Cards from my youth (late 80's early 90's)

jessewvu

This is my first post in the Trading card group so have some grace with me

I collected baseball cards in the late 80's early 90's (say 1989-1992) and stopped collecting sometime after the baseball strike. I picked up some basketball cards in the 1993-1995 timeframe as well. I put those all away in 1995 and haven't looked at them since. I do have a large sleeve folder that my son recently found and showed some interest in going through.

Is there a list somewhere of people he should be looking for when going through the cards based on those years? For some reason I was obsessed with Mark McGwire and Don Mattingly and have a lot of cards from them (don M rookie). I have about 20' of cards (if you stacked them end to end) in boxes. Seems like a lot of work to go through knowing that each card may only be worth the paper it's printed on.

I just don't know where to start with so many cards and need a strategy.

GreenSneakers

I don’t want to disappoint you with your first reply. So happy new year!

NGS428

@jessewvu The 89-92 range you collected in is commonly referred to as part of the junk wax era. Basically, cards were printed 24/7 by Donruss, Topps, Fleer, Score, etc.. Due to the extremely high print runs, these cards are still readily available for low cost.

I happen to collect cards which span across the junk wax era. There are some inserts you may have that started in the early 90’s. Hard to say unless you post some pics. Ken Griffey Jr is the highest value player across that era. Other top players can be found on this list:

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/476761-mlbs-100-greatest-everday-players-of-the-1990s-nos-25-1.amp.html

My advice, if your son does like going through them, do that. That will be the best enjoyment you will find!

One possible method is to pull out players you like and potentially donate the rest. Collecting isn’t always about value, collect what you enjoy!

Have fun!

MarshallFaulk28

That's my era too! I also stopped maybe in 94ish. I got back into cards during the pandemic. There are definitely a few gems to be found from that era particularly if the cards are actually gem mint.

Ironwill

I think sharing your collection with your son is great. The years you have cards weren’t the best, but he won’t care. Get some cards and let him rip. It will make for some great father/son moments.

jessewvu

I have a lot of the HOF guys, it seems those are the only ones that are listed in the price guides. I think I have a frank Thomas error and I have a Harrold Bains (spelling?) card with a line through the star. I have a few other error prints but would have to dig them up. I have a few unopened packs from back then, including a desert storm pack. I knew they wouldn't be worth much, just need to get a list of the HOF guys who played back then and see what I come up with.

I found a few packs of unopened Magic The Gathering (ADD), too bad they aren't Pokémon or whatever is selling for gobs of money.