I would like to start collecting baseball cards again...

I dusted off my collection of late 1980s and early 1990s hockey cards as Mr. Cougar and I were in the process of moving. I nearly cried when I saw what great shape they were still in, encased and bound and in plastic pages ... man, those were the days when I saved my babysitting money and went to the local card store, or asked my parents for a certain rookie card "if I mow the lawn" or "vacuum the entire house" ...

Anyways, one of my first finds when I moved back to the East Coast was in the back corner of an antiques flea market center, I found stacks and stacks of Pro Set cards from 1991. There was no price, and I asked the guy at the cash register how much they were worth each. He cut me a deal - $20 for whatever was in one box. There were a lot of doubles but a few that completed my collection.

So flea markets aren't a bad place to look. Also, look around online and see who's selling lots (groups) of cards.

 

All those Mattingly and Boggs rookie cards that I thought were going to make me rich wouldn't even buy one of the boxes mentioned in one of the earlier posts.

Also, for some strange reason a had a fixation on Cory Snyder in the 87-88 time frame and have a collection of about 50 Cory Snyder cards. They are probably worth less than beer coasters at this point.

I still buy 4-5 packs of some random brand, usually Topps, each spring to see what Braves players I get then toss them in a box.

 

One of my favorite pastimes, and for about 5-7 years, baseball cards ruled my middle and high school years. I couldn't tell you how much money I spent on baseball cards. I still have a lot of my better ones.

I would spend hours on top of hours at the baseball card shop -- two in particular in my hometown. I got to be good friends with the owners and we would open packs like crazy, all day long. I saw him pull two 1-of-1 cards in one day.

If it hadn't gotten so expensive, I'd probably still be collecting.

 

The Lou Merloni rookie card is going to be worth a lot after he becomes President.

 

I'm quite old, so cards can't possibly provide the tingle they did when I was a fan and true believer. One reason is I interact with the players and know what some of them are like. Another reason is the quality of both the cards and photography has improved, and not necessarily for the betterment of the product. I miss the hokey old fake warm-up poses and the idea that a guy had one card every year, unless he was on the leaders cards or managed to make one of those special combination cards like "Power Plus" or "Friendly Foes."

Now there's action photography and even no-name players have multiple cards. There are too many cards, too many shots of guys wearing BP gear (somehow, they used to take batting practice in their actual uniforms) and too many that look like the standard action shots you see everywhere. Don Mossi wouldn't have been quite as special if he'd been pictured on the mound, delivering a pitch. Somebody at Topps had a rich sense of humor, because his card always seemed to be a close-up.

I do take an interest when Topps revives an old design with current players. And I'm always glad to see players going through their mail, autographing the cards and stuffing them in the handy SASE. The majority probably go to pros, but I'm sure that some kid's day will be made when he sees that envelope in the mail, too.

 

try finding a non-creased clemente '72.

 

Well said, Smasher.

My favorite cheesy pose of all:

 

shitty card. shitty year of card. i expected more from you.

 

Tom, where is he throwing the ball? He is not even on the playing field.

 

Sonuvabitch.

Better?

 

holy christ. i just giggled my ass off.

so, so solid.

 

whitey can burn in hell, that sonuvabitch.