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

Balticfox · #1 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 · #2 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 · #3 03-25-2025, 01:57 PM

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

REG1976 · #4 03-25-2025, 04:00 PM

Junk = Trash

That's where they end up in the end

Lucas00 · #5 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 · #6 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 · #7 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 · #8 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.

Peter_Spaeth · #9 03-25-2025, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

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.

And to make it worse, so many of the 80s RCs are in the traded/update sets.

OhioLawyerF5 · #10 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 · #11 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?

OhioLawyerF5 · #12 03-27-2025, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balticfox

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.

Yeah, term junk wax definitely does not refer to the scarce inserts and parallels of the 90s. I have never heard it used that way. It refers to a period in the mid 80s through early 90s, just prior to the era of inserts and parallels. Sets like 1993 Finest and others began the destruction of the junk wax era. I think you have gotten some bad info about the term, as it's used in the hobby.

Quote:

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?

You clearly misunderstood what I was saying. The quote you cited was a statement I made concerning rare 90s inserts. OF THOSE, I only collect Larkin. I used the term "only" to compare to the likes of Griffey and Jeter, referring to his prices "only" being thousands rather than hundreds of thousands.

But I collect cards of all eras. From 19th century and other pre-war cards, through the golden era of the 50s and 60s, to rare 90s cards, up through modern rookies and stars of my team.

I definitely don't only colllect Larkin, and wasn't implying such. But in the rare and expensive 90s cards, I only buy Larkins. For an admitted pedant, it's odd how you would remove a sentence entirely from its context to make it mean something entirely different from what was said.

Balticfox · #13 03-27-2025, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

I think you have gotten some bad info about the term, as it's used in the hobby.

I didn't get any bad info since I didn't get any hard info at all prior to starting this thread.That's why I started this thread. Whether I'm getting any good info now remains to be seen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

You clearly misunderstood what I was saying. The quote you cited was a statement I made concerning rare 90s inserts. OF THOSE, I only collect Larkin. I used the term "only" to compare to the likes of Griffey and Jeter, referring to his prices "only" being thousands rather than hundreds of thousands.

I definitely don't only collect Larkin, and wasn't implying such. But in the rare and expensive 90s cards, I only buy Larkins. For an admitted pedant, it's odd how you would remove a sentence entirely from its context to make it mean something entirely different from what was said.

I didn't take your post out of context. I thought you were saying exactly that Barry Larkin's are the only chase cards you collect from the 1990's. But I can't understand why you as a baseball fan and baseball card enthusiast would be collecting only the Larkin card from insert sets. Sure, I understand that you might not be able to either afford or stomach paying the truly inflated prices the Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey Jr. cards command, but why do you not go after the other players in subsets you find really attractive? And are there any master sets or even base sets at all from the 1990's that you're trying to complete?

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