The Dark Side of Collecting

[David Swan]

Back in the late 80's early 90's I got heavily into sports card collecting and if you know anything about the hobby at the time you're probably already letting out a sigh. The only player I know of still active from that era is Derek Jeter and his time is running out. I've decided to purge most of my cards which is a painful act given the time and money I spent on the hobby but I have to face facts the nearly 100% of all the cards are essentially worthless.

 

I put most of the blame for what happened on Beckett and their stupid price guide. The guide was intended to reflect the prices of cards based on what dealers were selling at and yet every dealer I came across was selling at half Beckett or less so unless there were a ton of dealers selling at twice Beckett, Beckett was pulling the prices out of their rear ends. Mind you even the half Beckett price was inflated and driving up demand beyond reason.

 

 

 

Besides offering inflated prices the Beckett guide (a magazine I bought religiously) hyped up rookies to no end. Once a player was in the league a few years Beckett couldn't care less but an unproven draft pick was golden. The card makers responded to the overinflated hype and price speculation by cranking out millions of cards and is if that weren't enough more card makers entered the market and each company started producing multiple sets. Instead of a player having one, maybe two rookie cards they could now have a dozen diluting the price of each. Collectors were stocking up on dozens of Gregg Jefferies and Todd Van Poppels and each one was going directly into a sleeve and kept in mint condition. Beckett can never seem to do enough evil so now you can have your worthless card graded and slabbed at a price that would almost assuredly cost more than any value you could get out of it.

 

 

 

Another thing that happened that I don't blame on Beckett or the card industry is the reputation of almost every player from that era was ruined. Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens; some of the greatest statistical players ever and I don't know if any will make it into the Hall of Fame. Other players like Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and Jose Conseco not only got pinched in the PED scandal but are also looked at as jokes. Even players untouched by the scandals like Ken Griffey Jr, and Frank Thomas were either tainted by the whole unsavory atmosphere or perhaps just were so overproduced that no statistics could overcome the excess availability.

 

 

 

I also collected basketball, football and hockey but the overproduction killed them all. I called a local sports card store and offered hundreds of mint cards of some of the era's stars and the store had no interest so I'm just throwing most of them in the garbage. It's just not worth my time and effort and it's a fitting end. Comic books in the 90's also seemed to be desperate to commit suicide but at least they produced entertainment (occasionally). There is a reason I stick to Golden and Silver Age comics because I've painfully learned that once something is considered collectable any new items produced are no good as collectables.

 

See more journals by David Swan

[newdamagenyc]

That really sucks to hear. I suppose the flip side is the enjoyment that you gained from collecting. Outside of anything finance related, there's a certain satisfaction in the hobby that's pretty undeniable. Think about the thrill you got as a kid when you cracked open a pack of baseball cards and found that rookie card you were hoping for. For me, that's an undeniable positive memory of my childhood that will never go away.

 

I totally agree with you that the speculation that began in the early nineties really killed the card industry and nearly killed comics as well. The thing comics had that ultimately saved them were all of the new media tie-ins that began in that decade (starting with the very successful Batman films). It's been riding that wave for some time now.

 

At the end of the day though, like baseball cards, most comics are not worth the paper they're printed on. However, just like that thrill I got when I cracked open a pack of baseball cards, there's an undeniable thrill in reading a great issue of your favorite series. Comics have really seen a nice renaissance in the last decade and they've been able to attract a lot of top flight writing and artist talent. It has to this point, kept the industry alive and thriving (that and the movies of course!)

[BooZeR]

I feel your pain...I really do! I recently donated thousands of worthless 1990s hockey cards to some of my friends' kids. I'm so glad I did it though, because now I have a lot more room for my other junk.

 

One great point that newdamagenyc brings up is that we started all this when we were kids and did not care about value. It was super exciting to get something new and look at it or read it for hours and hours and hours.

 

I think we lose sight of that (most of the time).

 

I guess it is easier to justify our hobbies to our friends and relatives when you can tell them something you have is worth thousands of dollars instead of just admit we do it because it made us happy as kids and we don't want to let go of that feeling.

 

In the end, if you are a private collector, your hobby is something that should just make you feel good and make you happy.

 

If you worry about how much money you've spent and how little everything is worth then I think you give that overwhelming guilty feeling you have every time you spend a few hundred bucks on a toy/card/comic a place to set up permanent residency in your brain.

 

[porcupine48]

BooZer,we are close geographically.Cool.If everyone dumps.the cards they have from the 1990s...then there won't be any.People treated bronze comics as junk when I was young...boy am I glad I bought em up from the four for a dollar bin...

[Brandon Shepherd]

I hear you, this journal reminds me of my days collecting Star Wars figures in the '90s. It was fun at first, then I got lost in collecting the different packaging variations and exclusives, the hype so to say. After Episode One came out, I finally realized that Star Wars was just a movie and that I didn't need to collecting every little trinket to enjoy these movies.

 

This experience did point me back to comics, when it all began for me. My days of figurines and statues are over, lesson learned. Thanks for another great post.

 

Brandon

 

 

[SW3D]

I kept all my Baseball Cards (Topps, Score, Fleer, Donruss, etc. They are part of my childhood... i remember loving the game and watching my favorite players play in the All-Star Game (from as far back as 1977); i would go Ape over getting the players cards. And even though they may be worthless, their value for me is more about the love of the game. Baseball forever!

 

SW3D

[DBoy]

I too got rid of all my cards from the 1990's to a good cause, I gave them to my niece and nephew. So at least I passed them on to family members so that they can enjoy them.

[David Swan]

I'm throwing mine in the garbage for fear that anyone I give them to might catch the sports card collecting bug.

[newshane]

I kept all my Baseball Cards (Topps, Score, Fleer, Donruss, etc. They are part of my childhood... i remember loving the game and watching my favorite players play in the All-Star Game (from as far back as 1977); i would go Ape over getting the players cards. And even though they may be worthless, their value for me is more about the love of the game. Baseball forever!

 

SW3D

 

Agreed. (thumbs u

 

I can't throw away or even sell my 90s drek because it was all part of my childhood. Makes me happier than what little money I'd get for selling them.

 

I can see how collecting has a dark side, but only for those people who are in the hobby to make a profit. If you were collecting in the hopes of making a ridiculous profit, I'm sure you are sick to your stomach.

 

Maybe you can't even recoup the original cost? Is it a total waste of money, then? If you truly enjoy your cards or comics, if they give you a sentimental feeling regarding days of yore, then it's worth more than the original cost because you can enjoy them over and over again. You can enjoy giving them to your children or grandchildren and the feeling you'll get when their eyes grow wide and their imaginations explode.

 

If you no longer enjoy them for their intrinsic value, or never did in the first place, then yes, you've wasted your money.

 

So what to do? Throw them away? Nah. Give them away. I'm sure it would make a little kid happy at Christmas or on their birthday.

 

Collect what you want to collect because it brings you happiness. If you want to invest your money, turn to the stock market, precious metals, commodities, real estate, or a small business.

 

Warren Buffet didn't get rich collecting baseball cards or comic books. Just something to consider.