Vintage football is still a bargain

Boopotts

Prices have gone up in the past couple years, but man-- this stuff is still DIRT CHEAP compared to where it will probably be ten years from now. PSA 8 commons from the '59 set are selling in the 10-15 dollar range, and even the stars in Mint 9 are more or less reasonable. A PSA 9 Bobby Layne selling for around 200 bucks? Are you kidding me?

Anyone who's thinking of making the plunge NOW IS THE TIME! How long has it been since you've seen a nmt-mt '50's football common unslabbed? I've probably been to thirty shows in the past three years, and I think I've seen about a dozen. There just aren't many out there. Get 'em while they're cheap, boys!

pandrews

shhhhhhhhhh..

kingraider75

They will go up, but the sets are smaller than baseball, so the prices will always be lower. I agree they will go up though, that's why that's about the only thing I spend significant money on! lol

stevek

I also fully believe many vintage football cards are a bargain. The NFL just continues to increase in popularity - that's gotta help increase the value of the cards long term.

ndleo

Just picked up a very sharp 1974 Topps Footbal Set from a local dealer for half book. The set is very sharp, I sent in 15 stars for grading and I expect many 9's and maybe several 10's. He said that it just sat there for years and he couldn't move it. Maybe he couldn't sell it because it was sitting under several boxes of 1990's footbal wax junk.

You can still get great raw vintage football from the hobby stores, especially from the old-timers who are baseball-centric.

bjork73

How much football was produced in relation to the baseball around then? The sets may be smaller but I would have to imagine there wasn't nearly as much football printed as baseball. Well if I get the money to finally start collecting again I may have a new interest

ndleo

Based on an interview I read a long time ago in one of the now defunct hobby rags, Sy Berger, the guy that used to run Topps card division, football production was around 10% of baseball.

Based on the complete sets and collections I've seen, I believe that is an accurate number. Interest in football cards has always been much less than baseball. Football really didn't become the top sport in the US until the 1970's, mainly due to TV.

Defensive HOF'ers are the best value (book wise), especially linebackers. The 1966 Philly Butkus is one of the best selling cards I've ever had. I sold (4) well-centered PSA 5's for $150 each, which is way above SMR. And they went fast. I think the next group of players to take off are the defensive backs. Today cornerback is the glamour position on the defensive side of the ball. I expect interest to perk up in some of the vintage DBs like Night Train Lane (14 INTs as a rookie). Fans are starting to appreciate how hard it is to get an interception (unless you are playing the Lions).