Sports Cards
- Thread starter Yappi
- Start date
I collect some, but not enough to be an expert. There are so many different brands now. I just kind of concentrate on collecting Rookies and a few players I like. There are people that will spend over $500 on a box, just to see if they get anything worth it. I'm just content with getting a suprise autograph or jersey card from the pack I buy.
Cool flip. I've got a few I'd like to get graded to flip, but I'm afraid I won't get enough of a return after getting them graded. It is amazing how much people ask for cards, even recent athletes.
My lovely spouse and I use to deal in sports cards in the eighties. And she had the opportunity to purchase a rookie card of her idol, Roberto Clemente for a song of $55.00. And she passed on it because she didn't like the sideways presentation. Probably worth nearly $800.00 within five years of her opportunity.
I also ran across a box of baseball cards, that a teenage kid of one of my coworkers had. He said that he was tired of having them in his closest. And he told me that he'd let me take them off his hands for fifty dollars. I looked through the collection and told him that it was a deal. In the collection was the rookie card for Ted Williams, a Mickey Mantle card, and Stan Musial, a Phil Niekro, and a Brooks Robinson.
I also was able to find a distribution house out in the sticks, that sold confectionaries and other dry goods. And in their stock, was five cases of the new look 1984 Donruss baseball cards at a $140.00/case. They had looked pretty nice when I had seen some in a convenience store. And I knew that they would probably be in short supply due to the new design being a test issue. So, I decided to make the plunge to purchase all five. Long story short, I was able to make a dozen sets from these cases, with about twenty extra star cards of each one in the set. Many of the star cards went for $10.00 to $25.00 per card. With the full sets selling for $250.00 each. Not bad for a $700.00 investment.
CasualFan24
Well-known member
My son and all his buddies are into sports cards. I can't walk into Target/Meyer/Walmart without coming home with a Blaster Box of 1 of about 100 Panini Football brands.....I'm not going to lie, it's gambling. I love buying the boxes just as much as he does because it's like pulling the lever on a slot machine every time you open a pack.
At the same time...I don't mind doing that at $25-30 per box. It's the guys who spend big money on Hobby Boxes that I don't get. Rarely see them pay off.
One more thing....You guys need to download and check out the Whatnot app and search sports cards. It's a huge card selling/buying network
At the same time...I don't mind doing that at $25-30 per box. It's the guys who spend big money on Hobby Boxes that I don't get. Rarely see them pay off.
One more thing....You guys need to download and check out the Whatnot app and search sports cards. It's a huge card selling/buying network
Yea, I kinda like the fun of gambling on sports cards. The small boxes are good to buy, but I could never see myself spending $500 to open a box of cards and hope to make a profit.
Yappi
Go Buckeyes
Sports cards started as simply a fun hobby for kids. About 35 years ago, it was a combination of hobby and gambling. As more time passes, it is becoming a gambling hobby.
When I go through the boxes in the basement and find a valuable card, it is definitely like hitting the trifecta at a horse race.
When I go through the boxes in the basement and find a valuable card, it is definitely like hitting the trifecta at a horse race.
Yappi
Go Buckeyes
To be clear, I am definitely not an expert in sports cards. Just have a general interest in them.
I've been to Walmart and Target and have seen the boxes for sale. I am totally clueless on what is the hot boxes to buy. Is there any rule of thumb about which product is hot and which are duds? I prefer the old days when there were only a couple companies but this is the new frontier and it's tough to navigate.
I've been to Walmart and Target and have seen the boxes for sale. I am totally clueless on what is the hot boxes to buy. Is there any rule of thumb about which product is hot and which are duds? I prefer the old days when there were only a couple companies but this is the new frontier and it's tough to navigate.
thats impressive, we just had a garage sale, where after doing some research on them, found out , they are worth about $2-5 each. we had over 400 of them.
I wish I knew as well. I've heard all kinds of people say different things, but I'm not sure which one. Some are just cool to buy because of their card design. These are whar some of the base brands look like, but they also have cards called inserts that look different, and make it with different colors.
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There is also a brand called Select. The other two are both Prizm cards but have different styles. I dont know what colors to collect, but this one is purple
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CasualFan24
Well-known member
Some general rules to follow......
Panini brand is king right now for everything but baseball. Panini owns the rights to NFL and NBA - so they're the only ones allowed to print the team names on the cards for each player. MLB is Topps and Bowman. Panini has baseball, but they're not sought after because for example, Aaron Judge plays for New York on Panini cards. Not the New York Yankees.
Now, Panini has about a million different lines within their brand. The hottest retail cards are usually Prizm, Select, Mosaic, and Optic. My son also likes the value of lines like Contenders, and Zenith because you're guaranteed an auto or memorabilia card in those boxes. There are lots of others as well...
As for the cards themselves. 95% of what you get in the boxes are "base" cards....they all generally look the same. They're basically worthless. No one wants them, we usually give them to teachers at our school to hand out as prizes for doing good things in class.
Some of the valuable cards are as previous mentioned, numbered cards, and the "inserts" which are the cards that look different from all the others.
There are several apps out there that you can use to get a valuation on your card, the one we use is called "CenterStage". This app accesses your phones camera and scans your card. Then it shows you recent ebay sales of that specific card. Comes in handy.
CasualFan24
Well-known member
So the 2 on the right are Prizm. Middle would be referred to as "Purple Prizm, Stars and Stripes". One on the right would be "Prizm Stars and Stripes" These are both inserts and more collectible. The middle is the best one.
Another rule of thumb though in terms of value and collectibility - People want the PRO uniform cards the most. So Justin Field in his OSU uniform is not as valuable and collectible as he is in his Bears uniform.
So any box that says "Draft Picks" is going to be all college uniforms. That's for both football and basketball.
CasualFan24
Well-known member
I do like the Rated Rookie cards, somewhat nostalgic
Auggie
Well-known member
I worked with some card Companies back in the mid '90s and have some full unopen boxes of Pinnacles. Are they worth anything? Mostly MLB & NHL. One guy at a recent sports marketing party said that '90s MLB has limited value because of the steroid usage that taints much of the perception but the NHL could be good pending what the series is and all of that. If it is worth it I will dig them out and see what I have. Related I have tickets to many all star/championship games as well as invites to official League pregame parties from the '90s era. Is this stuff worth anything?
Modern wise I work with a company that does Teeny & Squeezy Mates blind packs. Have tons of the below just laying around:
Modern wise I work with a company that does Teeny & Squeezy Mates blind packs. Have tons of the below just laying around:
CasualFan24
Well-known member
Man - my son and his buddies LOVE the squeezy mates. If you're tired at looking at them, I'll give you my address!
Auggie
Well-known member
I end up giving them to kids charities at the end of the year. I do keep a couple of each series for memories.
Yea, bought a box of Zenith a couple weeks ago and pulled Burrow jersey card. Not worth much, but still pretty cool.
Yappi
Go Buckeyes
@Auggie were any of your Pinnacle boxes 1993 Series II?
I have a few boxes from back then and was lucky enough to have 1993 Upper Deck Series II, which has a lower level Jeter RC. Jeter was a nobody at the time those came out. Not really on anyone's radar but that changed in a few years. I ended up having about 10 Jeter RC from Classic 4 Sport. A very low level set but pleasantly surprised when I went through it 25 years later.
I have a few boxes from back then and was lucky enough to have 1993 Upper Deck Series II, which has a lower level Jeter RC. Jeter was a nobody at the time those came out. Not really on anyone's radar but that changed in a few years. I ended up having about 10 Jeter RC from Classic 4 Sport. A very low level set but pleasantly surprised when I went through it 25 years later.
Auggie
Well-known member
Not sure what I have, going to have to do some digging.
Auggie
Well-known member
No '93s of anything
I have the following full factory sealed boxes:
'92 Upper Deck MLB
'94 Pinnacle NHL
'95 Pinnacle Series I & II MLB
'95 Action Packed NFL
'95 Pinnacle Winston Cup Stars
'95 Action Packed NHRA
I had some unopened packs of the above laying around and just to bust some balls here I opened one to see what was inside. Here is what I found in the Action Packed NFL:
- Rookie: James Stewart
- Rookie: Kery Collins
- Shannon Sharpe
- Brent Jones
- Derick Alexander
- Jeff Hostetler
- Steve Beurlein
- John Elway