Kinda OT? Death of the Sportscard Industry as Reported by Sports Illustrated

[TheShadowKnows]

Those basketball packs are called Exquisite.And 300 was wholesale retail 600 or more.The 03/4 case are around 13-14k wholesale for 3 packs.

 

13-14K for a case with 3 packs? Come again?

Im serious.It loaded with LeBron.Wade,Carmelo,Bosh rookies.

And thats wholesale.

[MR.COMICBOOK]

Is there trimming or color touch (on the black borders) in card collecting?

 

Trimming, patch faking, autograph faking, cardstock rebuilding, soaking, etc...color touch is something the grading companies can actually spot. The other stuff is not something they can usually get.

I remember back in the early 1990`s people would buy the baseball packs off of dealer at card show,open up the packs,take out all the good cards and replace them with commons,then glue pack back up and then go re-sell to same dealer and the dealer would just smile and wink. I wonder if that still goes on at the card shows?

Youre kidding right?

I wish I was, one of the reasons why I lost interest in collecting sports cards.

I don`t know if it still goes on now, they must have safety measures in place just as comics can now detect color touch and trimming.

[Senormac]

You an I both know Dennis, that the only good sports cards are NASCAR

 

[TheShadowKnows]

You an I both know Dennis, that the only good sports cards are NASCAR

 

I have a set of those missing one card.They are pretty cool.Their called odd rods.You should have seen my bike as a kid it had about 20 of these stuck on every part of it.

[TheShadowKnows]

Is there trimming or color touch (on the black borders) in card collecting?

 

Trimming, patch faking, autograph faking, cardstock rebuilding, soaking, etc...color touch is something the grading companies can actually spot. The other stuff is not something they can usually get.

I remember back in the early 1990`s people would buy the baseball packs off of dealer at card show,open up the packs,take out all the good cards and replace them with commons,then glue pack back up and then go re-sell to same dealer and the dealer would just smile and wink. I wonder if that still goes on at the card shows?

Youre kidding right?

I wish I was, one of the reasons why I lost interest in collecting sports cards.

I don`t know if it still goes on now, they must have safety measures in place just as comics can now detect color touch and trimming.

I guess its like DD in comics.Some people are honest and some are crooks.Personally my reputation is worth more than any cards pulled from a pack.But thats just me I guess.

[musicmeta]

You an I both know Dennis, that the only good sports cards are NASCAR

 

 

Mercy, I haven't seen those peel off and stick'em cards in years and years!!

Amazing!

[Tomega]

Thanks for the link. I wonder what the equivalent last "iconic" comic book is/was? The last mainstream, mass-produced, non-limited edition, non-gimmicky comic book to retain substantial value? That would exclude short print run indie books like the first issues/appearances of Walking Dead, Goon, Hellboy, Mouse Guard, 30 Days of Night, etc...Vertigo books like Sandman, Fables, Y, etc. might be too niche to qualify as "iconic" as well.

 

I think you might have to go back to an ASM 300 or X-Men 266 to find something that qualifies in the same way as the Griffey rookie card is to the card hobby...thoughts?

 

Hulk 181.

 

Maybe ASM 300.

 

Not X-Men 266.

[Senormac]

You an I both know Dennis, that the only good sports cards are NASCAR

 

 

Mercy, I haven't seen those peel off and stick'em cards in years and years!!

Amazing!

 

That Bonzai Bomb one is soooooooooo twisted. You'd never get away with something like that nowadays

[capt_comics]

Does anyone here actively collect vintage cards? My dad has Topps baseball complete sets from 60 and 61, as well as a 55 All-American set. All of the cards are nice, he generally bought the best he could find. In comics terms they are all VF to NM. He stopped buying in the mid-90s and hasn't looked at them since, but I was wondering how well something like that has held its value. I suppose I could post in the card forum, but not really worth the bother. Just idle curiousity.

 

 

Maybe this is obvious but cards of these fellas seem to pretty much stay strong.

 

 

Mantle

Mays

Musial

Clemente

Koufax

Ted Williams

Aaron

Snider

 

There are alot of Hall of Fame players whose cards you can find at reasonable prices. Alot of times you can find nice PSA 5, 6 and even 7 copies for reasonable prices. Above that you get pricey. In truth, some of these guys cards go very cheap, even graded.

 

Kaline

Kiner

Wynn

Matthews

Boudreau

Wilhelm

etc........

 

Every once in awhile I will buy up some PSA 4,5 or 6 cards from the 50's & 60's, strictly Hall of Famers, just because I think they're neat, they present well in the slabs (although GAI's slabs are far better looking) and because they're so cheap. Sometimes you can get a nice 1960's Hall of Famer, graded an EX-MT 6 for under $7.00 shipped. To me, that seems cheap for a presentable, graded card that is 40-60 years old.

 

But I like history and have always been more partial to the "old days" than in cards from 1970-present.

 

Excellent advice...I am sure you know this, but steer very clear of GAI holders. They were letting through the most questionable stuff for a long period of time. Sometimes you can get lucky on a card and it gets through at PSA or BGS, but they are pretty much like PGX.

 

The HOFers you mention are by far the most collected, especially Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Williams, Koufax, and Clemente. But vintage cards still have to be heavily discounted to sell if not graded.

If you have really high grade sets, get the best cards slabbed by PSA, Beckett(BGS), or SGC. Then sell the sets.

 

At the recent 2 day show in Charlotte, one dealer was selling nice (and by this I mean EX to NM- cards) for 65% to 75% off. And business still wasn't brisk. He had sold most of the Mantles by Sunday morning, but I still picked up a few Clemente,Maris,Mays,Koufax and Aarons late Sunday and I got him down to about 20% on the lot.

 

New cards have to be discounted tremendously to sell. Unless it's the current "Hot" RC auto or auto/patch or a star card auto/patch numbered to 25 or less. And even then most have to be discounted off of Beckett.

 

People should collect the players and teams they care about and not worry so much about monetary value. And with the way the market is now, it can be done a lot cheaper.

 

 

 

Its just like anything.People will always set up at comic shows and sell at 50% off.I sold 900 worth of vintage cards today at book price.

 

Then the person(s) that bought them is thinking they will grade 8 or 9.

 

Were they Topps/Bowmans or pre-war stuff?

 

 

[valiantman]

The main problem that I remember about sportscards was the creation of "incentive sets"

or "limited variants" or "100:1 rares"... sound familiar?

 

Ken Griffey Jr, 1989, the "last great rookie card" was really just one of 3 that year, with 2 more in the "expansion sets" for 1989.

 

So, even though 1989 Upper Deck #1 was Griffey's rookie, it wasn't his ONLY rookie card. He had 5 or so.

How many Shaquille O'Neal rookies are there? 30? That was 1993.

How many LeBron James rookes are there? 50? Insane.

 

The same thing is happening to comics... take any "hot comic", whatever's the "latest, greatest"...

Say, Captain America #25, or Chew #1, etc.

 

What's the "best version"? Why do we have to ask that question?

 

It's because we've got "incentives", "limited variants", and "100:1 rares" out there...

exciting perhaps... for a while... but it is the beginning of the end.

 

Just ask sportscards.

 

[TheShadowKnows]

Early to mid sixties topps.And no there was no thoughts of that.The guy is just a collector.Not everone in the world is a nm/m or better condition freak.

[capt_comics]

Early to mid sixties topps.And no there was no thoughts of that.The guy is just a collector.Not everone in the world is a nm/m or better condition freak.

 

We need more collectors like that in NC

 

 

 

[topofthetotem]

I've been buying cards again for the last little while. I mostly stick to 50-70's hockey (pre 72 OPC or parkie) and baseball (58 topps) but I pick up the occasional RC or HOF'er.

 

 

I've been finding collecting card enjoyable and best of all cheap.

 

[UnboxingTreasures]

I for one am kinda glad that Topps will be the sole distributor of team logo baseball cards pretty soon...

 

When I collected cards several years back, I, like many, loved to collect rookie cards. In 1991 and beyond there was really no such thing as a rookie card.

 

I'm hoping that the hobby corrects itself and that there will always be that ONE card which is easily identified as a player's rookie card.

 

 

[TheShadowKnows]

I've been buying cards again for the last little while. I mostly stick to 50-70's hockey (pre 72 OPC or parkie) and baseball (58 topps) but I pick up the occasional RC or HOF'er.

 

 

I've been finding collecting card enjoyable and best of all cheap.

To me those are beautiful cards.Centering may not be perfect but from the scans you can shave with those corners. (thumbs u

[topofthetotem]

I've been buying cards again for the last little while. I mostly stick to 50-70's hockey (pre 72 OPC or parkie) and baseball (58 topps) but I pick up the occasional RC or HOF'er.

 

 

I've been finding collecting card enjoyable and best of all cheap.

To me those are beautiful cards.Centering may not be perfect but from the scans you can shave with those corners. (thumbs u

Buying slightly OC cards makes collecting a lot cheaper. These are purely for the enjoyment of collecting.

[capt_comics]

I've been buying cards again for the last little while. I mostly stick to 50-70's hockey (pre 72 OPC or parkie) and baseball (58 topps) but I pick up the occasional RC or HOF'er.

 

 

I've been finding collecting card enjoyable and best of all cheap.

To me those are beautiful cards.Centering may not be perfect but from the scans you can shave with those corners. (thumbs u

Buying slightly OC cards makes collecting a lot cheaper. These are purely for the enjoyment of collecting.

 

Bet you got them at a considerable discount off of Beckett

 

Nice cards (thumbs u

 

 

[the blob]

yup, when i do buy cards it really is without consideration to resale value...not a concern when you won't pay more than a buck for a card, though i would go higher for something really obvious like that ernie banks. my kid will have something to fool around with in a few years. unfortunately, i can't get any decent yankee cards on the cheap in my neck of the woods, so i'm not necessarily "getting what I like"...hence I wound up with all those 70s/early 80s Red Sox HOFers out of the 10 cent box! (apparently, not big sellers in NYC?)

 

while my initial reaction to topps getting the monopoly is "you have got to be kidding me"... yes, it will probably simplify things and help the hobby, although i don't think the hobby was really hurt when fleer, donruss and topps all put out cards in the early 80's. it's when each company and 10 others are pumping out 4 sets each that it gets nuts.

[TheShadowKnows]

yup, when i do buy cards it really is without consideration to resale value...not a concern when you won't pay more than a buck for a card, though i would go higher for something really obvious like that ernie banks. my kid will have something to fool around with in a few years. unfortunately, i can't get any decent yankee cards on the cheap in my neck of the woods, so i'm not necessarily "getting what I like"...hence I wound up with all those 70s/early 80s Red Sox HOFers out of the 10 cent box! (apparently, not big sellers in NYC?)

 

while my initial reaction to topps getting the monopoly is "you have got to be kidding me"... yes, it will probably simplify things and help the hobby, although i don't think the hobby was really hurt when fleer, donruss and topps all put out cards in the early 80's. it's when each company and 10 others are pumping out 4 sets each that it gets nuts.

When donruss,fleer and upper deck were all printing cards there was 100 different baseball sets.

[TheShadowKnows]

I've been buying cards again for the last little while. I mostly stick to 50-70's hockey (pre 72 OPC or parkie) and baseball (58 topps) but I pick up the occasional RC or HOF'er.

 

 

I've been finding collecting card enjoyable and best of all cheap.

I didnt know that Doc Watson played Hockey