Baseball Cards as Investment

[midwesterner (banned)]

I have been sifting through my old 1980's and early 1990's baseball cards from upperdeck, topps and bowman recently. I was curious as to the value of them, so I picked up a 2010 guide for the values. I was shocked to see the values of many of these cards were pennies and some of the more notable players of that time were valued $3.00 or less.

I was wondering if we had any baseball card investors or collectors here that could shed some light on why the value is so low. I was thinking these things go in phases of popularity, but the prices of some of these cards are so low it seems something that was so popular back then is now almost a noncollectable or investment.

Is this just a trend, or will these cards go back up in value over time. Was thinking of unloading some, but considering the prices they are hardly worth the effort, and wondering if anyone that collects such items would have a better understanding as to why the prices of these older cards have dropped so much?

[jarhead1976]

I have a baseball signed by he 75-76 big red machine. Including Sparky. Hope someday to hand it to a grandchild! Along with all the cards collected over the years. It was what we bought with our paper route, grass cutting and shoveling snow money. When we were not playing we were trading. Times have changed. Good luck , most commercial traders have closed there door's. what great memory's

[comokate]

Mid,
I have a friend who runs a resale shop for memorabilia ( music, sports, ephemera ) and he's said sales have been *way* down. It's all about supply and demand, and the demand, in this country, peaked in the mid 1990's.
That said, you could still name your price and post it to "vintage" at Etsy.com ( I sell artwork/buy supplies there and there is no price haggling or high fees like on Ebay ). Take a look and see if it might work for you . It's an international site, based in the US, so you could end up with a buyer from Japan ( they LOVE our American vintage stuff and are particularly fond of baseball) or other international buyer.
I think Ebay does have a site for Japan-maybe you could look into posting there if Etsy isn't to your liking.

Oh, and I gave you an "Exalt" just 'cause "Z" made such a Snarky comment....


*Lots* of people looked at baseball cards as an "investment". My ex brother in law is a well respected physics professor at UCLA , who has also just built a small technology company. He's lamenting not selling his baseball cards back in the mid 1990's as he thought they would continue to increase in value. You were not off-target in thinking your cards were an investment, since for many years they did increase in price, but like all investments the challenge is needing to know when to sell for the best profit.
It's a buyers market right now. SO many people are strapped for cash they are selling everything they own...so they are not much in the collecting mode. If you have to sell yours now, consider looking farther for a buyer.

[traelin0]

mid, IMHO baseball cards are a horrible investment. I used to collect them as a kid, but when it became completely driven by nitpicky grading scales and how many different sets a company could come out with, it lost its luster.

[neohguy]

It's a buyers market right now. SO many people are strapped for cash they are selling everything they own...so they are not much in the collecting mode. If you have to sell yours now, consider looking farther for a buyer.[/quote]
So true comokate. If you like to collect old baseball cards then this is probably a good time to buy. I stopped in a pawn shop today and an older guy was selling some collector grade Morgan silver dollars for scrap value. The shop probably won't scrap them (or will they?). I don't go to pawn shops often but I expect people are probably scrapping decent gold jewelry also.

[traelin0]

neo, I love going to pawn shops to see what I can get on the cheap. Unfortunately, every single pawn shop I've gone to in the past 2 years (full disclosure: in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Alabama, and Virginia) is not selling gold outside of jewelry. In the shops where the owners were present, they told me they are either keeping the coins for themselves or are melting down the scrap, assaying it, and keeping it.

[verrip1]

Cards have already had their Tulipomania. Wait a century or two for the next one.

<<Kinda like gold ;D >>

[nicomachus]

I was thinking about making a similar post, but dealing with rare coins. Are the values of those down? I have decent knowledge of that area (key dates, condition evaluations, etc.) and have considered investing again in such, but I only want to do so if general prices are down right now. Since silver and gold have been up, I fear this might not be the best time for me to jump back in.

I may start a new thread about this question in the future.

[neohguy]

Dec 31, 2010 15:59:15 GMT -5 @traelin0 said:

neo, I love going to pawn shops to see what I can get on the cheap. Unfortunately, every single pawn shop I've gone to in the past 2 years (full disclosure: in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Alabama, and Virginia) is not selling gold outside of jewelry. In the shops where the owners were present, they told me they are either keeping the coins for themselves or are melting down the scrap, assaying it, and keeping it.

It's kind of sad if some of the nice coins are getting melted down. Even the lower grade ones are good for kids that are interested in collecting.
During the early eighties recession I pawned some beautiful silver dollars that I had received as presents when I was a kid. I was working an under the table job painting a huge house on the gold coast. We didn't get paid until the job was finished. I'm glad I made the interest payments even though silver had topped. The sentimental value was worth more to me.

[midwesterner (banned)]

Thanks everyone for your input. It's what I figured about them, but thinking since I've held on to them for this long might as well continue to hold on to them. Seems better to hold and see if they turn around in value, or have something just for keeps sake years from now from my childhood to remember even if not worth much.

Who knows, but time will tell if they make a comeback. Como, the idea about Japanese liking the baseball cards is a good idea, I know they love the sport, so might be worth looking into.

Thanks all.

[nicomachus]

I am sort of surprised a pawn shop would admit to melting down coins since it is illegal to do so.

In my experience, pawn shops are *NOT* the place to deal rare coins. They sell them outrageously high and will only pay sub-acceptable prices. If really interested, you have to find dealers who work exclusively in coins. Every so often you might find a real deal in a pawn shop, but in general those guys have little interest in numismastics. Most major cities host coin-shows a few times a year; thats a better place to deal.

[neohguy]

nichomachus, would a coin shop pay more than a pawn shop today for old silver dollars (not real rare dates, fine but not u or bu) than a pawn shop? Seems like there are two types of players right now. Those down on their luck and selling and those speculating on bullion prices. I do see see bullion buyers/sellers in coin shops (along with collectors). I guess I might have answered my own question.

[neohguy]

For those that might be interested. You can buy a used old fashion toilet that gets the job done in one flush at some of those storefront second hand furniture stores.

[nicomachus]

Before selling at a pawn shop, I would always consult a dealer for an estimate. The dealers I used to know were usually also pretty honest and would tell me if I could get a better payout at a pawn shop. For low-grade coins of common dates, you'd probably get about the same price either way and you might even do better trying to sell on eBay as a "lot."

Most coin dealers will at least tell you if one of the coins you are holding are rarer key-dates or semi-key dates. If it isn't something they are in the market for they still might not pay top dollar, but at least you know what the loss is. A pawn shop in my experience is more likely to just try to make a quick buy and a high sell.

[Deleted]

I think Ebay has changed a lot of collectibles. In the old days (before Ebay) if you saw something rare for your collection you had to pay the sellers price or run the risk of never getting it. Items were spread out & the odds were you wouldn't see another one. Ebay changed that because rare anything will be listed sometimes 10 of them per month.

Also the economy is down & a lot of people are dumping their collections to get the money.

I also think (just a theory) that items are collected in waves (time period waves). As older collectors age they tend to thin out their collections (or sell them all) & that tends to happen about the same time.

[traelin0]

Dec 31, 2010 16:35:44 GMT -5 @nicomachus said:

I am sort of surprised a pawn shop would admit to melting down coins since it is illegal to do so.

In my experience, pawn shops are *NOT* the place to deal rare coins. They sell them outrageously high and will only pay sub-acceptable prices. If really interested, you have to find dealers who work exclusively in coins. Every so often you might find a real deal in a pawn shop, but in general those guys have little interest in numismastics. Most major cities host coin-shows a few times a year; thats a better place to deal.

No, they aren't melting down the bullion specie or Eagles. They are melting down junk. No self-respecting pawnbroker would melt down perfectly legitimate specie.

[traelin0]

Dec 31, 2010 17:47:20 GMT -5 @nicomachus said:

Before selling at a pawn shop, I would always consult a dealer for an estimate. The dealers I used to know were usually also pretty honest and would tell me if I could get a better payout at a pawn shop. For low-grade coins of common dates, you'd probably get about the same price either way and you might even do better trying to sell on eBay as a "lot."

Most coin dealers will at least tell you if one of the coins you are holding are rarer key-dates or semi-key dates. If it isn't something they are in the market for they still might not pay top dollar, but at least you know what the loss is. A pawn shop in my experience is more likely to just try to make a quick buy and a high sell.

Before the FED started running the printing presses, I used to be able to find decent-quality coins at pawn shops. Most of those guys have no idea what they have, other than generalities. They aren't numismatists and it isn't wise to be a numismatist and tell them. ;D

[traelin0]

Dec 31, 2010 16:45:33 GMT -5 @neohguy said:

nichomachus, would a coin shop pay more than a pawn shop today for old silver dollars (not real rare dates, fine but not u or bu) than a pawn shop? Seems like there are two types of players right now. Those down on their luck and selling and those speculating on bullion prices. I do see see bullion buyers/sellers in coin shops (along with collectors). I guess I might have answered my own question.

Sadly, neo, most people don't have a clue about coins. The first thing they should do is find a reputable dealer in their locality, either by going to PCGS or NGC to find an authorized dealer.

[texasredneck]

I have a small antique and collectible business in Sherman, Texas. Baseball cards after 1985 were made in such large quanties and by many different companies that they are worth next to nothing today. I have a box of over 1000 mixed dates and mfg. been trying to sell for two years for less than $20. Cards earlier than 1985 of famous players still sell, but not as well as they used to.

The coin market peaked in 1965. The number of collectors has declined steadily since then. Coins minted before 1910 are still selling as collectibles, but like baseball cards the more recent dates were made in very large quanties. Most of this latter material sells only as silver all though some people will buy a coin of a certain date because someone close to them was born in that year. Hope this helps.

[vl]

Things like sports memorabilia have mass-produced fakes often of same or better quality than the original. There are also fewer pursuit collectors due to over-supply.
If you sat down and really thought about it... someone who collected and saved those cards likely has other things that cannot and have not been successfully cheapened through the import market.
I deal in some of those (no, I won't elaborate) and certainly have been successful in doing so.

[traelin0]

wxyz covered all the bases. As a numismatist who is currently conducting his own research, let me tell you it is not for the faint of heart. Do NOT get into coins unless you are a serious collector.

[steff]

While I don't intentionally collect things for the $$, I have stumbled onto owning items that end up having a decent value. And sometimes you end up buying something that is a huge shock. For Xmas my mom bought me a set of antique canisters because they were unique and matched my decor. she spent $20 for them. AFter doing research to find out the pattern name, I found just the flour canister on ebay for $585. for 1 canister and I have all 4. That was a shocker!

Upon unpacking a box of sports stuff I have, which we collected for my son's room when he was little, I realized that I have a Brett Favre rookie card, a Nolan Ryan rookie card, a Craig Biggio & Jeff Bagwell rookie card. Hubby as a Cowboys fan, managed to get Troy Aikman's signature on a football. I also have a signed Hakeem jersey from the Rockets that my mom got while attending a playoff game with her company at the time. None of these were bought for value or as an investment, but in the end, I have one heckuva collection of slightly to highly valuable items.

[midwesterner (banned)]

How baseball cards lost their luster.

www.slate.com/id/2146218/nav/tap1/

Last month, when my parents sold the house I grew up in, my mom forced me to come home and clear out my childhood bedroom. I opened the closet and found a box the size of a Jetta. It was so heavy that at first I thought it held my Weider dumbbells from middle school. Nope, this was my old stash. Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of baseball cards from the 1980s. Puckett, Henderson, Sandberg, Gwynn, and McGwire stared back at me with fresh faces. So long, old friends, I thought. It's time for me to cash in on these long-held investments. I started calling the lucky card dealers who would soon be bidding on my trove.

First, I got a couple of disconnected numbers for now-defunct card shops. Not a good sign. Then I finally reached a human. "Those cards aren't worth anything," he told me, declining to look at them.

"Maybe if you had, like, 20 McGwire rookie cards, that's something we might be interested in," another offered.

Baseball cards peaked in popularity in the early 1990s. They've taken a long slide into irrelevance ever since, last year logging less than a quarter of the sales they did in 1991. Baseball card shops, once roughly 10,000 strong in the United States, have dwindled to about 1,700. A lot of dealers who didn't get out of the game took a beating. "They all put product in their basement and thought it was gonna turn into gold," Alan Rosen, the dealer with the self-bestowed moniker "Mr. Mint," told me. Rosen says one dealer he knows recently struggled to unload a cache of 7,000 Mike Mussina rookie cards. He asked for 25 cents apiece.

This year there are 40 different sets of baseball cards on the market, down from about 90 in 2004. That's about 38 too many. When there were just two or three major sets on the market, we all had the same small pool of cards. Their images and stats were imprinted on our brains. The baseball card industry lost its way because the manufacturers forgot that the communal aspect of collecting is what made it enjoyable. How can kids talk about baseball cards if they don't have any of the same ones?

Seeing as the cards I once prized now fetch a pittance on eBay, I decided not to sell my collection. I figure my Boggs rookie is worth more as a keepsake of my card-shop days than as an online auction with a starting bid of 99 cents. The worthlessness of my collection gave me an idea, though. The card manufacturers and the Major League Baseball Players Association have launched a $7 million marketing campaign to remind a generation of children that baseball cards exist. Instead of spending all that money to tell kids that cardboard is cool, Topps and MLB should convince everyone that cards are worthless, suitable for tacking to the wall, flicking on the playground, or at least taking out of the package.

Guess this makes sense.

[midwesterner (banned)]

www.chadgibbs.com/2010/04/20/why-didnt-you-tell-me-baseball-cards-are-worthless/

Another good article about baseball cards.

[wheels1313]

midwesterner: I collect sportscards and sports memorabilia and they ARE a good investment. The problem you are seeing is due to the increase in the number of manufacturers that began to boom in 1981 thru today and the number of cards made were far greater than the demand. Get your self back to the early 1900's thru 1941 is where you see real value. What you have to remember is to buy the best you can afford, because the collectors with $$$s to spend ultimately want to buy the best available!

[wheels1313]

www.milehighcardco.com/LotDetail.aspx?lotid=19209

1914 Cracker Jack Set sold Nov 2010 => Final Bid(Includes Buyers Premium): $502,775.00

[midwesterner (banned)]

1914 Cracker Jack Set sold Nov 2010 => Final Bid(Includes Buyers Premium): $502,775.00

Nice!! Always loved the baseball cards. Too bad some most of what I have are not worth too much. Those are some classics I must say.