I walked into a card shop yesterday.And boy have things changed in thirty years. I think im catching the bug, but this stuff is expensive.....

I'm really looking into collecting the cards I wanted in the 80s. The new stuff in a bit much to me.

I collected from 1987-1992 then got back into the hobby in 2012 and been involved ever since.

My best advice is dont open any new product. Its waaaaaay over priced and there is next to no chance of hitting anything in those packs that will come anywhere close to breaking even. You will come out way ahead by just buying single cards and sets that you want instead of trying to pull them from packs.

Next.....dont get sucked into the grading game unless you view your collection as an investment. Graded cards are more liquid when you go to sell them but if you are a true collector that collects for the fun of it then graded cards just mean more expense for the same card. I dont need someone to tell me a card is a 10. I will be the judge of that for myself.

If you do insist on buying graded then buy PSA. They are king. Dont pay more for a PSA 8 than you would for a nice raw card. In most cases a PSA 8 equals a nice raw card when you go to buy and sell.

I managed to stay away

Also dont buy the hype!!

For example:
Right now Paul Skenes is the big guy to chase. There is no way he can ever live up to the hype surrounding him and the insane prices people are paying for his stuff right now. In all my years of collecting there has only been two prospects that have ever lived up to their hype. One was Griffey Jr. and the other is Ohtani. For every Griffey and Ohtani there are 2000K others that failed to live up to their hype. Trout on the other hand was not expected to do much and he turned out to be a generational talent. His stuff can be had pretty cheap right now due to injuries even though he is a first ballot Hall Of Famer.

Yes - collect mainly those through the early 80s, with a few unopened boxes from the early 80s, but do have some cases of 85, 87 and 89 Topps.

My favorites are:
1954 Topps Baseball
1961 Fleer Basketball
1975 Topps Baseball

Ese, I scratched that itch a lot as a baseball we kid from about 1978-1983 or so, had probably 5-6 boxes of Topps cards back then. Sold those all off in garage sale decades ago. The other day did happen to find a rookie Topps card of one the newest MLB HOF inductees, Mr. Ichiro Suzuki. Not sure of value but guessing $100-500. HS bud of mine ran across a great haul at a garage sale on his street in his early teens, earlyish mid 80s. Elderly women was selling a shoebox of baseball cards which had been her deceased husband's. Well lo and behold, there were 2-3 rookie Mickey Mantles in it and back then the cards were like a painted pictoral type card. We took one up to Houston late in HS and he sold it to a swank collector, using some of the proceeds to buy a newish, 1986 IROC Z.....Believe he still has the other 2 Mantle cards to this date.

Where do you get your prices from?

I have a rookie Brett Favre card. Been waiting 20 years for it to crack 4 bucks.

Lmfao, yep same here.....

Are you the one that had Jordan rookies?

I was a collector in the 80's to early 90's. I still have them all in the attic in plastic totes.

I go to eBay and auction houses for pricing.

I can't remember what I've posted about in the past, but I do have a Jordan rookie PSA 8 (and an unopened pack with his sticker on the back) but my two biggest are 2 Bailey Howell 1961 Fleers PSA 10 rookies (only 3 exist). Received a big offer for them last week but not ready to let them go.

I figured out what happened to that Jordan rookie, and why it went to the moon. A bunch of investor groups got together and we're buying them up, and drove the market.

Only card I have is an Upper deck Griffy jr. card I got when a guy borrowed $40 from me gave me the card instead of $60 back.

Nice card, it on my list.

Folks I know who buy storage auctions typically just dumpster them.

Ive collected my whole life. Try not to buy into online breaks, its expensive and addictive. Same with opening new product. Its fun to do, like buying a lottery ticket though. When i stopped breaking product, I put the money into buying the cards I wanted and built a nice collection. Mainly focusing on Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente, and Nolan Ryan. All of my vintage cards are graded by PSA, BGS. I didnt manage to snag a 52 Mantle but have all 1953 on up.

99% of what you find in storage units and garage sales are 1986 into the early 90s which arw basically worthless .

I collected in my youth, and have picked up some things here and there from garage sales and estate sales. I went through all 75k +/- cards and got all the commons and sold those in lots for a decent amount. Have some really nice ones that I am considering sending out to get graded at some point. Scored a massive box of cards at en estate sale for $10 that had 1960's baseball cards, tons of unopened Garbage Pail Kids packs, Star Wars gen 1 cards, Black Hole, and other random cards from the 70-80's. Collected autographs back when I was a kid, also. Got a Mickey Mantle & Hank Aaron, as well as some other greats from back in the day. Still keep my eye out, but not really into the new stuff as much. I do watch some of the card breaks of the people who hit those 1/1's and that's cool to see.

Never have been a collector of cards. The only set I have is a Nolan Ryan I got the last time i watched him pitch. Have had the unopened set ever since.

I collected in the most worthless era it seems....unless things change. 88-92ish.

I have a half dozen mahomes rookie cards. I imagine they are worth something but haven’t checked.

I bought my boys a huge collection of cards back nearly 20 years ago. Gave them as a gift. They've just sat in a closet. Have no idea what to do with them! MLB NFL NHL.

Lol 100% i was right there with you.

Topwater nailed it...... most of those were the trash wax days.....I have a binder with all the cards I thought were good, and today they are almost all under a dollar. 😆 of course I had to pick the worst time to collect.

This is one of the very few cards I insisted on buying graded. Have a few Ohtani Update rookies I pulled in 2018 but this is my first and only Series 2 rookie. Bought it mid summer when I felt he had a chance at 50/50 and it paid off nicely with it now worth 2X+ what I paid.

My all time favorite Nolan card. These could be had for about a buck until Covid hit. Now they run about $5-$6 each.

These are playing cards but they still count. These are super nice in hand!

i collect 1970 through 1980. 71 Topps are the best. Need a NrMn or better 71 Clemente

This is a fun one. No that ain’t Derek Jeter no matter what it says on the card.

I'm jealous....

These are from 1985 Topps and I pulled them when I was 7 years old. They were pulled from packs my Grandmother bought me almost 40 years ago. For years these cards were worthless but they have skyrocketed in price lately because many consider it his rookie. These are in typical child owned condition but they are priceless to me.

That's right Brother!

I don't have much worth anything....lol. I have a Kobe refractor, not atomic....a Frank Thomas RC that was worth something at one point. Speaking of being worth something at one time and not longer, I have a Mark Mcguire RC. The only 1 of 1 I've ever pulled was a Press plate of Garrett Anderson. Everything else is probably under $2..... oh how much money I've lost....

If you really want to get sucked back into the hobby make the trip to the Dallas Card Show in March. Its actually held in Allen but its worth the drive from San Antonio. Its the biggest card show in the U.S. other than the National that happens once a year. I usually go on Friday and Saturday and still cant see everything in 2 days. Lots of value boxes to go through. I have spent as much as 6 hours at one dealer before just looking through value boxes. There is plenty of high end as well. I have seen Million dollar cards there on more than 1 occasion.

I've already started, and I'm on full tilt. I'm trying to stay in the known territory, mostly older cards that won't be so the volatile. Starting with some UT legends.

I might make a trip up there, it sounds cool.

That's what McGwire looked like when I played against him in the NW League. He played 3rd base at Modesto, and was tall and rather thin. What a difference those 'roids made.

Oh, man ....I'm all in. and in deep. I'm gonna head up there next month.

I have 4 Gretzky rookie cards in plastic in my climate controlled safe. 1978 O Pee Chee. Everything else I own is meh.

Here is most of my Mantle collection with somw othera in there as well.

wow!!!

Very nice

I've got a bunch of my dads cards from the 50's and 60's. There's a bunch of Mickey Mantle, Hank Arron, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Stan Musial ect ect. I'll try to remember to take a picture this weekend and post them up. None are graded but I'm thinking about sending some of the better condition ones to PSA.

I collected in 80' and 90's but as mentioned it is a pretty worthless era for card collecting. About 15 or so years ago I got the itch again and bought some graded cards from back then. now I cant even remember wat I paid for them.

I have boxes full of cards from the 80’s-90’s and a ton of comics from the 60’s-80’s. I have girls and they’re not interested in that stuff.

I’d entertain getting rid of them if someone is interested.

I would be interested in the cards, I know nothing about comic books.

So i finally bought my first box of cards. I pulled the trigger on a bowman chrome hobby box (60 cards), and boy was it expensive. They go for a little under $400 out the door, but i lucked out and pulled $700 in raw cards. I sent 5 to PSA, if they grade well they should bring over 1k, fingers crossed.

I added a big card to my Clemente collection. Im trying to complete a complete Mantle run and Clemente run
I care more about the eye appeal of a card than the number grade. This one looks amazing.

1955 Topps Clemente Rookie

I picked up a PSA 9 Earl Campbell last week. That's the oldest card I own.

How did that come in as a “2”? Is the back scratched off? It looks like it ha great margins and corners. Was it shaved?

I agree! That card looks well above a 2 just based on the front. Wonder is there is tape or wax stain on back. Wish I could afford to collect vintage but I just have to many other hobbies.

Anyone make it to the Dallas show this weekend? I got there at 2pm friday and stayed until closing time. Got there at 9am yesterday and stayed untill 4pm. I have never seen that show so busy! I am sure spring break has something to do with it.
I stayed in the bargain boxes both days and found some deals but nothing real big. Got a stack of Griffey jr with about 120 cards in it for $.20 each including a 1989 Bowman rookie. Found 6 Jeter rookies in a $.25 box. Found a Emmitt Smith rookie in a $.25 box. Found lots of vintage Cowboys in the quarter boxes as well. Found some Frank Thomas, Ohtani, and Trout cards I didnt have in the dime boxes (that was crazy). Also got to see Adrian Beltre and Adrian Peterson. Will post pics in a second of them.

Also surprised that graded a 2. Nathan I've got a '62 Post Cereal Clemente (ungraded) that I traded for years back. Not a fit in my collection. If you need one PM me an offer.

Missed it. I am in Surprise for Spring Training. You guys are making me want to get my cards out of the safe.

So.. anyone have an idea why the price on Sammy Sosa Donruss rookie error cards is all over the place? I've seen them listed for $2 to $4000. I have the "double error" card with wrong birth date and missing a period. I'm guessing it doesn't have any real value, but if it doe's I should probably get it graded. My eyeballs think it's mint.

Its been years since I have looked into those cards but if I remember correctly it was a uncorrected error meaning every single one of them has the wrong birthdate. As for the missing period cards they are run about 50/50 with half being corrected and half not. Real world value is about $1 or less. Ebay is just full of scammers trying to cash in on stuff like that. I have probably 100 of them and probably half are errors.

Are sports cards a thing again? For awhile there the prices dropped drastically.

Go to ebay search, all the way to the right you will see advanced, click it then enter the card. It will show what people actually have paid for the card.

This is probably the best error from that ‘90 Donruss set. It says John Smoltz but the picture is Tom Glavine. These are far more rare than the Sosa but still only bring a couple bucks or so.

Who remembers the F face card?

I actually have one and know its not a fake because I saw it pulled from a pack by a dealer that I have been friends with for over 15 years. Thats one card that I would always buy graded more so for authenticity purposes rather than the grade. There are some really good fakes out there.

If you are a Earl Campbell fan you should have made it to the Dallas Card Show this weekend. He was there signing autographs. I didnt get to see him because I was to busy shopping but he was there. He does not do to many signings.

I wanted to go, but we are heading up there in two weeks, and didn't want to make that drive twice. I need to get his auto on an authentic Texas helmet that has Ricky's auto one one side. I'm hoping to get it done before it's too late.

JBC are you a Bonds fan?

You could have knocked out both autos with one trip. Ricky was there yesterday also. LOL

I wouldnt say I am a fan but I do buy some of his cards when I see them priced right. Love him or hate him, the truth is no baseball card collection is complete without him included.

I feel the same, i sent some of his cards to be graded. Are you into the new stuff?

Damn it!

Yes and no. I dont open any products anymore but buy tons of modern singles on Ebay and at card shows. I mostly collect Hall Of Famers and future Hall Of Famers and like seeing some of the retired players in the new card designs and like seeing the new players in some of the old card designs like Topps Archives and Topps Heritage. I think the last time I bought any boxes to open was in 2018 and the only reason I opened those was because the rookie class was so deep with Acuna, Ohtani, and Soto. It was almost impossible to not come out ahead on those boxes as long as you didnt pay scalper prices. Now days if I buy any new products I just keep them sealed because at todays prices its really hard to break even much less come out ahead.

Yeah, i was thinking about buying some old cases, that are under retail now. I like 2024 bowman chrome hobby boxes but retail was $278 a box, but now they are upwards of $400, so a case went from a little over $3300 to $4900... I got lucky with the box I bought because I pulled a duel auto international impact Jackson Chourio, and Ethan Salas 1/25, and a "it came to the league" Wyatt Langford also 1/25 that's not gonna happen very often. I'm gonna do some more research and see if i can find a case where I'm less likely to lose my arse.

You killed it with that box!! Those are 3 of the top prospects/rookies of the last couple of seasons.

I dont get into the prospect stuff to much because I have seen so many fizzle out. I do pick up Langford and Jung stuff though because I collect Rangers.

I have seen Josh Jung at those Dallas shows in the past walking the show floor buying cards and opening packs. He is pretty big into cards and likes to collect high end cards of himself. I watched him one day buy a card of himself off of a dealer and the dealer had no clue he just sold Josh a card of himself. LOL

Hell, there was a Paul Skenes RC, Paul Crow Armstrong RC, Jasson Dominguez RC retro card refractor. All of those plus the other two I mentioned went to PSA. Not only that, I got these three prospects that show some promise. The last one is a blue refractor/150 it goes for $50-60, it would of gone to PSA but its off centered. The other two are 3-5 bucks.

You follow the Rangers, so what do you know about Curley Martha? I have a pink shimmer /199 of his in the box also.

Her is the back of my Clemente Rc. Looksgreat. There is a very light surface wrinkle on the front that can only ve seen when tilted in the light

I guess it got knocked for the discoloration?

Did you guys hear about the guy who soaked old cards? Then sent them to auction at a big auction house, and almost got away with it but he had opened his big mouth to brag.

No, color is good. Its that light surface wrinkle, any type of crease or wrinkle, even barely visible, Knocks the grade way fown. Ill take every day over an off center or ugly higher grade card

Never heard of him.

He's a very young prospect.

It sounds like Sebastian Walcott is the next highly touted the prospect for the Rangers.

Do yall know any good places in the Fort Worth area?

Hey JCB are you in the Frisco area? Sebastian Walcott the Rangers #1 prospect is playing for the Rough Riders. I'm gonna check him out when they come down here to play the S.A. Missions. I just checked, and Ethan Salas is the catcher for S.A. I'll definitely will be hitting up some minor league baseball the year.

I am in the Lake Ray Hubbard area probably less than an hour south of Frisco depending on DFW traffic. I have never been to a Rough Riders game but my brother goes from time to time. He is pretty much my eyes and ears for minor league talent. He has been telling me about Walcott for close to a year now so he is probably the real deal. I dont really get into the prospect part of the hobby but if its home team prospects I will try to stash away a few of their cards when I find them. So far my Walcott collection is sitting at zero but hopefully that will change with the card show in May.

I pulled this guy a couple of days ago. I have 12 of his base 1st bowman's, plus this one /250

I wasn't gonna get into prospects, but I ended up jumping in.

If your brother knows prospects he'll probably know this guy. I pulled it last night. Huge card, I'm sending it to PSA today it will probably come back as a 9, but I really just want to get it into a slab. It could be 2k plus, I saw where one sold on ebay for 1600 raw.

Roughrider games are a blast!!!

I heard some chatter about him at the last Dallas card show. There were lots of people lookin for his stuff so I dont doubt thats a big card. Thats one of those cards I call a "Hot Potato Card". They can bring big money before he is called up to the majors and even bigger money right at call up. After that there is a 95% chance you dont want to be the one holding that card because it will likely never be worth more than it is worth at the time he is called up. Very few exceptions to that rule.

Another name I heard alot at the show was George Lombard for the Yankees. There were lots of guys going nuts looking for his stuff in the bargain boxes and paying $1-$5 just for his base Bowman stuff. I got lucky and found a few in the quarter boxes so I picked them up. Its hard to go wrong for a quarter. LOL

Yeah, I'm selling it as soon as it gets back. You'll never go broke taking a profit. Plus I'm sure you remember Wander Franco...... I ripped a hobby box case of 2023 Bowman Chrome, and boy did i pull a bunch of his cards. The wife got mad because I threw them away. She would rather give them to kids at her work. I told her she definitely doesn't want to give these cards to kids...... a lot of guys lost a lot of money on him. I'm selling everything I pulled, And buying old cards, my next target is a Clemens RC.

I lied. I was just going through some quarter box stuff from the last Dallas show and found a couple Walcotts in there that I dont even remember getting. I dont think it has been announced yet but I am hearing some rumors from some pretty reliable sources that are saying he will be signing at the next Dallas show the first of May.

Man I just checked, I was hoping that the next card show matched up with my DILs graduation.

Do you ever buy packs or boxes? 25 Bowman released yesterday.

Only one I have. Was given to me about 15 years ago by a friend.

That damn card i sent to PSA has been graded, but they don't post the grade...... I hate all this waiting..... its like having a child...

Is that a metal card?

I don't think so, I haven't taken it apart. Looks to be signed with a gold paint pen. All the print is gold. Pretty sure it's just a card though.

Very rarely. When I do I usually dont open them. I think I bought 2 boxes of '24 Topps and just put them on the shelf unopened. I only bought those just in case Paul Skenes lives up to his hype. The only recent stuff I have opened was some '24 Halloween football. They were super cheap and I thought the Halloween theme was interesting so I bought them on impulse. They were boring. LOL

I collect alot of Aikman stuff but havent come across one of those yet.

I will warn you that high gloss cards and foil cards do not do well in those screw down slabs that dont have a recess in them for the card. Every single one I have unscrewed suffered some sort of damage from the card sticking from years of being compressed between those two slabs of plastic. If I were you I would just leave it in there forever.

Lol, I've come out ahead in everything I've opened except for 2023 Topps chrome blaster boxes. They were cheap, under $30 so I bought three, and got maybe $15 in cards

We are gonna head to the ball park for Easter. We went last week but Ethan Salas didn't play. I hope we get to see him next week, Jac Caglianone and the Naturals are coming to town.

This one is the best that I have in my collection

Awesome.

Is there a story behind it?

If that thing is legit I would get it slabbed and authenticated! Really no reason to grade it, but the authentication would easily triple its raw value. Up until the last few years when the '52 Topps Mantle took center stage, that Wagner was the holy grail of sports cards. Because of that it is also one of the most faked cards in the history of the hobby so people are reluctant to pay premium for a raw unauthenticated one. I have a few really good fakes but I bought them knowing they were fakes. I also have some copies of it that were licensed reprints from the Wagner estate.

Yes its a fake, I bought it to pull a joke on my nephew when I'm gone. Long story when he was younger and collecting cards with me I showed him my collection of T206 cards and told him about the Wagner card. He was so young that he thought his first name was was Honest not Honus. It was always a inside joke between us. Still today he always ask if I have found an Honest Wagner card yet. He will find this one when I pass away as he starts going thru all the other goods in his inheritance. Honestly I'll be smiling wherever I may be.

I finally got my grade for that Felnin Celesten auto. It came back PSA 9 which is what it figured, it's off centered. He did well in the dominican and complex leagues, and started where he left off in A ball. He hasn't hit a wall yet. Let's go!

You did really good on that one. Just dont hold it to long. One hit by pitch or bad slide and his value could come crashing back down to earth.

You may want to buy some card supplies before the tariff price hikes. I saw where a card shop in San Antonio was notified that plastic supplies are expected to jump 100%+. I figured that was coming and ordered 2 cases of toploaders last week. I am already seeing some sellers asking over $200 a case on Ebay. I think I paid $79 with free shipping.

Lol, just got 1000 in today! I was running low and I have a couple of boxes of Heritage, and a case of Bowman jumbo coming in the next three weeks.

Yep, I'm selling that card as soon as it gets here. PSA is so backed up right now, and they have 25 of my cards that I sent last month just sitting there, and they pushed back my completion date to mid June!

I'm trying to figure out what I want ro do with some of the cards that need to be graded......I pulled a Samuel Basallo refractor rookie that need to be graded. It should be a 10, but I don't know if it's worth sending off....graded PSA 10 should bring $400-500..... maybe SGC? But I would get that PSA premium.

The one good thing is that 8 of the 25 are old Barry Bonds Refractors, so I don't have to worry about him going into a slump while i wait for my cards to get back to me.

If you plan on selling it PSA is king. I have some Corey Seager rookies in SGC slabs and I actually like them better than PSA. For modern cards PSA is always the way to go though. For vintage SGC is right up there with PSA. Alot of vintage collectors actually prefer SGC over PSA.

I have a boxful of cards mainly from the 1970s, some '60s and some '80s. No idea of their worth.

Those years are way better then 80-90 junk wax.

Some vintage $.25 box finds from the last card show I am just now getting around to putting up. The condition of these was so incredible that I had to buy them even though I already had most of them.

Any of yall know if there is a Fanatics office in the Dallas area? I ordered some cards from Topps and they are coming out of Dallas. Just wondering if it's just a warehouse or an actual office. Fanatics bought Topps.

Topps is manufactured in Sunnyvale which is Dallas County. They are probably shipping direct from where they are made. They actually bought the printing company there that made both Topps and Panini.

Yep, thats where its coming from, that's cool! Are they a big part of the Dallas Card scene?

I got it back today!

You would think so but they really are not. Most people I talk to around here dont even know the cards they are buying are made just a few miles away. In Fanatics defense they just bought the place back in August of last year I believe so that may be why they dont have a bigger presence around town. I did see Michael Rubin (owner of Fanatics) and his team at the Dallas Card Show awhile back. I figured they were either looking to sponsor the show or just out right buy the show. As far as I know nothing ever became of that visit.

A Topps store would be cool.

Fanatics fest is just around the corner in NYC. It would be cool if it was in Dallas one year.