Who has 'em now?
Boopotts
Posts: 6,784 ✭✭
All this recent talk about modern card collecting has gotten me thinking: Where are all those bulk lots of 1987-1990 RC's that were moving through the hobby 15 to 20 years ago? I can personally account for 500 1987 Topps Mike Aldretes, and another 500 1987 Topps Bobby Bonillas. I also know a guy who has 3000 Chris Sabo RCs' in his basement. But where are the rest of them?
Anyone here stll holding on to a monstrous lot of RC's from this era?
Edit to add: You can also count me in for 100 card lots of the following: 1986 Topps Traded Paul Assenmacher, 1986 Topps Traded Mark Eichhorn, 1987 Fleer Glossy Dorn Taylor, and 1987 Fleer Glossy Wally Ritchie. I've also got about 50 1987 Donruss Jim Lindeman's kicking around somewhere.
Anyone here stll holding on to a monstrous lot of RC's from this era?
Edit to add: You can also count me in for 100 card lots of the following: 1986 Topps Traded Paul Assenmacher, 1986 Topps Traded Mark Eichhorn, 1987 Fleer Glossy Dorn Taylor, and 1987 Fleer Glossy Wally Ritchie. I've also got about 50 1987 Donruss Jim Lindeman's kicking around somewhere.
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Comments
Or did they just have a deal with the card companies where they could buy any quantity of any card? I guess that would make more sense.
Lee
<< <i>I used to love the ads in SCD and Tuff Stuff where you could buy an unlimited amount of any card from any of that year's set. How many boxes did these guys have to open? How do you go about sorting 20 million cards? How many sorters did they have? 80? 100?
Or did they just have a deal with the card companies where they could buy any quantity of any card? I guess that would make more sense.
Lee >>
I just mentioned this in another post, but there was a guy in Pittsburgh who had thousands of uncut sheets, and the major dealers could call this guy and tell him they needed 'x' quantity of some given player, and the guy would just cut them out of the sheets and mail them off. That's how the guy I know ended up with 3000 Chris Sabo RC's, for instance.
<< <i>i think stone193 has a 800ct box of 1987t barry bonds.. >>
LOL! No, Bonds doesn't count. I'm looking for the lots of Tartabull and Plesac RC's, not for the lots of guys who actually made it.
Lee
GO MARLINS! Home of the best fans in baseball!!
John
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
But now you consider yourselves "collectors"?
lol
3200 @ .05 cents each...
Forget blocking him; find out where he lives and go punch him in the nuts. --WalterSobchak 9/12/12
Looking for Al Hrabosky and any OPC Dave Campbells (the ESPN guy)
-- Yogi Berra
I learned my lesson back then.........sometimes that's what it takes to become a collector.
Now collecting:
Topps Heritage
1957 Topps BB Ex+-NM
All Yaz Items 7+
Various Red Sox
Did I leave anything out?
<< <i>so you guys were buying up all these lots, hoping they woudl really turn out to be something (and hold their value), yet you knew there were millions and millions of these cards out there? Why oh why??
John >>
That's just the thing - I don't think it really sunk in how many millions of these cards were being printed, nor the significance of it. I used to go to a store back in the mid to late 80's, and they were a big time seller of these "investment lots". I never bought any of the 100ct (or more) lots myself, but I did make sure to save every Kal Daniels, Craig Jeffries, Mike Greenwell (and on and on) card that I ever pulled - because I was sure that all of those guys were headed for the big time, and their cards were too!
And then, it all came crashing down.
<< <i>
<< <i>so you guys were buying up all these lots, hoping they woudl really turn out to be something (and hold their value), yet you knew there were millions and millions of these cards out there? Why oh why??
John >>
That's just the thing - I don't think it really sunk in how many millions of these cards were being printed, nor the significance of it. I used to go to a store back in the mid to late 80's, and they were a big time seller of these "investment lots". I never bought any of the 100ct (or more) lots myself, but I did make sure to save every Kal Daniels, Craig Jeffries, Mike Greenwell (and on and on) card that I ever pulled - because I was sure that all of those guys were headed for the big time, and their cards were too!
And then, it all came crashing down. >>
Does anyone remember precisely when it came crashing down? I know it did, but I cant' place a year on it.
<< <i>I still a box of 300+ 1986 DR and 70 1987F Bobby Bonilla rookies. Worth about $7-12 at one time - now - priceless (read useless). >>
LOL, I can remember when the Bobby Bo card was as hot or hotter than the bonds card and I thought Bonilla was going to be a way better player because I thought Bonds looked too skinny, We knew one of the guys was going to be good we just chose the wrong one I guess.
<< <i>so you guys were buying up all these lots, hoping they woudl really turn out to be something (and hold their value), yet you knew there were millions and millions of these cards out there? Why oh why??
John >>
You have to realize the hobby was very unique from 87-91. You could literally buy a pack of 87 Topps for 50 cents, open it in front of the card dealer and he'd give you $5.00 for your McGwire right then and there. He'd then go and drop a $10.00 price tag on it and sell it the same day. Cards were hot--everyone wanted the next big thing. And then in 89 when Upper Deck came out, watch out...premium cards at a premium price (gasp--1.25 a pack). During that short run, people made some mad money if they moved their cards fast. Canseco, Eric Davis, Gregg Jefferies, Griffey, Mattingly...the list went on.
Forget blocking him; find out where he lives and go punch him in the nuts. --WalterSobchak 9/12/12
Looking for Al Hrabosky and any OPC Dave Campbells (the ESPN guy)
Forget blocking him; find out where he lives and go punch him in the nuts. --WalterSobchak 9/12/12
Looking for Al Hrabosky and any OPC Dave Campbells (the ESPN guy)
Talk about a market crash- dealers went from buying cards for half book and selling them for full, to selling them for half book and not buying at all.
Lee
Don't waste your time and fees listing on ebay before getting in touch me by PM or at gregmo32@aol.com !
Kevin Appier 1990 UD
Royce Clayton 1991 UD
Phil Plantier 1991 Stadium Club
Chuck Knoblauch 1991 Ultra Update
Lee
Don't waste your time and fees listing on ebay before getting in touch me by PM or at gregmo32@aol.com !
<< <i>So you guys were just a bunch of "speculators" back then eh?
But now you consider yourselves "collectors"?
lol >>
You're being a bit tuff on us?
The climate back then was different - and that's the point the veterans are trying to make - collect because it's fun.
mike
<< <i>so you guys were buying up all these lots, hoping they woudl really turn out to be something (and hold their value), yet you knew there were millions and millions of these cards out there? Why oh why??
John >>
John
When did you start collecting?
I, like others, got caught in the RC craze and were flipping. I would take 10-15 RC's at a time and go to the best card shop near me and trade them for a vintage card.
In 1990, the guy would have a T206 laying around forever, but he could always used a stack of Dave Justice RCs.
The problem? The bottom fell out fast as most of the players had a very short shelf life.
I think the presses started to fly around 1990.
The market share for sports cards hit the 1 Billion mark!
Today it's more in the 400 million arena and there's more product than ever:
In 2004, there were 253 product releases.
In 2005, there were 197.
It's anticipated that there will be 126 for 2006.
The companies are ramping down in hopes of getting people excited again.
Another important thing that happened in the 90s - the "boomers" got involved in a big way - they were looking to capture a piece of their youth, I would guess?
They had money and time to chase this stuff.
And, a prevailing attitude or covert desire permeated the air in 1990 - corner the market.
Collectors wanted it all! And this was the beginning of the end - the excitement of the chase - with the explosion of product - led to desperation, frustration, despair and then abandonment of the goal - and for some, they left the hobby for a bit.
They're back, a bit more careful, wiser and more focused.
mike
Most recently I bought 100 Michael Young Topps Traded rookies for 8.00. So am doing pretty good on that one.
I also had 500 Bobby Thigpen, Jose Lind, Royce Clayton, Steve Decker, Kevin Seitzer, Gregg Jefferies and Todd Zeile
I used to have enough 1990 Donruss cards to tile a sidewalk from here to California
A friend of mine spent a lot of money on Michael Jordan RC's - baseball
I'm fortunate that when the late 80's craze started I was 5 years old and had no money otherwise I'd be sitting on a pile of Consecos or worse...
When I started to get into the grading game it was '98. I remember the craze associated with PSA 10's. It didn't matter what the card was or who was on the card, if it was a "10", people wanted it. I recall Griffey UD cards from '95-'97 previously worth a few dollars selling for $100 or more in a 10 holder.
Let's talk about jersey pieces. Remember '97 UD? I believe that was the first time jersey pieces were on cards - I believe Griffey sold for $800
editted to add - wow those Griffey jersey cards still bring in $150, I would have thought they totally bottomed out due to the 50 thousand other Griffey jersey cards since then.
<< <i>
<< <i>I used to love the ads in SCD and Tuff Stuff where you could buy an unlimited amount of any card from any of that year's set. How many boxes did these guys have to open? How do you go about sorting 20 million cards? How many sorters did they have? 80? 100?
Or did they just have a deal with the card companies where they could buy any quantity of any card? I guess that would make more sense.
Lee >>
I just mentioned this in another post, but there was a guy in Pittsburgh who had thousands of uncut sheets, and the major dealers could call this guy and tell him they needed 'x' quantity of some given player, and the guy would just cut them out of the sheets and mail them off. That's how the guy I know ended up with 3000 Chris Sabo RC's, for instance. >>
This is exactly correct. The "big guys" never opened a pack of cards, they generally bought uncut sheets and cut them down. That is why you see many cards, especially Topps, from 1986-1992 that are sheet cut. This eliminated needs for sorting - you put 200 sheets on a huge guillotine cutter, did that four times and boxed them into 800 ct boxes by player.
Most of the "deals" have been dispursed over time, many of the commons and minor stars to large remarketers, and the key guys that made it have to some extent gone to grading. I've bought a number of deals with 50,000+ of the same card - no one busted packs.
You can generally tell pretty easily where the cards came from - just look at the sides, if they are very smooth, they were cut down from sheets. If rougher, they were hand collated. You'll also see in many 800 ct boxes that every 200 cards are slightly different in size.
Pete Incaviglia, Jay Buhner, Cal Eldred ring a bell.
mike
edit: and yes, Pandrews is correct - I have a box of Bonds.
This was scanned when we were discussing the printing error on the card #.
You said a large part of it was the boomers chiming in during the late 80's. I would figure they would try and 'rekindle their youth' through 50's and 60's stuff, thus making that the hot product of the day. guess not.
John
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
<< <i>Stone I started collecting in '98.
You said a large part of it was the boomers chiming in during the late 80's. I would figure they would try and 'rekindle their youth' through 50's and 60's stuff, thus making that the hot product of the day. guess not.
John >>
John
Good point and I did.
But also, if you have a child - which I did - he was 7 in 1990 - many of my late boomer friends had kids at that time - we got caught up in the new stuff also - that's what the kids wanted.
I was DUMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
mike
<< <i>I used to love the ads in SCD and Tuff Stuff where you could buy an unlimited amount of any card from any of that year's set. How many boxes did these guys have to open? How do you go about sorting 20 million cards? How many sorters did they have? 80? 100?
Or did they just have a deal with the card companies where they could buy any quantity of any card? I guess that would make more sense.
Lee >>
Lee
I don't know about dealers cutting up their own sheets, but I do know that, back in the '80s, a lot of the major card "wholesalers" took out full page ads in the SCD before receiving their allotment from the factory. When the cases arrived, they paid as little as possible to school kids, friends, relatives, winos, etc. to break cases.
As far as the question Who has 'em now, I'll put an end to the mystery. I got 'em.
"All evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
<< <i>
<< <i>I used to love the ads in SCD and Tuff Stuff where you could buy an unlimited amount of any card from any of that year's set. How many boxes did these guys have to open? How do you go about sorting 20 million cards? How many sorters did they have? 80? 100?
Or did they just have a deal with the card companies where they could buy any quantity of any card? I guess that would make more sense.
Lee >>
Lee
I don't know about dealers cutting up their own sheets, but I do know that, back in the '80s, a lot of the major card "wholesalers" took out full page ads in the SCD before receiving their allotment from the factory. When the cases arrived, they paid as little as possible to school kids, friends, relatives, winos, etc. to break cases.
As far as the question Who has 'em now, I'll put an end to the mystery. I got 'em.
That's OK Mark - you're in good company!
<< <i>
<< <i>Stone I started collecting in '98.
You said a large part of it was the boomers chiming in during the late 80's. I would figure they would try and 'rekindle their youth' through 50's and 60's stuff, thus making that the hot product of the day. guess not.
John >>
John
Good point and I did.
But also, if you have a child - which I did - he was 7 in 1990 - many of my late boomer friends had kids at that time - we got caught up in the new stuff also - that's what the kids wanted.
I was DUMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
mike >>
I think that's a little harsh, Mike. It was something new, it was fun, and if nothing else you got to play a part in what has to be the most unique era in the colorful history of the hobby. I think it's fun to look back on, and it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of.
Maybe we should have another thread asking who bought and kept huge lots of near worthless cards and then blew an additional $6 per card when they picked out the best conditioned ones for psa, only to have them all rejected for evidence of trimming?
Don't waste your time and fees listing on ebay before getting in touch me by PM or at gregmo32@aol.com !
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Stone I started collecting in '98.
You said a large part of it was the boomers chiming in during the late 80's. I would figure they would try and 'rekindle their youth' through 50's and 60's stuff, thus making that the hot product of the day. guess not.
John >>
John
Good point and I did.
But also, if you have a child - which I did - he was 7 in 1990 - many of my late boomer friends had kids at that time - we got caught up in the new stuff also - that's what the kids wanted.
I was DUMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
mike >>
I think that's a little harsh, Mike. It was something new, it was fun, and if nothing else you got to play a part in what has to be the most unique era in the colorful history of the hobby. I think it's fun to look back on, and it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of. >>
That I would agree with Boo.
I picked loads of great stuff back then that I couldn't afford to buy now.
mike
Lee
<< <i>I remember I traded a decent '69 Clemente (PSA 5 or 6 maybe?) for a 1987 Donruss Blister Super pack. I got a Bo, Will Clark, and Ruben Sierra and thought I made out like a bandit. I wish I was smart enough to trade modern for vintage instead of the other way around.
Lee >>
Let me go firmly on the record as saying that Lee absolutely rules. Great post, GREAT trade. Just about all your posts have a self depracating undertone to them, which I personally find both funny and refreshing. Glad to have you back!
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Stone I started collecting in '98.
You said a large part of it was the boomers chiming in during the late 80's. I would figure they would try and 'rekindle their youth' through 50's and 60's stuff, thus making that the hot product of the day. guess not.
John >>
John
Good point and I did.
But also, if you have a child - which I did - he was 7 in 1990 - many of my late boomer friends had kids at that time - we got caught up in the new stuff also - that's what the kids wanted.
I was DUMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
mike >>
I think that's a little harsh, Mike. It was something new, it was fun, and if nothing else you got to play a part in what has to be the most unique era in the colorful history of the hobby. I think it's fun to look back on, and it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of. >>
That I would agree with Boo.
I picked loads of great stuff back then that I couldn't afford to buy now.
mike >>
Well, you're smarter than I was. Although in my defense (sort of) I was only 15 in 1987. But still-- turning down the opportunity to acquire a NM 1967 Seaver in exchange for a 1987 Topps Tracy Jones blankback still stings...
Lee
<< <i>My theory is this: If you can laugh at yourself, then you have an absolute right to laugh at other people.
Lee >>
That does it-- I've found a new sig line.
Royalties are forthcoming.
<< <i>I know I have 50 card rookie lots of Carlos Baerga and Charles Nagy sitting somewhere in my basement and in a different sport I have 50 card lots of Jeff George somewhere from a couple companies...... >>
Crap.... I thought... I don't have any of these.... till you remind me of Jeff George... I have a 50 count rc lot of his.
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