Sports cards

[NDRock]

I was really into cards in the late 80's. Always loved the "old" stuff and would buy cards with any money I earned/got. Actually looking at unloading them now. Of course, the old stuff still has value while the newer (80's, early 90's) seems worthless.

I have about 25 "high end" cards that I need to sell but it honestly seems like a pain in the ass to send then somewhere and grade them and them place them on EBay or some other site to sell. Anyone have any better ideas? Would be fine with unloading everything for 50 cents on the dollar.

 

[IrishinTN]

When I was a kid in 1980 (yikes) my parents had a booth selling antiques at an antique mall. Some kid came to my mom and sold her two boxes of cards for $20. I was just getting into understanding card values but we got a book on prices and started going through the cards. These boxes ended up having thousands of cards from 1960 to 1975 and cards like a 65 Gaylord Perry (worth like $60 at the time), all the big names from 1972, and a ton of other very valuable cards.

Going through those boxes with my mom, card by card, and seeing their values in the book was like we literally hit a treasure chest. Thousands of dollars worth of cards.

I wondered, years later, if that kid had taken a parents or brothers cards and decided to get some cash for them. I'll never know but it sure provided a great memory for me.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Speaking of traumatic stories: My aunt had a Sandy Koufax rookie card and cut the borders so it would fit in her purse wallet because she was obsessed with him. Ugh!

I found this card in my stack:

 

[Henges24]

I have a ton of my dad and uncle's cards that they collected growing up. Probably close to ~300. There are 8 rookie Gale Sayers cards that were listed as $200 each in mint condition - according to Beckett - back in the early 2000s. A ton of Willie Mays, Hank Aarons, Mickey Mantels.

Here are a few others that come to mind:

No idea if people still collect cards but there was probably a couple grand worth of cards in this collection back in the day.

 

[Ndaccountant]

My Dad still cringes today when telling the story that all too many know....mom trashed the cards when I went to college. His story is similar, he collected as a boy, growing up in the 50's/60's. He had in his collection numerous Mantle's, Ty Cobb, and even a Babe Ruth among others. When he went to college, he wanted to keep them both for nostalgia and value. Some of his cards he had were becoming harder to find and the "trade value" had grown. Whelp, coming home for X-mas during Freshman year, his room was cleaned out and his cards were thrown away. At the time, his father had just passed away and he never really asked his mom about it, just assumed it was part of the grieving process for his mother.

Flash forward years later, I am sitting in our family room looking up cards in Becketts magazine. My Dad comes over, sees that his old Ruth, even in crappy condition, would pay for a new car or for a large wedding, turned to my Grandma and finally asked why she threw away the cards, noting their value......"Son....if you would have simply hid your dirty magazines better, I would have had no reason to look under your bed. But I wasn't keeping that **** in my house". My dad really never talked to her about it again.

 

[Irishize]

Unfortunately, same here.

My parents died when I was away in college (late 80's) and my Grandma who was in charge of the will and estate auction gave my cards away to a group of day laborers hired by the auction company. I had some big name 50's & 60's non mint cards bought at garage sales in the 60's - 70's but what really kills me was my Dad would buy a full set of Topps in the in the "cheese box" every year. I had '71-'80 full sets wrapped in celophane that were never opened, never saw daylight, two sets of '74-'76 and ten thousand+ other cards in varying levels of condition.

I like to joke with people that I had a $5000 Schwinn Stingray when I was a kid, they'll reply, Are they really worth that much now?, I'm like... It was when you had George Brett and Robin Yount rookie cards pinned to your forks.

I also had two large foot lockers of Hostess baseball cards on the deconstructed boxes so that the cards weren't cut out. The Hostess Outlet used to take Ho-Ho's and Ding Dong's out of the box and sell them individually so my Pops made a deal with owner to get the empty boxes with the 3 cards on the bottom. Probably had a thousand of them.

I won't get into the Jordan rookie cards, the Payton's, Butkus', '61 Mikita signed (ugh)...

I need a beer bout now.

Wow. Factory sets in the Topps cheese boxes makes me salivate. my wife scolds me about throwing stuff away but I promise it's nothing like vintage sports cards.

My dad had a similar story in that his mom threw out a shoe box full of cards from the 50s/early 60s. Willie, Mickey & the Duke...among others.

 

[Irishize]

I have a ton of my dad and uncle's cards that they collected growing up. Probably close to ~300. There are 8 rookie Gale Sayers cards that were listed as $200 each in mint condition - according to Beckett - back in the early 2000s. A ton of Willie Mays, Hank Aarons, Mickey Mantels.

Here are a few others that come to mind:

No idea if people still collect cards but there was probably a couple grand worth of cards in this collection back in the day.

The following players hold a ton of value when looking at vintage baseball pricing: Mantle (the holy grail), Maris (even though he's not a HoFer), Clemente, Banks. Berra, Mays & Rose.

 

[NDRock]

The following players hold a ton of value when looking at vintage baseball pricing: Mantle (the holy grail), Maris (even though he's not a HoFer), Clemente, Banks. Berra, Mays & Rose.

Wow, good to hear. I have a couple of Mantles (63 & 69). Banks' rookie (54) and a 55 Banks. I also have a Roger Maris rookie (58). Love the old cards.

 

[ACamp1900]

So got an unopened boxes of: Upper Deck 91, Upper Deck 92,Topps 87, Topps 89... long story.

Also located my old cards from my childhood during a massive spring cleaning of my parents house... boxes of cards from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s... really a horde of my Dad's, an Uncle's, mySister's and mine...

 

[Armyirish47]

I am shooting for the whole thing, but I've seen exactly 1 of the Montana autographs show up on eBay over the years and it went for something like $700. If I ever run that one and 4 others down it will definitely be framed and hung up in the man cave.

I LOVE Upper Deck, but I kind of hate that they have the exclusive license for Notre Dame goodies now because I'm not sure when, or if we will we get another release out of them.

Sorry for the self quote but two big pieces of news here.

First, I finally scored the Harrison Smith Auto! (hold your applause)

And second, Upper Deck is no longer the exclusive license holder for Notre Dame trading cards. Panini has taken over the license.

https://www.sportscollectorsdigest.com/exclusive-agreement-panini-notre-dame/

I much prefer Upper Deck as a creator of cards but at least with Panini we will finally get a steady diet of Notre Dame players in uniform every year across multiple releases.

 

[P_Rose]

If you guys are in the Wichita, Ks area the weekend of March 26-27 there will be a new Sports Cards and Memorabilia Expo. A friend of mine and one of the LCS (local card shops) are putting this on and trying to make this a yearly event. There is a $1 admission that all of the proceeds go to ICT S.O.S. this organization is to help combat human trafficking. Login • Instagram

 

[ab2cmiller]

If you guys are in the Wichita, Ks area the weekend of March 26-27 there will be a new Sports Cards and Memorabilia Expo. A friend of mine and one of the LCS (local card shops) are putting this on and trying to make this a yearly event. There is a $1 admission that all of the proceeds go to ICT S.O.S. this organization is to help combat human trafficking. Login • Instagram

Spent a couple of years at Hesston College. We'd go to Wichita most weekends. Watched a lot of Wings indoor soccer games. Fun times.

 

[Armyirish47]

If you guys are in the Wichita, Ks area the weekend of March 26-27 there will be a new Sports Cards and Memorabilia Expo. A friend of mine and one of the LCS (local card shops) are putting this on and trying to make this a yearly event. There is a $1 admission that all of the proceeds go to ICT S.O.S. this organization is to help combat human trafficking. Login • Instagram

That's awesome, if you see any rare ND Upper Deck 2013 cards hit me up.

 

[P_Rose]

Spent a couple of years at Hesston College. We'd go to Wichita most weekends. Watched a lot of Wings indoor soccer games. Fun times.

They just brought the Wichita Wings back a couple of years ago. They are now playing at Hartman arena across the highway from the old Coliseum.

 

[Armyirish47]

The National is in Atlantic City right now, anybody making the pilgrimage?

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Forgot about this thread. Since my posts back in 2017, I've since gotten back into the hobby, but only in terms of 1) seeing what my current collection is worth and 2) outright buying the cards I always wanted as a kid, but never had the opportunity (within monetary reason, of course.)

Penny Hardaway Finest Rookie (refractor), 89 UD Griffey Jr just to name a couple.

My dad collected baseball cards from the 50s. As with the other stories posted here, he lost his collection at some point in his adult life (he's convinced a friend or even family member stole them and sold them). His all-time favorite player was Pete Rose, so for Christmas last year I surprised him with one of his favorite cards that he lost, which was a 1967 Topps Pete Rose. He said he had his rookie card too but I wasn't about to spend the thousands of dollars required to get it back. haha

 

[Irish#1]

Forgot about this thread. Since my posts back in 2017, I've since gotten back into the hobby, but only in terms of 1) seeing what my current collection is worth and 2) outright buying the cards I always wanted as a kid, but never had the opportunity (within monetary reason, of course.)

Penny Hardaway Finest Rookie (refractor), 89 UD Griffey Jr just to name a couple.

My dad collected baseball cards from the 50s. As with the other stories posted here, he lost his collection at some point in his adult life (he's convinced a friend or even family member stole them and sold them). His all-time favorite player was Pete Rose, so for Christmas last year I surprised him with one of his favorite cards that he lost, which was a 1967 Topps Pete Rose. He said he had his rookie card too but I wasn't about to spend the thousands of dollars required to get it back. haha

You're a good son BBG.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

The National is in Atlantic City right now, anybody making the pilgrimage?

Always wanted to go. I thought they were always in Chicago. There’s a lot of big shows in Dallas I’d like to attend since it’s closer to home.

 

[Armyirish47]

Always wanted to go. I thought they were always in Chicago. There’s a lot of big shows in Dallas I’d like to attend since it’s closer to home.

They try to move them around each year but I'm pretty sure next year is back in Chicago. I would LOVE for them to do it in Dallas one year, quick drive for me to!

 

[Armyirish47]

Anybody got any hobby shop or memorabilia recommendations for Chicago/Milwaukee?

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Just wanted to bump this. My son is now at the age where he is really into sports cards. I'm leveraging this interest in a number of ways.

We have a reward system each week where if he completes homework, hits the defined numbers on his tests and completes a book(s), he earns some packs. And his interest in cards and values is allowing us to talk about statistics and how pricing is driven by scarcity and a growing number of people who want something.

He's only 9 so we're just doing basic stuff but it's a ton of fun and it's really given us something to bond over. I'm hopeful this is a small thread woven into the fabric of our relationship over the coming years.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Since I was a kid in the 1950s, I had a current fortune in baseball and football trading cards ( ex. a Willy Mays rookie card.) These all mysteriously vanished in a family move in the 1960s (when I was no longer home to "monitor" such things.) ... oh well, it's "nice" to think of what could have been.

This has been "somewhat relieved" by my walking into a really messy Old Curiosity Shop type book store (15 years ago?) and finding three Notre Dame DOME yearbooks hidden in the corner of a dusty rack. Paid a couple of bucks each for them. Two were George Gipp's years, and one The Four Horsemen.

With time and patience, things even out ...

 

[Giddyup]

My brother in law stole my baseball cards.

 

[PolishDomer]

Anybody got any hobby shop or memorabilia recommendations for Chicago/Milwaukee?

Hey Army,

My boys got into collecting soccer cards and other items.

Some of the more interesting shops I have been to:

Chicagoland Sports Cards in Buffalo Grove
Heroes Sports Cards in North Riverside (open only Wed and Saturdays)
Jim and Steve's in Waukegan...that shop is messy but has some of the best memorabilia in the Chicago area and tons of cards..Waukegan is not one of the nicest suburbs in the Chicago metro area but I do recommend the shop as the owners are super nice.

 

[Irishdrunk]

The graders came in and its a little less fun. More about business which I get. I used to buy tobacco cards.... crazy stuff.

 

[Irish2155]

I have roughly 10 Deion rookie cards (both football and baseball). Wonder if they’ve increased any value with him now being back in the limelight…??

There is a card shop around the corner from me. Guess I could always just stop in and ask.

As I type, am looking at a signed Clemens rookie card and an old (not rookie but signed) Yaz card displayed in my office…my two favorites of the collection.

 

[OhioIrish]

I had no idea there was a trading card thread on IE. Nice! Picking up the hobby again after collecting as a kid in the 80s and 90s. It is exploding in my area, card shops popping up everywhere. Been buying up some vintage cards and PSA 10 rookies whenever I some extra cash to burn. It’s still a great hobby!

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I have roughly 10 Deion rookie cards (both football and baseball). Wonder if they’ve increased any value with him now being back in the limelight…??

There is a card shop around the corner from me. Guess I could always just stop in and ask.

As I type, am looking at a signed Clemens rookie card and an old (not rookie but signed) Yaz card displayed in my office…my two favorites of the collection.

Sadly the Deion cards were produced in the Junk Wax era so there’s way too many copies floating around. You’d have to have one in what looks like NM-MT condition and then get it graded to have a chance of increasing the value. But to get it graded by a reputable company costs more than the raw card is worth.

Looking at your avatar, I’m guessing you‘re a Clemens fan? If so, then that autographed card is worth much more to you than what it would fetch on the open market. If someone was trying to sell it they’ve have to get it authenticated which costs money as well.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

The graders came in and its a little less fun. More about business which I get. I used to buy tobacco cards.... crazy stuff.

The COVID bubble is over. Looks like another Junk Wax era is upon us. I’ll do an occasional rip but I prefer vintage (pre-1980). I don’t mess w/ getting them graded. I just enjoy collecting as many HOFers in the 3 major sports as I can get my hands on. Fun to look at & reminisce. And they’re never in danger of being overproduced or losing much value.

 

[Wild Bill]

My brother in law stole my baseball cards.

Whip his ass and get them back.