Baseball card and memorabilia thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > Baseball card and memorabilia thread

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

It's crazy to see what happened to the card market just from when I started collecting (like 1995). We've gone from having all of these companies in the market:

-Upper Deck
-Topps
-Donruss/Pinnacle
-Pacific
-Fleer/Skybox/Flair
-Score

down to basically just Topps, thanks to MLB basically telling Topps that they are the only ones allowed to produce licensed trading cards. Upper Deck is hanging on by a thin thread at this point, having lost the ability to do much beyond license college stuff. Tristar also makes some minor league stuff that isn't licensed, but it seems like they keep making cards of the same players.

As a result, we've gone from the days of Topps releasing 5 different card sets a month, to maybe one every two months.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2011 18:59

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 10:15

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

ElwoodCuse posted:

In The Game, which up until now has done excellent hockey-only products, just came out with a baseball edition of Heroes and Prospects.

http://www.itgtradingcards.com/products/1011_hpbase/1011_hpbase_c.html

There are some absolutely insane patches and 1/1's and other crazy stuff there, plus a ton of guys who could hit it big someday.

Yeah, their stuff is similar to Tristar's. It's also not licensed. In this case it seems like they're putting out one of those high end sets, where every pack has a big card in it, and the packs cost like $40 (or more).

At this point I only buy cards to get signed in person or through the mail.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2011 19:51

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Kim Jong Il posted:

Gave up on collecting long ago but I still have my Micro Machines, Simpsons memorabilia, and various Marvel Comics-themed figurines lying around somewhere. God what a collossal waste of money.

It sucks that they don't make Micro Machines anymore, I loved those as a kid.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2011 20:04

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

If you want accurate TTM addresses and the ability to see everyone else's successes and failures, as well as recording your own, I recommend using sportscollectors.net.

I got Mariano on a ball once through the mail, and from what I've seen, you will have better luck sending him a larger item than something like a card. I had several unanswered requests of cards sent to him, so eventually I tried a ball, and sure enough I got it back pretty quickly.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2011 06:04

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Williams was actually good about signing compared to someone like DiMaggio, who later in life got really pissed if people got his autograph for free.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2011 05:43

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Casnorf posted:

There are a couple autographs in the couple hundred dollar range, but really what you're looking for is '93 Finest Refractors. They're ludicrously rare, and reading earlier in the thread that they had a print run of 241 makes me wonder if I managed to get any refractors in the one or two packs of it I was able to afford back in those days.

The Jeter SP rookies are hard to find in really good condition because of the material used on the card, so I believe that the PSA/BGS 10s are pretty valuable.

# ¿ Mar 18, 2011 21:00

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

JohnWilkesGoonth posted:

Can someone explain the basics of how cards are sold? I was looking at the Topps 2011 set and there are like hobby boxes, jumbo hobby boxes, retail boxes, and a bunch of other poo poo. I don't really understand the differences between, say, hobby and retail.

Hobby boxes have more inserts in them, and far better odds to pull the good stuff. It seems like the retail boxes (or anything you get at the big box stores that sell cards) have virtually no inserts anymore, or the odds are astronomical.

Jumbo hobby boxes contain fewer packs, but each pack has like 20-40 cards in it, I forget exactly how many. There are also some inserts you can only get out of those boxes.

# ¿ Mar 18, 2011 22:09

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

jeffersonlives posted:

Overproduction, then overexposure, then putting out too many low numbered insert cards.

Basically. It was a common joke among collectors that in the late 1980s Topps produced an entire set of cards for every man, woman, and child in America. But yeah, there was extreme overproduction throughout the '80s and early '90s, followed by a million different sets being released each year from 1997-2005 or so. At this point you start to have Pacific losing its baseball license, followed by Fleer going bankrupt and being bought out by Upper Deck (the beginning of the end was Donruss/Pinnacle going bankrupt in the late '90s).

Today there are several companies still doing unlicensed stuff that isn't all that terrible, like Tristar and In the Game. But

# ¿ Mar 19, 2011 06:00

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Groucho Marxist posted:

This is hilarious to me.

It gets even worse: UD's CEO was actually caught in his office shredding some of these cards at one point as someone walked into his office.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2011 16:16

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

You did extremely well, Yankees camp is usually terrible.

Looks like you got the following on the bat:

-David Wells
-Mark Teixeira
-Robinson Cano
-Joba Chamberlain
-Jesus Montero
-Andruw Jones
-Justin Maxwell

there's also part of a signature that isn't fully visible

# ¿ Mar 27, 2011 00:12

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

zakharov posted:

I got into this special event through a family connection. How do you recognize so many autos?

I'm an autograph collector.

Was this at the Yankees luncheon thing they had this week?

# ¿ Mar 27, 2011 02:45

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

zakharov posted:

Yeah that was this morning.

OK, that must have been something different from what I'm thinking of. I was just curious because a good chunk of those players never sign at the games.

Also if you post the signatures you aren't sure of I can probably identify them for you.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2011 02:52

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

stuart scott irl posted:

Heh

At least they bothered to photoshop the change, most of the time the first Topps set of the year keeps them in their same uniform from the previous year.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2011 15:32

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

JohnWilkesGoonth posted:

I have a stack of cards I'm about to send off for TTM autographs, it'll be fun to see if any come back signed.

If you tell me who you're sending to I can tell you who signs. I've been doing that for like 6 years now.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2011 16:53

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Chief McHeath posted:

Do you have an index or database or anything? TTM is something I've wanted to start doing for a while now, just haven't.

If you want to see what players' habits are, sign up for an account at sportscollectors.net. It's the biggest database that I know of as far as sports TTMs. Or, you can tell me who you want to send to and I can save you stamps on those guys that don't sign.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2011 01:20

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Strong Sauce posted:

Looking to buy a box of UD for my friend for his birthday. I'd rather buy a wax box with packs but the listing for a complete set is _way_ cheaper than the wax box. Both are unopened. What gives?

In a wax box you're basically paying extra for the chance to pull inserts (like numbered cards, autographs, game used stuff, etc.). The problem is that the prices are so inflated, and you can get some of the higher-end pulls for like half the cost of the box.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2011 01:21

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Strong Sauce posted:

Also do you know what is the difference between a Final Edition Factory Set and a Complete Factory Set? The final edition is cheaper and is in the shape of a wax pack box and not a normal complete set box.

I've honestly never heard of that before. My guess is that the packaging is different, or they were sold in different places? What set is this?

# ¿ Apr 21, 2011 01:34

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Mooseontheloose posted:

Can I ask why cards from the 90s and 80s got so devalued? Is it because there is such many cards out there or people just not interested in that era or what?

A lot of overproduction (especially in the 1980s). In the 1990s there were also just too many sets, which made guys like Albert Pujols have seemingly a hundred 'rookie' cards. Even worse, things like 1 of 1s went from being unheard of to common, ruining their value. Same goes for 'game worn' (not always true) jersey/bat/whatever cards, and signed cards as well. Although those still hold their value slightly better.

Another part of it is that the entire collectible market as a whole has been in decline value-wise for some time. Even high-end autographs are not selling for as much as they used to.

# ¿ May 12, 2011 17:39

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Chief McHeath posted:

Completely unrelated to the sticker/on-card debate, I need eleven cards to make a 2011 Topps Series 1 master set, anyone have a bunch lying around?

I need these:
Kimball Champion Minis: 22
60 Years of Topps: 1, 15
CMGR Vintage Reproduction: 8, 11, 13, 16, 25
Topps 60: 5, 21, 25

I'd gladly pay PayPal for them, or, I've got a ton of base and inserts from the set if someone wants to swing a trade. And yes, I'm actively searching out a partner on a number of dedicated sport card forums.

Check out sportlots.com, it's a good site to buy cheap single cards from people.

# ¿ May 13, 2011 22:36

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

The best thing to do is sell any Harper stuff you have now. Even if he does what he's expected to do the prices on his items will eventually go down. Right now they're the highest they've ever been.

# ¿ May 25, 2011 16:49

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

I thought that was hilarious. I think he's the highest-profile baseball card collector. I know he owns like the entire T206 set from 100 years ago.

# ¿ May 26, 2011 06:40

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

MrBlondeTHC posted:

What do you guys do with junk jerseys? Stuff like an unnumbered Tom Glavine jersey card from UD 2008 that's a $5 bulk-jersey in any shop? Toss it up on eBay for 99c? Sell it as part of a bulk memorabilia lot? Pack in with a bunch of other Glavine stuff?

I already give my base-set stuff to neighborhood kids for them to play with, but I don't know what to do with not-really-valuable stuff that's just a bit too nice to throw out.

I guess sell them as a lot? I dumped most of my 'game worn' memorabilia stuff before the market on that completely collapsed.

# ¿ May 28, 2011 04:53

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

From the images you've provided, it's pretty clear that those are indeed signed and not just printed. It's usually easy to tell. The best way is to shine some light across the surface at an angle. This allows the ink to appear different from the actual surface of the photo.

Based on those images, the Twins ones look team-provided. The Jim Rooker looks like it came out of a magazine or a newspaper.

# ¿ Aug 16, 2011 05:04

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

DaFuente posted:

Last week I randomly bought a pack of Bowman Chrome on a routine trip to Walmart and came away with a Bryce Harper auto redemption. It's a 1:3000 packs thing. I'm not sure if this means I should just stop collecting immediately or what. The thing sells for anywhere between $350 and $500 on eBay, which is way more than an autograph of guys like Hank Aaron or Sandy Koufax. The plan for now is to hang onto it until he gets called up and sell it as soon as he hits his first hot streak.

I would be careful waiting too long. God forbid he gets injured or something, because his stuff will tank fast. Strasburg's stuff lost a ton of value after he blew out his arm last year, and the prices almost never recover their lost value.

Turn in the redemption, get the card, and keep track of sale prices often.

# ¿ Aug 16, 2011 05:11

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Beatnik-Filmstar posted:

And stay classy, John.

http://www.johnrocker.net/index.shtml

Good to know he learned nothing from the ignorance that ended up destroying his then-promising career. He makes Luke Scott look reasonable.

# ¿ Aug 25, 2011 06:35

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Chief McHeath posted:

I started working at a card shop a couple of weeks ago, kind of boring so far honestly. Today the shop owner had me sort out inserts/autos/game used stuff for him and I found two 1/1s the dude didn't realize he had. I'm pretty sure just from working there a couple of weeks I could run a shop better.

Probably, although 1/1 cards are not as rare as they used to be.

# ¿ Aug 28, 2011 04:45

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Yeah, can't believe they bought that Gehrig. I could tell without even looking at it very long that it was sketchy.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2011 06:28

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

My longest mail return was like 3 years plus for Kerry Wood once. I've had a few other long returns, but a lot of them probably got thrown out because I've changed apartments and cities so much in the last couple of years as I've finished college.

My best recent returns are from people like Jim Bunning, Don Sutton, and Mark McGwire. He signed a bunch this spring and I thankfully got him. Unfortunately I missed out on Vladimir Guerrero, who signed a lot for awhile but then stopped.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2011 21:21

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

The oldest baseball item that I own is a 1917 NY Yankees Player Contract, signed by first AL President (and HOFer) Ban Johnson, as well as Jacob Ruppert, longtime Yankees owner during the Ruth years. Unfortunately the player who's contract it is had like 3 MLB ABs.

Some other older items include a St. Louis Cardinals-era Branch Rickey signed letter, and a 1937 Red Sox team signed postcard (signed by guys like Jimmie Foxx, Eddie Collins, Tom Yawkey, Lefty Grove, Rick Ferrell, Bob Doerr, and Joe Cronin among others).

also have a 1932 certificate signed by first Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis

FlamingLiberal fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Sep 2, 2011

# ¿ Sep 2, 2011 06:29

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Dan Hollis posted:

Wow...great card.

Do you know a good online source to research the value of these cards? I'm seeing T206's on eBay but no way of knowing if they are overpriced or not. The only online references I find are other auctions.

I have no interest in completing sets, but I wouldn't mind spending good money for a few nice pieces (something I can hopefully pass on to my children someday.)

Actual sales values are useful to get a price. I wouldn't rely on something outdated like Beckett, which hasn't been relevant since eBay came about.

# ¿ Sep 2, 2011 20:05

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Boinks posted:

I always thought the card market would crash if Beckett started listing actual sales values instead of 'retail' prices. 95% of packs are not worth what you get in them. Scratch off lottery tickets have better odds!

I understand the appeal of buying card packs to get that big hit though. But I feel much better putting together sets or collecting players.

The card market pretty much died earlier in the last decade. It used to be that there would be like 40-50 baseball card sets released a year between all of the companies. Now only Topps has the rights to sell MLB licensed cards. Upper Deck is probably headed to bankruptcy at some point soon, Fleer's long gone and probably never coming back since the rights are owned by Upper Deck, and Donruss only exists as a brand from Panini that they release as a minor league set once a year.

I would also say that from anecdotal experience, the rise of things like eBay killed the neighborhood card shop. In my part of Miami we used to have like 3-4 local card shops before eBay got big. As soon as that happened, they all pretty much died off at once.

I mean in the late 1990s/early 2000s we had:

-Topps/Bowman
-Upper Deck/SP
-Fleer/Flair/Skybox
-Donruss/Leaf/Pinnacle
-Pacific
-Just Minors
-Team Best
-Classic

Now it's essentially:

-Topps/Bowman (only official license)
-Tristar (kind of, they've slowed down recently)
-Panini making some Donruss-brand products
-I guess also this new company called 'In the Game' (or ITG) that makes very high-end card sets

also I was just reading that there are no currently planned releases for any NBA card products due to the lockout.

FlamingLiberal fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Sep 2, 2011

# ¿ Sep 2, 2011 21:43

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

I've always hated sticker autographs. They're lazy as hell and look awful.

The only thing worse is those cut signature cards where they don't fit the entire signature into the card 'window', or destroy a larger, more valuable piece to slap it on a card.

# ¿ Sep 11, 2011 04:12

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

McCloud24 posted:

No picture, but one year for my dad's birthday my mom managed to get a hold of a ball signed by Pee Wee Reese. My dad was born in Brooklyn in 1950 and Pee Wee was his favorite player. He has it in a fancy plastic box and nobody is allowed to touch it now. It's always a good bet to get my dad something Dodgers related for a gift. Brooklyn though...so help you if you get him something to do with the L.A. Dodgers. Last Christmas I got him his first Brooklyn cap since he was a kid, and for father's day I got him a biography of Roy Campanella.

Tell your dad that if he wants to keep the ball correctly preserved, he needs to buy a UV case (if he hasn't already). Greatly reduces the fading from natural light sources when displaying signed balls. I have a large one that I keep my HOF signed balls in.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2011 17:27

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Also TuffStuff shut down either the beginning of this year, or Jan 2010.

You can also go into Sportlots.com, a site where you can buy single cards, and they have a list of all products for every year.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2011 16:55

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

It's possible that could have been a reprint card. So many cards have been reprinted (especially the classic sets like 1952 Topps) that you just never know.

# ¿ Nov 13, 2011 09:10

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

streetlamp posted:

Anyone know of a list of possible autos or categories for the bags? $50-$60 for a random ball seems like a lot if I have a big chance of getting a random relief pitcher that played 4 games.

They usually put out a list of all the possible guys in the set, as well as how rare each one is.

Did it really cost $50? I thought they were like $30-40.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2011 19:46

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

I'd rather have a couple of those than a hobby box, but that's just because I rarely had a good experience ripping boxes back in the day. Like dropping $140 on a box of SP Legendary Cuts the first year it came out and getting like 4 jersey/bat cards of really middling players and no autographs.

At least one time I did well, getting a cheaper box of Upper Deck base stuff and getting a Sammy Sosa autograph jersey card that I sold for like $300

# ¿ Nov 14, 2011 19:58

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Boinks posted:

I got one of those Tristar ball boxes as a bonus in a $10 box of mixed packs at K-Mart once. It was from 2005 and Red Sox themed. I got Jim Rice and it came with a certificate you could use to look it up on the website and verify authenticity.

The only thing I miss about Upper Deck not having the MLB license anymore is the Sweet Spot autographs. Although they where getting ridiculous with the parallels.

That Rice ball is probably worth $40-50 or so (on the market, aka eBay)

One mistake UD made with the sweet spot autographs was when they had people sign different types of leather besides the balls themselves (like glove material). I've noticed that those faded into nothingness very quickly because they used silver sharpies on them.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2011 20:19

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

The glove material ones have faded a lot worse than the baseball ones. Including some very rare Dr. Mike Marshall ones (he never signs autographs)

Edit: Gold sharpie on MLB baseball material? What the hell were you thinking UD? That's a huge no-no. Always use regular pens.

# ¿ Nov 15, 2011 01:47

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 10:15

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

jetgrindeggy posted:

I got an auto redemption from Bowman, but it doesn't say who. It just says You are due to receive a Bowman Chrome Prospect Base Auto from 2011 Bowman Baseball. I should send it in, right?

Yes, it's usually worth more redeemed.

# ¿ Dec 3, 2011 05:39

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