81 to 90 Set Registry Baseball ??

jaxxr

Regardless of one's particular definition of vintage, I believe no one will accept anything past 1980, the final year of one basic set, no update sets, inserts, GUs, Etc., as the earliest possible year for vintage baseball cards. So, how about the next ten years, 1981 thru 1990 ? They will become vintage at some point in time.

By checking the registry stats quickly, the major issues only, it seems four sets are the most popular. 90 Leaf has the main interest, followed by 89 UD, 84 Donruss, and 81 Fleer ( which has a remarkable 100% done beauty ). Some of the remaining sets are collected by several and a few sets hardly at all.

I have a 1987 Topps set registered, ( Am I nuts ?? ) with a very low percent, so I am curious as to others' thoughts on this era. This time peroid can have no economic value, right ?? Almost any nice PSA 9 or 10 looks good regardless of age ?? Why are some sets almost left alone ?? Will the 25+ year old collector begin to grade his childhood favorites ??

Collecting "true" vintage is still my favorite pastime, but I do not believe that older and worth more, ( just like women ) is always more attractive / desirable. It might be interesting to hear what vintage, modern, and mixed, or mixed-up collectors feel about 1981 to 1990.

40ozman

I think 85 and below. There are some remarkable sets from the early 80's. Some of my favorites are the 1984 donruss, 1984 fleer update, and 1981 topps. If you look at the registry, there are some very nice examples of these sets. I frankly don't see anything past 1985 being anything special, just to much produced.
Card collecting was built on grown men wasting money on things from there childhood. I was 11 when the 84 issues were brought out, and I remember how special my cards were. No suprise that I am now working on a few sets from that year. Now that some of us that bought these cards in 1980's are in a position in life that we can spend on these cards, I think some of them will increase in popularity.
I won't speculate into values, I hope they remain a little on the low side. For most of us, it isn't an investment to make money on.
There are already some high prices on low pop cards, 84 fleer update in particular. A PSA 10 common(can't remember which one) went for well over $100(i think closer to $150), about 2 weeks ago. A bunch of other PSA 10 commons went for between $20 and $30.

dalew

Thanks for mentioning my set (1981 Fleer Baseball). I picked this set first because it is one that I grew up with. The others from the era that I liked and collected, but sold would classify as vintage (1969, 70, 71, 72, 73 and 74 Baseball). Didn't like the 75's because I can still remember those terrible looking Indians Uniforms.

I also looked on ebay to see what was most available from the 80's. The 81 Fleers seemed to fill the bill. There are 28 Hall of Famers in the set and it has 40 variation cards. I can still remember opening up packs at a campgrounds and noticing later with the others that I purchased that the cards didn't jive. Hence, the error and correction cards.

I've noticed that wax boxes of these cards always sell at about $32.00 each, and vending goes for about $300.00 a case. They always tend to sell. I don't think people are collecting these for grading all of them. I think that they are picking through them and submitting those that they think will come back either in 10 or just doing the star cards. I've tracked some of the 10's and they are selling high. For instance:

Pete Rose - 10 - Sold for $283.32 on 09-16-03
Pete Rose - 10 - Sold for $177.51 on 11-16-03
Larry Bowa - 10 - Sold for $36.00 on 11-06-03
Mike Schmidt - 10 - Sold for $43.99 on 09-01-03
Steve Carlton - 10 - Sold for $45.00 on 09-12-03
Gary Maddox - 10 - Sold for $24.99 on 10-05-03
George Brett - 10 - Sold for $46.01 on 09-01-03
Nolan Ryan - 10 - Sold for $158.05 on 09-23-03
Reggie Jackson - 10 - Sold for $36.55 on 10-13-03
Lou Piniella - 10 - Sold for $22.72 on 11-06-03
Steve Garvey - 10 - Sold for $44.02 on 11-18-03
Eddie Murray - 10 - Sold for $37.00 on 11-06-03
Tom Seaver - 10 - Sold for $52.00 on 09-01-03
Harold Baines - 10 - Sold for $338.00 on 09-01-03

I know that there are tons and tons of these cards out there, but I wanted a set that I liked, could afford to do, and yes have listed on the Registry.

Dale

NHLfightguy

I think there are some real gems in this era. My favorite being 1987 Donruss, best design of 80's and loaded with hof rc 500 hr guys, a ton of this product is out there but not much in top grade. I think the real sleeper years are 85,86,87 Fleer. Looking at the pop reports, getting a 10 is pretty tough. The 80-83 topps sets are real nice. Then 84-87 Donruss had a real nice run. Then 89 UD closed the decade out with fresh new look. The only real $ money to be made is to get first 10's of some star cards. I remember seeing Mike Schmidt and Cal Ripken 1987 psa 10 Donruss cards go for over $150 each when the first couple hit ebay. The set that I'm looking at for next year to dabble in is 1985 Fleer..................

RobE

One interesting thing about the start point you are mentioning is that all sets from at least Topps have no team cards.I believe 2001 is when Teams were put back into sets once again and 1981 is where they stopped.

As a kid,when you opened up the pack and pulled a team card you thought...."Great!" You have everyone you wanted in one shot.Plus a checklist.

Wabittwax

jaxxr, I am modestly making a 1987 Topps Tiffany set. That was the first year that I started collecting cards as a kid so it kinda brings back some memories. I'm not real gung ho about it though because I basically consider any money that I put in to that set, I'm just throwing it away. I don't mind though. Someday when I do sell what I have, I'm not expecting much. It's mostly for my enjoyment and not for resale.

I have recently be intrigued about 1987 Donruss PSA 10's. They are dirt cheap and super super tough to get. I have had such bad luck with 1987 Donruss that I quit submitting them a couple years ago. I could rarely even get a 9 much less a 10 even out of a factory set. McGwire's are going for like $30 now and they used to fetch about $500. I have a Kevin Brown RC that I picked up for $14 but I might think about grabbing some more soon.