I don't know the actual numbers, but you are indeed correct. The 90's were hard times for all card companies. Many companies printed millions of cards in the early to mid 90's, didn't sell them, and had a warehouse full of unvaluable crap (and some went out of business). Most cards from that era are worthless now. For every 1992 Mark McGwire card you have, there are probably thousands upon thousands of the same card available. As for your contention that card companies were responsible for the downturn, there are other factors involved besides just saying alienation of consumers affected profits. Recession. The strike of '94. Overall decling interest in cards (in late 90's). The addition of more "players" in the market. I will admit that by trying to top other companies, the card industry started to unravel. However, like I said before, consumers (okay, fine, dealers) started demanding more for their money, which ultimately led to the current status quo. Can't you guys just collect for the love, not for the money? (Or is it for the love of the money?) Bingo. Now you've got it. I've been bemoaning this fact since day 1 of my job. When you're looked at as one of the market leaders in the industry, people (other companies, hobby insiders, consumers, etc.) expect you to innovate. The problem is, we don't. We more or less wait for someone else to, and that's a chief concern of many employees here. I'd love to further explain, but I fear I've already said too much. I'm just glad someone else recognizes the danger of falling one step behind. This is why I said earlier that our system works... for the most part. My thoughts are bit scatterbrained right now, but only because a) it's Friday, and b) I'm holding back. I'll continue this later, if need be...
Anyone ever buy a pack of Ultimate Edition? I think this pack comes with two freakin cards and costs about $150-$200 per pack! Who the hell can afford that?!?!?!!?
Funny this was brought up. I was just looking through my card today. I dont care how much they are worth to other people, they are worth alot to me. My best one would be my Hakeen Olajuwon Skybox Gold Embossed card. Dont care how much I could get for it. I collected Rockets cards and thats what got me into basketball (I started collecting cards to make money of idiots that would buy anything!). Anyway one of the first card I got was of Hakeem. I got a couple of other Rockets in my first pack so decided to make them my team knowing not a single thing about them. I went on to just collect Rockets cards only and Olajuwon inserts. It was fun, but I grew out of it.
As a former collector and show dealer, I think that what you just said is the problem...there are too many "players" in the market. What happened to the self-imposed policy of the leagues allowing only a few(4-6) companies rights to produce cards depicting their players? I can't even pick up a price guide anymore without getting a headache trying to find the price of a card from 1990.
Only a handful of companies are licensed to actually produce cards of players in their uniforms. The rest manufacture cards not authorized by the sports leagues. IMO, I'm not sure how they get away with it, but they're obviously not privvy to exclusive events and memorabilia. They miss out on such things as Super Bowl jerseys (if a company wishes to pay for them), rookie shoots, etc. However, the licensed companies have to pay a fairly hefty royalty for the right to produce authorized cards. Does it balance out? Well, I think the authorized companies fare better than the unlicensed ones. Personally, I'm not sure if it affects card value. I know that by having a license, though, it creates certain headaches not found at unlicensed companies.
The days of playing pack poker are almost gone. I remember I couldn't go through a checkout line with out picking up a pack or 2. Now, I don't want to add $5-$10 to my checkout total only to find a Charles Nagy and a Dusty Baker (I hate - speaking to you Topps - when a company includes managers in the set). Even UD Victory (today's Score) packs are @$3. It seems that instead of making 100,000+ of the same Griffey (as they did in the early 90s), card makers make 10,000+ Griffeys under 10 different brands. But there are still 100,000+ Griffeys out there - probably a lot more. VS is right though. There is little money to be had in the game if your playing for an investment. Even the dealers are not doing so well. Collect for the love of the hobby. My sons love certain players and collect only those players. Any body else they get (no matter how good) is only trade foder. Instead of buying packs or boxes, I've found it cheaper to go on ebay and buy these players in lots. Not quite the thrill of playing pack poker but 99% of the time more rewarding. Now I create my own "packs" by taking a few of cards from this lot and a few cards from this lot. They love them. But if you do want to "play the card market", I do think you can get closer to "book value" for an autograph card than you can for others.
The card business sucks, but oh well... I just scored a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan Rookie for only $135
I hope it's real...but at that price...you have to wonder. Anyone pulling a card like that should have it graded (and I normally don't advocate grading). Even if it was only a PSA 7, it would get double the price of a non-graded because at least the buyer would know that it is real (this card is regularly faked because of the high price - better than counterfeit $100 bills).
It seems to me the bottom started falling out around 1989 when Donruss and Score flooded the market with cards that made even the best rookie cards pretty worthless. Then Upper Deck and Leaf came in the next year or two and jumped up the price of a pack of cards to drive interest/value in their cards and there's been a downward spiral since then. I think there's a happy medium between flooding the market and outrageous pricing due to inserts and short printing but the card companies haven't found it yet.
Ok. I should have known that counterfeiting takes place. How much counterfeiting do you think is going on? I wonder. Because when I'm on e-bay it seems like one person has all the autograph cards. Seriously. How does that happen. Is the mob involved? Is someone on the take? If they are randomly inserted into packs and only 23-100 exist. How could it be that a handlful of companies seem to have three or four of the same autographed card, and have seemingly the same thing for every player. It has been kind of baffling to me. I did see where one guy bought like 20 SPX jordan auto's. So I know it's possible to scoop them up, but sometimes I wonder where all these cards are coming from....
never been into the card thing, but anyone know what my baseball signed by Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle might be worth? Thinking about putting it on e-bay, but not super motivated to do so......
I suggest first sending it to PSA-DNA to authenticate it. Then it can be worth a crap-load. If it is not authenticated then it probably wont even sell.
Lookie here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1846101824 One pack of four cards for $140! And that is one of the lowest prices you will get for that. I've seen a box, which I believe has four packs of four cards and it sold for around $625! A freakin box with 16 total cards?!?!
WOW, thats insane. Do they have a gimmick or are they just really limited print? I got out of the hobby about the same time as most on this thread and that was due to packs getting up around $10. For me buying packs was the best part. The chance of getting your favorite player or a card that was worth enough to trade. And I thought that $10 was bad
Do a little research before buying. Cards can be and are faked. Becketts Online occationally runs a few articles about how to tell a counterfeit - most take a very high powered magnifing glass or microscope - but they can show you what to watch for. Of course the only cards that are faked are high dollar cards. And if it's a high dollar card you are buying as an investment or very expensive hobby, buy graded. In the case of grading (which I am usually against), experts have look the card over and given their approval that it's real and it's condition. You wouldn't spend $500 dollars to buy stock certificates from someone on ebay - unless a reputable 3rd party has guaranteed them - why would you buy a card? Autographs are even more counterfeited. With sports autographs, stick with COA from a name brand company. UDA, TriStar, Steiner, Mounted Memories, Score Board are all pretty reputable (in that order). Or do a visual verification from a know source (a signed UDA object) and don't pay much - your're not out that much if it's not real. Do some research. Things like MJ signing an agreement to not do autos for anyone but UD. Mcgwire doesn't sign much, so if this person is or has been selling an endless stream of them...beware. Common sense and price go along way. If you're interested in autos, check google, there are a few of people with sites that let you know who signs and where to send them and any extra stuff - they auto for a hobby and they love sharing their "secrets". You'd be surprised at who signs if you mail them something (with a prepaid return envelope). On PSA/DNA there are 2 kinds of approvals. One is you paid @$10 and someone like you or I looks at it and says it's a real autograph. It would have to be a pretty poor attempt to come back as a said fake. The other one is you pay @$100 and they will have FBI-type handwriting experts examine the auto. If they say it's real, that's the best you can get. But who wants to pay that much? Most opt for the cheaper version and most buyers don't know the difference.
