Sports Cards Mania

Bongorific

Thinks he’s clever
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Jul 16, 2005
8,433
Balboa Towers
I take it the days of $50 - 36pack boxes are long gone?
Way long gone. But keep your eyes online for Target and Walmart. They are really the only large retailers that are selling at MSRP. Your local shop will have a lot more inventory but there’s a markup.

If they really aren’t looking for inserts, you might be better off just buying base sets? A lot of the card pricing is based on the lotto aspect of getting “hits”. I have bought my kids Topps Opening Day baseball packs because they are cheap and they just like to look at the pictures.
 

deanx0

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Dec 7, 2004
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Way long gone. But keep your eyes online for Target and Walmart. They are really the only large retailers that are selling at MSRP. Your local shop will have a lot more inventory but there’s a markup.

If they really aren’t looking for inserts, you might be better off just buying base sets? A lot of the card pricing is based on the lotto aspect of getting “hits”. I have bought my kids Topps Opening Day baseball packs because they are cheap and they just like to look at the pictures.
And I will say Hockey is far more likely to be in stock these days at Target (or at least down here that is the case).
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
72,450
Upper Deck hockey is everywhere. But it's a 700 card set so that's perhaps why. I don't remember if it's $5 or $10, but it's a 50 card pack

Donruss football is 50 cards too, I believe that $15 but you get inserts. Got a J Chase press proof in mine!

If you get them one of each, t4p, that's not bad. I'd be happy if I was a kid. (or an adult!)
 

rymflaherty

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Jun 27, 2010
3,420
Norfolk
To the experts, am I likely to get something like this by xmas if it's a presell that releases on the 15th of December?
https://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2021-22-upper-deck-mvp-hockey-24-pack-box
I’ll preface this by saying that the pandemic pandemonium caused me to leave the hobby for the most part, so I’m not sure if a post Covid world has changed things, but…

If I was pre-ordering from Dave and Adams my expectation would be to get it on release date, or if they didn’t have it early to send, worst case, by that weekend.
 

NJ_Sox_Fan

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Jan 2, 2006
10,736
NJ
Both Dave and Adams and Blowout should get you your product right on release date typically, or a day later in my experiences
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
72,450
Anyone collect Allen and Ginter or other tobacco-card shape/size cards? Where's a fair price to get supplies (sheets and top loaders) for that size?
 

SocrManiac

Tommy Seebach’s mustache
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Apr 15, 2006
8,634
Somers, CT
Working on cleaning out my mom's basement, I came across three binders with Red Sox team sets. They're mostly from the 80's and early 90's across all manufacturers- Topps, Donruss, Bowman, Fleer, Score. The pages have yellowed but the cards seem to be fine. Of course, I opened the thing to a shot of Jerry Remy... Gut punch.

I have no idea what the value of these things is anymore. Nothing is graded, of course. I can't talk about completeness. I think we pulled the Clemens rookie cards from these binders, but I actually do have them in a separate box and can replace them.

What's my best path for finding a buyer that can appreciate this? I find that it's from a time in my life not filled with happy memories, so even though the cards and the teams are near and dear it's not filling me with warmth and nostalgia.
 

tonyandpals

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Working on cleaning out my mom's basement, I came across three binders with Red Sox team sets. They're mostly from the 80's and early 90's across all manufacturers- Topps, Donruss, Bowman, Fleer, Score. The pages have yellowed but the cards seem to be fine. Of course, I opened the thing to a shot of Jerry Remy... Gut punch.

I have no idea what the value of these things is anymore. Nothing is graded, of course. I can't talk about completeness. I think we pulled the Clemens rookie cards from these binders, but I actually do have them in a separate box and can replace them.

What's my best path for finding a buyer that can appreciate this? I find that it's from a time in my life not filled with happy memories, so even though the cards and the teams are near and dear it's not filling me with warmth and nostalgia.
I've been out of the game for a while, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything of much value as those years were massively over produced. Just search on ebay for some of the bigger names...or name. Clemens 85 topps/donruss/fleer run about 10 bucks. I suppose the 84 Fleer Update would be the prize of the pack, but that was a tough one back in the day.
 

tonyandpals

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Both Dave and Adams and Blowout should get you your product right on release date typically, or a day later in my experiences
I’ll preface this by saying that the pandemic pandemonium caused me to leave the hobby for the most part, so I’m not sure if a post Covid world has changed things, but…

If I was pre-ordering from Dave and Adams my expectation would be to get it on release date, or if they didn’t have it early to send, worst case, by that weekend.
Thanks guys, I pulled the trigger.
 

SocrManiac

Tommy Seebach’s mustache
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Apr 15, 2006
8,634
Somers, CT
I've been out of the game for a while, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything of much value as those years were massively over produced. Just search on ebay for some of the bigger names...or name. Clemens 85 topps/donruss/fleer run about 10 bucks. I suppose the 84 Fleer Update would be the prize of the pack, but that was a tough one back in the day.
I have the ‘84 Fleer Update. I’m more interested in getting these to somebody that can appreciate them.
 

opes

Doctor Tongue
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Working on cleaning out my mom's basement, I came across three binders with Red Sox team sets. They're mostly from the 80's and early 90's across all manufacturers- Topps, Donruss, Bowman, Fleer, Score. The pages have yellowed but the cards seem to be fine. Of course, I opened the thing to a shot of Jerry Remy... Gut punch.

I have no idea what the value of these things is anymore. Nothing is graded, of course. I can't talk about completeness. I think we pulled the Clemens rookie cards from these binders, but I actually do have them in a separate box and can replace them.

What's my best path for finding a buyer that can appreciate this? I find that it's from a time in my life not filled with happy memories, so even though the cards and the teams are near and dear it's not filling me with warmth and nostalgia.


I've got a metric ton of upper deck from late 80s/early 90's. Theres really only a few cards out of those years that are worth anything. Unless its signed and in mint condition, you really have just a ton of kindling. There are some nice cards out of that '84 set that you could toss on ebay. Getting anything authenticated these days takes months to a year.
 

Oil Can Dan

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Speaking of the ‘84 Fleer update - that remains one of my best buys of my life. I bought that and the ‘84 USFL set for like $10 new from some vendor in California from an ad in Sports Collectors Digest or something. I got the Clemens and Puckett graded around 15 years ago and unfortunately they came back as 8’s. But still love both sets.
 

opes

Doctor Tongue
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Speaking of the ‘84 Fleer update - that remains one of my best buys of my life. I bought that and the ‘84 USFL set for like $10 new from some vendor in California from an ad in Sports Collectors Digest or something. I got the Clemens and Puckett graded around 15 years ago and unfortunately they came back as 8’s. But still love both sets.
Ill buy that puckett off you. no joke. PM me your price. My wife is a huge twins fan.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
72,450
I'm hearing some anecdotes how the graded card market is getting flooded after everyone is finally getting back their submissions from the grading agencies from the height of the stay at home time (for the non-premium cards, how everyone was sending everything). Tulips and all that.
 

ElcaballitoMVP

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Nov 19, 2008
3,932
I'm hearing some anecdotes how the graded card market is getting flooded after everyone is finally getting back their submissions from the grading agencies from the height of the stay at home time (for the non-premium cards, how everyone was sending everything). Tulips and all that.
Yup. Heard the same thing. Sell your graded base cards now, if ya got em.
 

Fishercat

Svelte and sexy!
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May 18, 2007
8,266
Manchester, N.H.
I'm hearing some anecdotes how the graded card market is getting flooded after everyone is finally getting back their submissions from the grading agencies from the height of the stay at home time (for the non-premium cards, how everyone was sending everything). Tulips and all that.
Been seeing that too combined with the massive print runs. Honestly may not be a bad time to grab some good names from the glut if one is so inclined

Unrelated, I finally had what some would consider a nice hit - Ohtani SSP from this years Topp’s Update, the little thrill of pull of snagging that out of a pack brought me back.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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anyone know what this is from the back of my closet?

View attachment 41480
Not 100% sure. I'm guessing based on some eBay searching it's from ~1994.

Probably not anything of high value, but I bet it would be fun to rip.

If I found the right product, 100 packs recently sold for ~$50 shipped: https://www.ebay.com/itm/384135575971

Shaq-Fu looks fun: https://www.ebay.com/itm/321843934219
That likely is it. I have two boxes. One box is open and is just the cards, not the wrappers. The other is (poorly) sealed as you can tell from the pic. I'll put it up on eBay and see what happens.

Then to figure out what to do with my complete 1980s Topps sets, etc.
To close the loop, the open cards sold for $6 or something like that on eBay, and the closed box was listed two weeks ago at $25, no bites, so lowered to $22 this week, and got three late bids and sold for $29. Very pleased with that.
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
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Jul 15, 2005
32,620
What would be some good Zach Wilson cards to buy. Autos seem very expensive on the bay still. Let’s say I wanted to spend ~150
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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Apr 12, 2005
41,948
What would be some good Zach Wilson cards to buy. Autos seem very expensive on the bay still. Let’s say I wanted to spend ~150
Guess it depends what you are buying it for. If it's an investment, I'd probably be looking at something from Panini Select, probably a silver refractor/prizm (not numbered, but it's a short print and currently selling for $200-$225).

If you want to get an auto, with a jersey patch, you can do ok with Panini Black. Here's one that recently sold for $172.50. It's numbered to /99. Some folks don't like sticker autos (the players autograph a bunch of pieces of tape, and those are affixed to the card, as opposed to them signing on the card, but on-card autos are going to be significantly more expensive products). If Wilson has a good career, it'll go up in value, but not like the Panini Select short prints/numbered cards. A non-auto, Panini Select gold version (only 10 made) recently sold for over $5,000.00.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384432116177?hash=item5981f091d1:g:mWAAAOSwfOJhV5Jy&nma=true&si=gAXBMwfA2dWOHTV4J6fK9VrIvI8%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
 

Bergs

funky and cold
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Jul 22, 2005
21,613
Opened a box of Stadium Club Chrome. Got a redemption for an orange refractor Jo Adell auto (/25). Pretty nice hit.
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
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Jul 15, 2005
32,620
Guess it depends what you are buying it for. If it's an investment, I'd probably be looking at something from Panini Select, probably a silver refractor/prizm (not numbered, but it's a short print and currently selling for $200-$225).

If you want to get an auto, with a jersey patch, you can do ok with Panini Black. Here's one that recently sold for $172.50. It's numbered to /99. Some folks don't like sticker autos (the players autograph a bunch of pieces of tape, and those are affixed to the card, as opposed to them signing on the card, but on-card autos are going to be significantly more expensive products). If Wilson has a good career, it'll go up in value, but not like the Panini Select short prints/numbered cards. A non-auto, Panini Select gold version (only 10 made) recently sold for over $5,000.00.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384432116177?hash=item5981f091d1:g:mWAAAOSwfOJhV5Jy&nma=true&si=gAXBMwfA2dWOHTV4J6fK9VrIvI8%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
I read this earlier but forgot to say thanks for the info. 5000 is a lot. Might get one of the others.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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Jan 13, 2021
11,921
Fanatics buying Topps per Sports Collectors Daily’s FB.

Fanatics is buying Topps, according to reports by the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Sportico and The Athletic. Deal to be announced Tuesday. It will give Fanatics the ability to begin producing baseball cards immediately.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
72,450
Fanatics buying Topps per Sports Collectors Daily’s FB.

Fanatics is buying Topps, according to reports by the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Sportico and The Athletic. Deal to be announced Tuesday. It will give Fanatics the ability to begin producing baseball cards immediately.
The end of 3-4 eras.
 

Fishercat

Svelte and sexy!
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May 18, 2007
8,266
Manchester, N.H.
I kinda figured that was part of the plan. The Topps brand has major value to Fanatics and Fanatics owning those licenses with league/players association rights is a great combination. I think this is good news
 
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deanx0

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Yeah, this makes me happy as now the Topps brands can come back to football and basketball
 

Mugsy's Jock

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It’s good news for the perseverance of the Topps brands.

not that you’ll ever see me (or anyone) feeling sorry for Michael Eisner, but he and his ownership group getting 500M is a far cry from the 1B they were just weeks away from securing for the company lost the MLBPA contracts. IIRC, they originally invested close to 400M to buy Topps 7-8 years ago and made investments in the business on top of that, so while a 500M return ain’t nothing, they may have done better just investing in the S&P 500.
 

Fishercat

Svelte and sexy!
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May 18, 2007
8,266
Manchester, N.H.
I'm genuinely surprised they got 500M given the loss of the MLBPA/MLB contracts - a lot of it must be just jump starting their production and basically buying the ability to start asap as opposed to when the contracts shift over. I do wonder what Fanatics plan is for NBA and NFL - are they going to try and buy Panini which has some good brands (Prizm, Select, Nat Treasures) but not nearly the legacy/value of Topps, are they going to try and snag another existing producer (UD, Leaf?), or just roll their NBA and NFL rights into Topps when they're able to?

I'm not really excited about what I expect Fanatics to do with cards in general but I am glad they have Topps to do it with, if only for some level of QC and existing brands/sets.
 

DanoooME

above replacement level
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Mar 16, 2008
19,831
Henderson, NV
I'm genuinely surprised they got 500M given the loss of the MLBPA/MLB contracts - a lot of it must be just jump starting their production and basically buying the ability to start asap as opposed to when the contracts shift over. I do wonder what Fanatics plan is for NBA and NFL - are they going to try and buy Panini which has some good brands (Prizm, Select, Nat Treasures) but not nearly the legacy/value of Topps, are they going to try and snag another existing producer (UD, Leaf?), or just roll their NBA and NFL rights into Topps when they're able to?

I'm not really excited about what I expect Fanatics to do with cards in general but I am glad they have Topps to do it with, if only for some level of QC and existing brands/sets.
I'm saying they don't bother with Panini. Topps should have the capacity to do everything, as they used to do all 4 major sports at one point.

I wonder if Fanatics took a run at buying Upper Deck as well and Topps was the better deal. Upper Deck doesn't have the longevity of Topps but also has a good reputation. Then they would have added hockey.
 

Fishercat

Svelte and sexy!
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May 18, 2007
8,266
Manchester, N.H.
Selfishly, in some ways I wish it wasn't Topps since I think their art/styles are generally the least inspired. Panini has a lot of fun inserts and parallels where Topps tends to lean on "DIFFERENT COLOR GUYS", - there's no Topps equivalent to Kabooms or Color Blasts which are just gorgeous cards, and the higher end cards (like One and One or Nat Treasures) just tend to look better than Topps' versions. Upper Deck is just a much better looking card on all fronts - I get jealous I'm not a hockey person every time I see UD's cards as it's a classic, well defined style. I still miss the days of SP Authentic in the 90s for baseball and even their base cards look great. But Topps has the definitive brands so not losing things like Chrome, Stadium Club, A&G, etc. is a really good thing.
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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Apr 12, 2005
41,948
Selfishly, in some ways I wish it wasn't Topps since I think their art/styles are generally the least inspired. Panini has a lot of fun inserts and parallels where Topps tends to lean on "DIFFERENT COLOR GUYS", - there's no Topps equivalent to Kabooms or Color Blasts which are just gorgeous cards, and the higher end cards (like One and One or Nat Treasures) just tend to look better than Topps' versions. Upper Deck is just a much better looking card on all fronts - I get jealous I'm not a hockey person every time I see UD's cards as it's a classic, well defined style. I still miss the days of SP Authentic in the 90s for baseball and even their base cards look great. But Topps has the definitive brands so not losing things like Chrome, Stadium Club, A&G, etc. is a really good thing.
I think Panini is starting to dominate, personally. In the high end market, National Treasures is second to none, in basically every sport except hockey. Their RPA's are the ones to get in basketball and football, and while they don't have licenses for MLB, their MLB products do insanely well. Their super premium stuff, like Flawless, is also crazy. Basketball is easily the fastest growing card market, because of Asia, and Panini Prizm, Panini Select, One and One, etc. are all massive. Then they have origins, illusions, chronicles, flux, and on and on and on...

Topps without MLB is a dying brand, IMO. Bowman Chrome is still the card to get for rookie baseball (particularly, the 1st Bowmans from Draft ie. Marcelo Mayer's first cards just hit, but the autos are currently redemptions, which drives me crazy), but Bowman Chrome, Sterling, Stadium Club, etc. are all tailored towards hard core investors/collectors and IMO, aren't getting the reach into the mass markets that they need to compete with Panini.

You are right though, the actual product that UD puts out shits on both of them.
 

tonyandpals

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Thanks guys, I pulled the trigger.
Well, the Dave and Adams stuff showed up on 1/5, about 3 weeks after release. No big deal. Gave us something to do an a rainy day. Pulled a Mac Jones portrait rated rookie out of the Donruss hanger box, so worth the wait!
 
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saintnick912

GINO!
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Oct 30, 2004
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I enjoy those throwback Topps, bought several of them this summer from the ones mirroring '54, '55, and '59.

I've been peeking in at a few older cards but haven't pulled the trigger on anything in a while.
 

Lose Remerswaal

Experiencing Furry Panic
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Going to look up the value of my 1968 sets, planning to unload them. Already sold some stuff (mostly autographs) at Sportsworld, but they really want old cards.

What is the best place to get realistic values?
 

deanx0

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So clearly the Mayer insanity has begun. I am poking around on Ebay for his Draft and Bowman's Best offerings and a shop is doing a 10-Case player break of Draft--7 Jumbo and 3 Super Jumbo. So it's like a pool of more than 32,000 cards a 250 autographs.

Now, bidding is far from over, as it goes until Sunday, but the Henry Davis lot is currently $86, while the Mayer lot is currently $1125.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165296046445?hash=item267c69816d:g:nkIAAOSwRiBhzAdJ
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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Apr 12, 2005
41,948
So clearly the Mayer insanity has begun. I am poking around on Ebay for his Draft and Bowman's Best offerings and a shop is doing a 10-Case player break of Draft--7 Jumbo and 3 Super Jumbo. So it's like a pool of more than 32,000 cards a 250 autographs.

Now, bidding is far from over, as it goes until Sunday, but the Henry Davis lot is currently $86, while the Mayer lot is currently $1125.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165296046445?hash=item267c69816d:g:nkIAAOSwRiBhzAdJ
Neither of those prices are even close to what they should go for.

Mayer's base auto (non numbered) from Bowman is going for $400+. In a 10 case break like that, you should expect to see at least 2-3, and maybe a lot more. His gold auto's (numbered to /50) are going for 5k plus. His autos to /150 are selling for 2k, etc.

Davis' golds are going for over 2k, his auto's numbered to /499 are going for $400+. Anything under 2k for Davis, and around 3k for Mayer would be good buys if you ask me.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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Jan 13, 2021
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Aren’t a lot of these cards going to be worth nothing in the not too distant future? I mean I find this all fascinating and I’ve been sucked into buying a bunch of product too but I don’t see how the values on a lot of these guys is anywhere close to sustainable…everything is being priced as if these guys are all going to the HOF.