Baseball Cards Top Five Darkest and Brightest Moments

[iggyman]

Lovely Day (fellow prewar card aficionado's),

Buster Olney had a column the other day ranking the Dodgers bankruptcy as one of the "10 worst chapters in Major League Baseball history.”
That got me to thinking...........hmmmm, what are the top "five" worst and best moments in baseball card history??? Perhaps, we can reach some sort of Net54 consensus (yeah right!).

Okay, let us start the rankings. I'm sure (some of) you ivy league guys can come up with a way better list, but here is my best shot after five minutes of pondering. On a side note, I had an easier time coming up with "bad things" that have happened in the hobby as opposed to "good things" and on another side note, all of the bad stuff is from recent history and most of the good stuff is quite old. (guess the world is going to end afterall....).

DARKEST

1. The Maestro fiasco/betrayal.
2. T206 Museum / Patrick Chan and his OLD MILL overprint deception.
3. Demise/extinction of baseball card shows & stores.
4. Over supply of baseball cards (1980's, 1990s, 2000s...)
5. The words "investment" and "baseball cards" in the same sentence.

honorable mention (Barry Halper, high prices, card doctors, and the Topps 1963 Pete Rose counterfeit rookie cards).

BRIGHTEST

1. Decision to put cigarette picture cards in tobacco products.
2. Grading companies .
3. Decision to pull the T206 Honus Wagner card from distribution.
4. Creation of Net54 and its predecessor Full Count.
5. Ebay .

Honorable mention (National Convention, Hobby pioneers, publication of Trader Speaks, and Topps 1952 high numbers in the Hudson River).

[vintagecpa]

Darkest:

1. High-Quality Printers (Counterfeits).
2. Too many cards and companies after about 1980.
3. Beckett Price Guides. It turned every casual collector into a dealer.
4. All card shops going online. I miss the block and mortar card shops.
5. Refractors and inserts. It turned collecting into a Magic side show.

Brightest
1. eBay
2. Grading Companies. I can't imagine spending big money on a card I don't know is real.
3. Finding out how many vintage cards still exist.
4. Obviously Network54
5. Selling my 1985 Topps McGuire Olympic card for $100 in the late 90's.

[jeffmohler]

I am too new of a collector to come up with a list of 5 for best/worst, but I will vote for Net54 as one of the top 5. My best memory was seeing the Skydash find play out in real time right here on Net 54.

I suspect that Net54 has been instrumental in helping Ted and some of the others put together their studies of T206. I am sure that the T206 scholars could have done it the old fashioned way (snail mail/email), but many of their theories were confirmed by putting their questions out to a broad audience.

Jeff

[abothebear]

How about for darkest, the introduction of the factory set. I believe Topps started in '86, maybe Dunruss a few years earlier.

[novakjr]

Darkest

1)counterfeits
2)scammerish grading companies and authenticators
3)Too many brands. And then those brands each having 5-10+ sub-brands, including inserts(I have no problem with the idea of inserts as they were done pre-'91)
a)Parallels
b)Any insert that requires something to be cut up(jerseys, bats, auto's cut from other cards, so on and so on..)
c)Autographs of every person ever associated with the game in packs.
4)Card shops going "solely" online, and high shipping prices.
5)Publications and price guides dictating the hobby, rather than simply reporting it...

Brightest

1)the creation of cards in general.
2)Grading Companies and authenticators
3)Competitive brands and inserts/autographs as originally concieved.
4)ebay and online shops as they basically made regional material available to everyone.
5)Anything Hobby related(publications, conventions, Net54, blogs, the Standard Catalog, so on and so on)

With this hobby, every bright thing usually gets abused and leads to or turns into a dark thing, and then those dark things eventually lead to the creation of new bright things, which in turn get abused and creates a dark thing... It's an endless cycle of innovation and corruption.. Basically, Abuse and overabundance.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by abothebear

How about for darkest, the introduction of the factory set. I believe Topps started in '86, maybe Dunruss a few years earlier.

I believe Topps did a factory set in '74.

[perezfan]

Seems funny to see "the demise of Card Shops" on the Darkest list, and "Ebay" on the Brightest list. The "former" likely would not have happened if not for the "latter". So there's a bit of irony there...

But I understand the sentiment, as I miss the old Card Shops too.

I would say that the over-abundance and mass-production of card issues from the 1980s - 2000s was the most damaging aspect. It not only drove masses of collectors into apathy mode... it also "cheapened" the hobby. Or at least that's the perception it conveyed.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Seems funny to see "the demise of Card Shops" on the Darkest list, and "Ebay" on the Brightest list. The "former" likely would not have happened if not for the "latter". So there's a bit of irony there...

But I understand the sentiment, as I miss the old Card Shops too.

I would say that the over-abundance and mass-production of card issues from the 1980s - 2000s was the most damaging aspect. It not only drove masses of collectors into apathy mode... it also "cheapened" the hobby. Or at least that's the perception it conveyed.

Everything on my "bright" list also happens to have led to it's corresponding number on my "dark" list. ***I feel no.2 on my bright list is mainly necessary because of no.1 on my dark list..

Ebay technically belongs on both lists, as it has also, to some extent, contributed to the falling prices.. Depending on your perspective, as a person who was somewhat out of the hobby, the deals that could be found on ebay were a big factor towards bringing me back. I'm sure I'm not alone in that regard. BUT I can imagine someone who was still active in the hobby as a dealer, or for investment purposes, lost a good chunk of money thanks to the deals that can be found on ebay..

[Jcfowler6]

Worst
1. 1980's and overproduction overbloated market
2. Billy Ripken's "F-face card"
3. Searched wax packs
4. When packs of cards went over .25c per
5. The day that dealer ripped me off when I was a kid

Best
1. Like it or not the Gretsky Wagner card
2. Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle and their marketing machine
3. The creation of the American Card Catalog
4. First time a kid put a card in tire spokes
5. EBAY and Grading tie here but these both could be on the dark side depending on your perspective.

[alanu]

in no particular order

worst
1. Counterfeits, alterations, scammers, thieves et
2. Card overproduction in the 80-90's
3. The unfortunate demise of card shops and local shows
4. The negative attitude towards the hobby of many dealers and collectors
5. Can't think of many more not included in one above

best
1. "Reputable" card grading in response to 1 above (and forums like this for policing)
2. Ebay in making cards more available to everyone
3. SCD, not in it's present form though
4. Topps/Bowman in the 40's thru 80's for producing an annual set of cards
5. Whoever thought of making "cards" with sports personalities

[JEFFV96MASTERS]

Post / opinion no longer available

[steve B]

worst - in no particular order.
1 Fakes and fraudulently altered cards.
2 demise of card shops. ---Tough one, many of them went because of a lack of knowledge of both cards and business which is as it should be.
3 The rise of a lottery mentality and corresponding lack of general interest in cards older than a couple weeks
4 The failing of print publications with worthwhile content- Use the internet/electronic formats, but if it's worth knowing it's worth printing
5 The well funded collector as a sort of celebrity. Halper may have been the first? but there have been others that are better known for spending ability than knowledge. Fortunately there are few of them, but those few make everyone else focus on the monetary aspects of the hobby.

The best - Again in no particular order
1 The Rose rookie fakes - woke people up to what was possible.
2 The pioneering collectors and cataloguers like Burdick. Without them we'd all be just stumbling around in the dark.
3 Catalogs/checklists/price guides - Yes, even Beckett. Before them things were a bit of a mystery. How many cards in a set? What players? Without those things collecting isn't readily accessible to many people. And also brought some consistecy to pricing.
4 The internet. Like it or not it's made cards more available, and shown just how common the common stuff really is. It also makes lots of information easier to find.
5 Availability of a wide range of decent if not good looking storage supplies. I bought my first plastic pages in late 74 early 75. And they were horrible. Now there's a full range of stuff from penny sleeves to grading slabs. Anyone who recalls stacks of rubber banded cards at shows and being warned against putting them on too tight - or worse yet, dropping cards wrapped unexpectedly loose or wrecking a card or two by wrapping tightly should have this on the list.

Steve B

[benderbroeth]

i will not list but i will say things like ebay and these forums led me to a whole different collection, i went to a lot of shows in the 80's and 90's and the oldest i could ever find was the 50's maybe a 40's card every once in awhile, but now i can get t205's and t206's and even old judge and allen $ ginter 1880's cards wich i never ever saw in a card show!!!

[jthorst75]

I think one of the worst ideas were to cut jerseys, bats, and autographs just to put them on a card. I think that is downright dumb and this why I will have nothing to do with them. The best thing I think is grading to make buyers aware of what they have is the real deal. But this could also be the worst idea as there are way to many graders out there who can't grade or authenticate worth a crap. Also I beleive cards that have high grades are way overpriced and can ruin the collectibilty of the hobby. This is why I like low grade cards; they are affordable and its why I am still in the game.

[Brendan]

In no particular order

Worst
1. eBay (no protection for sellers, counterfeits, etc.)
2. Beckett (honestly? check out the values they give some cards)
3. Turning the hobby into an investment (junk wax era..where's my gum?)
4. All this new crap. There's a "refracter" numbered to 5, one numbered to 10, one numbered to 25, one numbered to 50, etc.
5. Counterfeits, forged autographs, shilling, etc. The general public view the card business as a shady one. (which it probably is in all honesty)
6. Grading companies. Who cares if a slab says "9" on it? I can't believe the people who spend $2,000 on a common 1952 Topps card graded 9. I'm all for people spending big amounts of money, that's great for the hobby. But could you at least buy something that will retain it's value once the registry craze is over?

Best
1. eBay. It made people realize the true value of cards. Pretty decent place to pick something up. (yeah, I know I have it on my worst list)
2. Online forums, auctions houses, etc. Allows us to chat with fellow prewar collectors and buy rare items
3. The Gretzky Wagner. Like it or not, (overrated....) this whole thing turned many 'newish' collectors onto prewar. Nothing like an expensive card to spark some excitement in these (mass produced) T206. (however, this card literally started PSA....so maybe I changed my mind)

Can't think of anything else very unique on the best side, so I'll stop at 3.

[53Browns]

Darkest moment: The demies of the wax pack when Upper Deck created the tamper proof pack in 1989. This is truly when the hobby of collecting new cards died.

[quinnsryche]

Originally Posted by 53Browns

Darkest moment: The demies of the wax pack when Upper Deck created the tamper proof pack in 1989. This is truly when the hobby of collecting new cards died.

I don't understand that? How can creating a product that protects the consumer from fraud be better than the old way which was ripe with cheating. Don't think it wasn't, I was there when packs were opened and re-sealed on many occasions (I'm like Buck Weaver, I didn't participate but was there when it was done). Not proud of it, but it certainly did happen alot back in the day.

[BigDan502]

Originally Posted by 53Browns

Darkest moment: The demies of the wax pack when Upper Deck created the tamper proof pack in 1989. This is truly when the hobby of collecting new cards died.

Tamper proof? Each row of packs went in order, open the top
Two packs and I could tell you the entire box.
Loved upper decks tamper proof packs

[BigDan502]

I love how eBay made everyones both best and worst list,
Which is 100 percent the way it Should be

[steve B]

Originally Posted by 53Browns

Darkest moment: The demies of the wax pack when Upper Deck created the tamper proof pack in 1989. This is truly when the hobby of collecting new cards died.

Topps did a "limited" run of tamperproof packs in 1983 in direct response to the tylenol tampering scare in late 82.

Never was a big fan of upper deck. And I'm always amazed they survived getting caught reprinting their own cards. Of course counterfeiting their own cards (Again! but game cards this time) probably helped them lose the MLB license.

Steve B

[U240robert]

Originally Posted by novakjr

I believe Topps did a factory set in '74.

Yeah they did !
They also had 'presentation' sets from as far back as the early 60's.
Although not sold to the public they were given out by Topps.

[U240robert]

In my years of collecting '75--present day

Worse

1- the idiotic inserts that have taken over the card industry for the past 20 years. I've seen kids open a pack of cards, dump the cards on the ground just to get the insert making the cards worthless.
2- Mass production of cards in the 80'- 90's killed the hobby. The card companies got so greedy.
Dumb speculators in the 80's and 90's that manipulated the prices of the hobby. I remember the Billy Ripken ---Face card going up in price several times during the same show. A month later the cards sat at dealer tables without any interest. As a result of the speculators, the card companies massed produced.

4- Multiple releases every year has also been apart of the reason the new card market is dead. Topps/Upper Deck/ Donruss/Fleer all had multiple full sets every year it was nearly impossible to keep up.
How on earth could a kid collect all that.

5- Ebay- has turned everyone into a dealer and most shouldn't even try it. Cards are over graded/ altered and misleading. Ebay is very much like the wild west of the sports card world. Ebay and the mass production of cards have also killed off the local card shops and shows.


Best
1- Beckett. Regardless of prices the initial books help bring alot of information on sports cards to a mass audience. I started collecting cards in the 1970's when I was 10-12 yrs old and to find a baseball card guide of any sort was very difficult. I remember the Sports Collectors Bible by Bert Randolph Sugar but his card listings were very general. Not the detail that the Beckett guides offered.
2- Magazines and newspapers in the early days like the 'Trader Speaks' and 'Sports Collectors Digest'. Along with Baseball Card Monthly magazine from the early 1980's. Back then I thought it was cool someone put out a magazine on baseball cards. I remember SCD in the 80's and early 90's when an issue may be 200 pages and filled with ads and info.
3- Sports Card shows/conventions and the local card shops.
4- Donruss and Fleer. Initially it was great to have more than Topps
to choose from. Donruss and Fleer produced some of the nicest cards of the 80's. I still think the '84 Donruss set was the best set from the 80's, even though alot like the Upper Deck set.
5- Ebay- despite the problems with dealers/scam artists and the ilk.
On ebay you can find just about any card from the past 50 years at any given moment making it the ultimate convention.

Things that annoyed me from the past- besides the insert mania but going to a card show and seeing dealers with beanie babie type toys and not sports cards. That was part of the reason I stopped going to local mall shows-- not many dealers actually sold cards. Mostly crap.