Who else collects sports cards?

[Brennan Huff]

The market right now is insane. Walmart’s shelves are always empty. Went to one of the Walmart’s on transit this morning and there were 6 dudes there waiting for them to bring out cards. Been this way for months. Any one have any inside info?

[BillsPride12]

2 minutes ago, Brennan Huff said:

The market right now is insane. Walmart’s shelves are always empty. Went to one of the Walmart’s on transit this morning and there were 6 dudes there waiting for them to bring out cards. Been this way for months. Any one have any inside info?

I'm curious about this.  The card industry has been dead for years.  

[Brennan Huff]

9 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

I'm curious about this.  The card industry has been dead for years.  

Ive never seen anything like it. People are buying them up as soon as they hit shelves and flipping them online for 4x the price

[Sherlock Holmes]

I found a Josh Allen pube and have it graded at a perfect 10.0... comes with its display case. It is priceless but I guess I could part with it for 10 million.

[BillsPride12]

31 minutes ago, Brennan Huff said:

Ive never seen anything like it. People are buying them up as soon as they hit shelves and flipping them online for 4x the price

They say things things are very cyclical but the card industry was never something I saw making a comeback.  I would be happy for the younger generation if this is the case..I have a lot of good memories from my sports card collecting days.

[T&C]

At walmart all trading cards of any kind, magic, football, baseball etc. are a pay per scan item. They don't lose a dime if someone stole them all.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

Wait, are the old cards worth anything again? I have quite the collection that my parents are nice enough to keep in their basement.  Was looking through them a little bit and I found like 12 Ken Griffey Jr rookie cards.  Looked them up on EBay and they were going for like $4.50 😂

[US Egg]

All the good sports cards, I'm guessing I owned, died in my bicycle spokes in the '60's.

 

.....but not the plastic gum.

[Augie]

1 hour ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Wait, are the old cards worth anything again? I have quite the collection that my parents are nice enough to keep in their basement.  Was looking through them a little bit and I found like 12 Ken Griffey Jr rookie cards.  Looked them up on EBay and they were going for like $4.50 😂

 

WOW! It must be be a great feeling to know you have retirement covered already! Congrats! 

[RaoulDuke79]

I have some first and second series Garbage Pail Kids cards stashed away somewhere that I need to dig up.

[Brennan Huff]

2 hours ago, BillsPride12 said:

They say things things are very cyclical but the card industry was never something I saw making a comeback.  I would be happy for the younger generation if this is the case..I have a lot of good memories from my sports card collecting days.

It’s bigger than it ever was before. But they’re not overly mass produced like they were when I was a kid. Look on eBay there are Josh Allen cards pulling in 5 figures

1 hour ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Wait, are the old cards worth anything again? I have quite the collection that my parents are nice enough to keep in their basement.  Was looking through them a little bit and I found like 12 Ken Griffey Jr rookie cards.  Looked them up on EBay and they were going for like $4.50 😂

No sorry they’re probably not worth anything. It’s a whole new ball game now

[RaoulDuke79]

2 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Wait, are the old cards worth anything again? I have quite the collection that my parents are nice enough to keep in their basement.  Was looking through them a little bit and I found like 12 Ken Griffey Jr rookie cards.  Looked them up on EBay and they were going for like $4.50 😂

I remember trading my '89 Upper Deck Griffey Jr. rookie card fora pair of Gullwing skateboard trucks, and Slimeball wheels with Powell Swiss bearings roughly 27 years ago.

[thenorthremembers]

I got back into it a few years ago.  Spent way too much money on them, put a nice collection together and ended up selling everything for 100 dollars.   Its a fun hobby, and there are a lot of good card shows around here.     Just not worth the amount of money it takes to keep it up. 

[Brennan Huff]

8 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

I got back into it a few years ago.  Spent way too much money on them, put a nice collection together and ended up selling everything for 100 dollars.   Its a fun hobby, and there are a lot of good card shows around here.     Just not worth the amount of money it takes to keep it up. 

It’s definitely an expensive hobby. I spent 200 bucks on a box of cards today. Didn’t hit anything big but that’s the chance you take. Looking for that joe burrow 1/1 auto

[DrDawkinstein]

How's Bases Loaded on French Rd doing?

[Johnny Hammersticks]

I think we all learned our lesson on this already.  Sports “trading cards” are not a wise investment.  Don’t fall for it again.

[Buffalo716]

What you saw are people who are doing card breaks on-line

 

They buy all the boxes and then try to sell slots for one card in an auction style break. Where $5 or $10 get you one card in the pack

 

With all the amounts of money that is getting spent and people not getting those crazy good cards, I imagine it will die out again

[Brennan Huff]

4 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

What you saw are people who are doing card breaks on-line

 

They buy all the boxes and then try to sell slots for one card in an auction style break. Where $5 or $10 get you one card in the pack

 

With all the amounts of money that is getting spent and people not getting those crazy good cards, I imagine it will die out again

I see those but those are more for the real high end boxes. What I see a lot of are blaster boxes of Mosaics that go for 19.99 a box at Target. People are buying every box on the shelf and then flipping them online for 80 bucks a box

[thenorthremembers]

7 hours ago, Brennan Huff said:

It’s definitely an expensive hobby. I spent 200 bucks on a box of cards today. Didn’t hit anything big but that’s the chance you take. Looking for that joe burrow 1/1 auto

It's something I did as a Father-Son thing with my Dad back in the early 90's.   I have two sons now, and my oldest is very much into football.  So I decided to start up the tradition again.   I took him to Dave and Adams, bought three boxes just before the draft in 2019, which if I remember correctly put my bank account back 400 dollars. 

 

Long story short we got lucky and hit a Kyler Murray/Lincoln Riley College Ties Dual Auto #1/5 in the second pack of the first box.   Given the amount of money I spent I decided to sell it just after the draft and ended up getting most of my money back on the one card.   I figured if Murray stunk it would be the most money I'd ever get out of it and my son would still have all the rookies, game used, and autos from the other boxes.  On top of it we would still have the memory of opening the box together and finding the card.

 

The problem with box breaks is they are like scratch offs, my brother loves those things but he is constantly chasing the one time it actually paid off for him.  Otherwise you're just sinking tons of money into it and not getting a return on investment.   Pretty soon after the first box break I found out about the card shows people were putting together around Buffalo.   I started taking my son to those, along with my brother in law and nephews.   It just makes more sense financially, and we can still have a boys day and not feel bad about getting lunch too.  Sadly COVID has kind of put the end to that for awhile.

[Brennan Huff]

57 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

It's something I did as a Father-Son thing with my Dad back in the early 90's.   I have two sons now, and my oldest is very much into football.  So I decided to start up the tradition again.   I took him to Dave and Adams, bought three boxes just before the draft in 2019, which if I remember correctly put my bank account back 400 dollars. 

 

Long story short we got lucky and hit a Kyler Murray/Lincoln Riley College Ties Dual Auto #1/5 in the second pack of the first box.   Given the amount of money I spent I decided to sell it just after the draft and ended up getting most of my money back on the one card.   I figured if Murray stunk it would be the most money I'd ever get out of it and my son would still have all the rookies, game used, and autos from the other boxes.  On top of it we would still have the memory of opening the box together and finding the card.

 

The problem with box breaks is they are like scratch offs, my brother loves those things but he is constantly chasing the one time it actually paid off for him.  Otherwise you're just sinking tons of money into it and not getting a return on investment.   Pretty soon after the first box break I found out about the card shows people were putting together around Buffalo.   I started taking my son to those, along with my brother in law and nephews.   It just makes more sense financially, and we can still have a boys day and not feel bad about getting lunch too.  Sadly COVID has kind of put the end to that for awhile.

I’ve done a couple box breaks and I’ve never hit anything good. I love Dave and Adams though. They always have great deals. Right now singles are 50% off. I got a couple nice Allen’s and Eichels for cheap. I also picked up a game used Stevie Johnson signed cleat for 75 bucks. You can really get carried away in that store

[thenorthremembers]

46 minutes ago, Brennan Huff said:

I’ve done a couple box breaks and I’ve never hit anything good. I love Dave and Adams though. They always have great deals. Right now singles are 50% off. I got a couple nice Allen’s and Eichels for cheap. I also picked up a game used Stevie Johnson signed cleat for 75 bucks. You can really get carried away in that store

Wow 75 for the game used cleat is pretty great!  I'll have to stop in again.    Thats a good find.

[Brennan Huff]

19 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

Wow 75 for the game used cleat is pretty great!  I'll have to stop in again.    Thats a good find.

Yeah man it’s a good thing I live an hour and a half away or else I’d be there blowing my paychecks weekly. They have a big sale going on on former players. Full size helmets 50% off. I almost picked up a Scott Norwood helmet for 100 bucks. 

[thenorthremembers]

11 minutes ago, Brennan Huff said:

Yeah man it’s a good thing I live an hour and a half away or else I’d be there blowing my paychecks weekly. They have a big sale going on on former players. Full size helmets 50% off. I almost picked up a Scott Norwood helmet for 100 bucks. 

Same here.  I live around the same distance away, but otherwise I'd be there at least once a month.   I'll have to check out their website.  Thanks for the heads up and Go Bills!

[Seasons1992]

14 hours ago, Sherlock Holmes said:

I found a Josh Allen pube and have it graded at a perfect 10.0... comes with its display case. It is priceless but I guess I could part with it for 10 million.

 

11 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

How's Bases Loaded on French Rd doing?

 

Denny's used to have hologram Grand Slam cards for a few years. Go in, eat breakfast, and if you asked, they'd give you a few packs. I had three straight years (91-93) with entire sets. I ate a LOT of Denny's on OP Road as a kid.

 

The reason for the story? I could not find the Will Clark card to save my life. I had my parents drive me around to many Denny's where I'd simply go in and ask for a pack of cards. Never got one. Finally went to Bases Loaded, and they had one in the case. I think I paid $5 for it. 

[Buffalo716]

6 hours ago, Brennan Huff said:

I see those but those are more for the real high end boxes. What I see a lot of are blaster boxes of Mosaics that go for 19.99 a box at Target. People are buying every box on the shelf and then flipping them online for 80 bucks a box

If you can go to Target and get the box for $19, why would you pay $80 online. Every town has a Target

 

My friend breaks $20 boxes and $200 boxes

[Brennan Huff]

17 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

If you can go to Target and get the box for $19, why would you pay $80 online. Every town has a Target

 

My friend breaks $20 boxes and $200 boxes

1. People are going to Target early when the venders get there and buying every single box of football cards there is. I guarantee you if you go to your local Target all you will find is hockey cards. If you’re lucky there might be some topps baseball 

 

2. I live in podunk Portville NY. The nearest Target to me is an hour and half away 

[Buftex]

39 minutes ago, Brennan Huff said:

1. People are going to Target early when the venders get there and buying every single box of football cards there is. I guarantee you if you go to your local Target all you will find is hockey cards. If you’re lucky there might be some topps baseball 

 

2. I live in podunk Portville NY. The nearest Target to me is an hour and half away 

I have been collecting pretty steadily for almost 50 years... my interest wanes sometimes, but not much.  I have an obscene quantity of Buffalo related stuff (Bills, as well as Sabres and Braves! Old Celtics too.)… now I just pretty much buy exactly what I want on EBAY. Doing breaks can be fun if you hit something big...but way too expensive to justify, if you don't.

 

I will occasionally buy a blaster box at Target, but like you, have noticed the shelves are completely empty.  I think there was a resurgence in collecting, just since the pandemic started.  People were stuck home, with lots of time on their hands.  I know, I was furloughed for 5 months, I spent a lot of that time going through old boxes of stuff...selling some valuable old stuff, so I could buy overpriced new stuff!  Been collecting Bills Mosaic cards the last few weeks...the products today are really nice, but almost too much. 

 

My tactic with newer stuff is to wait a while to buy it.  It is always way overpriced when it's new...but when the next season rolls around, the value drops.  In 2018, rookie Josh Allen cards were selling for somewhere between $50-80 on average.  I didn't buy a single one.  Now, I have about 40 different ones, all purchased between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, for a fraction of those prices.

 

Typically, I sell off my extra stuff...I sell records/CD's as well.  I just bank that money in my Paypal account, and use it to buy stuff.  It works out pretty well.

Edited October 2, 2020 by Buftex

[The Jokeman]

I used to collect as a kid, specifically hockey cards and anything Rickey Henderson. As think have over 500 different Rickey Henderson cards alone yet the industry became too saturated with special edition cards etc. that I gave up. Toss in a close buddy of mine who owned the 7th Inning Stretch on Hertel passed away so kinda loss my fun with the hobby. Yet I do look at my cards from time to time and if see someone selling a lot on ebay I might spend some money to see if can add a new card here and there but rarely look to buy individual cards only as it's way too expensive or nobody sells single cards anymore. 

[Brennan Huff]

1 hour ago, Buftex said:

I have been collecting pretty steadily for almost 50 years... my interest wanes sometimes, but not much.  I have an obscene quantity of Buffalo related stuff (Bills, as well as Sabres and Braves! Old Celtics too.)… now I just pretty much buy exactly what I want on EBAY. Doing breaks can be fun if you hit something big...but way too expensive to justify, if you don't.

 

I will occasionally buy a blaster box at Target, but like you, have noticed the shelves are completely empty.  I think there was a resurgence in collecting, just since the pandemic started.  People were stuck home, with lots of time on their hands.  I know, I was furloughed for 5 months, I spent a lot of that time going through old boxes of stuff...selling some valuable old stuff, so I could buy overpriced new stuff!  Been collecting Bills Mosaic cards the last few weeks...the products today are really nice, but almost too much. 

 

My tactic with newer stuff is to wait a while to buy it.  It is always way overpriced when it's new...but when the next season rolls around, the value drops.  In 2018, rookie Josh Allen cards were selling for somewhere between $50-80 on average.  I didn't buy a single one.  Now, I have about 40 different ones, all purchased between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, for a fraction of those prices.

 

Typically, I sell off my extra stuff...I sell records/CD's as well.  I just bank that money in my Paypal account, and use it to buy stuff.  It works out pretty well.

I pretty much do the same, although lately I’ve been buying more cards and stuff. I’ve even bought a few mystery boxes from Pristine.com. My girlfriend says I have a problem 

[Mark80]

Tip #1 - Do not invest in EJ Manual cards.  Trust me.

[Brennan Huff]

6 minutes ago, Mark80 said:

Tip #1 - Do not invest in EJ Manual cards.  Trust me.

Did not get any EJ Manual cards, but I did buy into JP Losman and Lee Evans 15 years ago. Sitting on a ton of their cards

[{::'KayCeeS::}]

12 minutes ago, Brennan Huff said:

Did not get any EJ Manual cards, but I did buy into JP Losman and Lee Evans 15 years ago. Sitting on a ton of their cards

 

Bro, i have a bunch of rookie cards from when i was a kid- barry sanders, joe montana, etc.  This was the '90's, and cards were en vogue.  They're all just sitting in my attic, i have no idea how much they're worth.

[Brennan Huff]

29 minutes ago, {::'KayCeeS::} said:

 

Bro, i have a bunch of rookie cards from when i was a kid- barry sanders, joe montana, etc.  This was the '90's, and cards were en vogue.  They're all just sitting in my attic, i have no idea how much they're worth.

Most of them are probably garbage. The big thing now is grading cards. If you got older cards and they’re in impeccable condition, then it would absolutely be worth it to send them into Beckett or somewhere to get graded. Increases the value tremendously. 

[{::'KayCeeS::}]

2 minutes ago, Brennan Huff said:

Most of them are probably garbage. The big thing now is grading cards. If you got older cards and they’re in impeccable condition, then it would absolutely be worth it to send them into Beckett or somewhere to get graded. Increases the value tremendously. 

 

Word, i honestly hadn't thought about them till i saw this thread.  Thanks for the info.

[Buftex]

1 hour ago, Mark80 said:

Tip #1 - Do not invest in EJ Manual cards.  Trust me.

I have about 125 different EJ cards.  I liked the guy okay...luckily his rookie year, the bottom was out of the card market, so they were never very expensive.

 

Speaking of QB's we'd all just assume forget...this guy may have been pretty mediocre, but he had one of the nicest looking autographs...

 

 

[Nextmanup]

I went through a phase in undergrad where I was collecting a lot of hockey trading cards.

 

I sort of outgrew the whole thing after a few years and I think still have the cards in a box somewhere at my mom's house.

 

I wonder if any of them are worth money now; they were mostly "Upper Deck" as I recall.

 

 

[LeGOATski]

this thread is weird

 

That being said, I still play with Legos.

[Golden Goat]

I did this in '91 when Stadium Club came out and was all the rage. I knew exactly when the 7/11s would get their shipments (3 a.m.), and I practically bought all the boxes off the truck. I haven't seen anything resembling that since.

[OZBILLS]

Me.

Sadly getting them posted to Australia is expensive.

 

When I get over the the US, i try to hit up the Walmarts/Target.

 

Yet to get a decent card yet. 

On 10/2/2020 at 2:42 PM, Johnny Hammersticks said:

I think we all learned our lesson on this already.  Sports “trading cards” are not a wise investment.  Don’t fall for it again.

 

Junk era cards were not wise investments. These days with the numberings + gradings, not so much.

 

 

[BritBill]

I collect stickers and put them into their albums.

 

Mainly soccer international tournament ones but this year I've just managed to complete the Panini NFL 2020 sticker and card collection. The first time I've attempted that. 

 

It's a lot easier to make trades these days due to sites like laststicker.com where you can see what other traders have and need and arranges swaps.