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Collectables Aren't As Valuable As You Think: Roger Clemens

g under pg under p Posts: 18,184
edited March 2010 in All Encompassing Trip
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Sports cards from the 1980s and 1990s: Baseball cards from the 1950s can be worth a fortune -- because so few kids saved them, and every baby boomer has a story about his mother throwing out his collection. By the 1980s, the market for early baseball cards was heating up -- and many people assumed cards from the 1980s would appreciate in value too. But the fact that people thought that would happen virtually assured that it wouldn't: cheap cards were produced in massive quantities, and everyone who bought them stored them meticulously to preserve their condition. Consequently, they're not at all rare.

A lot of 30 Roger Clemens cards recently sold on eBay for one cent, and an unopened 1989 Topps football wax pack also fetched just a penny.


I have one and I have his autograph on a Hard Rock Cafe menu along with Wade Boggs. I Mis-remembered where I have it in the attic. How quickly Roger's stardom has fallen.

Peace
*We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • 8181 Posts: 58,276
    give it a few more years :lol:
    81 is now off the air

    Off_Air.jpg
  • StarfallStarfall Posts: 548
    Maybe the fact that Clemens got implicated in the steroid scandal had something to do with it?
    "It's not hard to own something. Or everything. You just have to know that it's yours, and then be willing to let it go." - Neil Gaiman, "Stardust"
  • g under pg under p Posts: 18,184
    Starfall wrote:
    Maybe the fact that Clemens got implicated in the steroid scandal had something to do with it?

    Why of course, you reep what you sew.

    peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • PearlOfAGirlPearlOfAGirl Posts: 15,993
    My oldest son sold a whole bag of baseball cards that my grandfather gave me to one of his friends for $5.00, when he was younger... :x

    Roger Clemens ruined his own destiny by using steroids, I'm sure he would have made the Hall of Fame if he didn't... what an idiot!!! :roll:

    Wish you were here...
    ♥~RIP Dad
  • redrockredrock Posts: 18,341
    edited March 2010
    Collecting is an art and relies on so many assumptions. Knowing when to sell requires insight.
    Post edited by redrock on
  • even flow - question markeven flow - question mark Posts: 1,568
    Of course when you flood the market things will be underappreciated. That is a normal thing. Add in the fact that a rookie card is a rookie card no matter what company makes it and it makes me laugh at how one can be worth more than the other. I have taken the fact that one company may produce less of that player.

    The poison from the poison stream caught up to you ELEVEN years ago and you floated out of here. Sept. 14, 08

  • drsluggodrsluggo Posts: 4,742
    Yeah..I remember being offered $500 for my Michael Jordan collection way back when and turning it down thinking "why would I take $500 when I can get thousands later."

    I bet I couldnt get $150 for it now... how sad!
  • RiverrunnerRiverrunner Posts: 2,419
    My dad found a Mark McGuire watch at a local junk shop. It had a photo of Mark hitting a ball on the face, and on the back it said Home run Hero, Mark McGuire. He is going to give it to my 12 year old nephew. My 81 year old dad said "he will really like that." I'm not so sure about that, but I didn't say that to my dad.
    The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals. Ghandi
  • LedbetterdaysLedbetterdays Posts: 555
    The OP is right though. Very few collectible sports items held value from the 80's and 90's. I sold Ken Griffey Jr. 89 Upper Deck cards for $100 a piece. He did not use steroids--as far as we know--and will be one of the top ten HR hitters of all-time. You can get those cards for under $10 now. Maybe in time they will return to value but collectibles are worth more when they are released now then they will be in the future. Think Beanie Babies and all that stuff. People go crazy then it is worth nothing. If something is truly rare it will hold and gain in value. As far as sports cards go the only thing worth any money now are cards that are signed or limited in print. Rookie cards mean nothing anymore. If you are in that business you buy and then immediately sell when you can make a profit. It is a business.
    Touring Fan since 1996
  • drsluggodrsluggo Posts: 4,742
    Ledbetterdays wrote:
    The OP is right though. Very few collectible sports items held value from the 80's and 90's. I sold Ken Griffey Jr. 89 Upper Deck cards for $100 a piece. He did not use steroids--as far as we know--and will be one of the top ten HR hitters of all-time. You can get those cards for under $10 now. Maybe in time they will return to value but collectibles are worth more when they are released now then they will be in the future. Think Beanie Babies and all that stuff. People go crazy then it is worth nothing. If something is truly rare it will hold and gain in value. As far as sports cards go the only thing worth any money now are cards that are signed or limited in print. Rookie cards mean nothing anymore. If you are in that business you buy and then immediately sell when you can make a profit. It is a business.
    The internet COMPLETELY destroyed cards/comics/etc too... before it was a real hunt to find some of these things, and now they are everywhere.

    I remember I was selling cards on a BBS board before eBay, etc... and I said to a friend that this was going to kill values once it expanded. It was the only smart thought I had as a 14 year old :)
  • g under pg under p Posts: 18,184
    drsluggo wrote:
    Ledbetterdays wrote:
    The OP is right though. Very few collectible sports items held value from the 80's and 90's. I sold Ken Griffey Jr. 89 Upper Deck cards for $100 a piece. He did not use steroids--as far as we know--and will be one of the top ten HR hitters of all-time. You can get those cards for under $10 now. Maybe in time they will return to value but collectibles are worth more when they are released now then they will be in the future. Think Beanie Babies and all that stuff. People go crazy then it is worth nothing. If something is truly rare it will hold and gain in value. As far as sports cards go the only thing worth any money now are cards that are signed or limited in print. Rookie cards mean nothing anymore. If you are in that business you buy and then immediately sell when you can make a profit. It is a business.
    The internet COMPLETELY destroyed cards/comics/etc too... before it was a real hunt to find some of these things, and now they are everywhere.

    I remember I was selling cards on a BBS board before eBay, etc... and I said to a friend that this was going to kill values once it expanded. It was the only smart thought I had as a 14 year old :)

    Same thing with rare coins and currency, these items are way too easy to find now which in turn lowers the value.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • HorosHoros Posts: 4,518
    We used to always kid when we were collecting cards in the 80s and 90s that if we saved them long enough at least we'd have some toilet paper in the future. In the early 90s seemed like there was a card shop on every block not so anymore. Glad I liquidated most of my cards back then when I saw where the market was going.
    #FHP
  • sweet adelinesweet adeline Posts: 2,191
    i was a HUGE bo jackson fan as a kid, so naturally i had to try to collect all of his baseball & football cards. i can't remember what i spent on those cards, but it was a pretty penny. the day he got the hip injury that basically ended his career was a valuable lesson in not putting all your eggs into one basket :)
  • gabersgabers Posts: 2,787
    I've got a bunch of Clemons signed stuff: stuffed animals, baseballs, cards, etc. My wife taught two of his sons and became friendly with Mrs. Clemons. I'm hoping like another poster said they'll be worth something down the road, but I can imagine there's not much of a market for it right now.
  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    I had 2 Gretzky cards worth $800 each at the time.. Didn't sell them. Fuck.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • JOEJOEJOEJOEJOEJOE Posts: 10,483
    If you want to invest in sports cards, I think the best era's to collect are the ones that have special meaning to fellas now in their 40s who will spend money to relive their childhoods. If I was to splurge on some older cards, I'd buy a 1975 Topps Baseball set, since that is the year I really got into baseball.

    I am not sure if Mickey Mantle cards will regain their value because very few current collectors were actually around when he played. However, I think that very old cards such as the T-206 series will always hold their value because of their holy grail status.
  • demetriosdemetrios Posts: 91,573
    keeponrockin wrote:
    I had 2 Gretzky cards worth $800 each at the time.. Didn't sell them. Fuck.

    Where they Opeechee or Topps? I had a 2nd year Gretzky card but I traded it for a few later year Bobby Orr cards. The gifted Raymond Bourque rookie card is my favorite. I started collecting complete set's back in '89. When I think ProShot cards just started. Brett Halls rookie card was the first of the deck to sell @ 20 bucks & rising.

    Do you remember those Opeechee Premium cards? When they came out they sold for 60 cents for a pack of 5 cards. Then 2 weeks later each package was worth 20 bucks. It was the rarest hockey card collection in history to go up in value. Fedorov's & Jagar's rookie cards from the deck were the highest going. Then each & ever hockey player from the deck sold for over 10 bucks. The misspelled Nickolas Lidstrom rookie card was a highlight.
  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    demetrios wrote:
    keeponrockin wrote:
    I had 2 Gretzky cards worth $800 each at the time.. Didn't sell them. Fuck.

    Where they Opeechee or Topps? I had a 2nd year Gretzky card but I traded it for a few later year Bobby Orr cards. The gifted Raymond Bourque rookie card is my favorite. I started collecting complete set's back in '89. When I think ProShot cards just started. Brett Halls rookie card was the first of the deck to sell @ 20 bucks & rising.

    Do you remember those Opeechee Premium cards? When they came out they sold for 60 cents for a pack of 5 cards. Then 2 weeks later each package was worth 20 bucks. It was the rarest hockey card collection in history to go up in value. Fedorov's & Jagar's rookie cards from the deck were the highest going. Then each & ever hockey player from the deck sold for over 10 bucks. The misspelled Nickolas Lidstrom rookie card was a highlight.
    They were upper deck, 'Game Dated Moments'.... Should've sold them.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • dcfaithfuldcfaithful Posts: 13,076
    All those people holding on to Pokemon cards probably feel like fucking idiots. :lol:
    7/2/06 - Denver, CO
    6/12/08 - Tampa, FL
    8/23/09 - Chicago, IL
    9/28/09 - Salt Lake City, UT (11 years too long!!!)
    9/03/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 1
    9/04/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 2
  • g under pg under p Posts: 18,184
    Horos wrote:
    We used to always kid when we were collecting cards in the 80s and 90s that if we saved them long enough at least we'd have some toilet paper in the future. In the early 90s seemed like there was a card shop on every block not so anymore. Glad I liquidated most of my cards back then when I saw where the market was going.

    Yes there certainly was a card shop on every corner in the early 90's. I had a before and after school program and we started collecting MARVEL and Spiderman cards. It was great fun with the kids for 2 years trading and collecting them. There was so much excitement when you got a special 3d card and you knew you only had X amount to complete a set.

    Now my daughter loves to go into my collection look up all these cards, I have no idea what they're worth if anything. So many, too many people were collecting them back then they were some awesome cards though.

    Hulk.gif

    http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w22/ ... gCards.jpg
    Similar to my collection except it's more than this, man did I ever get carried away. The kids encouraged me and i encouraged them.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


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