On the top shelf of my closet back in South Florida sits a dust covered box. Its fairly makeshift, with its stiff cardboard and little lock that I believed was an unbreakable seal of security. It made perfect sense at 10-years-old. I guarded that box with my life, because, ultimately, it was the most valuable thing I owned. Inside sat a signed Mickey Mantle card, a Roger Maris rookie card, a Nolan Ryan rookie, and other precious keepsakes of the heroes of baseball’s history.
Many Sundays consisted of my father and me going down to a local mall where they setup trade shows and stands as far as your eye could see. The tables were lodged edge to edge with vendors interested in the trading of little pieces of cardboard with men’s faces on them. This was a little boy’s paradise, and if you weren’t a little boy who collected them, you were at least knowledgable about the whole trading card practice. In the late 80s, the industry was booming. I remember when the Upper Deck brand of cards premiered, the full MLS box went for over $100, with the promise of gaining value with time. This was the pitch… and we all bought it. Myself. My father, who is himself a shrewd investor. The thousands of other collectors.
So what are these precious cards worth now in 2006? Almost nothing. Its amazing. In my father’s time, they used to put baseball cards into the spokes of their bicycle wheels, and when the 80s rolled around, they wished they had kept them. So, in the 80s and early 90s, we kept them, and now where are we? Almost broke in the baseball card industry. What happened? When I was growing up, I remember Topps and Fleer. They made almost everything. Upper Deck debuted as the new thing, with their UV coating, extra clear photos, and holographic logos. Last year there were almost 90 different baseball card companies. As with any retail product, saturation drives prices down. People lose interest. They look for the next big thing. There was Pokemon, then Pogs, and Magic Cards.
Can the cards come back? I hope so. Here’s what’s gotta happen.
- Baseball needs to be revived even more in America. Its having a good year, which is a good sign.
- There needs to be less card companies. This is already on track. There are about 40 baseball card companies this year. That’s still 38 too many.
- The league needs more heroes. Growing up, these players were flawless heroes to me. I am sure they made their mistakes, but it seems the Barry Bonds, Daryl Strawberries, and others have really blown it for kids looking up to ballplayers like they used to.
I hope to go home next month and shuffle through my little box in my closet. I may even have an unopened Topps pack, that I can shuffle through for a Griffey rookie card, and enjoy my stick of extra-stale gum. Then again, its probably just as stale now as it was back then.
