1987 Topps Baseball Forum

I had about 10,000 cards from the 80s. They sat through two yard sales. They wouldn't have sold on eBay if I did eBay then because it wasn't worth the shipping. I gave them all away to a shop, who claimed to give them to veterans. Since joining this site, I kind of wish I still had them, just so I could give them to those who need them for sets. But I hope the veterans had fun. 

So, yes, they were/are nearly worthless. That said, it does irk me a bit that the stars aren't considered to be worth just a little more. My Sandberg rookie worth almost nothing. Sigh. So many great stars' cards worth almost nothing. It ain't right. 

I don't understand most of this conversation.  I am a collector.  The only thing pricing does for me is to let me know what I should pay for a card that I want in my collection.  Once in my collection, I don't really care about the value in dollars.  It is another card in my collection that I wanted.  Price guides, mainly Beckett's did huge damage to the hobby in their fluctuating values of cards that were never meant to be worth much. 

And the idea of throwing away cards.  Never.  I too have thousands of doubles fromt he late 80s and early 90s.  But i have learnt that many times, I get a set that is "complete" only to find a common of an unknown player missing from the set.  Most times, I can complete the set on my own (other than if it is a Blue Jay player missing as many of the cards were had from Toronto where the local players were removed).  Since I have been on this site, many other collectors have been trading for their local players or favourites, players I would have "thrown out" had I had a mind to do that.  If nothing else, give them tot he kids in your local town and let them enjoy the hobby for cheap.

I agree with sandyrusty. I collect the cards I want and need to fill my Topps sets or my Royals collection. Once I have one, or several, I move on to another. There are always more cards I want and more holes to fill.  When people find out I collect cards I'm almost always asked- "What's your most valuable card?"  I usually reply: I don't have the slightest idea. Once I get a card I don't care if the value goes up or down.  I can only tell you what is the most I have ever paid for a card.

To me, card collecting is a wonderful hobby.  Not a job or a profession or a way to make money.  It's a way to relax in the evening or weekend. For years it was the excitement of looking for shops when going on vacation or driving through towns. Now, thanks to the Internet it's also about searching eBay and COMC. 

Of course that's a simple way of looking at the whole issue of collecting. 

Guys. Chill. I'm a collector, too. I am certainly not trying to make money. If I sell cards, I immediately invest in new cards. It's all about expanding and enjoying my collection. But, for a few reasons, I still have mild interest in the value of my cards. First, I just sort of get a kick out of it. I own a piece of cardboard-- CARDBOARD-- that some expert thinks is worth $175. That amuses me. (Less so when I'm buying that piece of cardboard.) Amd I'm a bit fascinated at what players and cards people value over others. The price is a shortcut way to see that. Also, it would have been nice if my 10,000 80s doubles had been worth something and been wanted. Because then I could have bought more 60s cards. Finally, I almost feel offended for the players I grew up with. HOFers whose cards are worth almost nothing. Just bugs me. 

No, it's really not about the money. It's really about fun. At least for me. 

V3

Fleer Ultra's first year was 1991, not 1990. Maybe you are thinking of 1990 Leaf. Either way, I have never encouraged ANYONE to throw cards in the trash, UNLESS they have serious creases. That's the only thing that ever leads me to throw a card in the trash. Actually there is a second reason, if they have serious damage from a liquid!

However, if a card is older than 1980 I'm not throwing it out for any reason!!! I have several vintage cards that I wouldn't trash if someone paid me to do it. My oldest card is from 1910 and is missing an entire corner. I don't mean that it is rounded or fuzzy, I mean that it is completely gone. I will never let that card go. Here is a link to my PB scan of it:

[URL=http://s550.photobucket.com/user/Spazmatastic-the1st/media/Sports%20Cards/1909-11T-206.jpg.html][IMG]http://i550.photobucket.com/albums/ii408/Spazmatastic-the1st/Sports%20Cards/1909-11T-206.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

http://i550.photobucket.com/albums/ii408/Spazmatastic-the1st/Sports%20Cards/1909-11T-206.jpg

NJDevils wrote: 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'm fine with low prices.  As I've mentioned, I sold off (most of) my collection when I moved across country a few years ago.  I have a lot of holes to fill, re-buying cards I owned in the past, and it would really irk me if they had increased in value in the interim.  In fact, if "junk era" cards were valuable today, I could just about guarantee that I wouldn't be collecting now.  Wouldn't be worth the effort I'm putting into gradually getting my collection back up to where it once was.  But putting in a $25 order to Just Commons every couple months, and getting a whole bunch of cards in the mail for that price, keeps me interested.  Might be different if I were a new collector.  But as someone trying to obtain the cards I had before, I like the low prices.

The only way these a cards are going to go up in value if kids start closepinnning them to their bicycle spokes and "flip" cards. I did that in the 60's and could kick my butt for it now. Anyone else  do that?

Still  stuck in  the 60's

as much as the cards cost nowdays, kids will not be using on their bikes!

I also was going to say..how many kids ride bikes now compared to in previous generations?  probably not as many..they stay inside and play video games

ha ha

mark 

Please keep in mind that the intent of this post was about the distribution of pricing within low-valued sets (not the total value of the set).  For example, let's look at current Beckett pricing for one of my favorite sets: 1987 Topps.  

*10 cents: Gary Carter HOF, Bert Blyleven HOF, Tony LaRussa HOF, Bruce Sutter HOF, Whitey Herzog HOF, Andre Dawson HOF, Jim Rice HOF, Earl Weaver HOF, Don Sutton HOF, Phil Niekro HOF, Steve Carlton HOF, Paul Molitor HOF, Kirk Gibson, Dave Winfield HOF, Steve Garvey, Tim Raines, Dave Stewart, Lee Smith, Joe Carter, Tommy John, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Dave Parker, Dave Concepcion, Harold Baines, Jack Morris, etc.

*25 cents: Bobby Thigpen, Paul Assenmacher, Duane Ward, Mike LaValliere, Bob Tewksbury, Mitch Williams, Greg Swindell, Bobby Witt, Mark Portugal, Chris Bosio, Ron Karkovice, Dave Magadan, Bip Roberts, etc.

How are failed prospects (some with barely a cup of coffee in the majors), more than twice as valuable than Hall of Famers?  I think that Beckett could easily switch the 10 cent list with the 25 cent list and be more accurate.  I don't think that price guide companies care enough about these "penny" sets to take a harder look at their price distributions: 1986-1992.  

If you use price guides for buying and selling, do you even care?  Just because you know better, does the person you are buying or selling with know better?  

I agree with you and think it is a shame that the HOF players dont get their due in terms of collectibility.  I think from an overproduction standpoint it is likely that the 1987 HOF players are worth a nickel and the commons worth about 1 penny a piece.  beyond that the actual Stars that are rookies might be a bit more but considering availability no card should be worth more than a quarter right?  I also agree that it is harder to find commons because nobody stocks them and nobody wants to pay for shipping for a card worth a penny.  It is a quandry.  Hmm i need two cards to finish my set and buying them for a penny and shipping will cost nearly as much as the whole set, maybe i should buy another set for $5 just to get the two cards?  That is the quandry.  That is also why I am on this site.  People need commons and trading is a worthwhile way to get them.  Especially if you are a team collector.  The hobby was ruined for most due to overproduction, the balance was tipped to far.  I hate todays cards compared to the old cardboard it didnt get finger prints and didnt fade in color like the glossy crap.  I don't mind glossy fancy inserts but when the entire set is like that it seems like too much glitter and not enough substance for my liking.