NFT: Are sports cards back??

COVID messed with a lot of shit but the sports card industry was one thing that it helped.

People had a lot of time on their hands, at home, so many people dusted off their collections.

Add to that, these same people now had disposable income they weren't using for vacations, recreation, eating out, or other hobbies that were negatively impacted by the pandemic and people had their interest piqued or rekindled.

Some say it's a bubble. Prices are insane for retail products, and the secondary market (ebay, twitter, facebook marketplace, etc.) is worse.

Made a TON of money. Sitting on a lot of high end stuff currently. Market has been crazy for years. Hoping to sell at the high point, before the bottom falls out

decent at retail. Panini is the big brand now. Every once in awhile you can get lucky and find some blaster or hanger boxes at a Target or Walmart if you happen to be there after the distributor stocks the shelf. Card shops have jacked prices up 3-4x on most retail products and are similar or even higher to what you’ll find on eBay. About a year ago my son wanted Panini Mosaic NFL cards for his birthday. I ended up paying over $120 at the local card shop for a blaster box that Target or Walmart would sell for around $40.

Market has gone crazy since COVID. Seems like football and basketball are most popular. Panini is the major brand with several sub brands (Obsidian, Optic, Prizm, Select, Mosaic). Far different from when I was a kid and baseball (Topps) was king.

If you’re lucky to find some and buy selectively you can definitely make money re-selling unopened boxes. Also money to be made buying graded cards of some of the top NFL players (Burrow, Herbert, etc) and re-selling on eBay.

Buy it?

But Topps Chrome, not really worth it?

It was a great way to build up a huge collection while having fun. I spent countless hours having fun as a boy flipping cards with neighborhood kids. And there were so many different methods to play, it was endless.

In comment 15736609 steve in ky said:

Quote:

It was a great way to build up a huge collection while having fun. I spent countless hours having fun as a boy flipping cards with neighborhood kids. And there were so many different methods to play, it was endless.

Nope . Now it is breaking boxes- ie buying in on random chances or specific teams as a pack or box is broken you then get those cards.

In comment 15736516 Saos1n said:

Quote:

Made a TON of money. Sitting on a lot of high end stuff currently. Market has been crazy for years. Hoping to sell at the high point, before the bottom falls out

What's the best way to go about it? I've had a ton of 1960s/1970s cards ball-and-chained to me forever. I don't have the time or energy to list one at a time on eBay, but the other extreme of "one lot of old baseball cards" will be pennies on the dollar. Would love to cash out of these, if you have advice. Thanks!

In comment 15736612 jvm52106 said:

Quote:

In comment 15736609 steve in ky said: Quote: It was a great way to build up a huge collection while having fun. I spent countless hours having fun as a boy flipping cards with neighborhood kids. And there were so many different methods to play, it was endless. Nope . Now it is breaking boxes- ie buying in on random chances or specific teams as a pack or box is broken you then get those cards.

Can you translate what you just said..."explain it to me like I'm 5"

I'd buy them. Especially if it's Mosaic, Select or Optic sub brand. The lower end sub brands like Absolute and Contenders are fun to open with your kids but not a great secondary market if you want to re-sell.

Topps Chrome are very common to find at Target and Wal-Mart. Again, I don't think baseball cards are as popular as Football and Basketball are these days. That being said, Topps Chrome are fun to open with your kids and do some bonding with them about the players. Who knows, maybe you even get lucky and pull a rare card or autograph card.

I have quite a lot. Often I grab packs in the check out aisle. Every year I buy our top rookie cards on amazon. Don't care at all about rarity, collectability, value. I only care that I have a huge pile of NYG player cards!

In comment 15736604 moze1021 said:

Quote:

Buy it? But Topps Chrome, not really worth it?

Prizm is the "flagship" from panini and the most "potentially" valuable at retail. Mosaic is also decent.

Panini is not licensed for MLB so that turns some people off their baseball cards, but growing up in the 80's it was always Topps and Donruss (and Fleer) for me, so I don't mind the unlicensed - basically just means they can't use the team name or logo.

But Panini is the only manufacturer licensed for NFL and NBA.

For kids they have Donruss, Score, and Absolute and they're fun for kids to open or even adults, many of the star and rookie cards for those brands hold value.

Soon though it will all be Fanatics. They bought the licenses for all major sports (except hockey so far) and they bought Topps. I expect they will probably buy Panini too.

Upper deck still has the NHL license.

Topps (for baseball) it's their name brand (Topps, Topps Chrome), Stadium Club (really nice photography) and Bowman (Bowman chrome and Bowman's Best). Bowman is still the "home of the rookie card" so some people like that.

the thing I hate most about the hobby these days besides the crazy prices for retail/unopened product is the emphasis on rookies and prospects. and I know it's always been like this way to an extent but it's worse now IMO.

If you look on ebay or any other market place you will see guys like Wander Franco or Mac Jones or Lamelo Ball sell for more than rookies of Derek Jeter or Dan Marino or Kobe Bryant.

so if you collect sports card as an investment (I do not) then buy "vintage". I know the late 80's - mid 90's was the junk wax era of sports cards, but I still can't fathom the prices these prospects and rookies sell for today even vs junk wax rookies.

You could buy RETAIL issue boxes,and maybe get a card worth $20 to $40 if your lucky..If you buy a Hobby issue box From $110 to say $160,you stand a 50/50 chance to get a card worth $150 to $700+..I pulled a Trevor Lawrence auto 1 of 2..Value right now around the $1,000..If he plays well this year,it could get to be $1,500 to $2,000 or more..Tom Brady auto Rookie card way back when was not expensive,to Sat the leadt..Now,forget a bout it..

You could buy RETAIL issue boxes,and maybe get a card worth $20 to $40 if your lucky..If you buy a Hobby issue box From $110 to say $160,you stand a 50/50 chance to get a card worth $150 to $700+..I pulled a Trevor Lawrence auto 1 of 2..Value right now around the $1,000..If he plays well this year,it could get to be $1,500 to $2,000 or more..Tom Brady auto Rookie card way back when was not expensive,to say the least..Now,forget a bout it..

Where can you buy a hobby box?

In comment 15736718 moze1021 said:

Quote:

Where can you buy a hobby box?

not to answer for alamo but...

1. Topps website (if in stock) (www.topps.com)
2. Panini website (if in stock) (www.paniniamerica.net)
3. Local card shop (physically go to one)
4. eBay
5. Fanatics (www.fanatics.com) search for "trading cards hobby box"
6. Online local card shops (steel city collectibles, dave and adam card world, etc.)

In comment 15736604 moze1021 said:

Quote:

Buy it? But Topps Chrome, not really worth it?

No. Unless you plan to hold for years. Target doesn't really stock anything that is worth reselling. There is nothing really worth a damn that is out right now. Prizm football is a decent flip. If you can find it (Target doesn't sell it in store. Only online. Walmart does both)

Topps Chrome doesn't resell too well, but there are chances at expensive cards.

In comment 15736702 Alamo said:

Quote:

You could buy RETAIL issue boxes,and maybe get a card worth $20 to $40 if your lucky..If you buy a Hobby issue box From $110 to say $160,you stand a 50/50 chance to get a card worth $150 to $700+..I pulled a Trevor Lawrence auto 1 of 2..Value right now around the $1,000..If he plays well this year,it could get to be $1,500 to $2,000 or more..Tom Brady auto Rookie card way back when was not expensive,to Sat the leadt..Now,forget a bout it..

This isn't exactly true. I've hit 3k cards out of retail boxes/packs. I've hit $25 worth of cards out of hobby boxes.

Was planning on holding until next year. Unfortunately some stuff came up so now I'm looking to sell. Got 15 Megaboxes, 14 Blasters, 15 hanger boxes and 14 cello packs.

makes me wonder if I have accidentally picked up cards with value that I don't realize. I'll have to spend some evening looking that up.

In comment 15736627 GruningsOnTheHill said:

Quote:

In comment 15736516 Saos1n said: Quote: Made a TON of money. Sitting on a lot of high end stuff currently. Market has been crazy for years. Hoping to sell at the high point, before the bottom falls out What's the best way to go about it? I've had a ton of 1960s/1970s cards ball-and-chained to me forever. I don't have the time or energy to list one at a time on eBay, but the other extreme of "one lot of old baseball cards" will be pennies on the dollar. Would love to cash out of these, if you have advice. Thanks!

You hit the pros and cons.

separating it out takes a ton of effort and selling individually has risk (ebay is shitty for sellers).

Selling it as a collection usually means you get less than selling individually but....it's easier

send me an email if you want pjcas18 at gmail and I can give you some advice.

In comment 15736745 Big Rick in FL said:

Quote:

In comment 15736604 moze1021 said: Quote: Buy it? But Topps Chrome, not really worth it? No. Unless you plan to hold for years. Target doesn't really stock anything that is worth reselling. There is nothing really worth a damn that is out right now. Prizm football is a decent flip. If you can find it (Target doesn't sell it in store. Only online. Walmart does both) Topps Chrome doesn't resell too well, but there are chances at expensive cards.

So if my plan is just to have fun and open the packs, and have some hope if finding an awesome card worth a lot...I can just buy the stuff at target (or straight from Topps/panini website) and maybe get lucky? I'm cool with that

In comment 15736727 pjcas18 said:

Quote:

In comment 15736718 moze1021 said: Quote: Where can you buy a hobby box? not to answer for alamo but... 1. Topps website (if in stock) (www.topps.com) 2. Panini website (if in stock) (www.paniniamerica.net) 3. Local card shop (physically go to one) 4. eBay 5. Fanatics (www.fanatics.com) search for "trading cards hobby box" 6. Online local card shops (steel city collectibles, dave and adam card world, etc.)

Thanks pj for this and other posts.. I just want to make sure that when I buy cards I'm buying ones that have a shot (even if slim) at finding something special..even if just to get my kids excited and into it..

In comment 15736774 moze1021 said:

Quote:

In comment 15736745 Big Rick in FL said: Quote: In comment 15736604 moze1021 said: Quote: Buy it? But Topps Chrome, not really worth it? No. Unless you plan to hold for years. Target doesn't really stock anything that is worth reselling. There is nothing really worth a damn that is out right now. Prizm football is a decent flip. If you can find it (Target doesn't sell it in store. Only online. Walmart does both) Topps Chrome doesn't resell too well, but there are chances at expensive cards. So if my plan is just to have fun and open the packs, and have some hope if finding an awesome card worth a lot...I can just buy the stuff at target (or straight from Topps/panini website) and maybe get lucky? I'm cool with that

Yeah you can absolutely get lucky in certain boxes in Target. Mosaic & Bowman are probably the two best boxes to get at Target right now. Most of the time it isn't great, but there are definitely chances at big cards.

In comment 15736609 steve in ky said:

Quote:

It was a great way to build up a huge collection while having fun. I spent countless hours having fun as a boy flipping cards with neighborhood kids. And there were so many different methods to play, it was endless.

I spent countless hours trading, flipping and 'flicking' baseball cards while chewing that awful gum. Also, certain cards were designated to be attached with clothes pins to my bicycle strut to flutter in the rear wheel spokes.

condition (especially the corners) is everything, lol.

In comment 15736821 BamaBlue said:

Quote:

In comment 15736609 steve in ky said: Quote: It was a great way to build up a huge collection while having fun. I spent countless hours having fun as a boy flipping cards with neighborhood kids. And there were so many different methods to play, it was endless. I spent countless hours trading, flipping and 'flicking' baseball cards while chewing that awful gum. Also, certain cards were designated to be attached with clothes pins to my bicycle strut to flutter in the rear wheel spokes.

When I was a kid it was all about your binder and a Beckett magazine, and making deals with friends based on card values. I was constantly organizing, researching my cards.

Unfortunately it looks like a lot of my "gems" aren't worth much. I seem to have wrong brands of Jeter, Sosa, Alomar, etc rookies... My signed Vlad rookie card doesn't seem to be worth much. My '68 Topps Seaver (1st solo Seaver card) seems to be pretty varied in pricing depending on grade but also really expensive to get it PSA graded! Not sure if worth it..

This new era seems to be even more complex!

grade a card if I planned to sell it, otherwise what's the point? I have very few graded cards and the ones I do have I got as part of a different purchase or transaction.

Simms card and believe I have a complete collection. All in great condition in a binder.

It was a labor of love as he was one of my favorite players.

Just thought that it would be something to show the kids and leave to the grandkids. LOL.

Are complete collections of one player worth anything in today's market? Of just fun to have. LOL

In comment 15736829 GiantBlue said:

Quote:

Simms card and believe I have a complete collection. All in great condition in a binder. It was a labor of love as he was one of my favorite players. Just thought that it would be something to show the kids and leave to the grandkids. LOL. Are complete collections of one player worth anything in today's market? Of just fun to have. LOL

basically just fun to have (IMO).

the value for cards is in their scarcity and condition.

late 80's - 90's cards were just massively overproduced so the only ones with any scarcity are numbered (limited in production). Rookie cards of many players still have value, but again it varies by condition.

personally, I never collected as an investment, I did it because I enjoyed it. I liked the chase to get my favorite players, my favorite team or a whole set.

Obviously I did want my cards to be more valuable, but it was never my reason for collecting.

I also collected because of guilt, lol, my cousin gave me his whole collection when I was 6 or 7 - Mantle, Aaron, Mays, Banks, Koufax, Seaver, Berra, Williams, etc. and being a 6 or 7 year old I left them all outside in the rain. I heard about it for 30 years, but who the F gives a 6 or 7 year old something so valuable?

So one I got older I decided to collect and rebuild a collection, I never could afford good vintage quality, but I do have some.

I still have my old cards. I have a Topps Ryne Sandberg rookie, but the condition is only fair. Doubt it would fetch much. A Jagr Pro Set rookie in good condition. A couple of others.

Back then I had a lot of energy, visited all kinds of sports cards stores around NJ, PA and even down south. It was a labor of love and I still enjoy looking at them.

That is the fun........seeing Phil's hair style change year to year! LOL

since I was looking through some card binders I have yesterday and I saw a bunch of Pujols, Miggy, Ichiro rookies.

I looked them up and I was shocked how valuable they were.

I guess I was smart enough to put them in binders all those years ago, and now it paid off.

though I won't sell them, players like them have established value - IOW there isn't the speculation anymore there is for prospects like Jasson Dominguez or Francisco Alvarez, etc.

comment on this topic unless people keep this going....

cards do not need to be expensive, to be awesome. this is maybe my favorite card in my whole collection.

I didn't buy it, I got it from a pack, and thought it was awesome. it's not worth much, but again, I like it.

I haven’t looked at them since wonder if they are worth anything? The majority are baseball some football not much. In addition, I have probably 10 to 15 thousand lose cards from the same period I just lost interest and put them away.

In comment 15736886 pjcas18 said:

Quote:

comment on this topic unless people keep this going.... cards do not need to be expensive, to be awesome. this is maybe my favorite card in my whole collection. I didn't buy it, I got it from a pack, and thought it was awesome. it's not worth much, but again, I like it.

My favorite card was the Gary Pettis one where he had his little brother sit in for the picture instead and Topps somehow didn't notice.

I would frame it with the SI Cover and maybe another Eli card!

That is an awesome card!

Really promoting scalping and reselling … lmao losers.