I'll have to check my inventory to see what I have to trade, but I'm interested in authors (Bouton, Brosnan, Lee) and guys who died under unusual circumstanves (Bostock, Bo Diaz, etc.)

and guys who died under unusual circumstanves (Bostock, Bo Diaz, etc.)

I used to make up "Death Packs" (I'd draw the sicko wrapping) and stick Bostock, Bo Diaz, Mike Miley, Danny Frisella etc. in there and put them on my shelf...it was a big hit!

What about Francisco Barrios?


gef,
sounds good - what is your store like? Can we get commons from you?

What exactly does commons mean? Does it mean duplicates, or something more?

It is my personal theory that anything called "Collectible" isn't. These new card sets with limited runs are all going to collectors, so will always be out there.

What you need to do to find real collectibles is go see what the middle class ten year olds who don't buy the "Leaf Mega Ultra Gold Foil Rookie Upper Deck $10 for 5 Cards" packs are buying.

My daughter gets a set of "American Girls" cards when she buys those American Girls books -- one pack per book. She unwraps them and has tea parties with them. I bet in 35 years those cards in mint condition will be worth more, compared to today, than any Super-Duper-Fleer-Rookie Card.

What exactly does commons mean? Does it mean duplicates, or something more?

Generally, all Topps baseball cards from 1979 will be worth something like 12 cents, except for the 50 or so that will be worth more because of something special about it -- a good player or an error or an All-Stars special card.

Every card that is worth only the minimum for a generic card for that year is a "common.'

Hey Repoz, what would David Berkowitz's mailbag fetch?

what would David Berkowitz's mailbag fetch?

Does it have any mail addressed to the Carr residence?

Thanks for the definition of commons, pb.

I call a common a non-star, but the industry std is what pb said. Like Marty Bystrom.

I have about 75% collections from '75-'85. I have a lot of RC's of Yount, Molitor, Henderson, Boggs, Gwynn, etc. George Brett is my favorite player, but I could never get his RC without tradng a bunch for his '75 RC, off-centered. Once I realized that there was no scarcity any more, I gave up.

I'll hang on to the card and give them to my son, but the best use of cards I have today: Bookmarks. !

When I was a kid, card shows were the rage. I remember all the sleazy dealers (with classy names like Mr. Mint) jacking up prices and selling counterfeit cards. That probably inspired all the "authenticating" that goes on today.

I collected full Topps sets for most of the late 1980s. Probably my most prized card is a Joe Montana rookie, which is ironic since I rarely purchased football cards. Other than that, I've got all the standard "hot cards" from the 80s which are now worth about 35 cents.

I've also cornered the market on Steve Buechele and Tom Brunansky autographs, if anyone is interested. I think I threw away the religious materials from Bobby Richardson and the late Eric Show.

I'm interested in what it is you guys collect. Sets seem to be common choices. I haven't done much collecting since I was 14 or so, but I used to be facinated with the hall of fame, and so set out to collect HOFers. Being a middle schooler, I went after the low-condition cards on purpose, that way I could afford them. Except for a few recently inducted guys (Cepeda, Bunning, Maz, Fox) I managed to get a card of all the HOFers back through the late 50's or so, and a few random guys from before then (Cronin, Doerr, L. Waner) including a Ted Williams/Ted Kluz. card that was the pride of my collection.

I'm interested in what it is you guys collect.

Other than authors and bizarre deaths, I'm mainly interested in Mets and Red Sox from circa 1975 to 1986. Those are the teams I cut my teeth on.

I wish I had checked out this link yesterday when more people were looking at it. One of my Christmas vacation projects was cleaning out the attic and I have probably 50,000+ cards from 1973-1991 that I came across up there and have been sorting through them for weeks now, when I get time. I have decided to sell the vast majority of them on ebay and have actually been making some decent change with them. I would rather give them away to people who actually collect them than investor weenies that ruined the hobby for me in the early '90s.

If anybody is looking for any cards to fill out a set, email me at k e v i nb13@hotmail.com (take the spaces out, I don't want spambots filling my e-mail account with viagra ads and such) and I'll see what we can do. I probably have whatever card you are looking for.

I spent over two years running an eBay business selling baseball cards. It was a lot of work, but I loved every second of it. Until the market for new cards crashed. Nowadays you can buy/sell new card lots and small collections for 10% book value or less. Thats pathetic.

I was thinking about getting back into it, and even bought a small collection to get it started. I spent $500 on a 1952 and '53 Bowman partial sets in very low grade condition. I'll be happy if I get $700-800 for a lot that has a book value in the thousands even in that condition. It was still cool to have a Pee Wee Reese rookie and a Musial in my hands. :-)

Nowadays you can buy/sell new card lots and small collections for 10% book value or less. Thats pathetic.

I don't understand. How is "book value" determined if not by the amount that dealers sell to consumers?

How is "book value" determined if not by the amount that dealers sell to consumers?

It's actually a rather complex formula:

((("sale" value)+(hype/time since hype)+(artificial scarcity rating))*(nostalgia coefficient))^(silly condition rating)

Book value is based more on card show prices, card store prices. Hot items and vintage cards will sell at book value anywhere. Not hot will sell for 50% book value in stores and anywhere from 5-20% book value online. eBay market prices are always lower than offline market prices. I've bought $10,000 book value collections for $500 in the past. Online there is MUCH more supply than demand, so the prices are driven down. Price guides ignore this. Basically, the higher the price of the item, the more accurate it is relative to the market.

I like Ziggy's answer better. More accurate and less explanation.

My favorite quirk of the market is graded cards. I found a 1948 Bowman Yogi Berra rookie for $100 graded Ex-Mt 6 by Pro Grading. If it was graded by PSA instead at the same grade, it sells for $250. Just choosing the wring grading company can cost you money, too. Rediculous.

So, do they ever edit the "book" to make clear that nobody actually pays that amount anymore? If not, what is the value of "book value" except as a historic record of what a card sold for once, or a way to fleece consumers?

My only experience with "book" is trading in my old cars. There, the "Kelley Blue Book" tells you how much trade in value your car has based on condition, and you can pretty much count of a reputable dealer giving you that amount.

I though baseball card guides came out annually. I could understand if the book only edited for card-shop prices and didn't consider the lower internet price, but I don't understand what value the book is if it doesn't actually tell you how much the card has sold for in the past year.

Beckett has an annual edition. Its about 1500 pages thick and has every single card from every single set back to 1887 listed individually. They also have a monthly magazine that covers generally 1948-present and only lists star cards. Minor stars and commons are listed in a general price segment to save space. Probably the most accurate part of the guide is the graded card section. Those prices are determined much more by eBay and other auction prices. It even lists specific auction sales for rare high grade cards. Lets just say the card industry is a mess.

I scan eBay every now and then looking for badly described lots. Most of the time the prices are waaaaay too high because they were told by a friend of a friend of a card dealer that their collection is worth $1000's when its really worth $100 tops. Every now and then I find one that is underpriced because they really don't know what they have. Its really like looking for a needle in a haystack.

For the novices, here's how specific the grading can get.

This first one is up for auction starting at $20,000

1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 7

This second one sold for $3000.

1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 3

Weird. I just remember "Mint", "Very Fine", "Fine".

But I stopped collecting in 1989 (?) when the first Upper Deck set came out. I bought that first complete set (Ken Griffey Rookie Card #1), and it was the last baseball card I ever bought.

I guess a lot has changed in 15 years!

Just choosing the wring grading company can cost you money, too. Rediculous.

Some of the grading companies are purported to be more reputable than others. For example, the Beckett grading service gives very few grades in the 9-10 range, particularly for older cards, so a high grade from BGS really means something. Some places just slather on the 9s and 10s for everything, so the actual quality of the card you get is more variable.

Funny that (and again, this was last time I checked) Beckett also offered a lower-priced grading service (and the graded value of the cards was lower as well). I guess those were the graders in training.

gef,
sounds good - what is your store like? Can we get commons from you?

about 1/4th of the store is devoted to cards. we also sell about everybloodything else under the sun -- coins, beanie babies, sec stuff &, alas, this being alabama, lots & lots of stupid nascar crap.

unfortunately, finding commons would be about as much a crapshoot for me as it is for all the guys with thousands of cards stuck away in the basement somewhere. we've got god knows how many boxes of cards in back, but only the stars are sorted (&/or various braves past & present, since they're the closest franchise).

in an ideal world, they'd all be on a database. of course, in an ideal world i'd still be editing the newspaper (which, since we're talking ideal, would not be owned by the evil that is gannett) for 5 times as much as i now make selling racin' trinkets to slack-jawed, slope-browed mulletoids ...

Go Banana,
I'm interested in what you have. No 72s?

I guess I should look into lots on eBay. I'm not as eaBay saavy as I should be.

Are eBay quotes better than Kit Young "starter" sets?

Also, the "book" used to be a survey of store owners. What do you charge...not what do you bargain down to, but the price tag. Pretty brutal stuff.

I sold 5000 football cards in about 1990 for $1000 - it had every OJ Simpson card and a few others. I did keep my rookie Montana and Rice though.

Does anyone here send their cards in to be graded? How do they find the experience?

I've had two cards graded myself. Both came back one grade lower than I was hoping. Which is exactly what you should expect. I won't send a card to PSA unless I know the card will sell for what I want it to at one grade lower than I think it is.

Better explanation....

I want $100 for a card, and I know I can get $100 if its grades a 7. But, I think it might come back an 8. I'll send it in. If its a 7, I'll get what I want. If its an 8, I'll double that.

OR

I want $100 for a card and I know I can only get that if its an 8. I won't send it in because if it comes back a 7 it will only sell for $60.

Grading is becoming more popular for really vintage stuff, but not for the condition. For the verification that its not a reprint.

Whenever people complain about the price of cards and inserts etc, I just shake my head. I collect the base Topps set every year and could care less about the rest. It can be fun if you let it.

I went through my cards last night. Should I post my duplicates here or at that link up top?

Stan,
you and me both. Want to trade 00-05 duplicates? Do you hand-collate?

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

It sucks that the autographs are worth so little. They really dont mean much to me sentimentally and I could use the extra cash. I wish there was a way to liquidate what few cards I have left here without a) getting ripped off and b) going to the expense of grading everything. The bulk of what I had I'll just let my brother keep.

What do you have RETARDO - maybe I'll buy them?

Hey, Dial. When I dig them out of the closet, I'll post it here. What I have handy, out of the trophy case, are the autographed cards, a 79 topps Gordie Howe card, a Bill Walton rookie card, and 65 topps jim hunter. all have substantial condition issues.

I'd collect the base Topps set if I could afford it, Stan; it's the price of that that I'm complaining about. The regular Topps set lists at$50-60 and only has 450 cards. I've seen Topps total at $75, which I guess I'd spring for if I had a white-collar job. >sigh< It certainly is pathetic that one of the things I'm particularly looking forward to when I get my first faculty position is being able to buy baseball cards again.

Topps has to have more than 450 cards. Series I has 368.

RETARDO,
I'm ot hung up on condition, although I'm not really interested in anything but baseball cards. i could throw a bone for a others, but the won't drive the deal.

How many pre-1973 cards do you have?

Does it again? I could swear they'd cut it down in around '95 or so.

Hmmm, how about that. 2004 had 732 cards now that I check. Of course, with 30 teams now, that's still fewer players per team than in the '80s. Well, of course there were all-starts and highlights and "team leaders," which presumably they don't bother with anymore (but should, of course)... probably 5 highlights, 22 AS, and the 26 leaders, and 26 managers, so that leaves 713 cards, 27 "regular player" cards per team. That's a good number, since most teams have at least that many players who play and/or are expected to play a major role each season, and the cards have to be released in February, so there's some guess-work involved. Now, the 732/30 equation leaves only 24 per team, and I've seen managers from that set. If they make all the managers, that's only 23 players per, and they want to jam in all the "hot" rookies and even prospects that they can. One of my favorite parts of collecting was seeing the minor-league stats for the Steve Jeltzes and Bryan Hickersons of the world, but that's gone now except for Total, which was a good idea, I must give them that.

RETARDO, is that from when Gordie was with the Whalers?

I may be interested.

Cue Brass Bonanza!

The Topps factory set for last year can be had for under 50 bucks, See ebay. Put aside $4.17 a month :)

Nothing is as much fun as hand collecting.

So Papi, you getting the 05's? I'm very serious about swapping doubles.

Ahhh, baseball card collecting. I have a lot of worthless 1987 Topps cards, but I didn't really start collecting until 1990. Stayed interested until around 1993, at which point my interest just kind of petered out--there were too many sets, the Mets sucked, I was no longer playing organized baseball, and I realized that buying music gave me more enjoyment. When I did collect, I was more of a packs guy--the only individual cards I remember buying were Boggs and Gwynn rookies, and the only set was the 1987 Fleer Update set with the Maddux and McGwire rookies. I had a bunch of "valuable" cards that probably didn't hold up so well--Griffey, Frank Thomas inserts, etc., as well as a bunch of cards of guys who I had no idea would be any good and so they're just sitting in shoeboxes.

I also have a few old cards that I found in my grandparents' attic (late 50s stuff, not in great condition). One of the things I've enjoyed about this site and bb-ref is that they've helped me to learn more about the players on those cards and appreciate them more. My '58 Minnie Minoso means a lot more to me now than it did back then.

I have Gordie Howe's 79-80 OPC card with the Whalers. It's autographed as well. If one needs authentication, I have picture of 11 year old me with Gordie and him covering up the Canadiens sweatshirt I was wearing with my copy of the Ray Bourque issue of Beckett.

Posted by Roy Hobbs of WIFFLE® Ball on January 17, 2005 at 05:21 PM (#1085218)

Chris,

I've done a fair amount of online buying. I've found ebay was really great for starter lots on the cheap, but I'm to the point now where I'm probably 70-85% done with all my sets and need to get down to specifics. I haven't done much lately because I've needed my leisure dollars for other stuff. That's why trading is right up my alley.

I'm not a condition freak. I'm just trying to put together sets that range from EX or EX-MT condition. Maybe even VG-EX on the 71-72 sets. I can take fuzzy corners, but I do try to avoid creases if possible.

I don't have my want lists together, but this gives me a good reason to make that a weekend project sometime soon.

I also am working on the Kellogg's cereal cards from the 70s, although I'm finding them fairly tough to locate.

This pretty much describes me to a "T".

I collect Topps 1967-1974 regular series at this point.

Basically, about ten years ago I came across all my old cards from childhood; I had thought they were long gone for years, lost in a house fire in the late 1970's. But they were actually in the bottom of an undamaged steamer trunk I used to have in my closet as a kid, and which had been in my mother's attic, unopened, for about 20 years.

Some of the sets (1969-1972) were more than 75% complete. The others, less so. I originally got back into collecting on E-Bay and through the dealers on Beckett's site, and using guys like Bill Henderson and a guy out in LA (called GFG Cards, I think), with a mind to filling out the 1969 Topps set, which is my all-time favorite (it was my first year to actively collect and trade -- I was 9 -- and also had a really cool design, major and minor stats on the back for most players, expansion year, etc.). I completed that set, finally, and then, well, it can be sort of addictive. Now I am intermittently trying to complete them all.

As someone said, in the course of doing this one accumulates lots of "doubles", as we used to call them. Up to now I have moved them in lots on E-Bay, but anyone here would get first priority, in trade or whatever. I'll have to look when I get home at what I have, but I know for sure right now I have 100 or so of the 1967 set, mostly #1-350 or so in the series, that I want to move one way or another.

I am about 90% done with 1968, 85% with 1970, and less so 1971-74, which are sets I really haven't concentrated on yet. I'd be interested in cards, commons or not -- anything at least g-vg -- in these years, to trade for or purchase. I'll have to get my want lists (basically the yearly checklists I've done in Excel) when I get home.

BTW, anyone looking for checklists pre-1980, this is a useful site. (It is what I used to create my Excel lists.)

I have maybe a dozen of the cereal cards, if you are talking about the 3-D ones. (I also have 2 or 3 I think came off the back of packs of Milk Duds??) Mostly in decent condition, and I don't really know what to do with them. If you are interested, let me know. Also, one year (early '70's, can't remember which) Topps inserted these quarter-size metal coins, with the player's image on the front and a very brief profile on the back. I have 30-40 of these, if anyone specializes in inserts (also some mini-posters from another year, stamp books, and what I think are called "deckle" cards -- the black and white 'autographed' photos with the serrated edges.)

Anyway, I haven't been working on this stuff in a year or more (other interests intrude), but this thread has me thinking about it again. Anyone who wants to e-mail, use: packmanjams@hotmail.com

I have 12-20 5000 card boxes of cards that are not part of my Topps sets collection. That includes the original 1981 Fleer and Donruss sets.

I recently looked at eBay at teh "37 card groups", but am pretty unsure of what I am getting there.

I bought a 5000 card lot a few years ago (a decade?) and so I have decent partials from 1966-1972, but I don't recall my lists -

Hearing from Jonestown encourages me. Email me with your ebay sales, BJM.

I've got a ~99.5% complete run of Topps sets from 1974 to present, and a bunch of sets of Fleer, Donruss, and Upper Deck from their inceptions until around 2000. Lots of duplicates from these years too. I've also completed the 1968 Topps set.

I'm working on Topps sets from 1955, 1967, 1969, and 1971-73. Got other Bowman and Fleer sets from the 50's and 60's with just a handful of cards that I'll eventually work on.

I also collect Ted Lyons cards and memorabilia.

I'm slowly taking inventory and rebuilding wantlists after about 3 years of relative inactivity with my collection. I've got a closet full of duplicates I'm anxious to unload and would like to trade to fill in the gaps in my sets. Email me at pearce_gary@hotmail.com if you're interested and aren't on any kind of urgent schedule, as it may take me a while before I'm ready to really start trading.

Well, I need to make a list of who is in, and who can help.

Roughrider
Brian Jonestown
Chris Dial
Stan Papi
RETARDO
gef the talking mongoose
Go Banana
Jon Daly
Bowling Baseball Fan

I'll get out my collection. Maybe if we focused on something for each of us...

Want lists, maybe? I'll talk to Sean Forman about helping me not be an idiot.

Well, I need to make a list of who is in, and who can help.

Roughrider
Brian Jonestown
Chris Dial
Stan Papi
RETARDO
gef the talking mongoose
Go Banana
Jon Daly
Bowling Baseball Fan

Don't forget Roy Hobbs of Wiffle Ball

I just remembered, I have in the neighborhood of 6-8 5000ct boxes of commons from all over the 90's and some late 80's. I might actually be able to help fill want lists in that area. I can also help in pricing anything. Book value and market value. I'm looking into buying and selling vintage cards again on eBay. 50's and 60's. I might be able to help in that area soon. I'm testing a couple items now, to see if its worth it for me.

bump.

I'm still interested.

You gotta love when a plan comes together.

My first baseball card sale in over a year.

I restarted gathering cards when my wife gave me a 56 Killebrew as my wedding present. I have gone after most Killebrews and have a quite a shrine now.

Currently my favorite set is the Topps Total, huge set. I like the variety. Best memory was asking Matt Merricks to sign his first card, and he was shocked not even knowing that his first national card was going to be produced. I gave Matt the card.

Best place to buy fillers is at Sportslots

I have a display holding 20 of my 25-man on my Strat league team, with the 5 SPs lined up in front of my computer.

thanks, Jon for the link.

I have framed "field" where I have the 1962 Mets cards at their positions, with Roger Craig and Choo Choo Coleman etc.

Here's a useful way of sorting cards by number. This is for sets with card numbers of up to three digits.

1. Make 10 piles based on the units digit, in order from 0 to 9. Place the 0 pile on top of the 1 pile, this pile on top of the 2 pile, and so on.
2. Starting with the top card and proceeding in order through the large pile, make 10 piles based on the tens digit, in order from 0 to 9. Place the 9 pile on top of the 8 pile, this pile on top of the 7 pile, and so on.
3. Starting with the top card and proceeding in order through the large pile, make 10 piles based on the hundreds digit, in order from 0 to 9. Place the 0 pile on top of the 1 pile, this pile on top of the 2 pile, and so on.

Your cards are sorted.

apropos of pretty much nothing ...

had to note that i just opened up a pack of donruss 2005 & found that no less than 8 of the 10 cards were serial-numbered (no autographs or relics, though), which has to be some sort of record. two of 'em were sosas (a 547/2005 "diamond kings" & a 698/1500 "elite series"). their value is negligible at best, but still ...

i had to wonder if donruss had gone nuts & was serial-numbering virtually *everything* this year, so i pulled another pack from the same box.

no serial numbers at all this time around. weird.

& damn, i see the owner's son already pulled what has to be the box's only autographed "fans of the game" card -- meat loaf. (i remember reading in one of the fantasy mags a few years ago that he participates in something-teen leagues every season.)

this thread's a blast from the past, i know, but i thought of it after buying a crapload of late-'60s topps this a.m. on the store's behalf ... anyone out there looking for commons from '66 & '68 in particular should give me a shout. picked up probably 100-150 from each year, along with a couple of dozen stars (nice going, kid-from-'68 who decided to write "lf" in ink on the '66 mantle).

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