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Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s
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It would have been a mid-summer morning. Maybe July or August. I'd have been staying with my grandmother, and we'd go in the morning to "Sam the Barber" on Haddon Ave. in Collingswood, NJ to get a haircut. I'd flip through his salt water fishing magazines, get a buzz cut, and then walk across the street after daydreaming about reeling in some sail fish and what that'd be like.

I was big into collecting baseball cards during those years. I had (still have) a baseball signed by all the 1977's Phillies players, because they signed it for my dying 15yr old uncle. I had a bunch of 70s and early 80s cards that were given to me along with the baseball from my grandmother. I thought I had the best collection ever going, and I was on the hunt for a gem on those summer mornings in the card shop across the street from the barber. I'd pick out a couple. Grandmom would tell me to get some more and get the total closer to $10. "Wow - check out this Rod Carew card for $2!!!"

I've got Fleer, Tops, Upper Deck, Donruss, Score, Classic, Leaf, Bowman, ... you name it, I've got it ... however, I don't have many cards (even from the 70's) that are worth shit. Cards from the late 80s and early 90s aren't shit, except for a few. I got a complete and new 1990 Upper Deck set (still wrapped in the original shrink wrap plastic to this day) for Christmas that I think my grandmother probably paid $99 for, at that time. I thought it was the best gift I ever got.

Now, I am moving yet again. Something like my 5th cross country move. Back to California this time. (I'm beginning to lose count.) In the process of packing up, I again have come across my shrink wrapped set, the multiple 3 ring binders of cards, the boxes full of random cards that are mint, the boxes of football cards that I also started to collect, and the few basketball cards. The pangs of dissolving the emotional bond to most -- if not all -- of the cards along with wondering what I should really do with them, what are they worth, or what would they be worth 100 years from now for a great-great nephew is again a question. I could probably throw the whole bunch into the recycling and be none the worse other than the wondering ... "was there..." "did I have..." Yet, I'm still holding on.

Guh. *sigh*

Have you gotten rid of them?

Gnothi Seauton.
Last edited by: Ready4Launch: Jul 26, 17 17:55
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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I didn't collect them but one of my brothers did I think he still has them. When it started becoming popular in the 80's my dad realized what they were worth. He collected them when he was a kid and had some of the real early ones that came with chew tobacco as his dad used it. He knew he had seen them at some point in a cigar box at his parents house in the attic. We searched high and low and couldn't find them. His mom must have thrown them out or sold them at a yard sale. Probably 10's of thousands of dollars worth of cards if his memory was right about which cards he had had.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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I still have all of mine in a big tub in my parents basement. Would spend hours organizing them. My pride is I have the entire 1988 Topps NFL in mint condition. My older brother has a few 1970s baseball cards worth a decent amount.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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I have a butt load upstairs. No reason to toss them. They don't take up much room.

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [j p o] [ In reply to ]
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True, but is holding onto them for anything more than nostalgia going to be the only thing they're worth now? I mean, I'm curious to know at what point do they become valuable again? 200 years from now? 75? Like, where is that low point?

Gnothi Seauton.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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They will never be worth anything unless there is a mass movement to throw the cards away, followed by a renewed interest later.

The reason classic cards are valuable is there were less to begin with and most importantly, it never occurred to anyone that they would ever be a valuable collectable. They were discarded and/or abused. By the mid to late 80s, collecting became a thing, way more cards were produced and everyone was obsessed with factory sealed sets and/or encasing all the cards in protective holders. So there is a huge glut of mint condition cards out there, in many cases they are worth less now than they were then because nobody realized none of these cards were actually rare (there are literally millions, maybe 10s of millions Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards floating around).

So yes, maybe in 200 years if anyone still even plays baseball.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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My wife and I can't bring ourselves to get rid of our music CD collection, much less our vinyl LP's. We rarely listen to the CD's any more and we no longer even own a turntable. No way any of them will ever have much monetary value, but we'll never toss them out.

I was lucky when it came to baseball cards. Back in the day (1960) you could get a pack of Topps cards that came with a stick of gum and it only cost a nickel (which seemed like a lot of money). None of us were concerned about "mint condition". We might hang onto a card for a few weeks if we recognized the player's name. But it seemed like most of the cards had some "Joe Bagodonuts" who had a .232 batting average playing with some second division team. Perfect card to attach to your bike so that the card and your spokes would make it sound like a motorcycle. Nope, I don't have any of those cards anymore.

"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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I still have a binder with ~125 cards, mostly favorites from when I was a kid -- Barry Sanders, Detroit Pistons cards from the Bad Boys era, David Robinson rookie, a handful of baseball cards, etc. Likely nothing more valuable than ~$20, mostly probably $.25-$1.50 if I valued them out...but I'm sure nobody actually pays what they're supposedly valued at. If only I'd saved the most valuable cards from when I was a kid instead of trading for my favorite athletes.

There's one card I regret letting slip through my fingers -- a Topps triple card with Magic Johnson & Larry Bird rookie panels and Dr. J on the third panel. My mom's mother -- quite literally the most dishonest, untrustworthy, shady individual I've ever known -- was supposedly "given" it in a box of various sports cards by someone whose house she was cleaning, told to "give these to your grandsons." I made the mistake of showing my 12 year old boy excitement and telling her the book value at the time. That card was never to be seen again. Not to worry, as I'd probably have ruined it with my oily little boy fingers anyway.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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Ready4Launch wrote:
True, but is holding onto them for anything more than nostalgia going to be the only thing they're worth now? I mean, I'm curious to know at what point do they become valuable again? 200 years from now? 75? Like, where is that low point?

Probably no real value in anything after they became popular to collect.

I like collecting things. I have some that are earlier but the bulk of mine are from the late 70s to early 80s. The fun will go up when they start getting 50+ years old.

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Alvin Tostig] [ In reply to ]
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I've got vinyl albums from the 70's. Fleetwood Mac, The Eagle, Steve Miller Band and others. I can't bring myself to throw them out either, even though I haven't listened to them in 30 years.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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I bought some box sets in the mid 90's as well as some comic books. When at college, my younger brother went to the comic shop and sold all of my stuff and kept the cash. I can laugh about it now, but man was I pissed off.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Alvin Tostig] [ In reply to ]
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Vinyl is making a small comeback. I know, bc my girlfriend and I have just started to get into it. If your records were stored correctly and the cardboard sleeve is in decent condition, you might be surprised what you can get for them. A lot of the newish type artists are releasing their new albums on all media formats, and some of these records list at $25-35 new. Its been a fun new hobby and I have not even started to make my rounds to garage sales.

And yes, I still have my baseball cards!
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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I was big into collecting in the 80's as well. I have the entire 1987 Topps set. Plus a lot of Mcgwire, Conseco, Griffey, Mattingly and others Rookie cards.
But the best I have are my Dad's old cards. I think it was around 86 or 87 that I really got into it and he mentioned his cards were still at my grandparents house. I found a literal garbage bag of cards behind a dresser in the closet. That was a fun summer of sorting and pricing. I still have Mantle's and Aaron's 1961 Topps cards sitting beside signed balls I got from them in the late 80's. And a lot of other greats: Maris, Mays, Berra, Koufax.
Don't know what I'll do with them. Don't want to sell, but I don't see my son getting into them. Maybe just keep them hidden and let it be one of those Estate surprises my kids get. They'll also love the Garbage Pal Kids mixed in with baseball cards. Good ole Bruised Leroy.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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I collected more football than baseball cards. It all started when I was in 2-4 grade living in Cheney Washington. The Seahawks held their summer camp at Eastern Washington University. The practices were wide open, there'd be a ton of kids just running amok all day long, me included!

The Cheney police dept. would hand out Seahawks cards if you could demonstrate proper and/arm signals on your bike. Daily, we'd swing my the police station on our way to the University, collect up a few cards then seek out the players to sign them. I still have some in a box somewhere.

Those were the good ol days for sure.

--------------------------
The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [satchmo] [ In reply to ]
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satchmo wrote:
Vinyl is making a small comeback. I know, bc my girlfriend and I have just started to get into it. If your records were stored correctly and the cardboard sleeve is in decent condition, you might be surprised what you can get for them. A lot of the newish type artists are releasing their new albums on all media formats, and some of these records list at $25-35 new. Its been a fun new hobby and I have not even started to make my rounds to garage sales.

And yes, I still have my baseball cards!

Some a lot more than that. Most I've paid was $50 (+$15 shipping) for a signed British import of a drum and bass album on (4) 12" 45s. Amazon had the same thing for $75 though...

Cards: I hate baseball, never collected the cards either. Have quite a few NFL cards from right around 1990. Best cards I have though are a Mario Lemeuix rookie card and an early Steve Yzerman card.
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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Now, I am moving yet again. Something like my 5th cross country move. Back to California this time//

Forget about the cards, You must be lying about moving to CA, everyone knows people only leave here...


Keep the cards, give them to some kid who will appreciate them someday. One of your family or a neighbor kid, just like with old triathlon medals. They may have served their use for you, but they could be the center of the world for some lonely kid who needs something to grab onto and have a hobby. Try and remember that feeling you got getting those first few cards and pass it on, you just might get some of that old feeling back in the process...
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [rick_pcfl] [ In reply to ]
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I've got vinyl albums from the 70's. Fleetwood Mac, The Eagle, Steve Miller Band and others. I can't bring myself to throw them out either, even though I haven't listened to them in 30 years. //

Dont throw them out, I will give you a buck apiece for them, have two turntables in two different places and my collection needs some new blood...
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [monty] [ In reply to ]
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monty wrote:
I've got vinyl albums from the 70's. Fleetwood Mac, The Eagle, Steve Miller Band and others. I can't bring myself to throw them out either, even though I haven't listened to them in 30 years. //

Dont throw them out, I will give you a buck apiece for them, have two turntables in two different places and my collection needs some new blood...

and a microphone ....

"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "
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Re: Baseball cards ... growing up in the late 80s and early 90s [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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I got/have a Topps complete set every year from 1988-present... My parents buy a set for me every Christmas... It's a tradition, and I'm not going to hurt their feeling by telling them to stop... There are so many different brands and within the brands there are more special limited addition cards... I doubt there is much value in any of the complete sets that I have, but I will never get rid of them.
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