why are vintage basketball cards worthless ?

Ilovecards

I was looking up sales for 70s basketball cards and they do not seem to go for much ... why is that ?

JoeBanzai

Same reason my early 70's mint hockey cards are worthless.

No demand.

Ilovecards

yeah I get that

but why ?

people don't collect basketball ?

Dboneesq

Not nearly as much as Baseball and Football.

Frozencaribou

As a hockey collector, I for one am quite content that 70's hockey cards aren't ridiculously priced in high grade. I'd rather have my mint 70's cards and not shell out thousands for stars like baseball guys do for Nolan Ryan or George Brett.

halosfan

What do you have?

itzagoner

not all are worthless. too broad of a statement here. comparatively speaking, there aren't nearly as many vintage basketball cards to collect and only select examples which would perpetuate a frenzy over ownership.

for those who enjoy having nice basketball cards, it is at least slightly less imposing trying to acquire them as opposed to baseball or football cards. and building nice sets from the mid to late 70s is a breeze.

cardsnbeads

Basketball cards from 1972 to the Jordan era terrible. Terrible designs and very few great rookies . Dr.J and Magic/Bird are the only cards worth anything .

itzagoner

<< <i>Basketball cards from 1972 to the Jordan era terrible. Terrible designs and very few great rookies . Dr.J and Magic/Bird are the only cards worth anything . >>



let's start with the easy stuff.

how about a '73 Topps Bob McAdoo in high grade? or a '74 Topps George Gervin? '76 Topps David Thompson? '77 Topps Dantley? '79 Topps Alex English? '81 Topps Kevin McHale?

might not be your cup o' tea. but some of these are tough due to more limited production and poor manufacturing. and basketball fanatics will pursue them vehemently when they're available.

vols1

Topps didn't have an NBA license for most of the 70's, so a lot of the cards are just ugly headshots of players. Plus the NBA only had two or three big stars before the ABA merged.

bishop

I have some soccer cards one of my sons collected before college a long while back...real vintage stuff. I am sitting on them in the belief that when the popularity of soccer takes off in this country their value will likely sky rocket

TheCARDKid

I've liked vintage basketball cards for a long time. It's a shame they are so undervalued.

I think it has to do with....

-Weird, strange designs. I.e. the 76/77 oversized cards. The lack of proper size holders probably hurts this set.

-Not as much footage from the 80's and the Jordan era. How many games has the average person seen of Gervin, David Thompson, McAdoo, etc. Probably not many. It wasn't as stylish or as well promoted as 80's ball.

-Unflashy players. I.e. Alex English's rookie from 79/80.

It seems like a lot of these sets are totally forgotten about. When I was in highschool in the 90's, I thought it was cool to see the cards of current coaches from the 70's....phil jackson, don nelson, rudy t. A good history lesson. There are a lot of neat undervalued cards from the decade.

Stingray

I think the league it self was a dog back in the 70s. Low viewership, and other factors I think that there are not fan base from those years to collect.

jmmiller777

Ya it seems the NBA sets were always trying to find the superstar, and most sets just couldn't brand that great rookie or super player. It seems the league had their 2 or 3s dominant player and that was it.

1954

From what I have seen the 1961-62 Fleer set is probably one of the hottest sets in the industry. If you track the sale of any of these cards from PSA 7 and up they are consistantly going for more than SMR and in some cases triple book.

jmoran19

<< <i>From what I have seen the 1961-62 Fleer set is probably one of the hottest sets in the industry. If you track the sale of any of these cards from PSA 7 and up they are consistantly going for more than SMR and in some cases triple book. >>



Of course they are as I'm trying to finish an all psa 7 set. Thankfully only need one more HOF rookie card, Lennny W.

mtcards

<< <i>I think the league it self was a dog back in the 70s. Low viewership, and other factors I think that there are not fan base from those years to collect. >>




Many would argue that its still woofing now. Ever since the Jordan/Bird/Barkley/Magic/Miller era ended, its been painful to watch anymore.

itzagoner

<< <i>

<< <i>I think the league it self was a dog back in the 70s. Low viewership, and other factors I think that there are not fan base from those years to collect. >>




Many would argue that its still woofing now. Ever since the Jordan/Bird/Barkley/Magic/Miller era ended, its been painful to watch anymore. >>




interesting you mentioned Miller......Reggie, i presume? but no Isiah Thomas. hmm.

i only ask because my belief is that the NBA attitude changed forever with the emergence of Dennis Rodman.

hyperchipper09

Couldn't this have stayed on the DL? I like being able to get RC's of guys like Nate Thurmond, Connie Hawkins, Moses Malone, Artis Gilmore, Tiny Archibald, Dan Issel, Rick Barry etc for a fraction of MLB HOF'ers. Does this thread now mean people are going to jump the shark like they did with unopened and begin buying everything regardless of scarcity, or even common sense??

shagrotn77

There are a couple misconceptions in this thread that I'd like to clear up. First, there is a high demand for vintage basketball. Nicely centered mid to high grade '48 Bowman and '57 Topps stars always go for good money. Second, I would put hockey at the head of the list as far as value right now. It's actually been that way for a couple years now. There are so many cards that the average collector just can't touch in high grade.

hyperchipper09

<< <i>There are a couple misconceptions in this thread that I'd like to clear up. First, there is a high demand for vintage basketball. Nicely centered mid to high grade '48 Bowman and '57 Topps stars always go for good money. Second, I would put hockey at the head of the list as far as value right now. It's actually been that way for a couple years now. There are so many cards that the average collector just can't touch in high grade. >>




High grade Dryden's, Lafleur's come to mind. Orr, Bobby Clarke always have buyers. No lack there, great demand considering the hockey following is a fraction of MLB's. The '74 OPC stuff is tough in high grade. Steve Shutt, a HHOF'er but not one of the guys many think of when thinking of HOF'er, has a 1974 OPC rookie that in higher PSA grades is crazy and matches anything 70's baseball has to offer. Think a 74 Winfield is tough? 78 Molitor/Trammell? 75 Brett? Try Shutt. Now that's a tough high grade.

vols1

Plus about half the teams from the 70's are now defunct. I haven't ran into many Buffalo Braves collectors.

PSASAP

Plus about half the teams from the 70's are now defunct. I haven't ran into many Buffalo Braves collectors.

If you're a Clippers fan, then, by extension, you'd be a Braves fan.

Estil

<< <i> Plus about half the teams from the 70's are now defunct. I haven't ran into many Buffalo Braves collectors.

If you're a Clippers fan, then, by extension, you'd be a Braves fan. >>



And how many of THOSE are there (Clippers fans I mean)?