Collecting in the 80's

Figured this could turn into both a fun and "history lesson" thread about how the hobby was in this decade.

Brief history first.

Despite topps' monopoly ending in 1981, they were still king until 1985 when the hobby figured out how hard Donruss and fleer were to find (granted, the prior year they were hard too but nobody noticed).

As a kid I remember realizing this and it was ALWAYS a treat (& rare occurrence) finding them at retail stores.

Even harder to find were Donruss leaf cards which were designed to compete with opc for the Canadian collectors. For some reason, a huge retail display found its way a short drive from my house in a drug store. I definitely bought my share of them (btw, the clemens rc is an uer with "since" spelt "sine")

1986 Donruss took over as the king of cards lead by Mr. 40/40 rookie. Fleer was second fiddle and sportflics was selling too.

Topps was horrible lacking all key Rc's and a XXXXty design.

But probably the highlight of the year were the update/ rookie sets which were absolutely loaded with big rcs.

1987 came and fleer came out with a then ground breaking design complete with graduating blue to white border and innovative photo croppings (heads, bats, balls etc overlapping the top border).

It also greatly helped that fleer was perceived as the least produced that year as Donruss started showing up at a lot of retail outlets, Places they hadn't been in years. Topps was everywhere as usual but in MUCH greater quantities....the start of mass production coincided with the boom of the hobby.

The next year, Donruss went head to head with topps production wise with newcomer score not far behind. Fleer again was the most limited but nothing like the previous year.

Then 1989 came and the hobby changed thanks to upper deck.

But before ud was even released, 1989 looked like it would be another big performance by fleer with their "accidental" issue of the Billy ripken ff card.

You can count on one hand the amount of times a nickel card turned into a $100 card overnight. Well, once usa today broke the ripken news, the rush was on.

But the real winner that year was ud who ushered in (and were widely accepted) premium cards.

And how did collectors collect back then?

Well there were no parallels or rare inserts of note. The best new cards were generally worth a few dollars off the bat.

To give you an idea, it seemed insane at the time for a brand new canseco rc to sell for more than five bucks.

So because everything was worth so little and because everything was so mass produced, investing in modern singles meant buying "bricks" of a player.

Like 500 bj surhoff Rc's or 200 Kal Daniels second yr Topps cards.

Another popular thing to do was buy cello or rack packs with super stars or hot Rc's showing on the top or bottom.

As the hobby exploded and everyone wanted a piece, another fad was born: stashing cases and boxes.

For the price of a BOX of triple threads today, investors could have bought a 20 box case of new Topps (or later Donruss and score) and put it away as an investment.

The common method of protecting cards were in binders because nothing was really valuable when issued.

There were also a wide array of four screw screw downs and other "slabs" along with the usual top loaders and sleeves.

I'm obviously leaving stuff out so please add.

First inserts I recall were the fleer all-fleer team inserts... 1986 or 87 I think... Racks maybe?

Also, 1984 was when fleer and Donruss overtook topps in terms of value, not 1985.

donruss the rookies was the set to have each year and don't forget Donruss opening day sets with those burgandy borders. Classic, man. And speaking of Classic, despite not being a major card brand, that stuff blew up too. I remember the yellow and green border sets were very popular. If memory serves correct, they were part of a game, but people liked to collect the cards.

Other biggies that came out were Star brand player sets, Kmart and TRU sets box sets, Donruss highlights sets and the biggy you left out... Tiffany sets. Remember those hulking 1987 Fleer Tin sets! They came with those awful redsox/mets World Series highlight cards that were like a punch in the face for any sox fan to have to look at!

Outside of sports cards, others popular releases during the 80's included The Dukes of Hazard, Knight Rider, ALF, and the A-Team! I bought my share! Here is the sad piece... My choice at the t-shirt shop at the time was packs of ALF or 1986-87 Fleer basketball and I choose ALF probably 10:1! Stupid idiot.

I'm bumping this one because it was a really nice topic (I think so anyway) that a lot of you could relate to. I'd love to hear some of your stories from the 80s.

Sounds like we have a lot of lurkers reading the boards but don't participate too much. Come on out and post about your experiences collecting in the 80's. what are your best memories? Favorite brands or pulls? We're you a vending guy or wax guy? Did you have any favorite shops or shows?

Would love to get some new conversationalists

Great topic, but my earliest collecting memories are from the 90s.

I started collecting in the 80s and I remember the emergence of Fleer and Donruss. My mom wouldn't let me buy them because she thought they were inferior to Topps -- until the 87 donruss Canseco card became like a $100 card. I remember buying one at a flea market for like $60 bucks and thinking I had just spent a fortune.

I also remember the 89 Griffey RC being about $6 out of the gate and thinking Holy crap, $6 for a card that just came out!

For those of us who are old enough to remember these..... before there were "Personal Computer's" and Excel spreadsheets to keep track of want lists, it was either use the checklists in the set (if there were any) or use these......

What I miss most about this era, were the great shows, SCD, & BCN. I periodically had an ad in SCD looking for Henderson stuff and made great contacts through the years, some of who I still deal with. I miss getting peoples player pricelists in the mail and the phone coversations with many of these people. I miss going to the Ft. Washington PA shows, the great shows in Westchester NY, and all the ones in and around New Jersey. It was just a fun time in the hobby that will never come back.

I remember getting excited when my parents would take me to Jamesway because they were the only store that had 1989 Score and they were rack packs. I'll never forget pulling a Melido Perez Young Superstar Glossy and getting excited because it was GLOSSY! I also remember those huge Jumbo packs of Topps that I think had like 100 cards and a glossy rookie. Could only get those at this one grocery store that my grandparents went too. I also remember putting together my first Panini sticker album. To me the 1980's and collecting wasn't about rookie hype or hoarding. It was all about unique early inserts, food and regional issues and memorizing stats on the backs.

My father owned a variety store and was a retailer for all brands in the late 80's. I remember him buying package deals of topps/bazooka products and receiving Topps factory sets as a bonus. We opened alot of packs together over the years. 89 was a great year because UD changed the game big time. My father ordered quite a few boxes of them and we opened quite a bit of that product hitting many Griffey rookies along the way. at $1 a pack that seemed crazy at the time being double the others but that is the one late 80's product that still can carry a premium today.

Also back in those days card shows were everywhere! I would hit multiple shows a month and a big yearly show in Boston. It was also a time when you met out of state dealers and bought by mail order using money orders. I used to get player lists mailed to me with all the new oddball and regional items by a few dealers. Beckett was actually relevant back then as well.. not just for values but for learning of all the new oddballs out there.

I have been collecting since I was a nine year old in 1973 but I remember the 80's as I was able to organize, along with a older friend who was heavy into vintage, a card show in my parents garage in 1981. Yes, A two person card show in my garage!! We put up signs on all the highways within 10 miles of my house and placed want ads in the local news papers advertising that we were buying and selling sports cards. We opened the garage door that day and we had a few people waiting.....not so much to buy but to sell us their cards. Remember, in 1981 this was way before the big card boom and the second Beckett annual (there were no monthly guides) had just come out and people could not believe we were paying cash for their cards. We literally had people bringing paper grocery bags full of cards which we were buying regardless of condition. At the end of the day my partner and I sat down at my parents dining room table along with my dad and we divided the spoils.

The thing I remember vividly about my first card show was splitting the cards we purchased. In these huge lots were Koufax rookies as well as many tough cards from the 1954 to '56 time frame. My partner, knowing the card market well took all the commons and allowed me to take the stars. We went by book value so the Koufax rookie I snagged allowed him to take 20 Commons. I remember my dad saying that he is getting the better deal as he was getting more cards than I was but it didn't matter as I knew I would never be able to actually purchase some of these cards even with the relatively cheap price tag of 30 bucks for a Koufax rookie. I wound up with a even better collection after those first few shows than I ever imagined and even was able to own some dream cards such as a '33 Goudey Ruth and a '34 Goudey Gehrig that I literally bought for 50 dollars each (they booked for 200 at the time and the condition was a bit rough so it was a fair price).

The great thing about collecting back then is that is brought my dad and myself closer as we both collected together. Dad liked the old football cards and back in 1980/81 football cards had little collecting value as baseball cards were king. Most of the time football cards were throw ins on any baseball deal we made and he put together complete sets of Topps and Bowman from the middle '50's to the late 70's with all the huge rookies for very little money. Sadly, in the mid 90's we both lost the collecting bug and we sold off our collection piece by piece but we walked away with a rather nice amount of money as the buys we made in 1981 appreciated in value so much in that one decade that selling made total sense. I have now bought and resold my collection three or four times now and dont regret selling any of those cards from back in the day. Well except for the Ruth and Gehrig as I would love to have them back.

Great topic for a thread!! I hope to read others 80's stories.

I didnt really start "collecting" til 94, but back in 86 when I was in little league i got a few packs here and there of Topps. Then in 87 I remember getting some packs of Topps. I remember the woodgrain and thinking classy. We had a card shop in town and we would go in every once in a while. They had the vending machine that would give you single cards for a dime, or a couple. not sure, cant remember.

I do remember getting Ninja Turtle cards though.

it was fun and easy to collect all four sports back then

Some great posts in here. Things that stand out to me are the following:
1) Cards were everywhere. A trip to any store (grocery, hardware, pharmacy, liquor, etc.) could always yield a pack of cards for any well behaved you lad. Along with availability was participation. Every kid who owned a bike had cards, didn't matter how big your neighborhood was.
2) Set building was king and everyone traded. You built the set before trying to fill binder pages with the same card. Hell, even team sets were cool to complete.
3) People. Card shows were magical special occasions if you lived in a rural area like myself. Driving an hour to an actual store that only sold cards was a major deal. Sending out your want lists to various dealers, getting those mail order catalogs, listening to 1-900 lines to hear the week's hottest deals on Canseco singles....there was just so much more physical interaction with other collectors. I don't know anyone in my personal life today that collects cards other than myself. One moment that stands out; at The Milwaukee Sports show one year there was a card dealer set up and I had asked about an '87 Donruss The Rookies McGwire. Didn't have one with him at the show but 2 months later one showed up in my mailbox. I never gave that dealer my address, or even my name, so I have no idea how he got my info. I suspect my friend's dad who was working the show for his unrelated company knew the guy but either way it was cool.

Random thoughts:

-When the new set pricing came out there was one certainty: the Mattingly card would book for at least $1
-I was mad at the card companies after the decade changed and chase inserts that sold for hundreds of dollars became the norm. As a kid with no job I felt betrayed by the cardboard giants. It wasn't fair

Maybe I'll add more later, sorry this post lacks organization I'm on the small screen!

Just a few quick thoughts...

I agree that EVERYONE collected back then. It was Nintendo and baseball cards. I never really met anyone who collected any other sport until I was like 12 and in middle school. Everyone only collected Baseball. Then it seemed everyone only collected basketball(mid 90's).

Cards were indeed everywhere. I always loved going to Woolworth's because they had a crap load of stuff.

Cases were in big demand and you could go into Eckerds or Walgreens and find more cases of all manner of designs and colors than you could at a show in this present day and age. They had all sorts of screw downs, cases that you could put a card in and it would stand erect, cases that held 10-100 cards, single snap cases, the snap kind that had to be pushed down and then slid up, cases for balls, ball cubes with little plaques to add a card, etc.

There were places that actually had a dealer in them like my local Walgreens. The dude actually sold cards and packs for over SRP inside the store.

Classic(the little game with the spinner) was hot and the cards were awesome.

Although I collected pre 1987, it really wasnt until 1987 that I went crazy with cards.

At that time there were around EIGHT stores right by my house which sold cards.

I bought so many 1987 topps that year that I was able to fill several nine pocket pages with every hot rookie and star.

But the hottest card in my neck of the woods was Donnie baseball.

I probably had 50 of that card, each one housed in nine pocket pages and nearly all came from my packs.

And since I bought so many cards that year, I started to notice that Topps used (and still do for some products) patterns.

In other words, if you saw a Ken landreux card in your pack, the next card was usually a bo Jackson rc.

So after memorizing patterns for the best cards, I was able to look at the top and bottom of cello packs and figure out if any big cards were inside.

And beyond that, I also realized that rak packs could be "fingered" (not being dirty here) or searched rather easily.

I remember searching through open rak boxes at stores cherry picking the packs with big cards. I even recall being kicked out of a store for doing it.

When I think back to 1987 I remember it as the absolute start of my love affair with cards and it is still my favorite set of all time.

I remember opening my first packs or 1986 Topps I bought from K-Mart. They also had those sweet 85 Topps Football with those black borders. I absolutely loved those cards. 1987 was the year I opened a ton of those wood grained Topps. In 87 Donruss and Fleer were hard to find in my part of NC. When 88 hit I think I saw more Donruss than Topps. I did find some Fleer that year as well and maybe some Score. Opened a lot of 88 Topps as well. It seems like 89 I saw more Donruss as well but also a good bit of Topps. 89 Fleer were a bit tougher to find for me but everyone was talking about the Ripken FF card. I couldn't get my mom to take me too the card shop a town away that was selling Upper Deck. I remember thinking $1 a pack was a bit steep.

I also remember my Grandpa taking me to Cook's Flea Market in Winston-Salem on Saturdays and seeing some of the old cards guys were selling there. I also remember getting some 86-87 Fleer basketball packs for 45 cents. I didn't pull a Jordan but I remember I had a Drexler rookie when I found out a few years later they were worth a bit. Every boy at school had cards and I remember trading on the school bus or in the gym before school started.

I collected pretty much up to about 94 then a bit more up until 1999/2000.I sold off all my cards after that. I also remember selling a bunch of cards on Yahoo auctions before they shut that down. I restarted collecting early last year and I already have more cards now than I did when I was younger.

Topps (starting in 83i believe) was doing mail away glossy all star sets that were the rage in my area. I located 2 blank back proof cards a few years ago and almost had a recollectiongasm!

I remember the Walgreens, Woolworth, and kaybee sets. They were super glossy and cheap! Only superstars and über tradable to kids who couldn't get into the city.

The 86 jumbo all stars were sold at my local grocery store for .25 per pack and we'd put them into a photo album after we built the set. I believe my brother and I had about 10 sets!

Then there were the mini leaders sets! 86 was white and 87 mimicked the 87 wood grain. I have some of these still and smile when seeing them..

Really just rambling here!

miss those days. life was so much easier before growing up

Starting collecting in '87.

1987 Topps to be exact. Fond memories of my dad and I putting together a "bazillion" sets together!
At one time I had 88 Bonds '87 Topps RC. Sold a ton during the HR race for $15 a pop... :0)
The McGwire, Canseco, and Bonds were probably the only cards ever worth anything from that pile of kindling.

Please believe me that I didn't bump this thread for a shameless plug but reading all these stories prompted me to post about the 80s group wax buy I'm arranging. If anyone is interested in picking up some packs from full box purchases I am making, please let me know. The thread is called BBCE groping buy #3 and is in this forum. Cheap way to rip a few of your oldie favorites!

My parents were divorced and when my mom would come over to spend an evening with me I almost always had her take me to a few local card shops. She would wait in the car and tell me not to be too long. LOL - that was like impossible. There was always so much to look at and talk about. My favorites were 84 and 85 Donruss, but they were pricey back them (1987-1988). I never did get an 84 Donruss Mattingly and that was a card I always wanted. I still hope to pack pull one someday!