Bought a few 1990 and 1992 Becketts at the thrift store...

[DeliciousBacon]

These really brought back some memories. I owned all three of these back in those days: March 1990 (Yount/Zeile), April 1990 (Grace/Howard Johnson) and January 1992 (Nolan Ryan the cowboy/Avery & Glavine). Eveb remembered some of the articles! Those were the days of endless listings of cards booking for $0.07, $0.12, and the unlikely pair of $0.17 and $0.18 (1987 Donruss Gary Gaetti booked for $0.17 in 4/90, and Jesse Barfield was a penny more. How did they figure that out???)

The best part was going back and looking at the listings, and seeing just how bad things were back then. As ridiculous as prospectors are now, back in April 1990, Jerome Walton UD RCs were going for $8.50! And that was going down, so it had been significantly higher at one point. On the other hand, the Griffey UD RC was just $9. Someone back in 1989/90 would have willingly given up Griffeys for Jerome Waltons and considered themselves lucky. The highest booking RCs in 1990 Topps weren't Frank Thomas ($0.35) or Sammy Sosa ($0.35), but Ben McDonald ($2) and Eric Anthony ($1.50). Eric Anthony!

By the January 1992 Beckett, the Anthony was down to $0.20, but a 1991 Stadium Club Phil Plantier RC would run you $11 (only $1 less than a Bagwell). A 1991 Leaf Gold Leaf Rookies Todd Van Poppel was $9, but heading down, while a Ryan Klesko from the same set was $13 and going up. Brett and Yount RCs were $190 each (and heading up), Mike Schmidt's RC was $440, and Bert Blyleven's 1971 Topps was $50 (for comparison, I bought one in good shape recently for a quarter).

The saddest part for me was the show listings. In January 1992, there were 12 shows listed for Rhode Island. Now, there are 12 shows a year here.

 

[alwayson22]

Awesome pickups. It's amazing how much the hobby has changed in 20 years.

 

[Austin]

Great post!
I love going through my old Becketts every once in a while.
I have most issues from 1984-1991 and it's so much fun reading the articles.
There were actually a lot of articles back then, unlike the current Beckett, which is mostly prices.

One thing that many of today's collectors don't realize or remember is, like you wrote, most '70s and '80s rookies of Hall of Famers like Brett, Winfield, Henderson, Ripken, etc. were worth much more back then.
They say those rookies are a great investment, but in reality, they're not, unless they're graded I guess.
Rickey's '80 rookie once topped $200 raw, and so did Winfield's.
Now, you can buy a raw near mint rookie of them for $50 or under.

Card prices were exploding in he late '80s, so much that in one '87 issue, with Kevin Seitzer on the cover, Beckett raised the price of nearly every card in the issue, dropping the Up Arrows because, the editor wrote, they would clog the issue.

 

[OscarOne]

If someone has a bunch, it would be fin to start a thread with that months "Hot List" for us to talk about...

 

[CollectorsCorner]

I probably have 50+ football becketts. Not sure what years they range from but I know I have a bunch from 98-2003

 

[waxmorgue]

Austin, if you ever have time could you tell me what Canseco '86 Donruss RR was at its highest?

I recall $120 but I am not sure.

Thanks!

 

[smapdi]

Yep, old price guides are a great entertainment. I remember being in a library in 1992 and they had a 1981 baseball card price guide. I remember even then being struck by the price of a Rickey Henderson RC of a nickel.

 

[RITM]

For some reason I am wanting to say the Canseco hit 160 or even 175. A friend in the neighborhood had one.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

...Those were the days of endless listings of cards booking for $0.07, $0.12, and the unlikely pair of $0.17 and $0.18 (1987 Donruss Gary Gaetti booked for $0.17 in 4/90, and Jesse Barfield was a penny more. How did they figure that ...

Interesting that the pricing on these cards have held up over time

 

[fkw]

back then Beckett used dealer polls to establish those estimated values..

today we live in the real World, and have eBay, etc. to establish values.... eBay is the best price guide for all (common) collectibles.

Back then many people who lived in the boonies had no easy way to sell their cards, so the supply of available cards was far far less. Guys in Alaska or some other rural place didnt have regular shows or access to shops, etc..... now anyone who has the internet and mail service can sell just like a guy in NY City. All 1950-70s Topps cards in midgrade were worth more 20 years ago than now, some 2X+ more... I can remember getting $125 for overrated cards like the 1972 Carew and Garvey, and over $400 for the extremely overrated 1967 BRobinson, or the Schmidt and Jackson rookies.

in vintage a good example is the 1933 Sanella Babe Ruth card... back in 1990 it was considered "Rare" and often sold for $1500-$2000 when you actually saw one sell....., now it is consider the most common PreWar card in existence, and often sells for as low as $75 or so. once eBay became commonplace those Germans dug all their Sanella albums out and removed the Ruth card and sold them to us Americans, completely flooding the market in less than 10 years.

common stuff only got more common as the technology increased.... but its all a good thing IMO.

Next up....... One day soon slabbed cards will take the same hit when the registry hype dies down.... Ive followed this hobby for over 30 years daily, it will happen

 

[sabrgeek]

For those who have Beckett's from the beginning of years from 1991 on up, I've written for FCB a draft covering #1 then and #1 now. From there,,, we willl add these gladly and have a really fun article