1987 Topps Baseball Forum

When I look at modern pricing for 1987 Topps cards, the only changes I see in values from the set's peak during the early '90s is a reduced price tag.  Although the complete set values may be appropriate, the distribution of individual card values do not reflect player performance over the past 20-25 years.  There are Hall-of-Famers listed with $0.05 values, while washed-up rookies are valued at $0.40 or more.  Players that were popular in the late-80's/early-90's that didn't pan out are still at the upper end of the price spectrum, while diamond-in-the-rough players that turned out to have long and prosperous careers are still valued at the lower end of the spectrum.  The pricing seems to reflect an era when collector's were obsessed with rookie cards, adding significant value to any card that could be labeled 'rookie'.  There does not appear to be any scarcity or demand outside of star cards  It's time for the pricing authorities (Beckett) to take a harder look that the distribution of values for the cards at the end of the bubblegum era 1987-1991.  

Stars (>75% Hall-of-Fame Ballot)-- #20 G.Carter, #25 B.Blyleven, #56 Brewers Molitor, #68 T.LaRussa, #120 E.Murray, #150 W.Boggs, #200 P.Rose*, #218 S.Anderson, #243 W.Herzog, #256 Royals Brett, #300 R.Jackson, #306 Red Sox Seaver, #311-314 TBC, #331 Mets Carter, #345 A.Dawson, #380 G.Gossage, #400 G.Brett, #406 Yankees Henderson, #418 D.Williams, #425 T.Seaver, 430 M.Schmidt, #435 B.Sutter, 3450 K.Puckett, #456 Athletic LaRussa, #459 D.Eckersley, #480 J.Rice, #493 T.Lasorda, #506 Orioles Weaver, #530 T.Gwynn, #531 Astros Berra, #568 Weaver, #597 Schmidt AS, #598 O.Smith AS, #599 T.Gwynn AS, #602 G.Carter AS, #608 W.Boggs, AS, #609 C.Ripken AS, #610 J.Rice AS, #611 K.Puckett AS, #631 Tigers Anderson, 3648 B.Larkin, #673 D.Sutton, #680 R.Sandberg, 3694 P.Niekro, #718 S.Carlton, #73 R.Henderson, #741 P.Molitor, #749 O.Smith, #756 C.Fisk, #757 N.Ryan, #770 D.Winfield, #773 R.Yount, #784 C.Ripken, etc.

Semi-stars (5%-75% on HOF Ballot) -- #14 D.Stewart, #23 L.Smith, #30 T.Raines,  #100 S.Garvey, #220 J.Carter, #236 T.John, #340 R.Clemens,  #350 K.Hernandez, #385 O.Hershiser, #490 D.Murphy, #500 D.Mattingly, #600 D.Parker, #687 A.Trammell, #691 D.Parker, #731 D.Concepcion, #772 H.Baines, #778 J.Morris, etc.

Minor stars (0%-5% on HOF Ballot) -- #272 A.Galarraga, #565 D.Baker, #590 V.Coleman, #601 D.Strawberry, #603 D.Gooden, #661 L.Whitaker, #704 J.Orosco, #769 S.Sax, D.Baylor, B.Bell, G.Bell, B.Boone, etc.

Are you referring to the guide pricing on TCDB or are you speaking about other so-called pricing experts?

When an entire set of 660-800 cards can be had for less than $15 shipped, individual card pricing is virtually meaningless.  They're all commons.  In any case, card value has nothing to do with player "value" or performance, but 100% to do with supply and demand and hype.

Yes, I'm sure more people held on to a George Brett card but didn't hold one to lesser players.

Now, if you're looking to complete a full set or team set, you either have your George Brett or can get it easily from someone who has plenty. The lesser players may be hard to find. 

As with older sets, cards with low numbers or high numbers are harder to find since they were likely damaged by being at the top or bottom of a stack possibly bounded by a rubber band. That's a variable that has nothing to do with player performance.

As a related anecdote during my recent Junk Wax Christmas in September card give away, i sent out more no name players to people than stars because the stars are just more "common" to use the term loosely.  Set and team builders in particular need those more obscure players.  That being said how long will the "common" card prices for these new sets keep their value?  When you are paying 50 cents or more per card in a pack for some of the premium sets?

We can't forget about the 10's of thousands of these that have been intentionally destroyed or trashed by people over the past 20 years. I figure that at least 1/3rd of the base cards printed from 1985-1993 are completely gone now. They are still pretty common to find, but not as common as they were just 10 years ago.

so what are your opinons of a recent hall of famer?

if he was a semistar before elected, is he now an unlisted star when he makes HOF?

if we are talking about the price guide listings, I think beckett does not spend much time at all on the junk era (now) since there are so many new products coming out that they need to 'price'

mark

I am puzzled when people say "never throw cards away".    I encourage people to toss out any cards from 1990, Topps, Score or Fleer (not Ultra).    I figure if I can get 100K people to throw out their 1990 cards, it will increase the value of commons of that year from one cent to two.   Gotta think ahead.     Only way they will ever go up in value.

spazmatastic wrote: We can't forget about the 10's of thousands of these that have been intentionally destroyed or trashed by people over the past 20 years. I figure that at least 1/3rd of the base cards printed from 1985-1993 are completely gone now. They are still pretty common to find, but not as common as they were just 10 years ago.

I think the only sets I would throw away my extras from are 1991 Score and 1992 Donruss, though I've found a couple people who needed one or two.. 

I doubt you could throw out enough 90's cards to raise their value with any significance, especially seeing as how you don't know how many were produced overall.