Has the Junk card era ended? If so, when?

Balticfox · #1 03-24-2025, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Never heard of the junk card era. There was a junk wax era.

If you are referring to the junk wax era, yes, it ended long ago. That era was defined by wax where the most expensive card you could pull was a base card with 3 million copies.

I chose my words carefully. Yes, the term "junk wax" is the one most commonly heard. But!!! The last year any cards could be found in traditional wax packs was 1991. And the junk era for cards extended for many more years. Whether five, ten or until the present is the only question.

OhioLawyerF5 · #2 03-25-2025, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balticfox

I chose my words carefully. Yes, the term "junk wax" is the one most commonly heard. But!!! The last year any cards could be found in traditional wax packs was 1991. And the junk era for cards extended for many more years. Whether five, ten or until the present is the only question.

In that case, my answer is there has never been a junk card era. There have always been great cards to collect in all eras.

Additionally, it is pedantic to refuse to call unopened cards "wax" just because the original source of the name came from a method of sealing the product that is now obsolete. From the first foil wrapper, the hobby has consistently continued to colloquially refer to unopened product as wax. But you do you.

Balticfox · #3 03-25-2025, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

In that case, my answer is there has never been a junk card era. There have always been great cards to collect in all eras.

Keep in mind that I wasn't the one who invented the term "junk" to refer to these cards. Some fabulous looking cards were released during this era whatever the boundaries. I have over a dozen binders of post-1990 cards myself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Additionally, it is pedantic to refuse to call unopened cards "wax" just because the original source of the name came from a method of sealing the product that is now obsolete. From the first foil wrapper, the hobby has consistently continued to colloquially refer to unopened product as wax. But you do you.

I have no problem pleading guilty to being pedantic. I've been that way since high school. But when it comes to pedantry, most participants on this forum would agree that your skills are second to none.

So when, if ever, do you think the junk/junk wax era ended?

OhioLawyerF5 · #4 03-25-2025, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balticfox

Keep in mind that I wasn't the one who invented the term "junk" to refer to these cards. Some fabulous looking cards were released during this era whatever the boundaries. I have over a dozen binders of post-1990 cards myself.

I have no problem pleading guilty to being pedantic. I've been that way since high school. But when it comes to pedantry, most participants on this forum would agree that your skills are second to none.

So when, if ever, do you think the junk/junk wax era ended?

Let me also be pedantic.

The term "junk" never refered to the cards. It refered to the wax. The cards were always great. It was the cost of a box compared to the value of what could possibly come out of it that made the wax junk.

And while we are defnitely in an era of overpriced wax, where people (gamblers) pay big bucks for a tiny chance at an extremely valuable card and usually end up with a fraction of the cost of the box, it is this remote possibility that distinguishes this era from the junk wax era.

Elberson · #5 03-25-2025, 01:57 PM

To a vintage collector��..its still all junk

REG1976 · #6 03-25-2025, 04:00 PM

Junk = Trash

That's where they end up in the end

Lucas00 · #7 03-25-2025, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elberson

To a vintage collector��..its still all junk

Right,
To me personally Junk wax started in about 1972 and continues to this day. It's just how I see it, I have no desire to own 99.9% of any cards post 1971.

Balticfox · #8 03-25-2025, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

It was the cost of a box compared to the value of what could possibly come out of it that made the wax junk.

If so, that was just as true in 1948, 1952, 1960, 1970 and 1980 as it was in 1990. Therefore the junk wax era would have started way back when Baseball cards first started being packaged with bubble gum. While that could well be the case, that's not typically the way the "junk wax" term is used.

Peter_Spaeth · #9 03-25-2025, 06:41 PM

I thought the term junk wax referred to the boxes being produced in such mass quantities that they weren't worth much.

OhioLawyerF5 · #10 03-25-2025, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I thought the term junk wax referred to the boxes being produced in such mass quantities that they weren't worth much.

That, coupled with the pre-rare insert era, is the reason for the term. But it never would have been called junk wax, even printed in those quantities, if there was a shot to pull something rare and valuable out of it.

OhioLawyerF5 · #11 03-25-2025, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balticfox

If so, that was just as true in 1948, 1952, 1960, 1970 and 1980 as it was in 1990. Therefore the junk wax era would have started way back when Baseball cards first started being packaged with bubble gum. While that could well be the case, that's not typically the way the "junk wax" term is used.

Not really. There were "only" about 250,000 of each card produced back then. During the junk wax era, there were several million. That's significant. Remember, the term junk wax wasn't used during the era. Everyone thought the cards would pay for their kid's college. The difference between the eras is that quantities of 50s cards went down as people's collections disappeared, while everyone kept their 80s cards, and so much was made that more keeps getting opened to this very day.

I'm not sure where you get the idea that the term junk wax isn't used to refer to the wax, but it always has. It's literally in the name.

Balticfox · #12 03-26-2025, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

I'm not sure where you get the idea that the term junk wax isn't used to refer to the wax, but it always has. It's literally in the name.

Because it's not really in the name. The term is used for cards that came out long after card companies stopped using wax wrappers. The derivation of the term is therefore far from clear.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Remember, the term junk wax wasn't used during the era.

Precisely! And I've always thought that all the 1990's gimmicks - e.g. chase cards, parallel sets, autographed cards, jersey cards, manufactured scarcities - were what ended up spawning the term "junk". Gimmicky=junky.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Meh, I love baseball cards and I love baseball.

And I just collect Barry Larkin.

Now that I find really tough to understand. If you love both baseball and baseball cards, how can you limit yourself to just a single player? Surely you must like some sets/subsets a lot more than others so how can you not be tempted to get all those cards anyway?

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