What do you do with seven million cards if you’re not a collector? If you’re Lowell Christensen, you sort them. Then you give them away. Christensen isn’t really an avid collector, but he hates to see things go to waste, so he takes in collections that no one wants, organizes them and stores them in his garage since his wife isn’t keen on having any in the … [Read more...]
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Jack of All Trades: Baseball Card Documentary Tells More Than 1 Story
A new documentary about the baseball card industry of the late 1980s and early 90s arrived Tuesday but the film promises much more than a wistful look back at an explosive time in the hobby. Jack of All Trades is described as a “unique personal tale with emotional family ties, outlining the details behind the boom, and bust of the once lucrative baseball card collecting … [Read more...]
Grading Companies Give Much Needed Boost to Junk Wax Era
Broadly defined as baseball cards produced from the late 1980s through the early 1990s, the "Junk Wax Era" is often cited as a primary reason for the crash of the industry felt in the late 1990s. The gist is that cards produced during that time were usually printed in far greater quantities than many collectors believed. As a result, supply became much greater than demand. That … [Read more...]
Rookie Cards of New Hall of Famers Are Plentiful, Cheap
You've got a young man in street clothes. A 25-year-old prospect sitting on a dugout bench. A posed shot of a pitcher in a minor league uniform. Some of the rookie cards of the 2019 Hall of Fame class are not exactly artistic gems but they won't cost you much either. All of them date from the "junk wax" era of the late 1980s and early 90s, when there seemed … [Read more...]
Who’s Leaving Junk Wax Cards at NY Supermarket?
We’ve heard of all kinds of ways to unload those late 80s/early 90s baseball cards that generally aren’t worth anything other than memories. We’ve even suggested a few from time-to-time. Apparently, there's another. It’s a novel concept initiated by a mystery shopper (no, not a “mystery shopper”, just a person who hasn’t yet been identified). Bring … [Read more...]
Notes: Goldin’s Big Tease; Early Signed Mantles; Stolen Mail
Goldin Auctions says it will be offering “the most valuable and historically significant sports-related collectible ever to be sold” in its October Legends auction. Now that’s a tease. They’ll reveal it at a news conference soon. Sometimes such proclamations don’t live up to the hype but the company says “rest assured there will be zero doubt in anyone’s mind” it’s a … [Read more...]
Returning to the Hobby: Collectors Share Their Stories
Like any hobby, collectors come and go. The reasons for giving up on sports collecting are as varied as the reasons people start in the first place. If you're an avid sports fan, though, the collecting gene is hard to ditch completely. A lot of collectors who stopped buying, selling or trading eventually return. It's a trend hobby shops and … [Read more...]
Your 80s Cards May Not Be So ‘Worthless’ After All
In a scene that has constantly replayed itself through hobby shops and internet message boards, former collectors who hoarded their 1980s Topps cards have been gently - and sometimes not-so-gently - informed that most of their cards are not worth the paper they are printed on. Often heartbroken and sometimes indignant these individuals will either dump them in the trash, donate … [Read more...]
Five Underrated Baseball Card Products of the 1990s
by Chris Harris I recently came across Beckett Sports Card Monthly's “The 90s” issue. While it is refreshing to read about baseball cards that are actually fun to collect, Beckett did gloss over a few 90s sets that, I believe, collectors should take a second look at. Some are of sets you probably have hidden in a closet somewhere and haven’t looked at in years. At least … [Read more...]
