Those who collected baseball cards in the late 1980s and early 90s are having a little bit of a let down nearly three decades later. Many kids of that generation were hooked when they were in their grade school and middle school years. Topps, Donruss, Fleer and later, Upper Deck, all produced some sweet cards in the late 80’s.
There was only one problem. The massive influx of new collectors and speculators into the market created overproduction as the companies gleefully kept the presses running and saturated the market.
It took only a couple of years to figure out there were too many printed for the cards to increase in value like cards had done before. It turns out you can’t pay off your mortgage or even you’re your kid’s college tuition with the baseball cards you’ve hoarded in a closet. Many a mother still has about 60 boxes of unopened sets in her closet and the grown up kids of the 1980s and 90s come home every once in a while and wonder what happened to the windfall that was supposed to take place in 2010.
Wise old card collecting veterans weren’t expecting these cards to make a huge splash because so many were produced compared to previous years and no one was throwing them away like they did in the 1950s and 60s. But a lot of young people didn’t want to hear it and the excitement that was going on made it hard to believe. The 80s and 90s produced baseball card hype at it’s best and everyone wanted to jump in the market to make a few bucks, even if they were just flipping them like real estate to make a quick buck based on player performance.

Beckett Magazine could tell you how your stock-like portfolio of cards was doing when the new issue hit the stands at the first of the month. And that’s exactly what it was supposed to be like-The Stock Market of Baseball Cards. Rookie cards were the big draws and some error cards even posted big value (remember the 1989 Billy Ripken fiasco?).
Watching Beckett monthly for the speculation of how your cards would escalate or decline in value was a religion. Unique sets like Donruss Opening Day were going to buy a car someday when all of those great players made the Hall of Fame. That was the word of mouth at least me and other teenagers spread to one another.
There’s value in older card sets thanks to the fact that they are still somewhat rare. There’s a market for vintage Topps cards in high grade, but a Barry Bonds 1987 Topps Rookie card is a dime a dozen. Well… not literally but you get my drift. Of course it hasn’t helped that several of the superstars of the era have a dark cloud over their collective heads because of steroids.
So if you hopped into the baseball card game to possibly one day garner financial rewards then you’re probably pretty disappointed these days.
22 years later and the Mint Unopened 1987 Topps set is still selling for around $10 on eBay—maybe $15 at a card show—and most aren’t selling. Makes you kind of wonder if it will even double in 30 years? So most younger adults who are now having families of their own are stuck with a closet full of cards hoping they’re still the only ones who are storing those away for a rainy day of dividends.
The good news? Nostalgia is strictly personal and things like Topps collectibles are still in vogue. While the 1969 Topps set may be nostalgic for the person who grew up in that era, the 1980s and 90s are now “the good old days” to a new generation. They can recapture their youth for pennies, not the big bucks it takes to put those older sets together. Unopened sports card boxes from the late 80s and early 90s are dirt cheap on sites like SportsCollectorsStore.com and you can also catch up on what’s been produced since.
And while those 1990s and 1980s baseball cards may never be worth a fortune, they still bring back some great memories—even if the future didn’t produce a windfall. You can find links to auctions that will take you back to being a kid again at The Sports Collectors Store.

Also, please visit my other blog on Sports Collecting