The price of sports cards has skyrocketed. A 1952 Mickey Mantle graded 9.5 recently sold for $7.2 million. A Honus Wagner sold for $5 million.
A rare unopened set printed in 2014 sold for $20,000. A single pack can cost from $5 to $25 and in some instances, even more. Some have only one card inside.
Companies are now printing 1/1 cards and as always, rookie cards are in high demand.
Topps is still the king among trading companies but Stadium Club, Upper Deck, Fleer, Bowman, Panini and Donruss cards are also very popular.
Grading cards and rarity printing has transformed the card industry after flooding the market in the '80's. Times have changed.
Dealers sell cards live day and night on Tik-Tok for hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars.
Card shows are popping up all over the place. I watched a little boy buy a card for $800. Kirby Puckett's rookie card in 2012 sold for $500. Now it is $1500.
I asked long-time card collector Lincoln's Matt Paxton about the resurgence.
"I think there are two things that caused the resurgence of card collecting," he said. "During the mid 80's to early 90's, card collecting was at it's peak. Card companies printed so many cards it is referred to as the 'junk wax' era. Lots of young kids were collecting at that time and now flash forward 30-40 years. These same kids that were collecting then, now have kids about the same age that they started collecting so they want to get their kids interested in it and also relive what it was like collecting as a kid themselves."
Paxton went on to say, "I also believe the Covid pandemic played a huge role in the resurgence. Lots of people across the country were forced to stay at home and that led to a huge upswing in sales across internet auction houses, including eBay."
A fellow you may not know but should is Coach Hoffman. He has a ministry called 'Cards for Kids' where he gives away sports cards to children in hospitals and nursing homes. He also sells cards very reasonably on his site. All the money he takes in goes back into his ministry.
All card collectors will tell you to keep your valuable cards in a bank's safety deposit box or in a safe hidden away at home.
Like most things, cards also hold sentimental value.
My pastor friend, Ron Gross gave me some of his cards before he passed away last year.
Max Copeland, another long-time friend, who also passed away a year ago, gave me some old baseball postcards.
Big Dave Barnum, also deceased, gave me his prized baseball bat after seeing my card collection at the library. It was just a beat up bat belonging to former Kansas City catcher Mike McFarlane, but it meant the world to him.
I very seldom have given more than $2 for a baseball card, so card collecting for me has always been about nostalgia and not about money. I buy the cheaper newer cards and re-prints.
I look at baseball cards and it takes me back to my childhood. A time with few worries. I could play ball all day, fish all day and not get tired.
Forgive me, I guess I am a little sentimental after the passing of fellow BCE reporter Homer May.
I recently bought a few cards because I started my own Hall of Fame for players not in the MLB Hall of Fame. My rule was that I had to have their baseball card.
That led me to get a Shoeless Joe Jackson.Looking around like a kid in a candy store, I wandered to basketball and found a Caitlin Clark card, a real nice Pete Maravich and the late Jerry West for just $1 each.
Paxton likes the older cards.
"I really enjoy collecting 1950's and 1960's baseball cards because I love that era of baseball," he said. "The players played more for the love of the game versus today's players who do it mostly for the millions of dollars. These are the players who took second jobs in the off-season to feed their families and who also left their careers to fight in World War II and the Korean War. It makes you wonder about the kid who owned the card 60-70 years ago and what their life was like. It is a piece of history. I started collecting Mickey Mantle in 2017, because he was probably the most popular player during his playing days and his cards hold or increase their value every day. I collect other Hall of Fame players like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron but focus mostly on Mantle."
Paxton added, "I have a handful of Jerry Lumpe cards in my collection ranging from the late 50's to 1964. He was featured in several less common sets and some of his cards have some value."
Is collecting baseball cards a good investment? Paxton thinks so.
"Baseball cards are a good investment, in my opinion. It is very much like buying stocks in the stock market. You have to know a little bit about what you are doing if you are in it for the investment. You'll have to know what is popular and what has better resale value. Baseball cards are condition sensitive with the better condition cards commanding more money."
Since 2008, the top 2,500 ranked baseball cards have seen a 283% gain on your investment versus the 175% gain the S&P 500 has seen during that same time period.
"For me though, I enjoy the hunt of finding a nice card versus just doing it for the money. It is a hobby that at times can make you feel like a little kid again," Paxton stated.
There you go, I hope this article brought back some good memories for you, as much as it did for Matt and I.
