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Cards Yesteryear vs. Today

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EGannon55

New member
Sep 27, 2019
29
0
Otsego County NY

When I collected baseball cards back in the 60s and early 70s, it was inexpensive fun. All cards were sought after and none were overlooked and unwanted because they were "commons".
Today collecting is much different. It's all about a particular cards value or whether it's a "hit" or not. Just watch any YouTube video about opening card packs or boxes. The "common" cards are rushed through and basically ignored. It's all about the"hits" and the status and prestige of owning such cards.
I must be in a small minority of those who enjoy all baseball cards.
It's just a shame that I can't.
 

gracecollector

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
6,559
215
Lake in the Hills, IL

It's just a shame that I can't.

Why can't you? You have the freedom to collect and enjoy baseball cards any you want. I still keep my commons and read the player bios on the backs. Stick to Topps basic set and it can still be affordable fun. If anything, today's hobby offers more options on ways to collect than ever before. Just because many collectors open packs like it's a lottery doesn't mean you have to. Do what feels right to you and don't worry what others think. Nothing wrong with collecting the base Topps set each year as a way to keep you close to the game.
 

Cardsandsharps

New member
Oct 1, 2019
1
0
Oklahoma
Hello, this will be my first post on here. I have been collecting since late 60s and it has changed a lot. I stepped away from collecting in the mid 90s because it just got to much with all the different brands and products and of course you wanted to get them all and it was cost prohibitive with young family. Now that I am old, kids are grown and I have a lot more disposable income I have jumped back in. What I find is that some enjoy set building and enjoy all cards where some are just chasing the hits and some companies such as Panini pretty much in their hobby product have abandoned base cards all together. How you choose to enjoy the hobby is up to the individual. I do personally miss the more simpler days where you got stars and rookies and they had one card in each set but I also enjoy the variety too. I prefer good photography over shiny chrome and refractors.
 

joey12508

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
38,451
16,111
Winterfell
There is so many ways you can go in this hobby. Teams, player's sets, vintage, autos, modern, shiny not shiny many more. whichever you do, enjoy it.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,087
I have to believe that anyone who was introduced to cards in a more innocent era of childish fun, where condition and value were nowhere in your mind, they miss the simplicity of the way it once was. In a way though, it has always been similar to now. Before when you broke that wax seal, you were probably hoping for a specific card or cards. Maybe it was a local player, a major star or perhaps just more cards you still needed to check them off the list. We still do that to some extent today. The rest of the pack gives way to the insert, much the same way the rest of the pack might have given way to the superstar you pulled.

I do enjoy the variety of modern cards, but have grown to dislike of the endless search, compeition and expense that is required to remain ahead of the game now. I am tired of having to be on constant alert for new issues with low serial numbers in case I miss a chance and then battle with others in my same state who also "need" the newest issues. I could change how I collect, but the reality is, I already pretty much focus on one player and to only chase the basic versions would be death by boredom. I guess I am stuck between a rock and a hard place here with cards now.
 

Robert1973

Member
Feb 24, 2019
39
0
I enjoy threads like this. Collect how you want. It shouldn't matter to anyone else how others collect. I have gone about things backwards relative to what most collectors do. Born in 1973, I collected 80s cards and loved every second of Strawberry, Mattingly, Canseco, etc. Then, I abruptly dove into 50s and 60s cards for the last 25 or so years. I also dabbled in football, but baseball will always be my favorite. Here is where I go "backwards." Over the last couple of years, I have been collecting 80s baseball again and loving it! Now, I am even getting into modern cards. Unless you know who and what you like, it could quickly get overwhelming. I just pick a few players and products that I like and buy them. It is fun and relatively inexpensive compared to my vintage exploits.

I have found that some vintage collectors don't like to watch and follow baseball. They don't have a favorite team any longer. Well, I still love the game and watch as much as I can. Keeping up with my favorite team and players is a fresh way for me to collect. To the OP, if base Topps sets do that for you, then go for it and have fun!

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 

bstanwood

Well-known member
Sep 24, 2016
3,666
332
Mystic, CT
I like both aspects, I'm mostly a player collector, so I love all the different stuff to chase today but I also really enjoy vintage and even though it tends to get pricier faster for me I like the simplicity of it.
 

smapdi

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
4,397
221
I can remember a time around 1993 or so. Inserts had become the big thing, and everyone was chasing the 1:6 or 1:box or 1:case insert. I went to my local shop and saw a guy had just finished ripping 2 boxes of something. He found his hits and left with maybe 9 cards, leaving hundreds on the counter and he said I could have them. The dealer said he paid $80 for his boxes and left all angry because he had only found $30 in hits. I took those cards home, might've been a box of Leaf and a box of Donruss, and sorted them out and went through Beckett and found that there was about $50 in book value there, if you counted everything. Obviously, it wasn't really worth $50 and I certainly wouldn't have gotten even $20 if I had been able to meticulously resell each card (pre-ebay) but all the base Griffeys and Thomases and Ryans and Ripkens and Alomars and such added up and I happily put them in my star box and the rest into my bulk/possible-sets-to-complete box. But it was a fun hour or two, watching TV and sorting out my two free boxes, thinking I actually got more value for free than the guy who paid for it.
 

EGannon55

New member
Sep 27, 2019
29
0
Otsego County NY
I can remember a time around 1993 or so. Inserts had become the big thing, and everyone was chasing the 1:6 or 1:box or 1:case insert. I went to my local shop and saw a guy had just finished ripping 2 boxes of something. He found his hits and left with maybe 9 cards, leaving hundreds on the counter and he said I could have them. The dealer said he paid $80 for his boxes and left all angry because he had only found $30 in hits. I took those cards home, might've been a box of Leaf and a box of Donruss, and sorted them out and went through Beckett and found that there was about $50 in book value there, if you counted everything. Obviously, it wasn't really worth $50 and I certainly wouldn't have gotten even $20 if I had been able to meticulously resell each card (pre-ebay) but all the base Griffeys and Thomases and Ryans and Ripkens and Alomars and such added up and I happily put them in my star box and the rest into my bulk/possible-sets-to-complete box. But it was a fun hour or two, watching TV and sorting out my two free boxes, thinking I actually got more value for free than the guy who paid for it.

Exactly my point. He left hundreds of cards behind that those without cards would enjoy and not take them for granted.
 

raddison1972

Member
Jan 4, 2013
63
0
Pearland, Texas
Thanks for posting this great discussion. Agree with all the comments on collecting what you like and however you like. Pursue your hobby collecting happiness however you want! With that said, I started collecting in the 80's and loved all of them. Found vintage cards and fell in love with those over sized early to mid 50's cards. Came to realize that I really loved to read what the backs had. This led me to the all time favorite of 1955 Bowman and the T205 gold border tobacco cards and the really cool info they shared had me hooked.

As for the new age, I recall buying a few boxes of 1992 Topps and getting a "gold" card. They didn't call them variations back then, but guess that's what they were. There was a scratch off to get more of them and I though, cool, I'll try to get a set. Found out you could cheat the scratch off and win every time, poor smuck I was...I didn't know this till after Topps sent me cards that were gold but with "Winner" stamped on them too and I thought that stunk! I drifted away from collecting after this and focusing on school. Came back to the hobby in the late 90's to mid 2000's to drift away and back again. Found I enjoy sorting and stacking and looking for cameo cards of HOF players. One recent bright spot I"ve enjoyed is "breaking" where they sell teams from cases and you get all the cards from that team. I've always been a team collector without knowing it, so that's a pretty fun idea I don't think has been around so long but doesn't appear to be going away. I've written too long and you've probably stopped reading, but that sums up my collecting habits/tidbits. Wish I could organize and present my collection better if anyone has insight on that I'd love to hear your ideas.

Erwin, if you're still reading, tell me something from baseball that you love, player, team, story or anything baseball related and I'll locate something related and send it your way along with a note about why I think it's related. Baseball pen pal if you want one.

Thanks for reading and thanks to those who shared on this thread.

Later,
Ryan
 

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