are so expensive now they never got into it. I still have a couple boxes but I sold as much as I could of my full sets and older cards and then threw away boxes and boxes of cards when I moved 10+ years ago. I had some time so I rifled through all of it to grab any star card that I didn’t already have separated and then tossed all the common junk. When I say boxes, I mean big plastic bins, like 15-20 of them. I had a huge basement in my old house and I had way too many that I kept over the years. I still get pissed at my dad. He had multiple 52 Mantles that he put in the spikes of his tires. He lost all his old cards from the 40s/50s. 

 

[Gottabesweet]

I sold a ton years ago. Most that I sold was my good stuff pre 90s when production exploded. My kids were a little interested but packs are so expensive now they never got into it. I still have a couple boxes but I sold as much as I could of my full sets and older cards and then threw away boxes and boxes of cards when I moved 10+ years ago. I had some time so I rifled through all of it to grab any star card that I didn’t already have separated and then tossed all the common junk. 

Yeah I’m mid thirties. Most of my stuff was 93-2001 range. Some Brady rookies etc which sell nice but nothing really else.   Now there’s so much autos and memorabilia cards making regular card rookies worth nothing.  

 

[Fat Nick]

I used to collect a ton as a kid.  Around the same 10-16 age range.  Most of my stuff is from 1988-1995 or so.  I also used to go to a lot of auctions with my Dad and gathered up a bunch of '60's - early '80's stuff from estate sales and other places.  My jewel is a '68 Nolan Ryan rookie.  I got out of the hobby when they started making all the premium brands and a pack of cards started costing $2-3.  Just too much to keep up with.  I looked at getting back into it, or at least re-visiting what I had, but I realized that nobody would pay top dollar for anything without it being graded.  Once I factored in the cost and effort of having everything graded, I just lost interest.  I've still got a massive collection at my parent's house, and a lot of the better stuff at my place.  I'd love to price my better cards out now.  My guess is most are worth very little...but the memories are priceless at this point.

 

[Gottabesweet]

I used to collect a ton as a kid.  Around the same 10-16 age range.  Most of my stuff is from 1988-1995 or so.  I also used to go to a lot of auctions with my Dad and gathered up a bunch of '60's - early '80's stuff from estate sales and other places.  My jewel is a '68 Nolan Ryan rookie.  I got out of the hobby when they started making all the premium brands and a pack of cards started costing $2-3.  Just too much to keep up with.  I looked at getting back into it, or at least re-visiting what I had, but I realized that nobody would pay top dollar for anything without it being graded.  Once I factored in the cost and effort of having everything graded, I just lost interest.  I've still got a massive collection at my parent's house, and a lot of the better stuff at my place.  I'd love to price my better cards out now.  My guess is most are worth very little...but the memories are priceless at this point.

Agree, anything older has to be graded to sell for 1.5x-2x the value even with a poor grade.  The current stuff doesn't need to be graded to sell.

Packs at $2-3 I remember those days- When a great box was $70.  For example - a $60 box of WWE my kid gets - lower tier Topps,  24 packs, guaranteed 1 auto and 1 memorabilia card - are $4 a pack.  (that auto is either out of /299, 99, 50, 25, 10, 1 and the checklist of guys is very deep.)

Most pack prices at my hobby store in Football/Hockey are $15-$40 a pack it's crazy.  Chasing that box's auto.

 

[nirad3]

I still have mine from childhood and a few (graded cards, newer rookies) that I bought in adulthood, but the high cost of the all the newer stuff priced me right out of the game. I still wouldn't mind trying to buy and sell some to play the market a bit, but I'd need to put in more time to research brands, trends, etc. 

Same here.  Was really into basketball cards in the early 90's.  Dabbled in football, but the best ones I have are all hoops.

I just have no time for hobbies other than watching sports on TV and doing stuff with my kids.  :(   I know I could probably make the time, but I dunno.  I'll probably just hold on to them until my boy is into sports and will bequeath them to him.  They're probably worth a good bit.

 

[Courtjester]

I have a large collection that spans two rooms in the basement of my house. It spans all sports and non sports and has probably three hundred figurines. I also have cases of unopened product as well.  Like a a lot of people, the collector bug bit me  in the late 80’s. I have had the incredible fortune to buy out the stock of two different closing pawn stores. Further my wife’s best friend’s dad owned a pretty large card store and he had a stroke and passed on. His sons picked through some of the really top end stuff, but they gave me the rest of the store’s inventory for free. This filled up an entire long-bed pickup truck and the extended cab TWICE.  This was years ago and I still haven’t taken the time to go through everything. There are obviously boxes of commons but then you would find a box of solid older autos. 

I still collect,  but the price on new packs is prohibitive. I primarily focus on winning Broncos  box breaks. I collect  the hot Bronco rookies and hope to get lucky and land a special veteran insert this way. I got a 1/1 Cortland Sutton Auto in one of the last breaks I was in. 

 

[Gottabesweet]

I have a large collection that spans two rooms in the basement of my house. It spans all sports and non sports and has probably three hundred figurines. I also have cases of unopened product as well.  Like a a lot of people, the collector bug bit me  in the late 80’s. I have had the incredible fortune to buy out the stock of two different closing pawn stores. Further my wife’s best friend’s dad owned a pretty large card store and he had a stroke and passed on. His sons picked through some of the really top end stuff, but they gave me the rest of the store’s inventory for free. This filled up an entire long-bed pickup truck and the extended cab TWICE.  This was years ago and I still haven’t taken the time to go through everything. There are obviously boxes of commons but then you would find a box of solid older autos. 

I still collect,  but the price on new packs is prohibitive. I primarily focus on winning Broncos  box breaks. I collect  the hot Bronco rookies and hope to get lucky and land a special veteran insert this way. I got a 1/1 Cortland Sutton Auto in one of the last breaks I was in. 

So you bid on ebay for Broncos box breaks? Who are your favorite breakers?

I tried my hand at luck with the Bills, but whenever I'd get in with the Bills I'd get skunked or a relic.  Then the next case was the Josh Allen auto and I wasn't involved.

 

[Major]

I used to collect a ton as a kid.  Around the same 10-16 age range.  Most of my stuff is from 1988-1995 or so.  I also used to go to a lot of auctions with my Dad and gathered up a bunch of '60's - early '80's stuff from estate sales and other places.  My jewel is a '68 Nolan Ryan rookie.  I got out of the hobby when they started making all the premium brands and a pack of cards started costing $2-3.  Just too much to keep up with.  I looked at getting back into it, or at least re-visiting what I had, but I realized that nobody would pay top dollar for anything without it being graded.  Once I factored in the cost and effort of having everything graded, I just lost interest.  I've still got a massive collection at my parent's house, and a lot of the better stuff at my place.  I'd love to price my better cards out now.  My guess is most are worth very little...but the memories are priceless at this point.

Pretty much the same story here.  Also have a 68 Ryan which is my jewel as well.  Have yet to get anything graded b/c of the cost and hassle.  It seems like for newer issues (1970-current) if the card isn't in NrMt or Mt (PSA 8 or above) the card is nearly worthless.  I've looked at cards to see what I should mail in and its often tough to distinguish an 8 or 9 from a 10.   Cards that look good to me, come back a 7 and then you're out the money for grading and stuck with a worthless card.  

The memories attached are what I still value.  Shame that overproduction and greed killed the hobby.  It was a lot of fun in the late 80s.   Learned arbitrage and supply/demand at a young age. 

 

[Major]

I haven't bought a pack in years but I think I read that Topps is the only company licensed to produce baseball cards.  Far cry from back in the day.

 I wonder if Wild Card is still around.  Looking for those 1000 stripes.

 

[3 hour lunch]

I have about 100 Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr cards from early 90s. Assuming they are worth very little, and who would buy them? Was fun opening packs back in the day. The old Score packs you could kind of see if they had a black card in the middle without opening- you knew you had a sweet insert!

 

[Shutout]

I had lots of friends who collected and I was in what I think (not sure) was a sweet spot: between 1984-1990.  I would hang around with my buddies for hours on end while they battered deals back and forth.  D.Strawberry for this. D. Gooden for that.  Anyone got a Mattingly, the bash brothers, or that funny "f face Billy Ripken card?  

I thought it was pretty cool but I didn't participate because 1) I was late to the party and all my friends have war chests of cards and I felt like I could never catch up and 2) I was busy collecting company stickers (mostly from mining companies and industrial product companies which, believe it or not, was quite sought after at the time).  

Anyway, I watched and had fun.  My return on investment was the memories, lugging around photo albums full of cards, watching the interchanges of the deals.  All the while, I was killing my time as they wheeled & dealed reading comic books.   I amassed quite a collection during that time and wouldn't you know it, some of those things actually caught some value with all this MCU popularity in recent years.  I recently was able to sell two copies of the first appearance of Venom for some solid dollars.  So, I say, hang on to those cards, guys.  So etching is bound to swing and come around.  

 

[belljr]

I have a full set of 84 Topps and 85 donruss.

I think those are the years

You know the worthless years

 

[comfortably numb]

The good thing about grading cards pricing people out of the market is non graded cards are cheap. 

I started buying some old cards i could nwvwe afford as a kid.

I made a diaplay case with like 20 cards and put 2 cards of my kids in the middle for my office. 

Think i paid like 11 bucks for the 84 fleer Mattingly 

$27 for a 68 Mantle in poor condition. 

Ripken fleer rookie for like 8 bucks 

Was fun buying those cards on ebay

 

[That one guy]

My dad and I used to go to card shows all the time when I was a kid, fond memories. Are they worth money any more?  Still have some “big ticket” items up in the closet:  Jerry Rice and Joe Montana rookie cards.  Some versions of Shaq, MJ, Magic, and Bird that were supposedly valuable back in the day; Dream Team, too.  Should revisit them, see if any eventual big names went unnoticed after I lost interest during my teens

 

[Wildcat]

I used to be 20 years ago. The internet and eBay killed the value of collectibles.  My Marino, Montana and Rice rookies haven’t gone up in value since.  

 

[SFBayDuck]

A few big boxes at my parents house, mostly basketball cards from the 80s and some older stuff, and I collected baseball cards in 1990. I have what were great cards back in the day - Jordan rookie, Magic/Bird rookie, Olajuwon Star rookie, stuff like that. I’m sure a lot of them aren’t in perfect shape, and I got a lot of them autographed as a kid as well. So most are probably worth more as memories than they would be selling them. 

 

[jabarony]

Anyone interested in a Jim McMahon card I doctored by putting Alf's head on it?  Or maybe a Batman Movie Commissioner Gordon where I placed a cut-out of Macho Man Randy Savage's face on it?

Both of them 1 of 1.

 

[jvdesigns2002]

I collected sports cards big as a child around 10-15 years old.  My son is almost 8 and I'm trying to get him involved.  He's not really into Pokémon.  So I bought him some hockey and WWE cards  for his stocking on Christmas.  Does anyone collect cards? Sell them? or hung on to old ones from when they were a kid?

Seems like there is a ton of product out there right now.  When I collected Upper Deck was the best for hockey and Topps ran football.  Now it seems like Panini is for football.

Panini basically dominates the Basketball and Football markets because they own the rights in regards to licensing.   Upper deck pretty much owns the rights to Hockey and Topps/Bownan owns the rights to baseball.   Panini does make baseball products but you will notice that they cannot write team names on the cards.   A Cardinals player will say "St. Louis" on it..etc.   Because of that--their baseball card products don't generally hold the value that Topps/Bowman do.  

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

I wasted a ton of money on cards but was more into starting lineup figures .As mentioned above, ebay/etc... killed value of cards. I haven't been following the sports card scene much for probably 15 years now but as someone mentioned above you can find the cards you couldn't afford as kids for pretty cheap on ebay (whether they're original/reprint who knows)

 

[ZenoRazon]

I own over 50,000 football cards, my oldest from 1956. Did stop buying packs around 96, just to many companies and too little $$$$$$.  Now it's just trade.

I am not or never will be into the $$$$$ aspect of it, don't care about that.  It's about my personal collection.

My three pets are my Niners, AFL, and rookie cards collections.  Really does have to be seen to be believed.

My Jim Brown rookie the star of the show.

My greatest steal......

A huge box of cards at a yardsale, a lady getting rid of here son's stuff, he had died in a car wreck.  She wanted 10 bucks for the box.  I knew no matter what that was a good deal.  Would check it out at home later,

John Elway rookie

Jim Kelly rookie

Ronnie Lott rookie

Lawrence Taylor  rookie

Reggie White  rookie

AND..............................Jerry Rice  rookie.

All in plastic all in mint condition.  I felt like a crook.

 

[fantasycurse42]

Been eyeing PSA 10 Fleer Jordan rookie for months. If prices come down and I can find one for $10-$12k, I'm buying one as an investment. They're currently going for $18-$20k. 

 

[Judge Smails]

I bought sets for my son every year when he was a kid. Don’t think they’ve ever been opened. He’s 29. Got to have some good ones and I know they are mint 

 

[Mario Kart]

Been eyeing PSA 10 Fleer Jordan rookie for months. If prices come down and I can find one for $10-$12k, I'm buying one as an investment. They're currently going for $18-$20k. 

I’ve been scouting the Honus Wagners that come up. Can’t find the one I want in that 10k range, ever. Just keep looking and maybe I’ll get lucky one of these days. 

 

[fantasycurse42]

I’ve been scouting the Honus Wagners that come up. Can’t find the one I want in that 10k range, ever. Just keep looking and maybe I’ll get lucky one of these days. 

That's different air. 

I can be thrifty with a Jordan PSA 10, wait for some air to come out of the market, but the Honus Wagner, you're up against every shark out there, it's almost impossible. 

 

[SFBayDuck]

That's different air. 

I can be thrifty with a Jordan PSA 10, wait for some air to come out of the market, but the Honus Wagner, you're up against every shark out there, it's almost impossible. 

Is the market inflated for Jordan rookies (and any others) right now?  I might look to get some of my stuff graded and see if I can unload them if so. 

I haven’t paid attention to this stuff since about 1992. 

 

[fantasycurse42]

Is the market inflated for Jordan rookies (and any others) right now?  I might look to get some of my stuff graded and see if I can unload them if so. 

I haven’t paid attention to this stuff since about 1992. 

Jordan PSA 10's have skyrocketed the last few years. $8k a few years ago, $20k today. If you're looking to unload, the timing is excellent right now. 

 

[huthut]

I have an unopened case of basketball cards from the mid/late 80's, wonder how much that is worth, if anything. I cannot recall the year but I recall thinking it could have a Ewing rookie so I guess that would make it 1985, but for some reason I feel like it is '87 or '88, not sure which memory is wrong? Do "modern" baseball cards have value? I have a ton of mid 80's to early 90's cards though I probably have not seen a Beckett since 1993 to check the value on them. I am guessing they have not gone up a ton, once manufacturers had collectors in mind, so many printings of everything were made that nothing really had a lot of value.

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

I bought sets for my son every year when he was a kid. Don’t think they’ve ever been opened. He’s 29. Got to have some good ones and I know they are mint 

You'd be surprised. This is my gripe about the whole grading industry. You can literally take a card out of a sealed set and have it graded and it comes back as an 8.5 or 9, because it's a half MM off center and the color hue is 0.1% off. It's ridiculous, IMO. Buddy and I sent some in to BGS many years ago. Because I picked, IMO, some of the best ones I had, not my favorite cards, but ones with sharpest corners and most perfect centering, I was thinking for sure I had all 9+ and at least one 10. I think I got one 9 and a few 8s and a 7.5. I was so pissed. That is the main thing that killed my interest in collecting any more. 

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

I have an unopened case of basketball cards from the mid/late 80's, wonder how much that is worth, if anything. I cannot recall the year but I recall thinking it could have a Ewing rookie so I guess that would make it 1985, but for some reason I feel like it is '87 or '88, not sure which memory is wrong? Do "modern" baseball cards have value? I have a ton of mid 80's to early 90's cards though I probably have not seen a Beckett since 1993 to check the value on them. I am guessing they have not gone up a ton, once manufacturers had collectors in mind, so many printings of everything were made that nothing really had a lot of value.

If you're talking 86-87 Fleer, you might just have yourself an MJ rookie card. As you can see, those command a premium. 

 

[Spin]

I was pretty heavy into basketball cards around 5th-9th grade, and some of my fondest memories, was when my dad would surprise me with a few packs of cards when he got home from work.  He never collected them, but loved to open them and "let's see who we get!". It was always exciting and fun, and something I really enjoyed doing with my Dad.

I had a few buddies that collected with me, and since we were kids, we made an agreement to just give each other rookie cards from their favorite teams.  Since my dad is a big Lakers fan, I was a Lakers fan, and thus I have a ton of Kobe Bryant's rookie cards, all of which I put in hard plastic cases once I got them. I checked on ebay, and a few of the Kobe cards seem to be holding pretty good value. I have an absolute ton of other basketball cards as well, none of which are graded, and rarely are they going for more than like $6. 

My son is obsessed with all things Hockey, so starting last year he started putting together the upper deck sets.  He is more interested in just completing the sets than any one player, so we've been just buying a few boxes/packs for christmas/birthdays until he gets down to around 10-15 missing, and use ebay to grab the randos he's missing.  He just recently finished the UpperDeck 2018-2019 series 1 set and waiting for series 2 to be released. He keeps them in binders with clear sleeves as his favorite thing to do is read the stats on the backs of the cards. 

I'm glad that he's into it because now I get to do the same with him.  I find myself stopping by a card store and grabbing a random pack or two and getting excited about opening them and seeing how excited he gets when he gets someone he's still missing.

 

[Fat Nick]

Pretty much the same story here.  Also have a 68 Ryan which is my jewel as well.  Have yet to get anything graded b/c of the cost and hassle.  It seems like for newer issues (1970-current) if the card isn't in NrMt or Mt (PSA 8 or above) the card is nearly worthless.  I've looked at cards to see what I should mail in and its often tough to distinguish an 8 or 9 from a 10.   Cards that look good to me, come back a 7 and then you're out the money for grading and stuck with a worthless card.  

The memories attached are what I still value.  Shame that overproduction and greed killed the hobby.  It was a lot of fun in the late 80s.   Learned arbitrage and supply/demand at a young age. 

Yeah.  If there's one thing I realized, it's that as a kid I WAY over-graded most of the stuff I looked at.  I didn't spend nearly enough time paying attention to the centering of the cards.  So many of my older ones have crisp corners, but are horribly off-center.  The grading is almost comical on the things they ding you for.  

Totally agree re. arbitrage and supply/demand - Also learned which packs were over or under valued given the possible outcomes.  Good early economics lesson!

 

[Spanky24]

Same story as most in here. However I have recently just gotten back into things (Ebay) buying cards here and there that I just like. Haven't gone crazy by any means thus far, but I do have a question for the OP or others that are up on the hobby. What is the best way to look up values? Back in the day it was spenda few $$ for the most recent Becket Card Monthly, is that still a thing? Looking online it appears Becket only has a subscription service now? 

 

[Major]

Same story as most in here. However I have recently just gotten back into things (Ebay) buying cards here and there that I just like. Haven't gone crazy by any means thus far, but I do have a question for the OP or others that are up on the hobby. What is the best way to look up values? Back in the day it was spenda few $$ for the most recent Becket Card Monthly, is that still a thing? Looking online it appears Becket only has a subscription service now? 

Ebay is your best bet.  Google the card with the according PSA rating and check sold auctions/listings.  Grading is everything. 

 

[Wine Thief]

TopShelfBreaks is good, entertaining breaker.  Crack open a beer and when he goes live just hang out and hope you hit.  I also use Dave & Adams live breaks.

Depends what your into.  So many varieties of ways to break.  TopShelfBreaks does "random divisions" but breaks up the cases into fourths and halves to lower the cost a bit but increase your chance if you hit.

Everything is broadcasted live and there are many hobby stores that participate and run breaks often.

I haven't bought anything in a few years but a few years ago I got the bug after being a collector as a kid and started the online breaks.  Mostly the National Treasures or other high end stuff hunting for the rookie patch autos, back on Justin.tv.  Now you can watch the breaks on breakers or afterward on youtube.  I trust Chad Redfern at firehandcards or Chris Justice at Cards Infinity the most but there are other guys/girls that are stand up people...i'd just research who you're buying stuff from, not everyone is trustworthy.  I found that Cards Infinity or Blowout Cards were cheaper when buying packs/boxes than my local card shop by as much as 50% but i'm sure that's as much to do with the lack of LCSs here as anything.  I got some pretty cool stuff for pretty cheap, like a Kawhi Leonard RPA from National Treasures in a $60 random team break, last ones that sold were $2300 and $2800 ungraded...but there were plenty of times I got nothing or just a cheap card for my money.  It's kinda like gambling.  

Hmm, maybe time to sell the Kawhi and get back in the game.

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

Same story as most in here. However I have recently just gotten back into things (Ebay) buying cards here and there that I just like. Haven't gone crazy by any means thus far, but I do have a question for the OP or others that are up on the hobby. What is the best way to look up values? Back in the day it was spenda few $$ for the most recent Becket Card Monthly, is that still a thing? Looking online it appears Becket only has a subscription service now? 

agree with @Major eBay is your best bet. And if yours aren't graded, prepare to be disappointed at the prices  

 

[KCitons]

I spent way too much on cards right after we got married. (I could have retired by now). Probably 250k cards in boxes in the basement. Most of it is late 80's, early 90's. I did buy some lots from auctions, garage sales, etc that are older. I have at least 20 boxes of unopened cards. But, they're from the early 90's. Also have quite a bit of memorabilia. The gem is an autographed Walter Payton helmet from the early 90's. My wife thought I was crazy spending $300 for it. Certified helmets are going for $2k. 

We want to downsize next year. Any suggestions on what to do with a truckload of worthless cards?

 

[fantasycurse42]

You’d be surprised, but just bc something is in an unopened pack, doesn’t mean what’s inside is mint, and mint 10 grades are what’s worth the big dollars.

Beyond storing and transporting packages for 30 years, these machines back then weren’t exactly cutting edge technology. If a machine was slightly off-centered, your 10 is now a 9.

 

[Shula-holic]

Jordan PSA 10's have skyrocketed the last few years. $8k a few years ago, $20k today. If you're looking to unload, the timing is excellent right now. 

I had a high end 8 I sold years ago I regretted.  I have a registered 86 set I'm working on now but have yet to purchase a Jordan.  Mostly have 9's in my set.

 

[shuke]

Bought my first packs at the age of 5 in '78.  Was bigtime into the hobby from '82-'87.  For a few years there it consumed my life.  

Still have everything, and a lot of memorabilia and oddball stuff I picked up along the way.  Started buying things off ebay about 15 years ago, types of cards I only dreamed about owning when I was a kid.  But this was a short-lived fad when I realized these were just going into a box inside my closet.  

Now, I only buy Reds teams sets each year for me and the kids for autographs.  

 

[The General]

Have a ton of 80s baseball cards. Pretty sure they are all worth a fraction of what I paid. Mostly the steroid guys. A few of the “clean” players were worth a bit last I checked. Have some older ones, Reggie Jackson rookie, that are worth more than what I paid.

Definitely wouldn’t get into it to make money but it is a fun hobby, at least I enjoyed it as a kid. 

 

[The General]

Bought my first packs at the age of 5 in '78.  Was bigtime into the hobby from '82-'87.  For a few years there it consumed my life.  

Still have everything, and a lot of memorabilia and oddball stuff I picked up along the way.  Started buying things off ebay about 15 years ago, types of cards I only dreamed about owning when I was a kid.  But this was a short-lived fad when I realized these were just going into a box inside my closet.  

Now, I only buy Reds teams sets each year for me and the kids for autographs.  

Reds were my team in the 80’s. Was taken to games during the Big Red Machine days but I was too young to remember. 

Loved Dave Parker. Bought and still have pretty much every card. Multiple rookies. Bunch of Eric Davis’s as well. Sabo’s. Tom Brownings. Nick Esaskys. Bunch of others I’m sure I’m forgetting. They are worth hardly anything but are great memories.

Funny story I’ll always remember though about my Reds revolves around Lloyd McClendon. Moved to San Diego in late 80’s and my Mom who was the big baseball fan would take us to the games when the Reds came into town. 

We’d get there crazy early to watch BP. All the Reds were coming into the dugout and kids are yelling numbers or the names on the back. Getting nothing. 

But I knew all these guys. 

Lloyd McClendon was one of the last guy’s jogging in and had a ball. Kids were yelling his number, yelling McClendon. No response, he’s blocking all that noise out.

I yelled “Lloyd”.

He slowed, looked over and I gave him the “toss me the ball look” and he chucked it right to me. Was the ####. Boss move.

Followed his career from that point. He bounced around, and then retired and got into coaching became manager of the Pirates. Had his famous freak out where he took the base with him into the dugout. I’m thinking “that crazy Lloyd, what a great dude”.

He then got hired by my local team, the Mariners, as manager. Pretty cool.

The crazy part is that I was in SF for work during his last season as manager. Turns out the M’s are playing Oakland and are staying in my hotel, The Westin Saint Francis in downtown SF.

I actually see him and what I believe are the other coaches sitting in the lobby. I go over it’s him and all the coaches, dudes look all pretty rough. Not a smiley bunch. I sense some serious booze was consumed, grind of the road etc.

Anyways I plow right past that and say something like good luck boys and am about to start to tell the baseball tossing story and he says excuse me and gets up and leaves  

He got canned that year. Still have the ball though.

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

I had a high end 8 I sold years ago I regretted.  I have a registered 86 set I'm working on now but have yet to purchase a Jordan.  Mostly have 9's in my set.

You are building the complete set, but of graded cards?

 

[Hov34]

The whole grading thing really soured me on collecting.  I just have a few in a fire safe that are worth something to me.

Rookie: Marino, Montana, Elway, Boggs, Mattingley, Puckett, Gwynn, Ripken, Yount. 

Also have an O.J. rookie that I actually "traded" for in the 6th grade.  Don't remember what I traded with, but I think I came out ahead on that one.

Also have two cards that are virtually worthless, but to me they were all I was looking for in those years.  1978 Fran Tarkenton - I wanted that card soo bad and I remember exactly where I was when I opened the pack.  And 1979 Thurman Munson.  Those two mean more to me than all the rookie cards I have and any that I could buy now.