Home Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum

Opportunity to search a childhood collection -- what to look for?

Looking for some pointers from the board. A friend has two boys in their 40's that both were heavy into baseball cards during their youth. I've been invited by her to review the collection for potential sale items (both boys now have professional jobs and have moved out of state).

There are approximately 50,000 cards, primarily baseball, ranging from 1982-1998. A fair amount of unopened, some older/vintage stars, a few SLU figures still in the box and some Ken Griffey Jr. candy bars.

Besides my recent run at the '75 Minis, my only other collecting experience was '83-'90...well into the junk era. I'm fairly comfortable with my knowledge of the rookies/stars in that time frame, but I really checked out after 1990.

I'm aware that there was an absolute ton of junk continuing into 1991 and beyond, but there were also certain series and subsets that maintain collectibility and value. Looking for bullet points on what sets, singles and unopened from 1991-1997 would still command attention.

Thank you for your help!

Comments

  • 1951WheatiesPremium1951WheatiesPremium Posts: 6,226 ✭✭✭✭✭

    1993 Upper Deck SP

    This has a Derek Jeter 'Foil' rookie that is worth quite a bit in 9 or 10 grade. A 9 around 3k, a 10 maybe 50k...

    Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?

    https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest

  • initialDinitialD Posts: 1,624 ✭✭✭

    Anything Jeter. Desert Shield. '93 Finest refractors and '92 Fleer Update Piazza come to mind. Also Tiffany would be a nice find

  • ReggieClevelandReggieCleveland Posts: 3,854 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Anything Jordan or Kobe.

    But really, there's a ton of niche stuff and condition-sensitive stuff that would bring decent coin. There's no way to compile a list, it would be too big. Unless you're only looking for seriously big dollar items. If you don't care about <$300 items then we could probably put a list together.

    Arthur

  • DakilloDakillo Posts: 158 ✭✭

    Its the niche stuff that concerns me, as its my understanding that the base sets became passe. I'm savvy enough to look things up that I'm not sure about, but a basic list, such as InitialD started above will be helpful.

    I've already prepped the owner with the basics - that 95%+ of the items in this date range are widespread and not valuable; also the chances of a "find" are fairly minimal. I feel that its better to start a search like this grounded in reality and enjoy the items that are plucked.

    Although its all for sale, I'm not doing this for myself, or to make any profit by buying and selling. This venture stems purely from a mutual curiosity of the contents of her son's collection. I've read too many stories here about the burden of buying an entire collection just to filter out a few lookers.

    Appreciate everyone's opinions.

  • ReggieClevelandReggieCleveland Posts: 3,854 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Your best friend is going to be the pop report. Look stuff up and if it's rare then there's probably someone willing to pay for it. There really is a LOT of stuff that, if it's in PSA 10 condition, will sell well. Any list compiled here in the thread would be woefully lacking and, if you only focused on it, you'd likely miss a lot.

    If it's a big star (Jordan, Kobe, Griffey, Thomas, Chipper, Favre, Emmitt, Gretzky, etc), or is an issue that you can't identify, put it aside and then post photos here. That's your best way of doing it.

    Arthur

  • hyperchipper09hyperchipper09 Posts: 1,438 ✭✭✭✭✭

    From a collectors standpoint at the right price a fun crapshoot with the possibility of some good finds or not much at all.

  • DakilloDakillo Posts: 158 ✭✭

    Well said Arthur...there is no timeframe or rush and I can return as often as needed to be complete.

    Thank you,

    Dave

  • BatpigBatpig Posts: 460 ✭✭✭

    Late 90's basketball has some gems.

Sign In or Register to comment.