The Junk Wax Era- when did it start?

[1963Topps Set]

I was comparing the highest value card of the 1954 Topps set to the highest value card of the 2014 set. I am willing to bet you 60 years down the road the highest value card from the 2014 set will not be worth anywhere near what the highest value 54 is worth now. I don't collect PSA graded cards, that is a racket I don't buy I into. I don't need a company, whose main concern is to make money to give me their opinion on a grade that I can clearly see for myself based on my 40 plus years as a collector. Also what you said can be said about any vintage set. Just a few of the high end cards and many commons and that is your set.

[1963Topps Set]

As aside note, I would rather have 100 commons from the 1954 Topps set, then 1000 commons from the 2014 Topps set.

[1952boyntoncollector]

I agree id rather have 1954 commons than whatever they are making now..

I haven't seen any cards that were made in the last 10 years....but I thougth there are autograph limited edition cards that are like inserts or something that will all be worth more than commons in 1954......like the regular cards of 2014 are what the chewing gum was in 1950s...

[1963Topps Set]

All I am saying is that baseball cards pre 1975 will never be considered "junk". The same can not be said for cards after the 1970s.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Well 15 years from now, the 45 year old buyers may want to buy 1980s cards in psa 10 condition versus any 1970s card in psa 10 condition...

the third party grading really is a game changer in terms of collectability of cards that otherwise would not of been collectible

[1963Topps Set]

1980s cards in high grade will be very easy to come by as values skyrocketed and everyone went directly to saving their cards. No playground flipping, no bike spokes, no throwing out, right into top loaders or plastic sheets and binders.

As for PSA, they changed the game all right. Now you can spend thousands on a 10 which would otherwise be a 2 dollar low number common.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by 1963Topps Set

1980s cards in high grade will be very easy to come by as values skyrocketed and everyone went directly to saving their cards. No playground flipping, no bike spokes, no throwing out, right into top loaders or plastic sheets and binders.

As for PSA, they changed the game all right. Now you can spend thousands on a 10 which would otherwise be a 2 dollar low number common.

right high grade a new definition for 1980s...psa 10 is the only high grade...and it not easy to come by....plastic sheets destroyed chances for psa 10s for the most part....the fact you can spend thousands on getting 10s proves my point......

[Jayworld]

Originally Posted by 1963Topps Set

1980s cards in high grade will be very easy to come by as values skyrocketed and everyone went directly to saving their cards. No playground flipping, no bike spokes, no throwing out, right into top loaders or plastic sheets and binders.

As for PSA, they changed the game all right. Now you can spend thousands on a 10 which would otherwise be a 2 dollar low number common.

+1 on this.

Collectors (and non-collectors) became very much aware of baseball cards and their values in the late 1970s-early 1980s and people began to horde cards; i.e. the "rookie card craze" (early issues of Baseball Card magazine from 1982 on had articles dedicated to "best rookie picks" for later sets), and by the time the "junk wax era" began, millions and millions of baseball cards were being produced by Topps, Fleer, and Donruss, and later Upper Deck, Score, etc. When I was collecting new product as a kid in the mid-1970s, I could only find wax packs at the neighborhood 7-11, and by the early 1980s, when Donruss and Fleer entered the market, this expanded to the neighborhood drug stores as well. By the late 1980s, I saw wax packs almost everywhere; 7-11s, convenience stores, gas stations, drug stores, local big "box" stores such as Walmart and Target, etc...

So, back to the OP query, I think the junk wax era began in the late 1980s, possibly 1987 or thereabouts. One can still get unopened wax boxes from the 1987, 1988 and up period for relatively cheap prices today, compared to late 1970s-early 1980s wax box prices.

Many collectors do like the third party grading, and I guess for some, that would make collecting late 1980s cards in top graded condition a collectible challenge (whereas otherwise not for raw cards of that era). I have never used TPG; guess I'm old school and prefer to put my cards in plastic sheets and look through them from time-to-time.