1990's Basketball Errors -- Are they still collectible
PROMETHIUS88
Posts: 2,826 ✭✭✭✭✭
So back in the late 80's and early 90's when everything that came out turned to gold, there seems to be many errors. Upper Deck, Skybox, Hoops, etc. While I know there is value/interest in the 92 UD Jordan error, I have several, I was curious if anyone out there still collects any of the others? First off, I find it interesting that there have been more than 100 of the 92 Jordan errors graded, but the card that the foil was switched with, Wilkins, there has only been 1. Obviously the Jordan would be most popular but I would think the Wilkins would be popular as well if not for his name, but for the tie to the Jordan error. I'm wondering if they are just that more rare than the Jordan.....I wouldn't think so. Then that brings me to the 1990 Skybox errors. Thorpe/Wiggins, Wiggins/Thorpe, Nix/Tysdale and McMillan/Polynice. Doesn't even appear that any have been slabbed. So that brings me to the question of, is there just no interest in these anymore or are they that rare. The reason I ask, is I have run across some of them and have many, many more sets that I might search through. I think we can all agree there is basically no value to most of these sets at this point....just not sure if it's worth my time to search thru the rest of them and sub any of them. Hopefully there's someone out there that has some knowledge or collects/did collect them back in the day. And as always, Thanks! Tim
This is a link to an interesting page discussing errors but I'm thinking it is outdated. Still some pretty good info.
Comments
Well I have never even heard of any of these errors (except the Jordan) so that may play a role in it.
Stuff like this goes in waves, too. So we all basically burned it or through it off a rooftop out of spite. Then 25 years later we come back and it reminds us of our youth and we start hitting it again because of that, not because we think it's going to increase in value. So then, cards start getting submitted. It's only then that we start to see what is rare and what is condition sensitive.
Perfect example: 1990 Donruss errors. Finding wax is extremely difficult. No one actually took care of their raw cards because everything from this era was worth nada and either got tossed or treated like horse feed. Finding 10 candidates is impossible. Nobody put this stuff in CS1s or top loaders. I've purchased hundred and hundreds of raw cards and gotten a handful of 10s, literally. Look at what is on ebay, they're all off-center frosty-tipped corners and chipped edges. No one took any care of these cards and now they're going to have a whole new life. There are lots of examples like this. I'm not saying they're going to be valuable I'm just saying we're going to see a whole new topography for some stuff at some point, should be fun.
Arthur
Arthur, that's a great perspective. Since you mention the 90 Donruss, I was very surprised to see a couple posts of some of the error cards, the Bo Jackson comes to mind. Until then I had no idea there was any interest in them anymore. I think it's a great way to look at it and worst case I'm out $7 a card if nobody still gives a crap. Best case it sparks some interest, brings back some memories and prompts others to send some in.
I'm always interested in oddball stuff from when I collected as a kid. I'm the guy that goes out and buys PSA 10s of 1988 Topps Al Leiter errors and stuff like that. If you've got a bunch of knowledge on basketball errors from around that time I'd definitely be interested in learning about them.
Arthur
I haven't thought much at all about these cards since 1990, so I'd like clarification... when you say that 1990 Donruss wax is hard to find, surely you are referring only to the early print runs that contained the errors, not 1990 Donruss wax in general, correct? Is there a code on the box, or some other way to identify the print run?
Because in my neck of the woods, practically every little consignment store or "antique mall" has a few sellers that set their booths up to sell sports cards. Except for the proliferation of Dale Murphy's smiling mug looking out at you from the tops of the 88 boxes everywhere you turn, the Jackson Pollock inspired red boxes with the florescent orange packs are about the most sure bets to be available, usually priced only between $5-$10 a box.
Just went through that link you provided. I had never heard of most of those. Found it funny that he referred to the '90 Skybox Dyron Dix as the most famous error card of all-time. I'd never heard of it before. That's a good reference though.
Arthur
I remember when Skybox hit back in 1990, I was in Vancouver, Canada, and supposedly, we were one of the first regions to get shipments of the product. I was paying a fortune for packs and pulled the Thorpe/Wiggins errors, but the Dyron Nix I pulled was the corrected version. Searched high and low for that Dyron Nix and eventually found a collector who had one. IIRC, I traded multiple Brett Hull Pro Set promos and a Ben MacDonald Upper Deck error for that Nix. I just checked Ebay and saw that a Nix error recently went unsold for $19.99.
Sorry, Doug, missed this the first time through. Yes, definitely referring to the error boxes only. It was a very small window that they were released in, just a matter of days. Although it was the initial product release so it was a sizable release. But they caught the errors before, in many cases, the hobby dealers got their first orders. There was another brief run on the secondary errors and then a normal period of time before the third tier of errors were caught and corrected.
Arthur