Thursday, March 29, 2018
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Good Story!! About card collecting in the 1980's and 1990's
http://keyetv.com/sports/professional/not-in-the-cards
Not in the cards: collecting baseball cards after the boom
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18TH 2016
AUSTIN, Texas — Drew Pickens could spend hours gazing out at Lake Travis from his Dad's place. And he usually does.
"Whenever the weather is nice and I'm in town for the weekend, I spend a lot of time sitting up on that porch," Pickens explained.
Another view--looking down at his baseball card collection--is also one of Pickens' favorites.
"It keeps me tied to the sport, almost," Pickens said of his hobby. "You're able to stay up to date with everything."
The 21-year-old Sam Houston State University student collects baseball cards because he enjoys the sport and the hobby. But after the industry swung for the fences around the time Pickens was born, fun--rather than financial gain--is about all that's left for collectors.
"It's still a very fun hobby," Larry Dluhy noted. "Kids still collect."
Dluhy puts on sports cards and collectibles shows across Texas. By his estimation, the internet now accounts for 90% of card buying, selling and trading. But there's financial incentive for collectors to come out to shows like this one at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco.
"You still actually probably do better at shows or stores," Dluhy said. Stores like Card Traders of Austin, which Walt Case took over in 1995.
"The industry is still strong, it's just a lot different," admitted Case. "We get probably five to ten walk-ins or phone calls every day with people interested in selling product. 99 times out of 100 it's cards from the 1980s or 1990s."
During the late '80s and early '90s, the baseball card industry was a Nolan Ryan fastball or Barry Bonds with the bases loaded. It was untouchable. Todd Downey managed a memorabilia store during that era.
"I could see people were getting into the hobby for reasons I didn't have any desire to be a part of," Downey said of his decision to leave the shop and merely collect as a hobby.
In describing enthusiasts' rationale, Case said, "Buy this stuff up, put it on the shelf for 20-25 years and think 'I'm going to become wealthy. The only problem is five million people did that."
It's a typical case of supply and demand. Fans were collecting so card companies kept producing. And that caused the value of just about every card from the '80s and '90s to flame out.
"They would probably be better off if they could figure out how to roll [cards from the '80s and '90s] up and make a nice fire log for the fireplace," Case said frankly. "Because the sell-ability of those cards, due to the absolutely saturated market, is virtually impossible."
Even though most cards from that era aren't worth the paper on which they're printed; rather than pitching them out, experts suggest you pass them on.
"If you collected because you were a fan or if you've got kids that are going to be fans, what better way to bridge the gap?" suggested Downey.
"Pass them on to some other kids if they're not worth a lot," Dluhy said. "Then, these kids will get interested."
Drew Pickens' father played a part in his love for the game and collecting.
"It was a way we bonded," Pickens recalled. "We went on a few trips--once to Florida for Spring Training."
So Drew's dad gave him more to see than just a great view of Lake Travis.
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Story on Baseball Cards in Kansas City Area from the Kansas City Star
Just a couple of baseball card stores remain in KC area, and they play a new game
The woman, a cellular biologist, carefully inserts a PSA 8 card — that’s high-grade — into an envelope to be shipped to a man in Parma, Ohio.
She does this in an unmarked storefront in Overland Park. Only the light says somebody is inside. Outside, rain falls, cars pass, nobody looks.
Good grief. Do people at Homeland Security know what’s going on in this place?
“Don Drysdale,” the woman says of the card. “Topps, 1957, $369.95.”
Oh. So that’s what cellular biologists do.
And that’s what the baseball card business has become.
Fifteen years ago, the Kansas City metro area could count more than 50 card shops, the kind where people hovered over glass cases and looked down at ballplayers like from high in the bleachers.
Cards were going deep back then: McGwire, Sosa, Bonds. Baseball was blasting out of its post-strike slump.
Now? Gone. Collectors around town say maybe only two of those old shops remain. And those two couldn’t be much farther apart: The Baseball Card Store, 9637 W. 87th St. in Overland Park, and Show Me Sports Cards at U.S. 40 and Missouri 7 in Blue Springs.
So what happened to everything in between?
The economy tanked. Baby boomers aged. Steroids. Kids in the digital age don’t really get into cards — “You just, like, hold them?”
Those old card packs used to fill a void. Today, there is no void. Every game is on TV, followed by “Baseball Tonight” on ESPN, followed by a repeat of “Baseball Tonight” on ESPN2.
“And if I want to know what Albert Pujols hit in 2008, I can just punch it up on my phone — I don’t need cards,” said Tom Bartsch, editor of Sports Collectors Digest. “That time is over.”
But baseball cards still pack a wallop — as an investment thing.
Those in the know say a portfolio of stars from the 1950s and 1960s — Mays, Mantle, Banks, Ford — will earn more than a money market account, and people use it for that purpose.
As Scott Neal, owner of The Baseball Card Store, said: “Ninety-nine percent of cards aren’t worth anything. One percent is worth a lot.”
Which gets us back to the cellular biologist in Overland Park. OK, Michelle Jones’ degree is in cellular biology. Her field is baseball cards. She and her husband, Craig, benched the corporate world a long time ago and started All Star Cards.
No foot traffic. No sign on the door. Just a gazillion cards, a website and a phone. Oh, and old bank vaults that look as if they could stand up to nukes.
According to Michelle Jones, their business is the only one in the country that puts out a monthly magazine of inventory and prices. The April edition has 104 pages. The back cover features a Bowman brand 1948 Yogi Berra priced at $3,250.
On page 29, of note to Kansas City boomers, is a mint-condition 1967 Topps brand Campy Campaneris for $99.95.
Craig Jones runs the business. Longtime employee Charlie Teegarden takes phone orders all day and handles Internet sales.
Michelle Jones sends out orders, 25 to 30 a day.
“They leave here and go all over the country,” she said.
Still want to gaze through glass at old ballplayers?
You could go see Marilyn Williams at Show Me Sports Cards, a little-bitty place sitting cockeyed at a busy Blue Springs intersection.
She’s been there 26 years. That makes her new. The barber next door has been cutting hair 65 years.
Williams is 77. Tell her about those baseball cards you bought when you were 12. Five-cent pack, flat piece of bad gum.
“Shouldn’t have opened them,” she’ll say with a smile. “Probably be worth some money today.”
Her story wouldn’t seem to be the basis for a shop to outlast all those others. She used to run a flower and greeting card store. Then in 1989 her son suggested she add his old baseball cards to the inventory.
“It was the thing to do back then,” she said.
Business took off. Flowers got left behind. During the baseball card boom in the late ’90s, she had two registers going.
Things have slowed, but the kids still come in. Just not as many, and they’re in their 50s and 60s.
Like regulars Dave Siegfried and Bill, who didn’t want to give his last name. They started collecting cards as kids, even the ones on Post cereal boxes.
“Wish I still had those,” said Bill, 63, of Blue Springs.
He and Siegfried, 52, of Grain Valley, each have well over a million cards. They still like the old shops, especially Bill. No eBay for him.
“I don’t even have a cell phone,” he said. “Don’t have cable either. I listen to ball games on the radio.”
So these two come in to Show Me two or three times a week to see what’s new. They never leave empty-handed.
Not that they don’t see the value of online browsing. That’s the only way to know that someone in Cincinnati has a George Brett card to sell, Siegfried said.
But they like Show Me because you leave with it in your hands.
“I want to open it right now,” Bill said.
“Yeah,” Siegfried said. “We’re just like 10-year-old kids.”
Same thing cross town at The Baseball Card Store. Neal opened the place in 1988.
“Up to the early ’90s, you couldn’t lose money on baseball cards,” he said. “Then the strike came in ’94 and it seemed like half the collectors got out.”
The bounce back came in the late ’90s when Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire made a run at Roger Maris’ home run record. McGwire got it first.
“And everyone wanted a graded Mark McGwire card,” Neal said.
Boom time again and shops popped up in just about every mall and strip center. Neal said the bubble began to burst about the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Then came news those sluggers were juiced.
Another problem, Neal said, is that the card companies overproduced in that era. He recently paid $750 for a collection of 3 million cards.
These days, he sees more collectors than fans.
“But Mickey Mantle is still the king,” Neal said in his store.
The Mick held a prime spot in the glass case, flanked by the likes of Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Whitey Ford and Willie Mays.
“And here’s Ernie Banks,” Neal said. “Everyone wanted him when he died not long ago.”
Unlike Williams in Blue Springs, Neal buys and sells on eBay, but he has store regulars, too.
And those older customers?
“In the last 15 months or so I’ve had several pass away,” Neal said.
Way back, Craig Jones’ mother wanted him to get his card collection out of her house.
So he started selling them at garage sales. Business was good. Good enough it got him thinking. Before long, he quit his corporate job.
“The whole thing, 8 to 5, suit and tie — that was totally not him anyway,” Michelle Jones said.
The couple and longtime employee Teegarden all put their college degrees to work selling sports cards. Early on at retail sites. Now out of the unmarked storefront in Overland Park.
“Collecting is just so different now,” said Craig Jones, 49. “Now it’s about the truly scarce and the truly valuable.”
The phone rings all day long at All Star Cards.
So how about a Yogi Berra 1948 rookie?
Teegarden motions to follow him to the back room where he thumbs through long files.
“Yeah, got four,” he said.
He explains the PSA — Professional Sports Authenticators — grading system, which rates cards, 1-10, on condition. The Yogi Berra “4” was $400. An “8” listed for $3,250.
The person who buys it may or may not be a baseball fan, but at $3,250 it’s a fairly safe bet it won’t be a kid.
“I don’t think the kids are ever coming back to cards,” said Bartsch, the Sports Collectors Digest editor. “The culture’s changed too much. That part of baseball is gone.”
Or maybe Yogi said it better himself: “The future ain’t what it used to be.”
And apparently it doesn’t come with gum.
Friday, November 27, 2015
I took this Video from mouschi at Sportscardfourm on Baseball Card Talk
Thursday, November 26, 2015
2003 UD Upper Deck MVP BAT Covering the Plate - Game Used #RA Roberto Alomar
2003 UD Upper Deck MVP BAT Covering the Plate - Game Used #RA Roberto Alomar for trade
Monday, November 23, 2015
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Don Mattingly Line Drive Baseball Card Kit for Trade
Sold on E-bay Sept.24 2023
Don Mattingly Line Drive Baseball Card Kit for Trade
The Don Mattingly Story (Flyer)
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Cards for Trade
I made a trade on these cards for
2013 Panini Golden Age #113 George Brett,
2008 Donruss Threads Diamond Kings #38 George Brett,
2006 SP Legendary Cuts #97 Bo Jackson,
1997 Metal Universe #91 Johnny Damon
1997 Metal Universe #94 Keith Lockhart
2012 Topps Archives #176 Eric Hosmer
2012 Topps Archives #106 Alex Gordon
2012 Topps Archives #117 George Brett
1997 Metal Universe #97 Jose Rosado
Thank you to Jason Lyke
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Cards from Steve
Here are the Cards I received from my Steve over at White Sox Cards.
Thanks Steve for the great cards.
Your the Greatest Baseball Card Blogger on the internet
Monday, April 6, 2015
1971 TOPPS Royals what I have don't have
17 -1971 TOPPS BILLY SORRELL-Have
35 - 1971 TOPPS LOU PINELLA
71-1971 TOPPS AL STRIKEOUT LEADERS-Have
91-1971 Topps Bob Lemon-Have
103-1971 TOPPS RICH SEVERSON-Have
118-1971 TOPPS COOKIE ROJAS-Have
129-1971 TOPPS AURELIO MONTEAGODO-Have
144-1971 TOPPS JACKIE HERNANDEZ-Have
163-1971 TOPPS BUCK MARTINEZ-Have
187-1971 TOPPS TED ABERNATHY-Have
221-1971 TOPPS DAVE MOREHEAD-Have
247-1971 TOPPS ROYALS ROOKIES-Have
269-1971 TOPPS GAIL HOPKINS-Have
299-1971 TOPPS ED KIRKPATRICK
321-1971 TOPPS TOM MATCHICK
344-1971 TOPPS ELLIE RODRIGUEZ
411-1971 TOPPS GEORGE SPRIGGS-Have
431-1971 TOPPS TOM BURGMEIER-Have
451-1971 TOPPS JOE KEOUGH-Have
470-1971 TOPPS BOB OLIVER
487-1971 TOPPS PAUL SCHAAL
504-1971 TOPPS KEN WRIGHT-Have
528-1971 TOPPS WALLY BUNKER
546-1971 TOPPS JOHN MATIAS
626-1971 TOPPS AL FITZMORRIS
633-1971 TOPPS ROGER NELSON
610-1971 TOPPS AMOS OTIS
626-1971 TOPPS FREDDIE PATEK
633-1971 TOPPS AL ROOKIES
646-1971 TOPPS BOBBY FLOYD
662-1971 TOPPS MIKE HEDLUND
681-1971 TOPPS BILL BUTLER
701-1971 TOPPS BOB GARIBALDI
35 - 1971 TOPPS LOU PINELLA
71-1971 TOPPS AL STRIKEOUT LEADERS-Have
91-1971 Topps Bob Lemon-Have
103-1971 TOPPS RICH SEVERSON-Have
118-1971 TOPPS COOKIE ROJAS-Have
129-1971 TOPPS AURELIO MONTEAGODO-Have
144-1971 TOPPS JACKIE HERNANDEZ-Have
163-1971 TOPPS BUCK MARTINEZ-Have
187-1971 TOPPS TED ABERNATHY-Have
221-1971 TOPPS DAVE MOREHEAD-Have
247-1971 TOPPS ROYALS ROOKIES-Have
269-1971 TOPPS GAIL HOPKINS-Have
299-1971 TOPPS ED KIRKPATRICK
321-1971 TOPPS TOM MATCHICK
344-1971 TOPPS ELLIE RODRIGUEZ
411-1971 TOPPS GEORGE SPRIGGS-Have
431-1971 TOPPS TOM BURGMEIER-Have
451-1971 TOPPS JOE KEOUGH-Have
470-1971 TOPPS BOB OLIVER
487-1971 TOPPS PAUL SCHAAL
504-1971 TOPPS KEN WRIGHT-Have
528-1971 TOPPS WALLY BUNKER
546-1971 TOPPS JOHN MATIAS
626-1971 TOPPS AL FITZMORRIS
633-1971 TOPPS ROGER NELSON
610-1971 TOPPS AMOS OTIS
626-1971 TOPPS FREDDIE PATEK
633-1971 TOPPS AL ROOKIES
646-1971 TOPPS BOBBY FLOYD
662-1971 TOPPS MIKE HEDLUND
681-1971 TOPPS BILL BUTLER
701-1971 TOPPS BOB GARIBALDI
719-1971 TOPPS JERRY MAY -Have
730-1971 TOPPS JIM ROOKER-Have
742-1971 TOPPS ROYALS TEAM
752-1971 TOPPS DICK DRAGO
730-1971 TOPPS JIM ROOKER-Have
742-1971 TOPPS ROYALS TEAM
752-1971 TOPPS DICK DRAGO
Sunday, April 5, 2015
1970 Topps Royals
16 CHARLIE METRO-have
37 DICK DRAGO-have
57 PAT KELLY-have
89 JUAN RIOS
108 TOM BURGMEIER
165 ED KIRKPATRICK
187 MIKE HEDLUND-have
222 JIM ROOKER-have
241 Rookie Stars/Al Fitzmorris RC/Scott Northey have Miscut
266 WALLY BUNKER
321 LOU PINELLA-have
338 PAUL SCHAAL
354 AMOS OTIS-have
377 BILL BUTLER
402 ELLIE RODIGUEZ-have writing back
422 Royals Team
471 CHRIS ZACHARY
495 DAVE MOREHEAD-have
512 BILLY HARRIS
525 JERRY ADAIR-have writing Back
552 Rookie Stars Royals O'Riley/Paepke/Rico
567 BOB OLIVER
589 Joe Keough
609 BUCK MARTINEZ
633 ROGER NELSON
653 MOE DRABOWSKY
671 JIM CAMPANIS
686 JACKIE HERNANDEZ
702 A.L. ROOKIES JOHNSON/KLIMKOWSKI/ZEPP
709 MIKE FIORE
37 DICK DRAGO-have
57 PAT KELLY-have
89 JUAN RIOS
108 TOM BURGMEIER
165 ED KIRKPATRICK
187 MIKE HEDLUND-have
222 JIM ROOKER-have
241 Rookie Stars/Al Fitzmorris RC/Scott Northey have Miscut
266 WALLY BUNKER
321 LOU PINELLA-have
338 PAUL SCHAAL
354 AMOS OTIS-have
377 BILL BUTLER
402 ELLIE RODIGUEZ-have writing back
422 Royals Team
471 CHRIS ZACHARY
495 DAVE MOREHEAD-have
512 BILLY HARRIS
525 JERRY ADAIR-have writing Back
552 Rookie Stars Royals O'Riley/Paepke/Rico
567 BOB OLIVER
589 Joe Keough
609 BUCK MARTINEZ
633 ROGER NELSON
653 MOE DRABOWSKY
671 JIM CAMPANIS
686 JACKIE HERNANDEZ
702 A.L. ROOKIES JOHNSON/KLIMKOWSKI/ZEPP
709 MIKE FIORE
1969 Topps Kansas City Royals Checklist
1969 Topps Kansas City Royals
29 have 1969 TOPPS DAVE MOREHEAD
49 1969 TOPPS ROYALS ROOKIES S.JONES/E.RODRIQUEZ (RODRIQUEZ ON FRONT)
71 1969 TOPPS STEVE WHITAKER
93 1969 TOPPS JOE FOY
116 1969 TOPPS CHUCK HARRISON
137 have 1969 TOPPS WALLY BUNKER
159 have 1969 TOPPS JERRY ADAIR
211 have 1969 TOPPS GALEN CISCO
239 have 1969 TOPPS BOB TAYLOR
258 1969 TOPPS JACKIE HERNANDEZ
279 1969 TOPPS ROGER NELSON
298 1969 TOPPS DAVE NICHOLSON
352 have 1969 TOPPS PAUL SCHAAL
376 Have 1969 TOPPS ROYALS ROOKIES M.FIORE/J.ROOKER
437 have 1969 TOPPS LUIS ALCARAZ
463 Have 1969 TOPPS DENNIS RIBANT
484 have 1969 TOPPS JOE GORDON
508 1969 TOPPS MOE DRABOWSKY
529 have 1969 TOPPS ED KIRKPATRICK Replaced on 1-15-2 with better one
558 Have1969 TOPPS TOM BURGMEIER
569 1969 TOPPS BILLY HARRIS
591 1969 TOPPS MIKE HEDLUND
603 1969 TOPPS JOE KEOUGH
619 1969 TOPPS ROYALS ROOKIES B.BUTLER/P.KELLY/J.RIOS
632 1969 TOPPS JON WARDEN
647 1969 TOPPS DAVE WICKERSHAM
662 1969 TOPPS ROYALS ROOKIES D.DRAGO/B.OLIVER/G.SPRIGGS
29 have 1969 TOPPS DAVE MOREHEAD
49 1969 TOPPS ROYALS ROOKIES S.JONES/E.RODRIQUEZ (RODRIQUEZ ON FRONT)
71 1969 TOPPS STEVE WHITAKER
93 1969 TOPPS JOE FOY
116 1969 TOPPS CHUCK HARRISON
137 have 1969 TOPPS WALLY BUNKER
159 have 1969 TOPPS JERRY ADAIR
211 have 1969 TOPPS GALEN CISCO
239 have 1969 TOPPS BOB TAYLOR
258 1969 TOPPS JACKIE HERNANDEZ
279 1969 TOPPS ROGER NELSON
298 1969 TOPPS DAVE NICHOLSON
352 have 1969 TOPPS PAUL SCHAAL
376 Have 1969 TOPPS ROYALS ROOKIES M.FIORE/J.ROOKER
437 have 1969 TOPPS LUIS ALCARAZ
463 Have 1969 TOPPS DENNIS RIBANT
484 have 1969 TOPPS JOE GORDON
508 1969 TOPPS MOE DRABOWSKY
529 have 1969 TOPPS ED KIRKPATRICK Replaced on 1-15-2 with better one
558 Have1969 TOPPS TOM BURGMEIER
569 1969 TOPPS BILLY HARRIS
591 1969 TOPPS MIKE HEDLUND
603 1969 TOPPS JOE KEOUGH
619 1969 TOPPS ROYALS ROOKIES B.BUTLER/P.KELLY/J.RIOS
632 1969 TOPPS JON WARDEN
647 1969 TOPPS DAVE WICKERSHAM
662 1969 TOPPS ROYALS ROOKIES D.DRAGO/B.OLIVER/G.SPRIGGS
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