The Biggest Decline In Hobby History?

frankhardy · June 21, 2005 9:38PM

What are some of the biggest declines in value of a single card in the hobby's history. The one that comes to mind is the 1986 Donruss Canseco. Wasn't that card over $100 at one time (or am I way off). I just looked on Ebay and a NM-MT raw one was sold for $0.79. That means that card is less than 1% of what it was once worth.

Of course, I know that there were cards that were once worth $10 that are now worthless, but that really wouldn't be significant. What are some of the more significant declines?

goudeygold · June 21, 2005 9:42PM

Tiger Woods SI for kids. Once sold for $125,000 in PSA 10. Now worth what? $7,000?

GG

MorrellMan · June 21, 2005 9:49PM

Not meaning to bash modern cards, but I think this question refers to a short history. These massive devaluations occur only in modern cards with speculative value. The '86 Canseco, The '83 TT Strawberry et als....'85 Hershiser was up close to $30 at one time, as was the Gooden.

Boopotts · June 21, 2005 10:06PM

The 89 Donruss Griffey in PSA 10 has to get some consideration. It's decline isn't as extreme (percentage wise) as the Canseco, but in 2000 this card was (if I remember right) selling for around $1500.

schr1st · June 21, 2005 10:12PM

For graded cards:

SI for Kids Tiger
1993 SP Jeter rookie
1986-87 Fleer Jordan Rookie

Raw cards:

1985 Donruss Eric Davis rookie
1986 Donruss Jose Canseco
1987 Fleer Will Clark (remember when you could buy 4 or 5 Bonds rookies for the price of one Clark?)
1984 Donruss Don Mattingly

RipublicaninMass · June 21, 2005 10:32PM

raw 1991 leaf previews were selling for 350$ a set, now they are 1.98 on ebay, that is a pretty big drop!

Stingray · June 21, 2005 10:41PM

1989 Billy Ripken.

Stingray

lostdart58 · June 21, 2005 11:11PM

<< 1989 Billy Ripken.

Stingray >>

Is not the rarer of the four Ripken versions still not valuable?

Stingray · June 21, 2005 11:19PM

I not sure, but this one was going for hundreds of dollars at one point and what is it worth now $20??

Stingray

boggs · June 21, 2005 11:29PM

Any Brien Taylor card! I paid 80.00 for the gold topps rookie and threw it away a few years ago.

Stingray · June 21, 2005 11:36PM

The young Yanks phenom, I believe Topps had a special autographed rookie card of his that was inserted in factory sets or into packs, can't remeber exactly. I think that was going for some pretty good coin.

Stingray

boggs · June 21, 2005 11:39PM

Yep the one I bought for 80.00 was it . Gold Auto in factory gold sets that sold for I think off hand a 1000.00 from Topps. Dont quote me though.

Griffins · June 21, 2005 11:50PM

Was the Tiger Woods cards actually real sales? I thought there was some later information that came out.

2dueces · June 21, 2005 11:55PM

1998 Vince Carter finest

1986/7 Michael Jordan Rookies

I shouldve sold all of mine back in 1990

zanesdad · June 22, 2005 12:09AM

Any Bo Jackson card.

Stingray · June 22, 2005 12:41AM

How about 1985 Topps Mcgwire Tiffany, PSA 9 sold for $224 on Ebay. Wasn't that going for a lot more??

Stingray

ajw · June 22, 2005 1:38AM

<< 
1986 Donruss Jose Canseco
1987 Fleer Will Clark (remember when you could buy 4 or 5 Bonds rookies for the price of one Clark?)
>>

Good call. I became a fan of Will's in 1987 and I bought as many of his Topps, Fleer and Donruss rookies as I could with a max of $1 each. The Fleer hit $35 (probably in the summer of 1989 or 1990) and I dumped a bunch to finance the purchase of a new pair of Air Jordans. (Gotta have priorities, you know.) I still have a bunch of each rookie and I'm sure that I always will.

I also remember busting a box of 1986 Donruss and getting SIX Canseco rookies. That was *huge* at the time. Actually, I have a very clear memory of a big dealer that advertised in SCD offering to buy the Canseco rookies for several dollars a piece very early in the 1986 season. I have no doubt that that one dealer helped begin the Canseco rollercoaster, as most collectors and dealers had no idea who the guy was at the time (as it was long before collectors began looking to the minors to spot the next big thing to invest in). I wish I still had the ad, as it was one of my first lessons in perceived supply and demand. The player didn't mean anything to most people, but we all knew that it must be valuable because a big time dealer was willing to pay FOUR DOLLARS for it (or whatever the amount was.) A very interesting study in economics for a seventh grader like me.

gregm13 · June 22, 2005 2:06AM

Not a huge decline, but I paid $25 for a Brian Bosworth Pro Set error in 1989. Talk about throwing my money away.

Greg M.

JrMacdaddy · June 22, 2005 2:13AM

1990-91 Upper Deck Sergi Federov. At one time is was an $80-$100 card.

PSA 9 is $3.99 and PSA 10 is $15.99.

Raw its virtually worthless.

ctsoxfan · June 22, 2005 2:34AM

<< 1986/7 Michael Jordan Rookies >>

Yep - those are worthless today...

Funny how all of the cards mentioned so far are post-1980...

Brian48 · June 22, 2005 2:49AM

I had a 1970 OJ Simpson rookie in NRMT condition a few years ago. Luckily, I sold it a few months before he ran into his "troubles".

Stone193 · June 22, 2005 3:35AM

Not a card but the decline in the number of pages of the weekly pub - SCD!

At the peak, the pub would be in the 300 page area - the July 1 issue has 76 including the cover!

This is both a benchmark in the decline of people active in the hobby and the influence that Ebay has had on all publications IMO.

mike

edit: in a survey I took a while back 74 responded - 23% subscribe and 39% used to!

2dueces · June 22, 2005 4:07AM

<< 

<< 1986/7 Michael Jordan Rookies >>

Yep - those are worthless today...

Funny how all of the cards mentioned so far are post-1980... >>

LOL...Didnt say they were worthless, but they have declined since 2000 boom.

I have 8 stickers graded 8 and 9 and a rookie PSA 8..I aslo have 7 more off center ungraded stickers. Combine loss over 5 years is probably near the $2000 range. I'm glad I pulled these from packs rather than purchasing them. I remember playing pack wars in a Vegas card shop in 1989 with these. Packs were $25, which was huge at the time, but we were there gambling so this was just 1 more gamble. Nobody wanted any of the stickers of any player so I just took them all. I did win the Rookie in a pack war. You are right about the post 1980 cards. That is why I am only collecting pre 1970 cards and building the monster, the T206 set from now on. Out

baseballfanatic · June 22, 2005 5:09AM

Almost any card from 1983-1992 when the hobby had its biggest market push has taken a giant nosedive. Its not really one player per se, but just the whole glut that came onto the market before people actually began to understand print runs and the laws of supply and demand. Almost every family in the country had a three ring binder filled with Score rookies of Mike Greenwell and David Cone cards that they were going to cash in to pay off thier mortgage or send the kids to college with. Ads were running in SCD for "Paying 25.00 for Eric Davis 1985 Donruss rookies". 86 Donruss Cansecos and 84 Donruss Mattinglys were the "new" hobby royalty being compared to 52 Mantles. Every other gas station had a baseball card counter where you could purchase Stadium Club cards and Fleer Ultras. Walgreen, Toys R Us, KayBee and a host of other stores were cranking out boxed sets. Ah, the smell of baseball cards was everywhere.......

frankhardy · June 22, 2005 5:24AM

How much did the 83 Topps Traded Strawberry get up to? Gooden? Did the Canseco actually get up to $100, or did I just imagine that? Donruss Mattingly?

TheCARDKid · June 22, 2005 5:24AM

1990/91 Upper Deck French Hockey packs - Boxes use to sell for a few hundred dollars. Now they're $7.50

1984-86 Star Co basketball- The '85 Gatorade Barkley use to sell for $500, now it's $25. His rookie and 2nd year have lost 80-90% of their value from their peaks. '86 Ewing rookie bag (I paid $500 for it!) is now worth about $50.

1989/1990 Pro set errors - Remember the Santa Claus cards, lol. The '90 Pro Set Eric Dickerson. I lost count of how many errors or promos there were. $50 -$100 cards that are now worth pennies.

ctsoxfan · June 22, 2005 6:14AM

<< LOL...Didnt say they were worthless, but they have declined since 2000 boom. >>

Yes, I see your point - I would still rather be stuck with a bunch of those than any of the other cards mentioned so far, though! I'll bet the value stays pretty steady from this point on, maybe even goes up a bit.

<< Almost every family in the country had a three ring binder filled with Score rookies of Mike Greenwell and David Cone cards that they were going to cash in to pay off thier mortgage or send the kids to college with. >>

How about Kal Daniels, Barry Larkin, or Gregg Jeffries? Those type of players were being traded in 100ct lots, remember? Your ticket to riches!

<< Did the Canseco actually get up to $100, or did I just imagine that? >>

Yes, indeed it did. And, the 84 Donruss Mattingly wasn't far behind. At least that one is worth a little something today...

baseballfanatic · June 22, 2005 6:26AM

Those were the days. The Baseball card mags and price guides were giving investor tips on certain players like Scott Lusader, Matt Nokes, Jim Lindeman so you could invest heavily and than reap the rewards when they made the call to the Hall. Almost any card had a price because those were the years that started the "rookie" craze, when almost any first year card was a scratch off lottery ticket...

NickM · June 22, 2005 6:48AM

TheCARD - UD French hockey and Star basketball are special cases, because in both instances they went back and made more later (UD French hockey within a month or 2 after release, blowing their anounced number of cases out of the water, and Star basketball several years later, when some of the sets were reprinted by the manufacturer).

Nick

rman444 · June 22, 2005 8:08AM

1986 Donruss Cansecos were going for 200-250 here in the bay area in the late 80's early 90's.

Some more blasts from the past:

1988 Score Randy Milligan
1983 Fleer Howard Johnson
1985 Fleer Update Mickey Tettleton
1987 Fleer Kevin Mitchell
1984 Nestle Don Mattingly
1985 Donruss Danny Tartabull
1984 Donruss Ron Darling with number
1986 Donruss Cecil Fielder

1994 UD SP Football Holoview Die-cuts!!

lawnmowerman · June 22, 2005 8:13AM

<< What are some of the biggest declines in value of a single card in the hobby's history. The one that comes to mind is the 1986 Donruss Canseco. Wasn't that card over $100 at one time (or am I way off) >>

You are close the card was as high as $150.00

Matt

SDSportsFan · June 22, 2005 8:44AM

1998 SP Authentic Ryan Leaf

Steve

Eddo33 · June 22, 2005 8:53AM

Don't forget 1988 Gregg Jefferies. I remember dealers buying these up.

JackWESQ · June 22, 2005 9:04AM

As its peak, wasn't a 1985 Topps Mark McGwire PSA 10 going for close to $6,000.00?
I am pretty sure about this. I believe you can find a nice one for about $500.00 now.
That represents almost a 92% loss in value!

/s/ JackWESQ

Lothar52 · June 22, 2005 9:10AM

THE BIGGEST FLOP EVER...1991 Stadium Club packs/boxes/cases....and singles....

but its still a great set to look at in a binder!!!

loth

lawnmowerman · June 22, 2005 9:21AM

ctsoxfan · June 22, 2005 9:41AM

#1 Draft Pick Of The 90's?

goudeygold · June 22, 2005 11:39AM

the upper deck dale murphy reverse negative!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GG

jrdolan · June 22, 2005 12:16PM

Remember the mantra of dealers in the late 1980s? "These will NEVER go down in value."

Stone193 · June 22, 2005 12:42PM

I was just thinking that the beginning of the end was the explosion of card companies in the early 90's along with letting the print presses run wild! There's still guys with loads of cases of 90 Donruss in their garages!

mike

Axtell · June 22, 2005 12:44PM

I think most any of the 'error' cards of the 80s would qualify.

The John Littlefield reverse negative, dale murphy reverse, billy ripken bat face, etc. all were going for stupidly high amounts of money.

downgoesfrazier · June 22, 2005 1:53PM

<< The '83 TT Strawberry et als >>

I'm not sure that's really gone down all that much. I have tried twice to win a PSA 10 that looked decent at auction and have lost at 260+ both times. Sure, the raw Strawberry in NM condition would sell for...actually, I think you would OWE a buck if you were caught handling that card. Graded copies of many of the cards you've mentioned are still fairly strong.

dgf

iamthegreatcornholio · June 22, 2005 1:59PM

and speaking of graded cards, i'd venture to say many pop "1 of 1" high grade commons that usually end up with a few people duking it out. after they get theirs, the next ones sell for much less.

67standup · June 22, 2005 2:15PM

<< What are some of the biggest declines in value of a single card in the hobby's history. >>

99% of post-1972 issues.

onlychild · June 22, 2005 3:07PM

<< Toys R Us >>

ah...gotta' love the 87 set. Black Borders, colorful print and every rookie that bombed (except bonds).

The biggest drop in value has to be Tiger Woods SI for Kids, a few sold at over $100K.

Kevin

Axtell · June 22, 2005 3:40PM

<< every rookie that bombed (except bonds).

Kevin >>

Kruk had a nice career, and Bo was rolling along as well until the hip injury.

But you're right, most of them were overyhyped players who never lived up to it...

yankeeno7 · June 22, 2005 7:08PM

The 1982 Fleer reverse negative Littlefield still catches quite a premium.

Stingray · June 22, 2005 7:57PM

What about the 1990 Topps no name Frank Thomas, is that one still sellling at a high price?

Stingray

BubblesInTheShed · June 22, 2005 8:57PM

the 89 Score Thurman Thomas was at one point higher than the Sanders and Aikman.

Also, the 89 ProSet Lombardi Hologram trophy. I pulled one and sold it for $150 the same day. I still remember the hype because they were limited to just 10,000. wow

Brian48 · June 22, 2005 9:14PM

The 85 Donruss Eric Davis is another one I can think of from the mid 80's to 90's.

Buccaneer · June 23, 2005 8:08AM

<< 

<< What are some of the biggest declines in value of a single card in the hobby's history. >>

99% of post-1972 issues. >>

Gotta agree with this one. Most of my previous collection efforts were 70s sets/stars and waayyyyy too many 80s sets/stars. I tracked the prices of each of these rigorously up until 1992 and then when I came back to the hobby in 2003, I was shocked to how much they ALL had tanked.

The Biggest Decline In Hobby History?

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