Every year, I still buy two or three packs just for the heck of it, just to see who I get,” says Dave Kelly, 51, a Library of Congress reference librarian who specializes in sports and recreation.”

“I still collect them like I did when I was 10,” says Baltimore Orioles pitcher Alan Mills, 34. “It could be going to the 7-Eleven, getting some apple juice and picking up some cards.”

“He’s still mad at me. He thinks I threw away his baseball cards,” says one exasperated mom. ” ‘They’d be worth millions now.’ I’m quoting him: ‘Millions now.’”

“Just as timeless is the equally irresistible urge for America’s mothers to toss ‘em, or so we claim. Moms are the ultimate scapegoats for the lost treasures of our youth.” Says Mike Dodd in USA Today, 3/27/01

We Say…

Are you kidding? “Worth millions now?” Granted, pre-1980s cards are worth much more than the overflooded examples we talked about earlier. But everything has to be either in pristine condition or ridiculously rare for a collector to even think about buying the damned thing from you. Seriously now… put the price guide away and actually go out there and try to sell these “precious” cards. This is all about real demand for the cards, not quoted prices. Cards from the 1980s-1990s are all but worthless now on the whole. We’re sure we can find some examples of cards that are worth a few bucks, but that’s just it, a few bucks. Gone are the days of the many versions of the Billy Ripken “Error” card that were going for hundreds of dollars at the time. Does anyone even care about him at this point? Don’t you feel silly now for trying to “complete that set” by scouring the card shows for the Don Slaught ‘89 Donruss card or that elusive Topps Checklist? We sure do and feel like complete idiots at this point.

Try contacting a dealer who touts on his Web site: “We buy unopened packs, sets of all baseball cards!” Like we did. Here is what transpired in our note to him:

“Hello. I have a number of unopened, some sealed, sets of early 1990s cards. Fleer, Donruss, Upper Deck, Topps, etc. Additionally I have some oddballs like traded sets, collect-a-books, and some others that have never been opened. What is the protocol for doing business? I’m located in XYZ City, and would be happy to send pictures. Thanks.”

RESPONSE: “Hi, there. We only buy vintage cards, pre-1970. Thanks for thinking of us.”

UNREAL. Even professional dealers aren’t interested in the many thousands of cards we carefully wasted time filing away as a kid, and to think of all of the Sundays we pissed away at “card shows.” How many Hiltons and Holiday Inns do you see in your neighborhood these days with signs advertising “Baseball Card Show This Weekend?” Not to mention, how many card and hobby shops do you know of that are still thriving businesses? And how about the weekend flea markets and shopping mall card shows with tables dedicated to both sets and singles at over-inflated prices? Yes, that’s what we thought. Times sure do change. For the professional dealer to not even offer a bid for our cards indicates that they are worthless. Further proof in this matter lies with eBay, the famed online auctioneer. We have run a number of seven-day auctions recently for sealed, unopened sets of cards. We’re not talking about random assortments of loose cards. For instance, the 1990 Upper Deck, Fleer, and Donruss sets were all offered individually by us, for a starting bid of 49 cents! And we did not receive one bid over a seven-day period! Not one! We actually LOST money listing these pigs because eBay nails you with a listing fee for each auction in which you participate. If this doesn’t drive the “waste of time, money, and effort” point home to you card aficionados, we don’t know what will.

By W.U. of Baseball Card Death and I Complain. All rights reserved. Content may not be duplicated without proper crediting. All content is the original, registered trademarked content of the aforementioned Web sites, subsidiary companies of IComplain.net. Unlawful use of this content will be prosecuted.

[tags]disposable income,baseball card,collectible market,investment mistake,value[/tags]