Is it time for a shift in "Era Categories" for cards?

Is it time for a shift in "Era Categories" for baseball cards?

I've been thinking about this some lately. For years and years the vintage
"line in the sand" has always been 1980. That makes some sense as that was
the last year that Topps was the only producer of MLB Baseball cards on the
national level.

But i think that there may be a need for some revision of this. i think that
it should not be as black and white as one year, and theres the line.

The Comic Book Genre has FOUR Categories: Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Modern.

Why can't sports cards adapt something like this as well?

Golden: Pre-WWII - Tobacco. Here kid, go away while i smoke in peace.
Vintage: Post WWII to 1969 - Gum. and you got cards to use at your leisure.
Modern: 1970 to 1989 - Cards. and gum to chew while you cherished your cards.
Current: 1990 to today - Money. what's my "pull" worth?

its just something thats been bouncing around in my brain and i wanted to
throw it out there.

Seems cool, dont get teh modern and current idea though

ThoseBackPages said:

Is it time for a shift in "Era Categories" for baseball cards?

I've been thinking about this some lately. For years and years the vintage
"line in the sand" has always been 1980. That makes some sense as that was
the last year that Topps was the only producer of MLB Baseball cards on the
national level.

But i think that there may be a need for some revision of this. i think that
it should not be as black and white as one year, and theres the line.

The Comic Book Genre has FOUR Categories: Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Modern.

Why can't sports cards adapt something like this as well?

Golden: Pre-WWII - Tobacco. Here kid, go away while i smoke in peace.
Vintage: Post WWII to 1969 - Gum. and you got cards to use at your leisure.
Modern: 1970 to 1989 - Cards. and gum to chew while you cherished your cards.
Current: 1990 to today - Money. what's my "pull" worth?

its just something thats been bouncing around in my brain and i wanted to
throw it out there.

Click to expand...

I like it.

However, I personally consider Vintage Post WWII to 1979. And I think Modern could be expanded up to 1992 - in 93/94 with Jeter, Arod, and Finest refractors I think we entered the "Current" era. Just my $0.02.

Also, maybe rename "Modern" as "Junk era" or "Mass Production era"

I actually do break it up into four categories on my personal Cubs checklists;

1. Before 1948 - I call it the Pre-War Era even though the end date doesn't match up exactly.
2. 1948-1980 - The Topps Era. Again, times don't match up exactly, but the label seems to make sense to me.
3. 1981-1996 - Hobby Adolescence Era. I call it this because there are lots of great memories and lots of memorable hobby mistakes from this time frame.
4. 1997-Present - Current Era. I draw the line in the sand after 1996 because 1997 was the year of the first 1/1 (Flair Showcase Legacy Masterpieces).

As far as what is vintage and what isn't, I tend to agree that 1969 is the end of what I see as being vintage (Mantle's last card in 1969).

Just my two cents!

Robert

I have an idea.

Pre-War Vintage = speaks for itself
Vintage = Post-War to last set not containing an active player
Modern = any set containing an active player

Simple, yet effective and 100% efficient.

sportscardtheory said:

I have an idea.

Pre-War Vintage = speaks for itself
Vintage = Post-War to last set not containing an active player
Modern = any set containing an active player

Simple, yet effective and 100% efficient.

Click to expand...

Very understandable.

sportscardtheory said:

I have an idea.

Pre-War Vintage = speaks for itself
Vintage = Post-War to last set not containing an active player
Modern = any set containing an active player

Simple, yet effective and 100% efficient.

Click to expand...

So that would make 92 Topps/Donruss/Upperdeck/etc. vintage?(im thinking this is the last year to not have any of todays active players)

mannyramirezcollec said:

sportscardtheory said:

I have an idea.

Pre-War Vintage = speaks for itself
Vintage = Post-War to last set not containing an active player
Modern = any set containing an active player

Simple, yet effective and 100% efficient.

Click to expand...

So that would make 92 Topps/Donruss/Upperdeck/etc. vintage?(im thinking this is the last year to not have any of todays active players)

Click to expand...

Jamie Moyer is still technically active and his RC stuff is 1987, so 1986 would be "Vintage".

Purists will hate any change, but to me, the older things get, the more "vintage" they become. 1990s stuff will be "vintage" someday. It sounds crazy and stupid now, but time changes everything.

mannyramirezcollec said:

sportscardtheory said:

I have an idea.

Pre-War Vintage = speaks for itself
Vintage = Post-War to last set not containing an active player
Modern = any set containing an active player

Simple, yet effective and 100% efficient.

Click to expand...

So that would make 92 Topps/Donruss/Upperdeck/etc. vintage?(im thinking this is the last year to not have any of todays active players)

Click to expand...

Chipper was 91. Can't think of any others.

You ask 10 people, you will get 10 different replies...

Mine.....

19th Century 1868-1899 (N cards, Victorian trade cards, wood cuts, etc.)
PreWar 1900-1946 (T, E, R, V, W, M, D, etc.)
PostWar 1947-1969 (rubberband/shoebox era, maybe 1973 the last Topps issued in series)
Modern 1970- (card shows/shops, price guides, plastic sheets, hobby papers, etc.)

You could add...
Shinny Era 1990+ (high % of "cards" issued w/o a product or service of some kind, intentional limited edition hyped/gimmick 1/1, hoarded cases, etc.)

PS the 1947+ date for PostWar is because this is not a PreWar card...

1947 D305

I've always used...

pre-1947
1947-1979
1980-1989
1990-present

Why? Because of condition sensitivity in "the book". For a pre-1947 a '6' EX/MT is considered 'normal.' For 1947-1979 a '7' NM is considered 'normal.' For 1980-1989 an '8' NM/MT is considered 'normal'. And for 1990-present a '9' MINT is considered normal.

fkw said:

You ask 10 people, you will get 10 different replies...

Mine.....

19th Century 1868-1899 (N cards, Victorian trade cards, wood cuts, etc.)
PreWar 1900-1946 (T, E, R, V, W, M, D, etc.)
PostWar 1947-1969 (rubberband/shoebox era, maybe 1973 the last Topps issued in series)
Modern 1970- (card shows/shops, price guides, plastic sheets, hobby papers, etc.)

You could add...
Shinny Era 1990+ (high % of "cards" issued w/o a product or service of some kind, intentional limited edition hyped/gimmick 1/1, hoarded cases, etc.)

PS the 1947+ date for PostWar is because this is not a PreWar card...

1947 D305

Click to expand...

I respect your opinion, but I can't agree that cards which are 41 years old are "modern". 10-15 years ago I might agree, but there has to be progression of the terms vintage and modern. Cards can't be modern forever.

sportscardtheory said:

mannyramirezcollec said:

sportscardtheory said:

I have an idea.

Pre-War Vintage = speaks for itself
Vintage = Post-War to last set not containing an active player
Modern = any set containing an active player

Simple, yet effective and 100% efficient.

Click to expand...

So that would make 92 Topps/Donruss/Upperdeck/etc. vintage?(im thinking this is the last year to not have any of todays active players)

Click to expand...

Jamie Moyer is still technically active and his RC stuff is 1987, so 1986 would be "Vintage".

Purists will hate any change, but to me, the older things get, the more "vintage" they become. 1990s stuff will be "vintage" someday. It sounds crazy and stupid now, but time changes everything.

Click to expand...

I'd agree with what you're saying. I consider anything more than twenty years old to be vintage (records, clothes, whatever), I don't see why cards should be any different.

As much as i know that 1986 started the "junk" era, it was imo 1990's "Find The Reggie" that started it all going downhill, to where we are today.

"whats this worth?"

ThoseBackPages said:

As much as i know that 1986 started the "junk" era, it was imo 1990's "Find The Reggie" that started it all going downhill, to where we are today.

"whats this worth?"

Click to expand...

Your breakdown makes a lot sense though too. But did the 'whats this worth' era really start when everyone started using eBay? When was that, 1999? 2000?

Calling it the 'eBay Era' or "What's This Worth Era' does sound pretty good lol.

sportscardtheory said:

fkw said:

You ask 10 people, you will get 10 different replies...

Mine.....

19th Century 1868-1899 (N cards, Victorian trade cards, wood cuts, etc.)
PreWar 1900-1946 (T, E, R, V, W, M, D, etc.)
PostWar 1947-1969 (rubberband/shoebox era, maybe 1973 the last Topps issued in series)
Modern 1970- (card shows/shops, price guides, plastic sheets, hobby papers, etc.)

You could add...
Shinny Era 1990+ (high % of "cards" issued w/o a product or service of some kind, intentional limited edition hyped/gimmick 1/1, hoarded cases, etc.)

PS the 1947+ date for PostWar is because this is not a PreWar card...

1947 D305

Click to expand...

I respect your opinion, but I can't agree that cards which are 41 years old are "modern". 10-15 years ago I might agree, but there has to be progression of the terms vintage and modern. Cards can't be modern forever.

Click to expand...

I see how some of you may feel that way.... but you need to consider baseball cards have been around for over 140 years.
Baseball cards less than 40 years old are not antiques nor vintage when you consider this. You need to look at the whole history of the hobby.

Take Baseball as a sport, Id call 1970s modern Baseball too..... (batting helmets, batting gloves, non-wool uni's, DH, drug use, relief pitchers, TV, divisions within leagues, major expansion including non US teams, padded fences, new balls every inning, etc. etc.)

Heck, some vintage collector used to call any card 2-1/2" by 3-1/2" "Modern Card Size".... and make the cutoff 1957 for vintage because of this reason alone. Before 1957 Topps, I can only think of 1 set with cards that exact size... 1914 E224 Texas Tommys.

fkw said:

sportscardtheory said:

fkw said:

You ask 10 people, you will get 10 different replies...

Mine.....

19th Century 1868-1899 (N cards, Victorian trade cards, wood cuts, etc.)
PreWar 1900-1946 (T, E, R, V, W, M, D, etc.)
PostWar 1947-1969 (rubberband/shoebox era, maybe 1973 the last Topps issued in series)
Modern 1970- (card shows/shops, price guides, plastic sheets, hobby papers, etc.)

You could add...
Shinny Era 1990+ (high % of "cards" issued w/o a product or service of some kind, intentional limited edition hyped/gimmick 1/1, hoarded cases, etc.)

PS the 1947+ date for PostWar is because this is not a PreWar card...

1947 D305

Click to expand...

I respect your opinion, but I can't agree that cards which are 41 years old are "modern". 10-15 years ago I might agree, but there has to be progression of the terms vintage and modern. Cards can't be modern forever.

Click to expand...

I see how some of you may feel that way.... but you need to consider baseball cards have been around for over 140 years.
Baseball cards less than 40 years old are not antiques nor vintage when you consider this. You need to look at the whole history of the hobby.

Take Baseball as a sport, Id call 1970s modern Baseball too..... (batting helmets, batting gloves, non-wool uni's, DH, drug use, relief pitchers, TV, divisions within leagues, major expansion including non US teams, padded fences, new balls every inning, etc. etc.)

Heck, some vintage collector used to call any card 2-1/2" by 3-1/2" "Modern Card Size".... and make the cutoff 1957 for vintage because of this reason alone. Before 1957 Topps, I can only think of 1 set with cards that exact size... 1914 E224 Texas Tommys.

Click to expand...

Vintage means dated. With time, things become dated. I believe that not allowing items to "become" vintage by taking the hard-line stance that only items from a certain year and back are vintage is just being stubborn (no offense to you), as it completely defies the very definition of vintage.

For Fun I asked a collector friend what he calls a "Modern Card" ?
his exact reply.... "A steriotypical modern card will have a color photograph of the player on front with a bio and complete stats on the back and a card number"............... sounds like a Topps card to me, post1957


in this hobby "Vintage" = "Old"

There is no "Semi-Vintage", or "Semi-Modern"

One way to look at it...
As of 2011............... the year 1939 was the Half Way Point in this Hobby, shouldnt vintage represent the first 1/2 or something close to that??

In the year 2072 the Baseball Card Hobby will be 204 Years Old, and cards from 1970 Should be called Vintage then IMO
They will be represent cards from the half way point in the hobby

But Id rather break the Era's down in roughly 30-50 year chunks, thus my list.

No one is right ... its all opinion, and if some of you dont follow the first 50+ years of the hobby I can see how it may be forgotten. I dont think anyone mentioned 19th Century as a Era, but in Vintage baseball card circles its a Major Era in this hobby.


1888 N173 King Kelly

Ancient Vintage: Beginning of time to WWII
Vintage: Post-WWII to 1979
Modern Era: 1980 to 1986
Overproduced Era: 1987-1992
Post-Modern Era: 1993-2004
Rip and Flip Era: 2005-Present
Topps Monopoly: 2012-eternity

My take:

- 19th Century
- Deadball Era (1901-1919)
- PreWWII (1920-1946)
- PostWWII (1947-1973; last Topps series issue)
- Modern (1974-1988)
- Premium (1989-2000; introduction of Upper Deck in 1989, 1991 Stadium Club, Topps switches to premium card stock in 1992, 1992 Ultra, 90's inserts, etc.)
- Current (2001-today)

I believe the absence of the word vintage allows for more detailed categories and allows for future expansion (i.e. Current could be the "Chrome" or "GU" era in a few years, leading to a new "Current" era.)