Baseball Cards

[askaufman]

I collected heavily from the late '80s to around 2000. I picked one of the worst times. The plethora of companies and inserts and $10 a pack cards priced me out. The best values are the Topps cards before 1982. There are less of them so that makes them valuable but even those prices are dropping. I still collect Topps retail sets. Don't fall for what you see in the price guides. Sure there are really valuable specialty cards but who is going to buy them? Collect for your own enjoyment and not like it is the stock market. Prices fluctuate wildly. An example I have Steve Carlton's Topps 1965 rookie card. Paid $250 for it in the mid 90s. It went up to around 450 in value. It now has dropped to under 200. I went and had him sign it. To some that diminishes the value but he was my wife's favorite player. I also have all the Phillies Topps card from the 1980 World Series team and it is framed. That is really the enjoyment for me.

[RICHARDMILTER]

I love these stories of guys and there collections. It seems everyone has a different wrinkle in how they collected and how it affected them. The lucky ones are those who still have their cards and have a child interested enough to share the hobby with.

Two comments I found interesting; the person who said once he realized girls as a teen the cards went on the back burner, amen to that! And the person who said he wishes he still had his Strato cards even if they are not worth money. They are not worth much in dollar value, but I too wish I had all the Strato cards I used to have. I have started buying those again too!

[RICHARDMILTER]

Sweet Card of Joe D. Does anyone else out there have scans of cards they want to post? I love looking at the cards!

[jmccully61]

I have a pretty big collection. Before I continue, please take the following as me telling a story, not me bragging. My Mom's friend's family had season tickets to the Phillies back when they were in Connie Mack. However, when the moved to The Vet, they received 4 tickets, 3rd row behind home plate. The husband died in the mid to late 70's, and the mom could not drive, so here was the deal. Her daugther would take me to get autographs before the game, and my mom would drive her to and back from the game. My mom had to work two jobs during the week, so her way of spending time with me was taking me to the Phillies on all of the weekend games.

Before I begin, I need a bit more background. My Dad was never around, and his way of making up to me was to buy me a box or two of baseball cards a week, a box, not a pack. This is what allowed me to have as many cards as I did for the following.

Her daughter begin collecting autographs when she was a teenager, and was in her mid 30's when I started to go over to The Vet (I was 7) for about 8 hours before the game started. Over a 10 (1989-1999) year period I got pretty much any NL Star, except for Barry Bonds (I have never met anyone quite like him, and this was way before roids, I mean he was like thison the Pirates). Anyway, I would average about 25 to 30 cards signed per day over a 10 year period. All together I estimate I have about 5,000 cards signed, but that does not count balls, nor boards (will explain). Honestly, I can not estimate how many total autographs I have when you combine cards, balls, and boards.

We always kept balls on us because you never knew who would show up to the ball park. For example, I have gotten Lou Brock, Reggie Jackson, Yoggia Berra, and many more HOF just wandering around at The Vet (This does not include promotions that would bring in older players .

Finally, the Blue Rocks and the Thunder are Minor League Teams that popped up in the area in the mid 90's. When the Phillies were not home, or a team that was not worth waiting on (aka the Dodgers or Mets, two of the nastiest teams in the NL, and it wasnt the players because they had the same attitude for 10 years). So what we did was get a "Board" signed. My Mom's friend, the person I went to get autographs with, was an artist. Therefore, we used some type of art board, and she designed the logo of the team in the middle, and we would get the entire team to sign it (Minor League autographs are easy). Then, we would post the roster obtained at the game on the back so we know who we got. Some of future MLB players I got in the Minors.

In case you were wondering here are some of the nicest and meanest players (list is not all inclusive)

[b:707ae8d3f5]Nice[/b:707ae8d3f5][u]
Dale Murphy - Never said no to an autograph, would sign the rain
John Kruck - Heres a funny story. One year I had about 25 cards of him, and I had asked him a few times during the season for an autograph. He asked me, if I sign all of these now, then please dont ask me again until next season, but he did it in a joking manner; however I respected his request
Curt Schilling
Tony Gwynn - The only HOF that I grew up with that would stop, sign 3 or4 cards for everyone, and talk to you.
Tom Glavine
Jeff Bagwell

[b:707ae8d3f5]Pricks[/b:707ae8d3f5]

I apologize if someone on here is your favorite player. The people i am about to list, were nasty not once, not twice, but at least 3 times.

Von Hayes
Barry Bonds
Harold Reyolnds (was on 1990 Reds WS Team and Baseball Tonight)
Mike Piazza
Joe Morgan ( Does ESPN Sunday Night MLB. I bring him up because I would see him once or twice a year, and would be the only person to ask him for an autograph. He never once signed a card or ball over a 10 year period)



I know that my cards are not even close in age to some of yours. Therefore, I thought i would share my story since its a bit different, and is from a different generation

[jmccully61]

I apologize for not putting this in the post above. I am trying to find an appraiser for my collection. I have tried contacting people, but they never contact me back. I am not sure if they think I am serious. However, I understand it will cost a lot of money to have it appraised and insured. If anyone knows of anything, then please let me know. My email is mccullyj@mailbox.sc.edu

[keyzick]

Awesome story dreamingtree!

Kinda cool to see who the nice guys were and who were the a**es...sort of validates perceptions of certain players I've always had (ie, Joe Morgan).

There's a lot of appraisal/certification contacts you can google. I don't know much about that process myself, just that it exists.

[RICHARDMILTER]

DreamingTree #41,
I like Keyzick think that is a great story. And I am glad to see one of my favorite players of all time, Tony Gwynn, was a good guy. The whole story was good, but the best part was your list of players that were nice, and not! Good luck getting your collection appraised and insured.

I said earlier when I started the post that I sold all my cards prior to college, that is not entirely true. Some of my cards were actually stolen. So DreamingTree #41, please get your collection insured!!!

[Jerlins]

I'm living my dream. I own a baseball card store, now in its 21st year of existence :D :D

[scorehouse]

i've collected for years. most of mine is 1957 graded cards and unopened cello and wax packs from the 50's and 60's. my favorite is a gai graded cello fron 1957 with the mickey mantle card on the back. sweet! :shock: :wink:

[RICHARDMILTER]

Jerlins said:[quote:d031e5395c]I'm living my dream. I own a baseball card store, now in its 21st year of existence[/quote:d031e5395c]


Jerlins,
Where is your store located? Will you be attending the huge Card Show in Cleveland(over 800 dealers) the last weekend of July? Do you grade cards? I almost made the business my career about 20 years ago, but went to college and started several other businesses instead. You are very lucky if you can make a living doing something you enjoy so much. I hope business is great for you. Have you seen a decline in sales with the sluggish economy? And if so, is this a great time to find bargains, with people needing to sell their collections? I know I just asked you about 10 questions, I apologize if some of the questions are not appropriate. I am just really curious about the life I almost led. I am just getting back into the swing of things and any info you feel like providing would be greatly appreciated, however if I asked to many questions, just ignore me.