Card knowledge "youngin's" don't know

BBCgalaxee · Oct 6, 2014

How about the absolute glut of price guides and publications?

SCD, CCP, Beckett, tuff stuff, baseball cards, sports cards, legends, sports look, etc.

MansGame · Oct 6, 2014

BBCgalaxee said:
How about the absolute glut of price guides and publications?

SCD, CCP, Beckett, tuff stuff, baseball cards, sports cards, legends, sports look, etc.

I remember going to Borders and looking in their magazine section for Beckett. I'm sure a sports card price guide isn't on the shelf there anymore but I don't know haha

DeliciousBacon · Oct 6, 2014

MansGame said:
I remember going to Borders and looking in their magazine section for Beckett. I'm sure a sports card price guide isn't on the shelf there anymore but I don't know haha

Considering Borders went out of business, you won't find much of anything on their shelves!

My local Barnes & Noble carries all the Beckett magazines, and have as long as I can remember.

predatorkj · Oct 6, 2014

rsmath said:
I typed mine out on a selectric typewriter - you can get more items on a piece of paper and I can type stuff faster than handwrite it so it was quicker to whip up a want list before heading out to the local show or card shop.

to add to this thread, does anyone remember card shows? I don't think there is a show in my area anymore (at least it's not well publicized). Also, how about finding cards are like the Circle K or 7-11? That's likely a thing of the past, too, considering it seems most product is found at the big box retailers rather than in a box on a convenience store counter (wax) or hanging on hooks by the magazines (rack packs). Or how about packs that were actual wax wrappers? Has anyone released a wax wrapper product since products started using mylar or whatever that material is?

Lol! I used to get a pack of 1991 Fleer every day when my dad stopped at stop-n-go. They also carried the newest comic books and comic cards. Also, Eckerds and Walgreens used to carry all kinds of cards and supplies. It was neat. Hell, my local Eckerds use to carry more supplies in 1991 than my local shop does now in 2014. Good times!!!

Yanks2151 · Oct 7, 2014

BBCgalaxee said:
I still have mine filled with 79 and 80 cards.

Looks like this one http://m.ebay.com/itm/331321252680?nav=SEARCH

I had that exact one, wow. I also remember having blue ones.

BBCgalaxee · Oct 7, 2014

Ya know sonny, back in my day, when someone said "unlicensed" they were talking about Broder cards.

Those things were ugly with crappy photos and printed on thin paper which bent easily making these worthless cards worth even less.

But we liked them! Weeee loved them!

We went home and put them in our cheap, side loading pvc filled pages next to our other mass produced worthless cards because we didn't know better thinking "oh I'm going to be rich one day."

'cause that's what we did back then.

And we liked it, Weeee loved it!

rsmath · Oct 7, 2014

BBCgalaxee said:
How about the absolute glut of price guides and publications?

SCD, CCP, Beckett, tuff stuff, baseball cards, sports cards, legends, sports look, etc.

Of course, many of those didn't matter if their name wasn't BECKETT. Every dealer seemed to use Beckett as their pricing guide.

And one can see why. It brings me to another memory... when Beckett used to credit in the guide all their pricing contributors. I don't think they do it anymore, plus who gets to mail in a form with pricing changes anymore.

I know I sent in some pricing data occasionally from singles I bought at the local card shop or card show. It seemed like Beckett had many of the whos who of the hobby as pricing contributors.

gpenko826 · Oct 7, 2014

rsmath said:
Of course, many of those didn't matter if their name wasn't BECKETT. Every dealer seemed to use Beckett as their pricing guide.

And one can see why. It brings me to another memory... when Beckett used to credit in the guide all their pricing contributors. I don't think they do it anymore, plus who gets to mail in a form with pricing changes anymore. I know I sent in some pricing data occasionally from singles I bought at the local card shop or card show. It seemed like Beckett had many of the whos who of the hobby as pricing contributors.

Oh wow I hadn't thought about this in years! They had that little form you could fill out and mail to them detailing actual confirmed sale prices! My brother and I used to fill them out when we'd buy stuff at shows or when we'd sell cards to our friends. Even in the wee days of eBay, I'd still send a form out saying that I sold cards for certain prices.... It's funny that even back then, we knew as kids that the Beckett price was drastically over inflated

As far other memories- how about store-specific boxes sets? You have your wal-Mart and Target exclusive inserts now, but how about the K-Mart exclusive boxes sets, or the ones for Kay-Bee Toys or Revco or Woolworths? I'd love to see a chain today produce a set like that, just something small and cheap that's built around league leaders or things like that.

WillBBC · Oct 7, 2014

MansGame said:
Great thread.

I remember when you had to go to shows in order to fill the gaps in your collection because there wasn't eBay or COMCs to mass purchase cards you need.

What about Beckett... I remember when you'd wait at the mailbox for the monthly Beckett to come out and then check to see which players had an up arrow or down arrow for value... I use to track the prices of cards I had on notebook paper and actually graph how the price fluctuated... probably why I love finance and stock today

What about when LCS were all over the place and you could go there and actually look through their glass cases for singles and watch in awww at all the boxes on the wall and pick out just the right pack.

What about when auto and relic cards weren't everywhere and the first time a pack came out which was one auto per pack! That was eye opening.

Griffey UD RC +$100 card

ARod SP RC +$100 card

McGwire/Sosa craze back in the day!

I grew up in a small town of about two square miles and 10K people--which was big enough apparently for three completely different card shops within a quarter-mile drag of each other. All three are now gone. One of the owners, Gary somethingorother, now shows up at local shows in Jersey/New York with nothing but the highest of high end it seems. The other two may have fallen off the face of the earth.

I miss being a player collector. I used to hunt through 10/$1 boxes hoping to find some random Wade Boggs insert I didn't know existed. Always worth the time when you find the one you want!

BBCgalaxee · Oct 7, 2014

Yep, those 33 & 44 card boxed sets were everywhere it seemed.

With all the star power and cheap price, they couldn't be beat.

The most memorable one for me was the '86 Sluggers vs. Pitchers which had the first cards of Clark and Joyner plus a Canseco card.

I didn't have enough money and ran back to my parents car asking for a few more dollars to buy the set.

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

djmilhaus · Oct 7, 2014

Cards weren't graded not that long ago. You had to use your own eyeballs or slide magnifiers to check corners, centering, even had to measure to make sure cards weren't trimmed. All by yourself!

gracecollector · Oct 7, 2014

How many "young-ins" can describe the chalky flavor of Topps Gum that came in 1980's packs? Or how brittle it got after a year? How it lost its flavor in less than 2 minutes? Or how it stained the back of one card in your pack? Or how dealers would use pantyhose to try to clean off the residue it left?

How many "young-ins" remember packs that came in wax wrappers, not in sealed mylar or plastic? And how old-timey pack searchers would lift a small corner of the wax paper up to see what card was on the bottom of the pack?

How many "young-ins" have got a baseball card out of a box of breakfast cereal, let alone cut a card off the back panel of a cereal or Jello box? Or made a trip to 7-11 just to buy a Slurpee with a baseball disc on the bottom of the cup?

rsmath · Oct 7, 2014

gracecollector said:
How many "young-ins" have got a baseball card out of a box of breakfast cereal, let alone cut a card off the back panel of a cereal or Jello box? Or made a trip to 7-11 just to buy a Slurpee with a baseball disc on the bottom of the cup?

Or went to Dennys to eat a meal and get a card. Or went to Fantastic Sams to get a MLB player disc, which leads me to the memory that thankfully it was one disc per visit per person, not one disk per haircut, and there was a Fantastic Sams nearby that I was able to complete the set just by stopping by once a day for the length of their disc promo.

rsmath · Oct 7, 2014

BBCgalaxee said:
Yep, those 33 & 44 card boxed sets were everywhere it seemed.

The one I collected the most years were the Walgreens ones that I seem to recall were produced by Fleer for them.

My favorite single issue was a K-Mart one because it featured baseball legends (not much if any of the current players) because I felt I couldn't get enough cards of retired/historical players and always know I could get cards of the current players in topps, fleer and donruss releases.

byronscott4ever · Oct 7, 2014

Topps baseball cards came with the pack price on the box and/or pack and places who stickered them up a nickel on wax were seen as shady

gt2590 · Oct 7, 2014

rsmath said:
My favorite single issue was a K-Mart one because it featured baseball legends (not much if any of the current players) because I felt I couldn't get enough cards of retired/historical players and always know I could get cards of the current players in topps, fleer and donruss releases.

Sounds like you're talking about the 1982 K-Mart/Woolworth Topps 50th anniversary MVPs set. It had their card for that year pictured.

And yeah, I knew that was the closest I was gonna get to any good Vintage cards...

BBCgalaxee · Oct 7, 2014

When topps announced they were releasing a '52 reprint set back in 1982, collectors and dealers were actually worried that their ORIGINAL '52 topps cards would plummet in value!

And speaking of the above '82 topps k Mart set, it was actually hoarded when it was first released by collectors and dealers.

K Mart noticed the insane sales and, well, basically told topps to "crank up the presses" and the mass production began.

In the end, the sets were being clearanced for pocket change.

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

BiggioBrooks755 · Oct 7, 2014

BBCgalaxee said:
When topps announced they were releasing a '52 reprint set back in 1982, collectors and dealers were actually worried that their ORIGINAL '52 topps cards would plummet in value!

And speaking of the above '82 topps k Mart set, it was actually hoarded when it was first released by collectors and dealers.

K Mart noticed the insane sales and, well, basically told topps to "crank up the presses" and the mass production began.

In the end, the sets were being clearanced for pocket change.

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

I saw an ad for this in a magazine back in high school...Was sooo going to buy it cause I thought it was the real thing lol

DeliciousBacon · Oct 8, 2014

rsmath said:
Of course, many of those didn't matter if their name wasn't BECKETT. Every dealer seemed to use Beckett as their pricing guide.

And one can see why. It brings me to another memory... when Beckett used to credit in the guide all their pricing contributors. I don't think they do it anymore, plus who gets to mail in a form with pricing changes anymore. I know I sent in some pricing data occasionally from singles I bought at the local card shop or card show. It seemed like Beckett had many of the whos who of the hobby as pricing contributors.

I used to send those in all the time, except I just sent in price increases for cards I owned.

magicpapa · Oct 8, 2014

gracecollector said:
How many "young-ins" can describe the chalky flavor of Topps Gum that came in 1980's packs? Or how brittle it got after a year? How it lost its flavor in less than 2 minutes? Or how it stained the back of one card in your pack? Or how dealers would use pantyhose to try to clean off the residue it left?

How many "young-ins" remember packs that came in wax wrappers, not in sealed mylar or plastic? And how old-timey pack searchers would lift a small corner of the wax paper up to see what card was on the bottom of the pack?

How many "young-ins" have got a baseball card out of a box of breakfast cereal, let alone cut a card off the back panel of a cereal or Jello box? Or made a trip to 7-11 just to buy a Slurpee with a baseball disc on the bottom of the cup?

someone say Gum?/ .........hehe

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