Posted By | Message |
Howintensive
Posts: 41
Joined: May 2014
|
Thursday, July 24, 2014 9:29 PM | |
Hey everyone. I'm going to a small card show in Jackson, MI on Saturday, and I'm bringing my girlfriend. She wants to go, mostly because she hasn't been exposed to my card collecting long enough to not find it "cute" anymore. So it will be nice to have another pair of eyes to find the 92-93 Gordie Howe Hockey Heroes cards, 97-98 UD CC Hometown Heroes Back to Back Champs cards, and other Red Wings.
BUT, I want to give her a crash-course on card collecting. I want to tell her about the "junk wax era" of the early 90s, but what exactly was it? What sets? What years? I know junk wax when I see it, but I really want to try to quantify it. Also, if you have any other things that would be nice for her to know, let me know! I have my own opinions on what she should know, but you guys have way more expertise.
So, what would you teach a non-collector that is going to a card show?
-------------------------------
|
|
|
|
switzr1
Posts: 6,332
Joined: Dec 2013
|
Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:58 PM | |
For my money, 1988-1993 pretty well covers it. There are exceptions like 1989 Upper Deck and 1990 Leaf baseball, and the first Hoops basketball set. I felt 1988 Donruss was the first truly garbage set of the overproduced era. It was the era where people who weren't collectors started buying cards, hoping they would be valuable. They heard about the Donruss Mattingly and other big cards from the mid 80s, and suddenly cards were investments. The Billy Ripken error didn't help. I remember a guy here who was going to put his grand kids through college with those. The leagues saw dollar signs and started granting licenses to anyone with a printing press, and suddenly the market was flooded. Or at least this is how I remember it, being a teenager at the time.
-------------------------------
I'm going to reevaluate how I collect after the new year. It's just getting way too expensive for the new stuff. Sometimes I just want to buy a pack, not a whole box or even blaster.
|
|
|
|
dobbie
Posts: 39
Joined: Mar 2012
|
Friday, July 25, 2014 1:10 AM | |
Collect what you
want, not what a
seller wants.
Rare is a overused
word. The old
adage still applies
if it is too good
to be true it's
not. Scout all
the tables before
buying prices will
vary plus if on a
budget you could
spend it only later
to find the gotta
have item.
|
|
|
|
Billy Kingsley
Posts: 7,512
Joined: Aug 2011
|
Friday, July 25, 2014 3:04 AM | |
The early 1990s are
the BEST era of
cards, in my
sometimes humble
opinion. That was
an era where no
matter what your
interests were, it
was available in
card form. Cards
were accessible to
anyone, and you
could actually
build a decent
collection without
having to go
without food to pay
for it. Pretty much
that's what you
have to do now if
you want to even
get a single pack
of some sets. Back
then there were so
many sets that were
issued throughout
the year that you
could track a
player's career,
even in some cases
down to very
specific games,
with actual
photographs being
the norm.
I would give just
about anything to
go back to that
time period.
-------------------------------
VERY slow trading due to health problems. Not transferrable so safe to trade with, just moving is painful and can't always access the cards. Cardboard History My COMC New Collection Website: Cardboard History Gallery (Still under construction) Tips on how to make your scans look like the card does in hand (No more washed out, fuzzy scans!):
|
|
|
|
carthage44
Posts: 281
Joined: Sep 2011
|
Friday, July 25, 2014 5:46 AM | |
I would say the
years from 1987
through the late
90's. The late 90's
had some rare
inserts but every
card company
produced about 20-
30 different types
of sets which
flooded the market
as well. Sure,
those cards from
the late 80's and
early 90's are
almost worthless
when it comes to
resale value but I
wouldn't call them
junk because for a
guy like me, that
was the time I
started collecting.
Every time I see
those terrible 1990
donruss baseball
cards it really
brings me back to
those fun innocent
times of collecting
during my youth. If
you are looking to
just resell then
sure those years
are worthless but
for old school hard
core collectors,
you respect those
years for what they
are.
-------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Kirk
Posts: 159
Joined: Mar 2014
|
Friday, July 25, 2014 9:10 AM | |
"Junk" wax is the term given by people who invested in the cards of that era and lost their money. Sure most of the cards from that era don't have much value as an investment because there are SO many of them, but for those of us who collect solely for the enjoyment of the cards it was a great era.
|
|
|
|
Lungman00
Posts: 63
Joined: Jul 2014
|
Friday, July 25, 2014 9:18 AM | |
I'd even go a little earlier and say it started flooding around 85. Like others have said, it all depends on what you're looking to do. If you are collecting for the fun of collecting, then the over flooded market will save you some money. If you're in it as an investment, then the flood hurts. It hurt a lot of people in the 80's who thought they'd buy low and sell high.
With all of that said, collecting, true collecting, should bring you back to a happy place. Every time I look at my collection, I can remember going to the corner store and getting 2 packs of cards and a box of pumpkin seeds for 25 cents. And it was always an extra good day when I got a Phillies player. Or flipping cards with my friends and winning a whole pile of cards, or losing a pile. (wasn't a good feeling then but is a good memory now)
I'll admit I got caught up in both aspects. In the 80's and 90's, I didn't spend a lot of money but I started becoming more of an investor than a collector. Buying full sets, unopened wax boxes, autographs, etc. Even though I've never sold anything, they're all still cool to have.
P.S. Does she have a favorite team, player, sport? Maybe have her search for something from the year she was born? Most important of all? The memories.
|
|
|
|
Howintensive
Posts: 41
Joined: May 2014
|
Friday, July 25, 2014 9:24 AM | |
Honestly I love the cards of the early 90s. The 91-92 NHL Pro Set is my favorite set of cards ever. I just want to let her know that if she finds a '91 base set Yzerman card for $3 or something, that it is definitely overpriced. But if she finds 30 90s era Red Wings from the early 90s for $3, then she should swipe that up right away! I'm mostly trying to teach her about being a smart card shopper, along with the difference between insert cards and subsets, base cards, the various card brands, parallels, etc.
-------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Dixxy
Posts: 349
Joined: Mar 2013
|
Friday, July 25, 2014 10:31 AM | |
Interesting. I've been collecting 90's sets this last bit and I've been getting them for 10 bucks a set.... 500-700 cards.... 3 bucks for a 30 pack of a team sounds like a rip to me. Can you haggle with these guys???
Honestly, the pro set cards, I'm trying to complete them too. I just keep getting french! 1990-91 proset is technically complete... except for the error cards! Man, are those actually hard to track down or what? and my biggest collecting memory comes from this set. I pulled my first Wayne Gretzky one year at christmas from a lot my mother picked up at Value Village. it was the 2000th point card, #703 WORTHLESS!!! I was such a proud child!!
-------------------------------
The difference between Hoarding and Collecting is Structure. ~Kris~
|
|
|
|
captkirk42
Posts: 2,268
Joined: May 2011
|
Friday, July 25, 2014 10:51 AM | |
I tend to agree with Lungman that it actually started around 85 the mid 80s and pretty much lasts until around the late 90s 97 or 98.
The two basic reasons:
There were at least a dozen different card companies each cranking out tens of thousands of each individual card, and about 20 different sets each year all year round. Constantly testing out new "innovative" ideas and gimmicks to try to increase this tidal wave of cardboard. (Hmm sound familiar?) As opposed to the earlier days of only a handful of companies (Topps and one or two other guys) when they only produced one maybe two sets of each sport DURING the SEASON of that sport and only a few thousand copies of each card not tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. Now days we are back to only a few companies, but they are still making tons of different sets, but are short printing and super shortprinting individaul cards. They are making a ton of inserts and parallels now. In the old days and during the "Junk" days they weren't making as many parallels the thing was Shiney glossy gold and silver plating limited "Chase" cards.
Second instead of all the buyers being "Collectors" (i.e. "Kids" for the longest time), most buyers were investors and now adults not just kids. The idea was "Hey the cards from the 1950s and 60s are worth Money in some cases worth thousands and thousands, So If I buy 5 of these Topps sets at $20 and Oooh these Rookies of this Guy Jordan (he'll never make it I better not risk it on him), and Jones, and Beeblebrox I'll buy as many of those guys as I can. Hey I like Beeblebrox I'll get 20" Soooo you have a ton of product being made, and everybody and his brother is snatching them up with the hopes of making it rich. So now many people are using those cards as wallpaper.
-------------------------------
I collect: Baseball, Football, Hockey, Mostly Vintage pre1980, My Homie teams - Washington/Baltimore Teams Senators (Twins, Rangers), Expos/Nationals, Redskins, Capitals, Bullets/Wizards - HOFers - Non-sport (mostly TV shows and movies). My Trade List is very much a work in progress CaptKirk42s Trading Card Blog Curly W Cards Strive For '65 YouTube klandersen42
|
|
|
|