General Forum

What are some key minor league sets or rookies that I should be on the lookout for? I saw some sealed minor league sets at a thrift store, most seemed to be from the early 2000s. Some of the players on the outside that I remember were Jermaine Dye and Marcus Giles. One was a 2000 Multi-Ad Round Rock Express with Nolan Ryan on the outside. These worth anything?

Minor League sets are always a shot in the dark. Even long after their release! A big part of that is team-releases. With only one team in the set, it's hard to get more than one card of a player that eventually makes the set worth anything. Also, those sets are generally overlooked by player-collectors and the team-collectors are keeping everything they get.

Personally, I would focus on All-Star sets for specific Leagues. They are the most likely to contain more than one card of a future star in the MLB. BUT, that still doesn't mean collectors know about them or pay attention to them. For example, I have the 2001 Grandstand Appalachian League All-Stars set. I was the one who added it here on TCDB, along with all of the scans. But most of the hobby still doesn't know about this set! The considered value is still very low just b/c people don't really know about it. It had one of the very first cards of both Yadier Molina and Joe Mauer. But the set still doesn't get much attention.

IF I'm not mistaken, both Dye and Giles have MLB RC cards in the late-90's, so an MiLB card of them from 2000+ wouldn't be worth much at all. Even their MLB RC's aren't worth much. I would guess that even that Nolan Ryan card wouldn't be worth much since it was well after he retired.

If you are looking for value in MiLB sets, I would think that currently they would be early 90's sets that would have players who are now HOFers or possible HOFers in the next few years. Sets from around 2000 would have to contain big stars to garner any kind of attention or value. Since most team-issued MiLB sets only cost $5-10 per set at the ballpark when released (even when made by big companies), they don't sell for much in the aftermarket unless it has major stars. In that case, it's highly unlikely to find a valuable set in a thrift store. That doesn't mean it's impossible though!

If I was going after any sets from the MiLB, I'd go after Gulf Coast League and Appalachian League (as they are the bottom of the MiLB and where most Draft Picks start out) OR any AAA Leagues (the step below MLB and also where injured stars go for rehab assignment)! JMO, but it's a well thought out opinion!

I definitely agree with spaz outlook on minor league stuff...the league all star/top prospect sets are a good bet.

I collect all minor league cards of my local AAA Memphis Redbirds (and prior AA team Chicks), and most of the ones I do not have at this point are all star/top prospect sets.

I pick up a few hits here and there on COMC in that category.

but, of course, the 'main thing' to me is not worth or book value, but having fun.....so that is my goal more than if something is 'worth it'

of course, the other thing you can do when considering a pick up of a set or mixed singles is look the cards up here to see how many folks have on their want list (if you are looking for good trade bait).

mark 

I agree with your outlook also. I was specifically commenting on his 2 questions and they seemed to be about value.

I collect STL Cardinals on any and all levels! I don't care about BV or perceived value of the cards. I've added about 2 dozen Line Drive MiLB cards from 1991-92 to my collection in the past month through trades JUST b/c I didn't have them yet. I would add any Burlington Indians or Burlington Royals cards to my collection if I found them, just b/c they are my hometown MiLB team. They don't get many sets for the team or the Appy League made anymore, at least to my knowledge.

When I was in my "get every Cubs card made" phase of collecting I made getting all the Cubs affiliate minor league cards a goal also. I have around 2000 minor league Cubs cards. That happens to include minor league cards of Maddux, Palmeiro, Grace and others that eventually had some value. But that wasn't really the point, it was more about the fun of collecting them. If value is the only reason you're looking at the minor league cards, I'd look elsewhere. The only sure-fire way to collect anything of value, is for it to have value when you get it. The problem with that is trying to retain that value. How many highly touted players become busts? With nearly 19,000 players all-time, there are only 226 former MLB players enshrined in the HOF. Remember the can't miss, gonna be hall of famers, Strawberry and Gooden? If you like lottery tickets that could be fun, but I wouldn't expect much. Kinda like going to Vegas. I wouldn't go there with my bread money. Remember to collect what you like, if it ends up with value that's just a bonus.