Star Co Collection

Barfvader

Saw a couple discussions on here lately about this company and looking back thru my past comments I see all of my pictures are long gone so will start a new discussion.

With a small exception most are direct purchases from Star Co during their mid 1990's warehouse find which resulted in some shady goings on with them making new old cards that they had found during this time period.

https://poconorecord.com/article/19990219/News/302199996

This is in part as to why I personally think people shy away from these cards with Basketball in particular due to the finding of what was done. I don't recall seeing anything about any of the Baseball issues being questioned in this find but I do see something to note in my collection and will add this in a bit.

Earlyish 90's I ended up on one of their mailing lists after I had contacted them about some free samples of some of their newer products and (As their story goes) they were going thru a warehouse when they discovered some leftover items that were long forgotten about. Those that were on the mailing lists got the offer to buy this stuff along with other offers that I just didn't have the money to sink into at the time.

1st up will be their autographed card find.

Next up will be promo and ad cards. Differences are that Ad cards have an ad on back and promos are blank backed. A handful look to be a regular card pulled from a set. I bought three and third set was short on some of the cards.

And added some of the baseball sets to my collection. A handful of sets set were their limited edition glossy versions but this was never mentioned in their mailings.

Steve Carlton sets are glossy versions.

McGwire/Davis sets are glossy versions.

Jackson and Schmidt sets are glossy versions.

Seitzer sets are glossy versions.

Now the something I note between these finds and a set (well a FEW sets) that I had purchased probably around 1990. The following hilarious hoard of sets are all 1988 Matt Nokes. Notice that all of the sets have a sticker showing the number out of 3,500. These are not glossy or anything special. The two sets in the find are not numbered.

Does that mean anything? Probably not, but it is odd. And yes, I know, it's probably more odd to own that many sequentially numbered Matt Nokes anything.

Another thing of note is in the mailing it said each set is packaged in a heat-sealed bag. This is simply not true. A good portion of the 90's sets and a handful of the 80's sets are in a thin plastic bag sealed with tape.

And a small handful of Bo Jackson sets not part of the find.

They had many other items in these finds of which I didn't purchase. Here are a few of the flyers sent. I think I have a couple more kicking around somewhere and if I come across them will add them as well.

Hope everyone enjoys looking through these and please feel free to add any Star Co items you have.

mrmopar

You were certainly a more dedicated buyer of Star sets. Those that grabbed up the early basketball sets, especially if they still have them, are thanking their lucky stars today. Too bad I was not into basketball enough to buy any. Most of us are kicking ourselves for this same thing. What a time for those cards to be made too, with a gap in the market!!!

I bought the Garvey bagged sets and a few select other sets here and there in lots, none directly from Star. I also bought up a fair number of Frank Thomas sets and promos when I was collecting him, plus i have picked up a few of the autographed cards as well. Alomar, Herhisher, Trammell, Thomas, Karros and Larkin are a few I saw that I know I have as well.

Barfvader

@mrmopar said:
You were certainly a more dedicated buyer of Star sets. Those that grabbed up the early basketball sets, especially if they still have them, are thanking their lucky stars today. Too bad I was not into basketball enough to buy any.

Just like 1986-87 Fleer basketball I passed on the Star Co sets as well. I very rarely thought of investment so I always stuck with the things I liked which was mainly baseball and football so remembering what I could have bought things for makes you feel a little sick to the stomach when seeing how things exploded in value. Heck, I would have probably traded or sold them off anyway so no real regrets looking back.

I did think at some point that Star Co baseball products had a shot at an increase in value due to low print numbers but with a few exceptions it looks like this stuff can be picked up at very affordable prices.

Ahmanfan

Good looking cards.

BPorter26

Here's a few star bags of mine that I have picked up over the last few years. I still think this product is still undervalued. If PSA ever decides to start grading Star again the Star market will absolutely go nuts

brad31

It surprises me that PSA grades some of the baseball but not the basketball. The Nokes numbering sequence is odd.

A few possible explanations:

1) They originally printed more than 3500 sets

2) They printed the sequential sticker sheets and they bagged the sets and put them on when ordered. When selling the new old stock they no longer had or bothered to put the numbers on.

3) They printed new sets - to me most unlikely of the three on Nokes

Loved seeing all the old cards. The only set I have is Carlton which I bought in ‘85.

Great post.

NGS428

@Barfvader vwry nice! Love the post. While I am admittedly not a huge Star fan they certainly were not shy on printing Griffey cards from 88-89. I will post some in a bit.

If you have more ads mentioning Griffey, please post them. Thanks!

countdouglas

I have a couple of the Bo Jackson sets. The blue set is a glossy version. I believe it was numbered to 10,000, but I didn't care. I ripped that bag open and stuck the set in my album with the rest of my PC.
.

NGS428

Here are the Griffey cards I have...

1988 Star Silver (Print Run 2,000):

1988-89 Star Nova (Print Run 500):

1989 Star - White Back (print Run 5,000?)

1989 Star - Yellow Back (print Run 5,000?)

Promo and AD cards:

Barfvader

@countdouglas said:
I have a couple of the Bo Jackson sets. The blue set is a glossy version. I believe it was numbered to 10,000, but I didn't care. I ripped that bag open and stuck the set in my album with the rest of my PC.

Your glossy blue set from 1988 should have had a card noting # out of 1,000.

My old reference book shows regular non glossy version set of 16 at 6,000 and glossy at 1,000 printed. When considering print runs on the regular stuff from 1988 these are a much smaller number.

Barfvader

@brad31 said:
It surprises me that PSA grades some of the baseball but not the basketball. The Nokes numbering sequence is odd.

A few possible explanations:

1) They originally printed more than 3500 sets

2) They printed the sequential sticker sheets and they bagged the sets and put them on when ordered. When selling the new old stock they no longer had or bothered to put the numbers on.

3) They printed new sets - to me most unlikely of the three on Nokes

Loved seeing all the old cards. The only set I have is Carlton which I bought in ‘85.

Great post.

I'm looking in my old reference book again and it says Mat Nokes (3,500 sets, each bag serial numbered) but yeah, it would be beyond weird if they had fired up the presses to print off more Nokes sets. I mean seriously, who would own more than one?

Maybe they printed an excess of sets in case of damage during printing/packaging? Probably never know but fun to speculate.

Edit: Forgot to note that the bags the Nokes sets are in all look to be the same with the same seal marks as well.

Barfvader

@NGS428 said:
@Barfvader vwry nice! Love the post. While I am admittedly not a huge Star fan they certainly were not shy on printing Griffey cards from 88-89. I will post some in a bit.

If you have more ads mentioning Griffey, please post them. Thanks!

Will post any ads I can find just might be awhile.

Glad you and everyone are enjoying this post. And I thank you and all for posting their cards as well. Good to see some 10's because these colored borders can be brutal as they show every little flaw.

robert67

Wow! Even though I was collecting heavily back in those days I guess I never realized how many sets Star issued.

Cool stuff, and thanks for the work that you put into this post.

countdouglas

@Barfvader said:

Your glossy blue set from 1988 should have had a card noting # out of 1,000.

I most likely just tossed the hand numbered card along with the bag, as a loose generic card doesn't really verify anything once the contents of the bag have been removed. At the time, I wasn't concerned with the "rarity", I just wanted the Bo cards for my PC. That numbered card may be stuck in an 800 count box somewhere with a bunch of other random cards, I don't know. Thanks for clarifying that my set is of /1,000, though.

Vintagehoarder1986

Really good post and some very rare (and impossible to find) information you have posted here. I own mostly Griffey Star cards in PSA9 and PSA10 cards, as well as a few Thomas Psa10. Bporter26, I totally agree with you: if PSA decides to open their doors to grading Star basketball cards again, watch out! Values will explode, without a doubt! Looks like PSA never stopped with baseball. I personally think baseball is extremely underrated in Star sets, but as I said before: I think it's because Topps never stopped printing baseball like they did basketball. This is why basketball took off like it did in Star sets.

erba

I always loved these little sets. I got my 87 Clemens all signed, waiting for them to come back from PSA (hopefully soon). I also have a couple of Boggs sets signed as well. I'll probably pick up a few more and work on getting them all signed as well.

Vintagehoarder1986

I picked up this 1988 blank back glossy Griffey just this morning. Very cool and very rare. I've heard print runs on this particular card were very small, like forty, but could be wrong. Nonetheless, a very rare card and much rarer than his mainstream collectibles!

ghooper33

I always wondered if the community would accept a date range for Star cards similar to Exhibits. Are the new printing considered forgeries or continued printing of the original items?

Would PSA grade the basketball cards in the future with a date range? Would collectors accept this?

I would collect them. Enough time has passed for me that I would be ok with having a time frame (if one could be determined).

Barfvader

@ghooper33 said:
I always wondered if the community would accept a date range for Star cards similar to Exhibits. Are the new printing considered forgeries or continued printing of the original items?

Good discussion here from 2018.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/997238/the-biggest-hobby-controversies-of-the-80s-90s-anyone-remember-these

And this is a good read as well.

https://jordancards.com/blog/the-real-star-co-cards-story-interview-with-renowned-star-cards-expert-steve-taft/

Vintagehoarder1986

@ghooper33 said:
I always wondered if the community would accept a date range for Star cards similar to Exhibits. Are the new printing considered forgeries or continued printing of the original items?

Would PSA grade the basketball cards in the future with a date range? Would collectors accept this?

I would collect them. Enough time has passed for me that I would be ok with having a time frame (if one could be determined).

Not totally certain on the forgery deal, but if you haven't already, you can check out the 1997 Shop At Home scandal, which involved the basketball Star cards. To the best of my knowledge, baseball Star cards didn't have this issue. I would say anything that PSA will grade, especially players like Jordan or Griffey, will always have a following. This is regardless of whether collectors consider them oddball cards or not. The big question remains as to whether PSA will ever accept Star basketball cards again. Nobody truly knows.

Barfvader

They did have a few glossy promo cards which include baseball and basketball that were found in their warehouse which they said had never been released/rare first time offered. I have them pictured above being

1989 Cal Ripken Jr
1989 Ken Griffey Jr
1989 James Worthy
1989 Michael Jordan
1989 Patrick Ewing

If you take the info Star provided there is approx 50 of each of these. To me (just my opinion and can not prove otherwise) these are the oddities which have the most chance at being suspect.

The 1988 pink Cal Ripken Jr promo was also a never released card until 1995.

And I mentioned it above that the mailing said each set was supposed to be packaged in a heat-sealed bag with a good portion of the 90's sets and a handful of the 80's sets are in a thin plastic bag sealed with tape. I have never tried looking up any of the tape sealed sets to see if any were/are on the market in the heat sealed bags. Looks like something I need to look into just to satisfy my curiosity.

If anything I purchased in these lots did turn out to be crap I wouldn't be out much and would still enjoy them for what the are.

Vintagehoarder1986

Any idea what the 1988 promo Griffey is? I didnt see it on the list, but could've overlooked it. Although really neat and rare, I find it quite confusing that a 1988 set was made with him on the Mariners, if I do say so myself. I think Star cards in baseball will eventually pick up one day. Why would basketball remain hot and baseball not?

Mo_Mentum

@Barfvader said:

@brad31 said:
It surprises me that PSA grades some of the baseball but not the basketball. The Nokes numbering sequence is odd.

A few possible explanations:

1) They originally printed more than 3500 sets

2) They printed the sequential sticker sheets and they bagged the sets and put them on when ordered. When selling the new old stock they no longer had or bothered to put the numbers on.

3) They printed new sets - to me most unlikely of the three on Nokes

Loved seeing all the old cards. The only set I have is Carlton which I bought in ‘85.

Great post.

I'm looking in my old reference book again and it says Mat Nokes (3,500 sets, each bag serial numbered) but yeah, it would be beyond weird if they had fired up the presses to print off more Nokes sets. I mean seriously, who would own more than one?

Maybe they printed an excess of sets in case of damage during printing/packaging? Probably never know but fun to speculate.

Edit: Forgot to note that the bags the Nokes sets are in all look to be the same with the same seal marks as well.

Based on the sheer number of 1985 Star Jordan cards that I saw being offered around in 800 count boxes, by the same crew who were offering pre-rookies of Strawberry, Gooden, Clemens, etc., and B&W Bond and Exhibit cards back around the same time frame (1985 to 1990), I can well understand PSA's stance to abstain from grading the basketball cards as a wise decision.

At the time, word on the street was that it was a printer doing the wholesaling.

Mo_Mentum

Important to remember that 1985 through 1990 was the "Golden age of the Scammeroonie". The 5-6 years of dealing in the dark without the benefit of PSA.

Barfvader

@Vintagehoarder1986 said:
Any idea what the 1988 promo Griffey is? I didnt see it on the list, but could've overlooked it. Although really neat and rare, I find it quite confusing that a 1988 set was made with him on the Mariners, if I do say so myself. I think Star cards in baseball will eventually pick up one day. Why would basketball remain hot and baseball not?

Yeah, I don't see it on any of the offerings they sent my way and the date on it is perplexing. I'm seeing Griffey Jr listed in my old Standard Catalog of various sets that are dated 1988-89 being the Nova and Silver edition sets. Looking up the promos they say on the card what set it came from where that says nothing. I'm wondering where the date came from on that if there is nothing on the card saying what year/set it's from?

If that info was out there in the past few years it would be easy for me to have missed it as I stopped actively collecting cards and visiting this board for many years.

Vintagehoarder1986

@Barfvader said:

@Vintagehoarder1986 said:
Any idea what the 1988 promo Griffey is? I didnt see it on the list, but could've overlooked it. Although really neat and rare, I find it quite confusing that a 1988 set was made with him on the Mariners, if I do say so myself. I think Star cards in baseball will eventually pick up one day. Why would basketball remain hot and baseball not?

Yeah, I don't see it on any of the offerings they sent my way and the date on it is perplexing. I'm seeing Griffey Jr listed in my old Standard Catalog of various sets that are dated 1988-89 being the Nova and Silver edition sets. Looking up the promos they say on the card what set it came from where that says nothing. I'm wondering where the date came from on that if there is nothing on the card saying what year/set it's from?

If that info was out there in the past few years it would be easy for me to have missed it as I stopped actively collecting cards and visiting this board for many years.

According to PSA, there's a pop count of 17 PSA 9 and 6 PSA10. Theres a few lower grades, but nothing totaling 30 cards. This makes me believe it's very possible this was indeed a print run of around forty cards.

Vintagehoarder1986

It seems some cards like these could've fell through the cracks? With so many variations, it wouldn't be very surprising. However, they must be accounted for somewhere or PSA wouldn't have graded it, right? It says it's a blank back glossy. I have seen a few of these online through searches, but really couldnt gather any information.

Tabe

@Barfvader said:
And this is a good read as well.

https://jordancards.com/blog/the-real-star-co-cards-story-interview-with-renowned-star-cards-expert-steve-taft/

That's a weird article. On the one hand, Taft says that Star didn't go back and reprint their old cards. Later in the same interview, he says they did.

Which is it?

Barfvader

@Tabe said:

@Barfvader said:
And this is a good read as well.

https://jordancards.com/blog/the-real-star-co-cards-story-interview-with-renowned-star-cards-expert-steve-taft/

That's a weird article. On the one hand, Taft says that Star didn't go back and reprint their old cards. Later in the same interview, he says they did.

Which is it?

Yeah I noticed that. I think on one hand that most of the info I have found is a confusing mess of sorts. I think the one line that clarifies in short what was going on as far as the basketball stuff is this:

Where this is important to the hobby, and what is almost always confused, is that Star Co. and their printer did not re-print their original cards. They made new cards (in 1997), but, back-dated these cards to 1985 and 1986.

But he comes back with:

A couple examples are a 1986 Lite All Stars and a 1986 Crunch N Munch. These sets have different color borders and a different date than the original sets. Many of the cards from this 1997 counterfeit run used the same photos from original Star Co. cards, but, the set names and/or dates were different. Border colors were also different.

If different color borders and dates are on the back dated ones then how can they be counterfeits? Counterfeits to me are trying to be an exact duplicate of an original and these apparently were not.

I've tried various searches but I can't seem to find a good detailed account of what all was found out/happened during that time frame of events.

aro67

https://www.basketballgold.com/

Great website for Star Company basketball information.

Barfvader

@aro67 said:
https://www.basketballgold.com/

Great website for Star Company basketball information.

Thank you so much. Really appreciate the link. Will take more time to look things over but I love this as it's 100% true and yet so many don't seem to get it.

Misconception: Star is controversial due to counterfeit and reprint issues.
Correction: First, there are not any counterfeits of any original Star Co. cards that are of higher quality than other sports cards that have been counterfeited. It is quite easy to learn to authenticate the cards. Second, there is no evidence that any of the original Star Co. basketball cards produced from 1983-86 were ever reprinted. The fact that individuals are listing counterfeit cards on ebay as reprints to circumvent ebay rules does not mean that those counterfeit cards are reprints.

BullJack13

Great read and post. Although I know nothing about old Star cards or the basketball ones I am a huge collector of Griffey Jr. Star cards (1988-1990) Your post proves (to me) that this card is indeed a Star promo. There are listings on Ebay for these raw but I purchased this one a handful of years ago as you rarely see one PSA graded. It has always seemed odd to me that it is the only early Griffey Jr. Star promo that is not a blank back.

BullJack13

Contrary to a few Griffey Jr. collectors belief, not every Star Promo is associated with a set. Including my previous post these Promos have no association to any set. Apparently Star loved promos.

BullJack13

Near as I can tell and my experience is only with 1988-1990 Star Griffey Jr. cards is that the Promos associated with sets was limited to 1/5th of the production run of the sets. I could very well be wrong but am basing my statement on the fact that the 1988 Star Silver promo is 1 of 400 produced (Stated on the back of the Promo) which is 1/5th the production run of the 1988 Star Silver set (2,000). A few early Griffey Jr. Promo and Ad cards, Enjoy

Barfvader

Great looking Griffey's.

Yeah, they loved producing promo cards. You had regular blank backed, glossy blank backed, ad card (with ad on back), ones from the various premium sets (Nova/Silver/Platinum/Gold) and a couple in the lots I purchased which appear to be an actual card pulled from a set. I've never tried to find out if those last ones have any difference though.

Certainly keep a player collector busy looking for high grade ones as those borders show even the slightest issues but that's part of the fun.

BullJack13

Thanks! Not only were the bright colored borders tough but centering issues left to right was a common issue. There are only a few 1988 Silver and 1989 Nova promos that were ever graded a 10. I know a couple folks who have a 10 and they won't be selling. I would be shocked if one comes on the market. Again, thanks for a great read!

BullJack13

@Barfvader I forgot to ask, does your Blue Griffey promo have the same back as the one I have?

Barfvader

@BullJack13 said:
@Barfvader I forgot to ask, does your Blue Griffey promo have the same back as the one I have?

Here's a scan of the back. Looks the same to me.

Vintagehoarder1986

I've been following sales of the yellow bordered Griffey promo in PSA10 and a BB Repli Griffey in a PSA10 is way outselling it so far. The Star promo is only at 200.00 while the other is at around a grand. The BB Repli also has a higher pop count. Kinda crazy if you ask me.