Baseball Cards
I spent a lot of money collecting baseball cards as a kid. It was also at the height of the industry, which spurred multiple companies saturating the market with production runs far in excess of the number of collectors in the market because collectors purchased multiple sets. The boom, of course, did not last and the result was a mountain of cards of little to no value.
Recently I took my collection out of my parents home and drove all the way to North Carolina with it in my trunk, anxious to see what treasures I might have tucked away. Turns out, not much. Not only were the cards from the peak of excess production/diminished values, it was also the "steroids era" of baseball and post-1994 strike. In other words, the industry collapsed and so did any chance these cards had any value. I got a book from the library to check out suggested values, but a quick glimpse of eBay auctions revealed suggested and actual values varied greatly. Today's collectors demand perfect quality cards with certified ratings from reputable companies. Cards used to make engine noises on bicycle wheels are worthless.
The highest auctioned baseball cards recently sold on eBay were:
The cards I collected do not fit into the category of valuable commodity. They did, however, provide me with years of fun and excitement. It also provided a safe activity for me and my friends. So I cannot call them worthless, just not valuable. Somewhere in between, though far closer to the former.
Recently I took my collection out of my parents home and drove all the way to North Carolina with it in my trunk, anxious to see what treasures I might have tucked away. Turns out, not much. Not only were the cards from the peak of excess production/diminished values, it was also the "steroids era" of baseball and post-1994 strike. In other words, the industry collapsed and so did any chance these cards had any value. I got a book from the library to check out suggested values, but a quick glimpse of eBay auctions revealed suggested and actual values varied greatly. Today's collectors demand perfect quality cards with certified ratings from reputable companies. Cards used to make engine noises on bicycle wheels are worthless.
The highest auctioned baseball cards recently sold on eBay were:
- $32,500 Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps rookie, graded 7 (out of 10)
- $11,000 Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps rookie, graded 4
- $7,000 Babe Ruth 2008 Upper Deck (a genuine signature created into a card, one of only 10)
- $6,500 Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps rookie, graded 2
- $6,250 Hank Aaron/Babe Ruth/Willie Mays 1999 UpperDeck, rated 8 (cuts from bats of each player created into a card, one of only 50)
- $5,366 Ty Cobb 1911 Caramel
- $4,950 Babe Ruth 1933 Goudey, graded 5
- $4,688 Ty Cobb 1906 Piedmont, graded 8.5
- $3,999 Babe Ruth 2008 Upper Deck (a genuine signature created into a card, one of only 8)
- $3,750 Mickey Mantle 1957 Topps, graded 8.5
The cards I collected do not fit into the category of valuable commodity. They did, however, provide me with years of fun and excitement. It also provided a safe activity for me and my friends. So I cannot call them worthless, just not valuable. Somewhere in between, though far closer to the former.
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