You might a former collector from the 1980's if...

frankhardy · March 3, 2010 11:01PM

...you want to sell your lot of 50 1988 Gregg Jefferies rookies and you're asking $5 each for them and you think that's a good deal because that was the book value in the last Beckett you bought, and since it's been 22 years, you're sure they have gone up since then.

...you think your unopened cases of 87, 88, and 89 Topps are going to pay for your kids college tuition.

...you think the low price in Beckett is for a bent card and the high price in Beckett is for a card that's not bent.

itzagoner · March 3, 2010 11:05PM

wait a sec. my Flock Of Seagulls music was playing too loud, what did you say?

ElToroLoco · March 3, 2010 11:08PM

......you paid $100 for an 86 Donruss Jose Canseco because he was a sure fire Hall of Famer

RedHeart54 · March 3, 2010 11:12PM

- you remember when smoking was allowed at card shows.

- you paid no more than $10 for autographs even when the auto guests were Mantle, Aaron, Mays, the hot rookie, etc

-you bought packs of '89 UD to try for the Murphy error. You then traded the Griffeys you got for more packs. (Saw that happen.)

-you put a sticker over the naughty part of the bat on Bill Ripken's 1989 Fleer card. (And some dealers wouldn't sell it to you if you were under 18.)

Barfvader · March 3, 2010 11:14PM

<< ...you think the low price in Beckett is for a bent card and the high price in Beckett is for a card that's not bent. >>

Don't know how many people I ran into back in the early 90's that 100% believed that to be true.

1989FleerBillRipkencollector · March 3, 2010 11:33PM

....you still go by BV.

....4 corners and no creases means mint

....putting cards in holders required a Phillips screwdriver

....Rick Face is a term you understand

....The 80's was the last time you bought Mothers Cookies, King B Jersey, Post cereal and 7-11 Slurpees.

....You have a closet full of junk wax.

....you can attribute 20% of your sports knowledge from Score Trivia discs.

...you hear the word error and 1st think about trading cards.

...You dont know why, but it's spelled Rak Pak.

itzagoner · March 3, 2010 11:34PM

.....you twitch a lot because you can't wait to check out Cecil Fielder's stats in the morning paper.

swartz1 · March 3, 2010 11:44PM

You bought the original 1988 score packs and thought you were gonna get MINT cards...

72skywalker · March 3, 2010 11:58PM

You actually read the backs of all the cards and if someone gives you the name of a common player you could tell him what team he played for.

Early 80's - You bought all your cards from 7-11 and did not put them immediatley in plastic.

YogiBerraFan · March 4, 2010 12:03AM

3rd party grading??? That will never catch on.

TheTalkingWalnut · March 4, 2010 12:43AM

That's not funny - I traded a Gretzky RC plus a bunch of other stuff for a Cecil Fielder RC, which I still have in the basement somewhere.

Were you watching me???

<< .....you twitch a lot because you can't wait to check out Cecil Fielder's stats in the morning paper. >>

Nathaniel1960 · March 4, 2010 12:49AM

You hoped for rain delays so you could watch TWIB. How About That!

1986 Sportflics, Donruss Rookies, Fleer Update and Topps Traded were $15 each and worth every penny.

You badgered the 7-11 clerk for the empty 1987 Donruss wax box so you could cut out the Clemente Puzzle.

You collected 1986 Mets BEFORE they won it all.

Eric Davis, #1 on the Beckett Hot and Cold List at the same time.

Card Show admission $1.00.

frankhardy · March 4, 2010 12:56AM

<< 
Eric Davis, #1 on the Beckett Hot and Cold List at the same time.

>>

Oh, the old Beckett Hot & Cold list. What memories.

MantleMarisFordBerra · March 4, 2010 12:57AM

You're a Yankees fan and you're so confused, whatever will they do? They have future Hall Of Famer Mattingly at first, but this new guy Maas is just killin' the ball and he ALSO plays first. Oh, what to do, what to do?

jamesryanbell · March 4, 2010 12:58AM

I want all of this stuff to be true. Now.

Smuggo · March 4, 2010 1:00AM

You know what the CCP is.
You think that the Beckett Monthly is a relevant publication.
You can recite the Rak Pak sequence for the 1987 Topps Bo Jackson card.

RedHeart54 · March 4, 2010 1:47AM

-your fingertips looked like they'd constantly been fingerprinted because they were always black. Turns out it was from reading SCD.

-on a related note your fingers were always "waxy" from opening boxes of wax packs. (Come to think of it, you might a former collector from the 1980's if you opened packs when the wrappers were actually wax paper.)

-you'd risk blindness from reading the microscopic print of the auction and classified ad pages in SCD or other card magazines.

-Topps Traded and Fleer Update releases were akin to a national holiday.

minnesotahusker · March 4, 2010 1:51AM

- you had $1.00 and you bought a pack of cards and had enough left over to buy a can of pop from the vending machine!

1989FleerBillRipkencollector · March 4, 2010 1:57AM

<< 
You badgered the 7-11 clerk for the empty 1987 Donruss wax box so you could cut out the Clemente Puzzle.

>>

How could I forget about box bottoms ! Few times I'd buy more packs than I planned on so I could get the empty box. That was a treat.

mccardguy1 · March 4, 2010 2:19AM

...You were excited that you pulled the Gooden rookie from a pack of 1985 Topps and were pissed because they put the no-name Olympians in there..what a waste of cardboard

...You got sick from all the Slurpies you drank, the beef jerkey you ate and the ice cream you had to consume just to get a few worthless baseball cards from 7-11

...You remember being shocked that someone finally had a bi-weekly price guide and your cards were worth alot more than you were told by your local weekend warrior!!

...You were called a weekend warrior!!!

itzagoner · March 4, 2010 2:24AM

....you were amazed to discover that they could actually put juice in a pocket-sized box.....only after several years of research and discovery did you realize it really came from a pencil-thin syringe.

PowderedH2O · March 4, 2010 2:27AM

- a dollar a pack? Oh, these Upper Decks will never survive with that sort of pricing when I can buy Topps for half that.

saucywombat · March 4, 2010 2:33AM

<< 

...you think the low price in Beckett is for a bent card and the high price in Beckett is for a card that's not bent. >>

Talk about common misconceptions that become reality. EVERYONE thought the first column was bad condition and second column was good condition.

This was almost as universal as the misuse of "ironic".

Smuggo · March 4, 2010 2:34AM

You have cases of unopened wax and factory sets squirreled away in your attic to "pay" for your kid's college education. Your kids are in college and the cases are still in your attic.

saucywombat · March 4, 2010 2:36AM

Good call on TWIB as well!

"This is Mel Allen for This Week in Baseball..."

Electrifying.

I miss Fulton County Stadium and the Ted Turner Braves on TBS.

KatsCards · March 4, 2010 2:38AM

You still know the names of the future super stars--Sid Adkins, Cory Snyder, Tim Belcher, Dave Madagan, Kevin Seitzer, Chris James, Pat Dobson, BJ Surhoff. Man, those '85 and '87 sets were goldmines of talent!

You bought hot rookies or speculative rookies in bulk and I mean bulk from the classified ads running in baseball card magazines. WhoHoo!!! 500 Tommy Hinzos for only 7 cents each? Where do I send my money???

KatsCards · March 4, 2010 2:39AM

And one more. Jamie Moyer was a rookie...and you had a bunch of his rookie card.

JVette · March 4, 2010 2:57AM

You wonder what's behind all the discussion about a monopoly for Topps - they've had the monopoly since the 60's.

You ask the local card shop owner if he knows where you can get a complete collection of Ken Griffey Jr. cards. 21 years in the league = 21 cards plus a few All-Star and maybe some action cards - so it shouldn't be hard to get.

- Jack

41GoudeyGuy · March 4, 2010 3:52AM

You only collect Baseball cards because cards from those other sports are worthless. And non-sports cards? Puh-leez!!

ROCKDJRW · March 4, 2010 5:07AM

When you used the arrows in Beckett wrong. Two fifty and going up!! One dollar and going down : (

Blacklabelsociety · March 4, 2010 5:21AM

if you still think a pack of baseball cards are 25 cents.

bziddy · March 4, 2010 5:26AM

You argued that Derek Lilliquist would be better than Tom Glavine (and you still have 50+ Lillquist rookies)

You hadn't heard of anything older than 48 Bowman, because it wasn't in Beckett monthly

You thought Dwight Gooden was going to be the next 30 game winner

$10 would get you a box of cards

1989FleerBillRipkencollector · March 4, 2010 5:52AM

....you remember buying cards at Costco.

....you laugh at threads complaining about shipping taking 5 days. You used to wait 4 weeks.

....you used to mail in your bids for auctions.

RipublicaninMass · March 4, 2010 6:24AM

...have top loaders that say "rookie card"

most of your top loaders have yellowed

hammered · March 4, 2010 6:37AM

You kept your best rookies like Todd Zeile in 1/2" thick screwdowns.

Rogermnj · March 4, 2010 7:51AM

buying online was a black screen called the net and was scrolling on a commodore.

Nathaniel1960 · March 4, 2010 8:03AM

Yes, I remember buying boxes of 1988 Score at Sam's Wholesale Club for $11. And boxes of 1990 Donruss for $13. There was no pack searching at that point. In fact, the first real pack searching I can remember was 1992 Fleer where you could find the black border Roger Clemens highlights and the All-Stars.

I collected from 85 - 87, then took 1988-89 off to skateboard, then got back in to the hobby with 1990 Fleer and Donruss. Stopped again in 92 to go to college and started back up again in 2001. Stopped from 2001 to 2003, got back into it in 2004. Now I have sworn off purchases for 2010, we'll see how long it lasts.

waxpack · March 4, 2010 8:28AM

you traded a Bird / Magic rookie for a case of Pro Set Football

TheHun · March 4, 2010 8:37AM

You only have 3 TV channels ??

I have TBS the Superstion and WGN Chicago ... and they show baseball games in midweek !

frankhardy · March 4, 2010 10:27AM

<< When you used the arrows in Beckett wrong. Two fifty and going up!! One dollar and going down : ( >>

Oh yeah, my ____ rookie card is $1.00 and going up! Oh, the memories.

chris777 · March 4, 2010 10:42AM

All your posts has brought back memories!!!!

......I saw a Mickey Mantle Rookie card in the display case of the card/comic store for $2500. I thought to myself, "Who is crazy enough to spend that much money on a card?!" Instead I spent 35 cents on Topps packs to try to get a rookie card I thought was worth my money, which was the Darryl Strawberry rookie.

Bosox1976 · March 4, 2010 10:47AM

... you are torn between topps, stridex, and/or doritos

otwcards · March 4, 2010 11:07AM

You remember:

#10 ** RBI Collectibles in Rochester, NY
#9 ** TF Enterprises in Dalton, PA
#8 ** Blair Fedder and buying 100-500 count lots of '89 UD team sets with all of the Star Rookies (and getting a call that you were only getting half of your Braves order because of the Murphy error).
#7 ** That you paid for the Overnight annual subscription to SCD and spent Tuesday mornings calling every dealer for 1987 Fleer Ruben Sierra cards at $2.50 per.
#6 ** Your SportNet station ID (NJ354) and were on dial-up and understood and honored CoC
#5 ** Searching everywhere for 1989 Fleer wax boxes
#4 ** Ignoring '86 Fleer Basketball wax boxes at $8.00 each on junk sales
#3 ** Laughing at others that pronounced Donruss "Dun-ross"
#2 ** The Canseco frenzy in '88 when his Donruss RC's went from $10 to $150+ in the matter of 6-8 weeks

And #1 *** When there was only Topps and then there was Fleer with that powdery, crunchy gum and Donruss with those silly puzzles and neither had photography that was embarrassing

murraybyrd · March 4, 2010 11:07AM

You held the first edition of "Baseball Cards Magazine" in your hands and were awestruck. And you read every word of it...ten times.

You bought cards from a dealer in Henderson, Nevada.

The name "Renato Galasso" means something to you.

You still look for another big box of random cards from the 1970's for only $10 at card shows, since the first one, bought at the Secaucus Meadowlands show in 1984, was filled with near-mint cards like a 1975 Rose, 1976 Ryan, 1974 Aaron....

(I know, that one will never happen again)...

otwcards · March 4, 2010 11:12AM

<< The name "Renato Galasso" means something to you. >>

Oh Renata... Bought many a complete from her and her company in the late 1970's and early 1980's... Always appeared to be put together from vending.

And who can forget the Gloria Rothstein shows... And the lines!!!

Stone193 · March 4, 2010 12:52PM

<< You might a former collector from the 1980's if... >>

You thought owning your own card shop would be a cool thing!

You thought Mr Mint was a good guy.

You thought all those 50/100 ct bricks of RC's were gonna fund that vacation home in the keys.

You thought the "net" would never replace the card shop or a good show.

You thought TPG's were for suckers.

You thought SCD is the best and only way to get hobby info.

gecko109 · March 4, 2010 4:03PM

.....you actually bought a pack of cards for the cards and not some 1 in x,xxx packs insert card.

.....you passed on 3 Jordan 87-88's that your brother offered to sell to you for $5 each because you wanted that 1987 Fleer Bo with the dinged corner BADLY!
(just a few months before the 1st basketball Beckett came out)

.....a 1989 Bowman Jerome Walton was a GREAT pull!

.....the David Robinson 89 hoops "jersey" card was a must have.

.....any card worth $50+ in Beckett deserved to be in a 2 inch thick screw down.

melvin289 · March 4, 2010 6:28PM

<< ......you paid $100 for an 86 Donruss Jose Canseco because he was a sure fire Hall of Famer >>

I have an '85 Topps factory set because some guy came in the card shop one day and traded it, other stuff, and money for an '86 Canseco. Can't remember what I paid for the 85 set.

Ron

zep33 · March 4, 2010 7:14PM

weed

incugator · March 4, 2010 7:49PM

You couldn't believe that somebody would pay over $1000 for a '52 Mantle.

You could spend that same $1000 on 500 1988 Hank Aaron Turn Back the Clock card.

You could roll 6 dice for $1. If you got 6 or 30, you won a 1983 Topps Willie McGee Card or 1979 Eddie Murry Card with 3 sharp corners! If you rolled a 15, you got a booger.

You were afraid to come home to tell your mom that you spent a years allowance on a box of operation desert storm cards. (personal experience)

frankhardy · March 4, 2010 9:48PM

When I was about 12/13 in 1987/88 I had a 1960 and 1961 Topps Mantle. Both were beat up, but they were still Mantles. I went to a show and took those 2 cards with me. Bad mistake to even take them. Of course, you know how kids are (and even some adults), you get something, but it gets old, so you want to trade it for something else. You guessed it. Some slimy dealer started wanting to make a trade for my 2 Mantle cards, but then started talking about how rough they were. I traded a bunch of Ruben Sierra's, Wally Joyer's, and Danny Tartabull's for my 2 Mantle's. I think he might have thrown in a wax box from 87 or 88.

By the way, I'm not like that anymore. After trading a 1986-87 Fleer Basketball set for a bunch of late 1980's baseball cards (just a few months before the first Basketball Beckett came out), I changed my thinking about trading. Of course, I will trade, but I don't trade just for the heck of it.

How did I do with that trade, guys? Do you think I did alright?

You might a former collector from the 1980's if...

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