I'm 50. Just got back into collecting not long ago and my main issue with the new cards is all the variations, its silly. Refractors, short print, parallel, image variation, on and on. I just want to open packs without needing a guide somewhere to tell me if the thing is valuable or not. So yeah, I've done the same as you. I'm collecting graded vintage and only those modern players who I like personally where I find a card I really love.
Well said, sir. What great insight. For me, the base cards got devalued with the parallels and inserts. Now, they have devalued the parallels and inserts by doing more parallels and inserts. It's madness. I like you can't even keep up! Thanks for watching and commenting.
You are spot on, Bill. Really appreciate and agree with your analysis. The '80s was my second phase of collecting. Never bought a card after 1987. No regrets. I have only been back in the hobby a year now, and all I buy is cards from my Baby Boomer childhood and pre-war. It has been a blast acquiring cards of those earlier eras, and the upside is there is no downside with those cards. Memories are priceless. Thanks for sharing your journey. You are on the right path! Take care, Rob.
Thanks for watching, Rob! I agree that the cards we grew up collecting are the ones that keep pulling us to buy. I guess that's why I still like to rip junk wax packs, knowing that most of what I pull is going to have little to no value. It's the memories tied to opening them when we were kids.
New products are not designed with older collectors in mind. When it comes to the value of my vintage cards, I find that keeping the hobby alive is more important than keeping it engaging for older collectors. That may sound harsh, but my days of sitting with my friends as we trade our favorite players back and forth are long gone. I am fine with a younger generation finding their way into the hobby, even if it looks a lot different than it did for me.
I understand and respect that perspective. Our vintage cards won't be worth anything in the long run if there are no younger collectors that want them for us to pass them on to. Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@billyballgamesportscards. There was no eBay back then, so if you wanted a card back you had to pull it. Maybe your friend had it and could trade for it or some card show or shop and they would jack up the price. So even though they were mass produced getting the card you wanted wasn’t that easy.
@timkingston7551 Kids can't. However, there is an entire generation of young investors who collect to flip or hold like a stock exchange. To me, it''s not as cool as when we were kids and just collecting for fun, but I'm not going to tell them what's fun to them.
It pains me to see all these young collectors spending hundreds, or even thousands on prospects! I was a collector during the junk wax era and saw all the instability and loss due to the volatility of the hobby. It was nice to see one of the sellers at Burbank Sportscard talking a young kid out of buying a $600 modern card. He told the kid I’ve seen all of the ups and downs of the industry and wouldn’t recommend spending that much on it. The honesty was cool! I personally collect now simply to reflect back on the 80’s to early 90’s. I’ve bought some of the vintage players like Koufax and Drysdale my dad used to speak so highly of. 👍Man…that Mark Grace was the chase card back in the day😂
I feel the same way. Kids are soending huge money on cards today! Great insights. Thanks for sharing. I had no idea Burbank did that. That is very cool, and will hopefully keep that kid in the hobby long term. I buy cards I enjoy, players I enjoyed as a kid, and the legends I grew up hearing about. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Wow, this is the channel I have been looking for. I was born in 76 and collected during junk wax (for me 87-91) but started again a year ago. I’m thinking about going vintage later this year too. Glad I found you👍
Same here, born in 76. I collected with my one-year younger brother between 86 and 92. My older brother gave me and my younger brother his cards he collected between 1971 and 1978. Almost having given up on the hobby in the mid-2000's with giving my commons away I somehow got back into the hobby in 2007 with finding the vintage unopened pack market. I was able to get some cards between 1979 and 1985 to fill in the gap. I stayed away from modern cards until just recently because of Brock Purdy. I've just let new product (packs, hangers and blasters) that I've bought stay unopened to retain it's value so I don't even know if I had a Brock Purdy unless I bought a set of cards which I did with Donruss Football recently.
I'm one of those older collectors. First set I really worked at was the 67 topps set at the age of 10. I started and stopped collecting 4 or 5 times over the years. Finally in 2017 I decided to stop chasing the new cards and went with the best advice I got on cards and bought what I liked. I am now 11 cards away from finishing a 1967 set.
So many good points Billy I was born in 76 and loved your comment about us Gen Xer's thinking we could fund our retirements with our junk wax cards. I have recently got back into the hobby and how it has changed. Thank you so much for warning kids and newer collectors about the highs and lows of the collecting hobby. It's unreal how much packs cost now I don't think it is right, as a kid I could afford to buy packs for .25cents-.50cents with my paper route money and it was great. Now as an adult with some money I won't touch these new Blaster boxes hangers and whatever they are trying to peddle me for $40 they are rip offs. How is a 10 year old supposed to buy the new stuff at their inflated sales price. It's really a shame I think. I don't even want to get started on the sticker auto's that the companies have new collectors convinced they are special and rare and are worth paying thousands of dollars for because the are numbered. It's B.S. anyway liked your thoughts on where the hobby is now.
Thanks for the kind words, Tim. I'm glad the video struck a chord with you. What you mentioned is a big reason I started focusing on vintage. Just like the junk wax era, there is too much of the new stuff out there. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I totally agree. Modern boxes and packs are a way overpriced and you won't likely end up with much of value. For those that still want modern players, just buy the single cards you want. A flagship hobby box should be about $60 at most.... and even then you will not likely break even. Modern pitcher cards are especially most likely to be worthless. Prospect cards almost always go down after they get called up. If you buy what you really like ... you won't feel burned if they go down.
Thanks for watching. There is a lot of wisdom in your comment. Pitchers have always been undervalued for sure. The way the game has changed, how will we even evaluate a pitcher moving forward. It may end up being that if they average 5 or 6 innings a start, they are really good. It's crazy what starting pitchers gave become.
Best take on it. Born in '76 started collecting in 87. I say junk wax was 87-95. Those were the years I bought packs from. '93 topps finest was the first really premium set. Like $15 a pack from the jump. I started collecting again but will mostly only collect 73-85. I had alot of '72 topps and '65 topps. Also 90's inserts I like. I'm buying the cards I couldn't afford as a kid. I scored a 84 donruss Don Mattingly rookie and his regular '93 finest. He was my favorite player. I'm going to a 200 dealer show in council bluffs in July. Looking to get 84 fleer Kirby Puckett rc.
Heck yeah, those are some awesome cards! I'm pretty much doing the same thing. I love the junk wax era cards, but I have a whole lot of it. I could never afford Topps finest back then for sure. I appreciate you watching and commenting.
Born in 87. Realized most my cards were crap in the mid 2000s. Started buying HOFers from late 50 and 60s sets for what I could afford from like 04-08. I enjoy those cards way more than boxes of junk from the late 80s and later. My personal experience is that 50-60s era baseball as just a golden age, there was usually only 1 set per season and one maybe 2 player cards per season. You could not convince me a 1955 Sandy Koufax even in poor condition isn't more beautiful than anything produced in the past 30-40 years.
Hey Brian, thanks for watching and commenting. It's much appreciated. I wish I had started buying vintage sooner, but it is what it is. I still enjoy stuff from the junk wax wax era, but I mostly buy it for the nostalgia of ripping it, and it's pretty cheap.
Hi there Billy. I think you make some wonderful points and it is always a great reminder and reality check to look at the likelihood that the vast majority of modern cards won’t have any long term value. That being said, I think you can take that into consideration and make some smart plays with modern cards if that’s your thing. While it might not be the smartest thing to hold onto a lot of these modern cards long term, I think a lot of people are making their money off quick flips of these cards. They spec on prospects get them graded and sell them off as soon as something happens in their career. The risk level for this kind of buying and selling is much higher and much more volatile than with vintage, but a lot of people are into it. The safer bet of course is vintage. I am for the most part a vintage collector too but I like picking up dollar box inserts of cards of current players I like with no expectation of long term value - I just like them. Cracking packs is never worth it. It’s always a better option to buy singles of the cards and players you are actually into collecting. As for 1980s junk wax…..that’s my generation too (I'm 43) and I have a nostalgic fondness for those cards that makes me happy to no end that I can pick up a lot of the old cards that I loved and collect all the huge cards from that era for 10 or 20 cents a piece. Those prices are established, they probably aren’t going up or down at this point - but they are still super fun to collect and won’t break the bank in doing so. Moral of the story - Don’t buy modern cards as long term investments - only short term flips. Buy 1980s cards because they are awesome and cheap. Buy vintage cards if you want a stable long term investment.
Thanks for watching and commenting. You make great points, and I agree with you. Most ultramodern cards probably aren't going to hold value long term. I think that's why the flip game has really taken off since since before the pandemic. If it's what people like to collect, then it's what they should collect. Junk wax is a lot of fun for me and super cheap. Vintage and junk wax are really where my heart is as a collector for sure. Thanks again.
Me too, and usually after, I'm pretty sure they are going to make the Hall of Fame as Ling as they stay healthy, Acuna and Mookie, for example. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Rickey Henderson was the man! Big fan growing up in northern California during 80s and 90s ( born in '76) I started around 1986 collecting baseball, football and hockey. So yeah, the vintage cards is where my head is at for years!
Bill, I'm a baby boomer and I remember this era very well! I had a lot of fun opening boxes of wax packs from 1987 through1993. About that time I stopped buying boxes of wax packs and switched to buying only factory sealed Topps complete sets mainly due to the proliferation of manufacturers and the fact that I had begun to seriously collect vintage cards and putting together sets from the 50's and 60's. Your video reminds me of the change in direction of my collecting journey. Well done!!
@Rocketrickj18 Thanks, Rick. I still really enjoy cards from that era. These are boxes that I still rip from time to time for fun and memories. I still would like to get graded examples of the "big" cards from this era. Sounds we we made the same journey. I made mine a lot more recently, though. I have a lot of 2018-2020 when I was ripping modern stuff. Thanks again for watching and commenting!
and that's why they call it "junk wax" folks.......Stay the vintage route....which will more than likely hold it's value or GO up. Really, it all comes down to rarity....NOTHING of the Junk wax was EVER thrown away.....unlike vintage. All the junk is STILL around except for some dealers who have tossed flats filled with it. Hell - I did the National twice...EACH time after the show, I brought back 3 flats of abandoned junk wax.. Oh, I sold it all....about 10 cents a card...but I got rid of it. Don't expect to retire on baseball cards folks....collect them ONLY because you love to collect. If you want to invest, put your money in mutual funds....at least they're liquid.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I mostly agree with you. I collect because I love it! I also live junk wax, which can still have value, but it's all about the condition. No condition, no value usually. Thanks for watching and commenting.
i have to disagree a little bit especially with the the reason why some of the players didn't hold value besides NOLAN RYAN PITCHERS DO NOT HOLD VALUE AT ALL especially with the base rookies is because a lot of them had like 1-2 good years i think the biggest reason cards from then aren't valuable is because they were MASS PRODUCED that's the biggest reason especially from the 90s but if you really research it u will find out that most of the valuable card from them are the numbered paralles like PRECIOUS METAL GEMS, PINNACLE INSERTS, MIRROR IMAGE, TIFFANY SETS, ETC. and to an extent the same holds true today most of the more valuable cards aren't the autos it's the numbered short print parallels and there are a lot more people making a living from selling sports cards today than ever before love the content though
There are pitchers that have value from the vintage era. Sandy Koufax, Bob Feller, and so on. They are undervalued for sure. The junk wax era cards were way overproduced just like they are today. That overproduction, along with players not living up to the hype combined to make most of those cards to not have value. I was trying to draw parallels between the combination of production and rookie hype between the junk wax era and ultra modern cards. I focused more on the hype of the rookies in the video than I did the overproduction aspect for sure. I appreciate you watching and commenting.
I buy sets at the end of the year. Never buy cards from 1981 to present. I’ll take the Rickey rookie over Kershaw. Have the 89 Upper Deck set in a binder and purchased a PSA 10 Griffey Jr about 8 yrs ago for about $200. Sure, I have Pujols, Ichiro, Trout, Jeter , Acuna rookies bc Momma didn’t raise no fool.
Lpl, great points. I'd like to think my momma didn't either, but I have bought some dumb cards over the years! Wow, you paid for your 10 what I did for my 9. You have a very well bought card. I still enjoy buying and ripping cards from the 80s, though. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I'm glad you're dipping into the '60s and perhaps eventually the '50s. That Brock rookie is sweet! I feel bad for the guys whio spend $100,000 on an ultra-modern 1/1 auto refractor or whatever. I can't see how those will increase in value long-term, no matter how many Super Bowls they appear in. These prices are driven by the 1/1 and PSA 10 frenzies, which will fade (already have started to, actually).Their day-trading buyers dion't really care about that anyway. If it gets up to $120,000 briefly, they'll flip it.
There's a vid on the internet, which shows a disgruntled collector, putting his junk wax cards into a shredder. It's pretty hilarious...but it speaks VOLUMES.
I was born in 72, learned my lesson by 1988. Been primary player collecting ever since. You’re missing the boat on rare 90’s inserts of top players. Those cards even in mid grade (PSA5) sell for thousands.
I know some of them are huge! I just don't know enough ab9ut them to feel comfortable buying them at this point. I want everything, but with my budget, I have to try to be more focused. You definitely figured it out before I did if you were a player collector in 88. I have always collected Griffey since his rookie year, but I have mostly been ripping packs until a few years ago. Thanks for watching and commenting! It's much appreciated.
I would say pick up older hall of famer cards, newer HOF rc's... I'm still waiting for my Larry walker Tiffany RC to pick up speed... but it aint. Trout is a good bet... Harper is still questionable. Maybe I'll get rid of my newer graded RC's while I have the chance, but I procrastinate... and like you, just a collector.
The older (later in their career) card are super cheap for some of them. I really like rookie cards, though. I still like some of the newer players and have some newer stabbed cards. They just aren't what I focus on.
I have been a collector for almost 40 years and I have said this many times.. you mentioned the junk wax era, which was a period of time in the mid 80’s - mid 90’s, where the cards were mass produced and the now most people don’t really care about them because they don’t have much value even though the era contains some of the most iconic names in any sport history. The illusion to keep the original cost of of buying wax or boxes and also the secondary market is the illusion of scarcity or rarity. But cards are being mass produced worse now than they they were in the junk wax era. The illusion is that in that era there were only a few manufacturers who usually put out only one set per year or some put out 2. But now if you look at any of the major sports such as baseball, hockey, football and basketball and this is why I call the scarcity or rarity an “illusion” because it is just that. I will use 2020 and newer even though it started right after the junk was era ended and is getting worse every year. But if you take any of the hyped up or prospect rookies from any of the years, especially in the sports mentioned above, you will see why I say “illusion”. Just on the cards considered “rare” (sp or ssp) and all the variants of them in one set alone, you would be surprised, because not many people have looked at it or even thought about it or the cost of them wouldn’t be in the 10’s - 100’s of thousands of dollars in the first year of release on many of these cards that is being paid. But that’s only if you look at one specific set. Even before 2020 but especially since then manufacturers are literally putting out well over 100 sets of cards per year and it’s only rising in the number of sets each year. So even if you look at what they call “sp or ssp cards considered to be the rare cards of any given prospect rookie in any particular year and you are looking at thousands of cards and then add the other cards of the same player and there’s no scarcity to them at all. It’s only a matter of time time before the majority of buyers understand that they are paying thousands of dollars for cards deemed be rare and we will see the price plummet overnight! Fanatics has been trying to get influencers to try to recruit more kids but the prices and the way they have introduced a more gambling industry to the hobby, kids cannot afford it nor should they be encouraged to gamble. IMO the only thing that is keeping the market and prices up so high as the quality is steadily declining is flippers and repackers recycling the cards between each other and once they become more aware that scarcity is just an illusion and the whole of the collectors community figure it out, then finally we will see it correct itself and prices should come back down to earth and. Quality will also hopefully improve significantly because people will no longer be fooled by the illusion of scarcity and willing to pay the thousands of dollars for cards that I can’t see holing value for much longer and manufacturers won’t be able to just put out the inferior quality because they will have to finally answer to the collectors because people will not be willing or able to afford the high cost and just accept the crap quality because the illusion that created that situation will be underwirii🍻
Thanks for watching and commenting, Axle. You have pretty much hit the nail on the head! Let's take 89, for example, Ken Griffey Jr. has around 12-15 total "rookie" cards from the major manufacturers. A rookie player now will have at least 60 in all the different sets with all the parallels! That's insane! You are right. The base cards are printed to the moon, but then they sprinkle in a little manufactured scarcity to make the product more desired overall. It's a shell game. ScottyBCards does an awesome job of breaking down how many rookoe cards there are of a single player each year, and it amazing to see them all together.
Just found your channel and am glad I did as 2min into your video, I can tell I will love your channel. I'm a life long collector and like you I am a Gen. X'er. I was born in 1975 as well. I also want to say that the second you brought out that Fernando rookie and was saying if you don't know who this is, I laughed because I literally just 4 days ago had a guy in a facebook group post a picture of a Fernando 1982 Topps Record Breaker and he actually put at the top of the photo that he had just pulled the card from a wax re-pack pack and because it was a record breaker he wanted to know if anyone in the group had ever heard of the guy and was it just a trash card. I was like dude how can you call yourself a baseball fan and not know who Fernando Valenzuela is, and I told him just google the guys name and he would learn fast how good he was in the 1980s. His reply to my comment was that he didn't need some old guy to tell him if the player was any good , that he just wanted to know was it worth anything or should he trash it. That made me so mad. But I have to face it. I turn 49 this year and these young guys care nothing about collecting today or the game itself. They are only looking for a quick buck.
You're right a lot of them are only looking for a quick buck. We wanted to learn the history of the game, too. A lot of the younger "collectors" don't want to learn the history of the game, and it's players, some do, but it's pretty uncommon. I never watched Rocky Colavito play, but I know how good he was and his relevance to baseball. Unless they play today, a lot of the younger kids don't know who players are. Great thoughts! Thanks for sharing.
Couldn't agree more and surprised more people don't speak out on this. In my opinion, one of the problems is that companies like Topps have way too many different brands (Topps, Topps Chrome, Bowman, Topps Heritage, The holiday cards (with the fake snow), Allen & Ginter, Stadium Club, and I'm sure I missed a few. Who collects all of these? This doesn't even include all of the parallels and other numbered cards.
It really is crazy the number of sets they put out every year. Someone said in another comment that between Topps and Bowman last year, they put out something like 47 sets. Crazy! Thanks for watching and commenting. Much appreciated.
I remember Kevin Maas and Mo Vaughn. Cards that are worthless now. The bar for HOFers has shifted. "Counting" numbers we grew up with (3000H, 500HR, etc) as a measure of greatness have been replaced. Look at Joe Mauer's election this year. I'm not against his enshrinement necessarily, but to be elected on the first ballot showed a huge shift from the past. Future HOFers might never again measure up to the greats of the past. Collecting vintage is more fun for me than chasing prospects. Chasing raw cards in high grades especially.
There are so many prospects that happened to I could go all night talking about them. I'm with you on Joe Mauer. I look him up on baseball reference, and I'm really confused. He played first base half of his career but doesn't even have 1,000 RBI. None of the traditional HOF milestones. He won a lot of batting tittles and was a really good player, and I don't hate it. But like you, I'm confused by him. HOF elections will continue to shift toward analytics for sure. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts.
There's an exception to the rule. I believe Ohtani already has surpassed Bo Jackson level status. Even if he were to totally bomb out, people would still talk fondly of the guy who was able to dominate both ways. I use Bo Jackson because his career was not that long. He got injured and never was the same player. Still, because of what he did in the NFL, and the MLB people still put a premium on his cards. His cards are more expensive than many Hall of Famers of that era.
Great point, and I agree with you. Ohtani is at a different level. People are already talking about him being a HOFer. Bo Jackson was the first 2 sport athlete and did it at a high level in both sports. Deion and Brian Jordan both played in the MLB and NFL, not at the same time for Jordan, but weren't at the level of Bo Jackson. We have never seen anything like Ohtani. Ruth quit pitching. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I started back collecting a couple months ago after getting all my binders from my parents house. I have been grabbing Ripken jr base cards in PSA10. Kinda PC but also good investment as his stuff moves very well
Kids approach to collecting is so much more different than what it was for us. Modern seems to be more associated with high risk and speculation while a lot of us older collectors are risk adverse. Tom Brady/Derek Jeter/Kobe Bryant/LeBron James are the first of the "modern era" that would classify as risk adverse. But everyone is targeting the new hot-shot rookies, the top draft prospects, all to chase the upside. With ultra-modern, I chase the serial numbered cards. At least those have finite production runs.
I completely agree. Think about all the rookies we speculated on in the 80s and 90s that were 3-10 dollar cards. Now, think about all rookies that aren't going to pan out that have 500 dollar Bowman's First autos. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Wander, is a perfect example of oh shit , don’t even get me started on nfl QBS CJ. Stroud now. WTF. ?? Dudes got a very long way to go before he’s a Brady.
Yes, great example. Modern QB cards are absurd! The prices people pay for a QB who's never won a single playoff game, let alone a Super Bowl, is mind-numbing.
What makes a card valuable is not so much the player... but the scarcity of the card. They make base cards by the millions.... no matter if it's a psa 10, it'll never be worth anything because there are too many out there. I buy the highest priced bowman chrome auto of the player i want to "invest" in that I want to spend and put it away. Never buy base autos either. I usually buy refractor or purples. Just 1 or 2.... buy um while they're cheaper.... you never chase the hype either.... good video
Topps archives from the first couple years were fun, Bowman Heritage and the Topps T cards and sets like that. I think the saturation of sets and the Grading companies helped dilute the hobby and turn it into speculation and big bucks to be made..
One main difference between the junk wax and the modern card era is that the modern card era has short printed inserts and autographed cards that are desirable and have more value. I am not advocating that busting modern card boxes is financially more viable than buying singles. It's not. Each need to look at their own budgets and need to decide what's best for them. I like to buy singles and buy boxes both. To me just buying singles takes a lot of fun out of the hobby. My best cards (I know I am in a minority) were from opening boxes and packs. Very good video as many great points were made.
Thanks, Bruce, and I agree with a lot of what you said. I'm not telling anyone what to do with their collection. It was just a story about my journey. There are a lot of really cool cards in modern products, and I still have some in my collection. I just bought 2 2024 hanger boxes last weekend just for fun. Thanks for watching and commenting. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
With the prices on new products being as high as they are. The vast majority of your returns on investment is going to the manufacturer and not us the collectors. Prices on new product is outrageous and unless you hit a very low numbered RPA or one of the limited run inserts, you won’t get close to making your money back or even close to even. Going vintage is always fun as well. But I think you need to decide on what is your reasons for getting back into the hobby. Is it to collect, or is it to make money? If it’s the latter, your best option is to buy singles of the players you believe will be the next great superstar within the first couple years of their career and wait. I’ve found that the best time to sell the top prospects is immediately after those cards have been released because that is when the excitement is the highest. If not, you’re gambling on the future of the prospect. And it may take til the end of their career for their RC’s to reach max value. Buying vintage cards is fun. But if you’re buying those to make a profit. You’re already too late. You already paid max value for that card when you purchased it. Sure, those cards might increase in price gradually over the years but not to the point you’ll be able to retire off the profit.
Thanks for watching and commenting! You bring up some great points. I collect what I love, as evidenced by all the junk wax boxes I've opened. I also collect vintage because I have always loved those cards and players I could just never afford them until recently. I like a lot of the modern players but don't want to fork out big money for players that we don't know what they are going to be for many years. I'm not into gambling on hits. I'm never going to tell anyone how to collect. I just like talking about baseball cards. Thanks again for watching.
I have started buying graded vontage cards in low grade. I always wanted the card say a ryan rc ir bench rc psa 1 its 3 to 400 dollars max. Its the lowest entry point for someone in the future who wants the card and I get cool cards I have dreamed about my entire life.
@@sneakyquick That's awesome! That's one of the big reasons I switched to vintage. I have wanted so many of those cards my whole life and thought I'd never own them. Good luck in the hunt. Thanks for watching and commenting. Welcome to the community.
When I was a kid packs were fifty cents and upper deck was a dollar. Now packs are 7-20 dollars what kid can afford that. There is no way to recoup that value in todays products. No one set collects they just gamble to get a hit card.
Ive never been interested in modern, partly becaue I no longer follow theg game because its changed so much but mostly because the designs are crap. In my view there has not been a decent design since 1988 Score.
Wow, 88 score! That's going a long way back. The game has changed for sure I still enjoy it, though. I do not enjoy most of the modern designs either. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I have the same mentality as you. I have always collected hall of famers instead of rookies. Way to risky. The hobby has changed way too much. No one collects their favorite players they are out to collect a player they may not like for big paycheck.
With the modern stuff, I think you are spot on. It's mostly people ripping looking for the auto or super rare parallel of the next big rookie. Thanks for watching and commenting. It's much appreciated!
I feel the same. It comes down to those who like to gamble and chase and those who don't. Gen X'ers are likely to have more bills and families and are much more inclined to be more risk averse in their collecting. Lots of younger 'collectors' are going to bust out in the next few years.
Mookie Betts is the only hall of fame lock of those graded cards. Besides Don Mattingly non hall of fame players don’t carry much value after there career is over that is very true.
Thanks for watching and commenting. I'm a huge fan of Mookie Betts, but I think he isn't a lock yet. I think he becomes a HOFer but needs more career production to become a sure thing. I would add a few to the Mattingly category, Bo Jackson, for sure, maybe Dale Murphy of the nonPED guys.
This is such a great stance. Genius. You really gave me something to think about. It’s fun to rip but it is super expensive and I have yet to make it profitable and I have little interest in keeping the cards for decades. I’ve been there and done that.
The point is that in the 80s, 8 dollars was a lot of money for a card that was just pulled out of a pack. Now cards are worth hundreds or thousands of dollars for unproven prospects that probably aren't going to hold value Ling term. That was my point.
Yeah Billy, Baby Boomer here 1965 and remember my first year of collecting in 75 Topps and I have been going through the same thought process, As much as I love ripping modern packs chasing low numbered and parallels of.the current star rookies, I know their value won't sustain over time maybe one, two or none of them from each year might hold value. I'm trying to put together a set from the year I was born 1965. For us the vintage hold a nostalgic feeling and those particular players like Mays, Aaron, Ryan and many more in the hall of fame have cemented their name in history and will hold their value over time. The key for collecting modern cards today is keep the ones you want for personal reasons in your PC and sell the hype! .
It seems like we are in the same place in our collecting journey. The 65 set is gorgeous! I think with modern cards, if I grab any at all, I'll just buy singles of the players I want. But I'll continue to focus on vintage and the 80s and 90s. There are still a whole lot of cards out there I want. I appreciate your thoughts and you watching the video.
I would say that is a pretty accurate statement. There are people who will buy junk wax ungraded. But man, there isn't much value there. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I'm not trying to influence anyone, really. I'm just telling my story. Collect what you're passionate about. I still live cards from the junk wax era even though they don't have much value. Those are cards of my heroes growing up, and I have a lot of memories tied to them. The main point is that the newer stuff has been produced at levels near the junk wax era.
I think the hobby changed with the advent 1) multiple manufacturers in the 80's - Fleer, Donruss, Score, Bowman, etc. and 2) all of the parallel, special, relic, autograph, refractor, glow-in-the-dark cards in the 90's. I started collecting in the early 70s. There was Topps - one set- no special cards. The last pack I opened was 1988. When I got back to the hobby around 2005, I only collected cards from 1958 to 1974.
The hobby definitely changed with the addition of Fleer and Donruss. In 88 and 89, it changed again with more sets added. Then it exploded with so many sets that you couldn't keep up with it anymore. Then, the explosion of inserts like you said. I've always been a pack ripper until 2020ish. I've gotten more joy from chasing the cards I wanted as a kid and could never afford them. When I get the urge to rip packs, I rip junk wax because I still enjoy those cards. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts It's much appreciated.
What a stroll down memory lane. 82 is when I started. Love your collecting story Billy & share your take on modern. In 2020, I switched to fully vintage. Great video.
That's around the time I switched, too. I can't say I'm fully vintage, though. I still love the junk wax stuff and have definitely gotten more picky with which modern players I add to my collection. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Interesting commentary. I'm a member of the baby boomer generation and when I first started collecting as a collector in the early 70s, there was absolutely no thought about what a card might be worth someday. You just wanted to get cards. In fact, stars weren't priced much higher than commons. The collectors that came after me grew up in an era where the potential monetary value of cards was an intrinsic part of the hobby. That was completely absent when I first started to collect. Nobody invested in prospects or anything like that. The Wagner card, unfortunately corrupted the direction of the hobby, in my opinion.
Thanks for watching and commenting. I think the Wagner definitely shifted focus more toward money in the hobby for sure. My grandma told me that in the late 40s and early 50s, they used to chew the gum and throw the cards away!
@billyballgamesportscards i enjoyed watching this video! Lots of cards you showed that i also have. I'm 40 and loved those cards growing up....just saying, with all these parallels these days, who's going to be the next top 10 ever to play the game??? And to have a low numbered card of theirs? That'd be cool!
Lol, you are correct in a lot of cases. Especially with the junk wax cards I put in a lot of them! Thanks for watching and commenting. It is much appreciated.
I got fed up with packs and prospect chasing around 2007. But similar story to you. First time seeing your channel. Great video ! I stunk at prospecting. I still have stacks of Eric Byrnes and Travis Buck rookies !
Thanks for watching. I'm glad you found the channel! Prospecting is really hard, so many of them don't ever do anything. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. I got lucky with Ken Griffey Jr. and still collect him 35 years later!
You have learned some valuable lessons in the card collecting hobby!! Collectors will rarely get ahead dollar wise ripping packs or buying the new shiny cards!! Also don’t buy cards of players when they are hyped up when they are playing. Most of these cards will end up in the bargain box.
No doubt. Sometimes, you end up paying more for players later in their careers, like when I finally started buying Pujols rookies. But we know what he is, and in the long term, it keeps me from spending bad money. Thanks for watching and commenting.
definitely a great way to approach the hobby. i enjoy all aspects of vintage, "junk wax" and modern. i look to add 1 or 2 vintage cards per month then work on my sets and then alway like opening up the flagship topps series 1, 2 and update hobby boxes every year. its fun and brings be back to when i was a kid opening up cards! thanks for sharing your thoughts and good luck with building out your vintage collection.
Even if a modern player will become a HOFer, there value will never be that of Aaron, Mays, or even Bunning. Heck, Tommy John who should be in the HOF and has a RC that has more value than say an Adrian Beltre RC. $50 at most for Beltre? When people use the term "junk wax" I think they refer to a period starting in the 80s and going through the 90s. I would argue that we never left the "junk wax" era. Your Kershaw and Henderson RCs is a good comparison. Kershaw's RC will never be that of a Henderson whether he gets in the HOF or not.
Thanks for watching and commenting. I use junk wax as kind of a general term for the 80s and 90s myself. Technically, the junk wax erra is from 86 or 87 to 95, I believe are the years. As demand continued to fall during the 90s, fewer cards were printed in the early to mid 2000s. That's why some of those cards have decent value. But then, in 2017 or so, it started getting produced heavily again to where they are today with producing tons of the stuff again.
Technically, I think you are right about the years that most people classify as the junk wax era. I just don't think we have left the junk wax era as I see the overproduction of cards again. The various off shoots from the major companies contribute to this...at least in my opinion. @@billyballgamesportscards
there's still lots to be collected in the junk wax era that still holds significant value. Like the 91 Donruss elites, Donruss Crusades, Bowman International refractors, Skybox Precious Metal Gems. SPX Grand finales, Bat barrels, Bat knobs. Anything Game Used from these HOF sell for bank.
You're right. There are a lot of awesome cards from that era. I love the Donruss Elites! I've never had one and have thought about picking up a Griffey at some point. Amazing cards. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Along w Collecting Cards / I’ve also collected Autographs- I tend to stick to - Great of the Game, HOFers, and fee / donation in the $5,10, 20 range. In addition to being proven / established-most autographs are autographs NOT just initials like modern players
Love this video! We couldn't agree more with your opinion on how to spend our hobby dollars. Awesome video and great strategy for building your collection!
Hey BBG, fellow X'er here from '67 era and mostly agree with your incites on modern day card collecting vs. vintage cards as I recall going down to the drug store to buy my packs in the early '70s and content to put sets together with the Big Red Machine being my main focus. You're reading my mind with not wanting to collect newer releases as there's so much to choose from only to lose out more often as Wander Franco comes to mind yet I was tempted to chase all the Elly De La Cruz's rookie releases and I'm glad I didn't in fact I don't think I have any of his official RC's as for me Elly emulates and wears the jersey #'s of Eric the Red Davis #44 and as you know for a while Eric was super star in the making and got to be injury prone sidelining his career and I fear the same for Elly's delicate frame. I don't buy modern stuff save for heritage is awesome for new releases either than that I stay in my lane with vintage and putting sets together in Nm condition.
ALL THAT SHOULD MATTER IS TO HAVE FUN A IF YOU HAPPEN TO OPEN A PACK ONE DAY AND GET LUCKY AND HIT A BANGER THAT YOU COULD SELL THAN SO BE IT I'LL BE HONEST I'VE BASICALLY REALLY HAVE ONLY HIT 2 AND THEY WERE 1) ONEIL CRUZ 2022 TOPPS CHROME GREEN REFRACTOR AUTO /99 I SENT IT TO SGC IT GOT A 9.5 AT THE TIME WAS THE HIGHEST GRADE OUT THERE GUY LOW BALLED ME SAYING SGC CARDS ARE HARD TO MOVE I SOLD IT FOR $200 AND I SAW IT AWHILE LATER ON HIS PAGE LISTED FOR $1200..LOL..I LEFT A COMMENT SAYING.."SO YOU MUST NOT THINK SGC IS HARD TO MOVE AFTER ALL..AND THEN KARMA HIT..CRUZ GOT HURT RIGHT AFTER SO 2) YOSHINOBU YAMMAMOTO 2021 TOPPS CHROME NPB GREEN REFRACTOR /99 FROM A $8 WALGREENS BLISTER PACK THAT I SOLD FOR LIKE $120 AND ABOUT A MONTH LATER WAS ON EBAY AND SAW THE EXACT CARD WAS RESOLD FOR LIKE $450..
ALL THAT SHOULD MATTER IS TO HAVE FUN A IF YOU HAPPEN TO OPEN A PACK ONE DAY AND GET LUCKY AND HIT A BANGER THAT YOU COULD SELL THAN SO BE IT I'LL BE HONEST I'VE BASICALLY REALLY HAVE ONLY HIT 2 AND THEY WERE 1) ONEIL CRUZ 2022 TOPPS CHROME GREEN REFRACTOR AUTO /99 I SENT IT TO SGC IT GOT A 9.5 AT THE TIME WAS THE HIGHEST GRADE OUT THERE GUY LOW BALLED ME SAYING SGC CARDS ARE HARD TO MOVE I SOLD IT FOR $200 AND I SAW IT AWHILE LATER ON HIS PAGE LISTED FOR $1200..LOL..I LEFT A COMMENT SAYING.."SO YOU MUST NOT THINK SGC IS HARD TO MOVE AFTER ALL..AND THEN KARMA HIT..CRUZ GOT HURT RIGHT AFTER SO 2) YOSHINOBU YAMMAMOTO 2021 TOPPS CHROME NPB GREEN REFRACTOR /99 FROM A $8 WALGREENS BLISTER PACK THAT I SOLD FOR LIKE $120 AND ABOUT A MONTH LATER WAS ON EBAY AND SAW THE EXACT CARD WAS RESOLD FOR LIKE $450..
@@billyballgamesportscards at this point I'm mostly collecting relics of Kershaw and other players I think they make less relics than regular cards like that I feel I'm getting somewhere instead of a million parallels.
Also basketball is worse, Take Luka for example, what has he done and look how much his rookie card goes for and compare that to Tim Duncan. Luka will never have as good as a career as Duncan and his card currently cost way more than Duncan's.
No doubt! I think part of it is that big men are undervalued. Duncan, Ribinson,and Shaq, along with many others. Luka is amazing, but you're right he hasn't done anything.
Great video Billy! I'm on the same page as you! I have boxes of modern stuff that I don't really appreciate and has tanked in value. I'm sticking with vintage (unless its a HOFer Junk Wax rookie card). Great lessons learned, bud! Thanks for sharing!
I like some of the newer stuff, but I won't buy any until I'm pretty sure the player is going to make the HOF. I can't have unopened wax. I enjoy ripping packs too much. Even if I already have a boat load of it, like 87 Topps. I have to open it! Thanks for watching Darren. Much appreciated.
Very good points. Everytime I read about someone spending 100's on unproven graded rookies, all I see is Topps/Panini/PSA running a scam. And I still do love having cards after collecting on/off for 40 years. I'm not into high end cards, so for me, flea market boxes are the best bang for the buck. I have too many missing years and sports I didn't collect so I can still find interesting things. As a kid I could only afford a pack or two. Now that I can buy boxes, I question why I should pay that much, but I'll still get the occasional pack now and then just to scratch the itch.
I'm with you. I love digging through dollar boxes at shows. If I'm going to rip packs and buy boxes, it's going to be from the junk wax era and the 80s if I can afford them. Thanks for watching, and I appreciate the comment.
Yes, no doubt. Unless you're pretty sure they are going to pan out. So many rookies are the next big thing , and after a couple of seasons, you don't hear about them, and they are completely forgotten about.
I'm right there with you. In the 90's I bought boxes and was a set builder until 2004 when I left the hobby. Literally have 1000's of cards Bonds, McGuire, Sosa and the list goes on of the PED players that did so much to ruin the hobby. In 2020 I started back collecting my favorite team buying team sets and individual cards. I pretty much have collected every topps card from 1955 to 2020 of my team when I stopped because the checklist got so ridiculously huge. Now I just pick up individual cards I like and never buy packs. The cards you showed were in impressively great condition and a joy to see.
Yeah, the 90s really became a mess within baseball and the hobby. I have such mixed emotions over the steroid guys, especially McGwire, with me being a Cardinals fan. A lot of the older cards I showed on the video, especially the junk wax and earlier cards I've picked up in the last few years. A lot of the cards I've had since I was a kid are in pretty rough shape. Who's your team? It's awesome that you have so many of your team cards. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Became a Braves fan when they played in the 57 and 58 World Series. I live a 1/2 mile from the building I bought my first packs from in 1958 at 5 cents a pack. Of course those cards as well as my 59's 60's and 61's got thrown out by my mom. @@billyballgamesportscards
I've never been a modern collector,bought my first wax pack in 1972 for I think 10 cents.a bunch of 1974 cellos for I think 25 cents from the local7/11
That's awesome! In 72, those were modern cards. When did you stop ripping packs of that seasons Topps set? You were opening 72 Topps in 72, 74 Topps in 74, and so on. When did you stop opening the newest set of Topps cards? I'm just curious. Until a few years ago, minus a few breaks here and there, I was almost always opening the new cards. Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@billyballgamesportscards I was a kid then bought packs in 72,73,74, 75,76,77 then stopped until,1984 bought a bunch.All Topps.Not bought any junk was era cards.
@nicksnarski5973 Thanks for the response, Nick. I was just curious. That's very cool. So 84 is the last year you opened "new" cards. If I'm understanding you.
I usually just buy graded psa 9 cards. I don’t really look for value but if it’s worth something that’s cool too. I hate buying packs because you end up with hundreds and thousands of commons. It is quite fun opening them though. Overall I think there are collectors who wants cards of their favorite players/HOFers and people thinking they are going to get rich. Either way it’s fun.
Wow, great points! As I was getting back into baseball cards, I went through my entire collection. I threw thousands of commons away! Thanks for watching and commenting.
@mediaguy4037 With a lot of cards, you are correct. I will buy vintage cards in person ungraded all day long if the price and condition are right. There is a lot of potential to save money there. If I buy a card, that's 250 bucks as a 5 ungraded for 150 bucks and then pay 15 bucks to get it graded. I'm into that card for 165 bucks. You have to be really careful with the condition of the card and the price you pay.
Thanks for watching and commenting. I really like Mookie. I don't know if he's guaranteed yet, but he's amazing. I think he needs some more really good seasons to get closer to some of those traditional milestones. Thanks again it's much appreciated.
For sure a lot of them do not pan out into HOFers and do not hold much money value, but all of those guys you shared from modern to the 80s have a spot in my binders and i enjoy seeing their cards. You shared a ton of nice ones. Thanks for sharing with us.
Well said, Steve. I respect that, I guess I am less willing to spend 100 bucks on a hobby box of modern stuff and would rather buy 5 junk wax ear boxes for the same price. Appreciate the support.
@@billyballgamesportscards ohh yea. I agree. All my modern stuff I buy ungraded or box rummages at the LCS. I woukd rarely drop any serious money on modern cards. I dropped quite a bit on a wander auto psa slabbed, etc.. look where that got me. 😆
@vintagecardssteve8582 Yes, if I had a lot of money in Wander, I'd be pretty upset, but it's a risk, and we know that. But there's a big difference between a 60 dollar vase rookie in a 10 and an expensive rookie RPA VS. a 2 dollar 88 Donruss Mark Grace rookiie going to zero. When I picked up that Topps Chrome Tatis rookie, it was worth 300 bucks. It went up to 600 and now it's about 40. That's serious money!
Great talk bout 80s and 90s cards. I've got bunches of those cards Good times collecting though. I was born in the 70s .lotsa those cards aren't worth much . I had fun collecting them ⚾️🏀🏉
You're right. I think I was thinking about transitioning what I was saying to talking about the junk wax era, who got locked in on it and jumped the gun. I make mistakes on pretty much every video. The general point I was trying to make remains, though. Thanks for watching and commenting.
