Today I got to talking about Jose Canseco with a guy I work with. I don't remember how Mr. Canseco came up. We were talking about Charlie Sheen, and I guess one train wreck leads to another.
Anyway, buddy says he used to love Jose Canseco. In fact, he says he still has Jose Canseco's rookie card.
"Topps or Donruss?" I ask. Donruss produced Canseco's rookie card first. Topps' Canseco card came in an addendum to the 1986 set called a Topps Traded set. Fleer did the same thing with an "Update" set. But since Donruss beat them to the punch the Donruss Canseco rookie card is the most desirous one. WAS the most desirous one...
"Donruss," he replies.
"Does it say Rated Rookie on it?"
"I believe it does," he replies.
He goes on to tell me about other cards he may still have lying around somewhere.
Frank Thomas rookie card --
"Topps? 1990?"
"I believe so," he replies.
"Is he down on one knee, still in his college uniform?"
"Yep," he replies.
Ken Griffey, Jr. rookie card --
"Is it Upper Deck?" I ask.
"Yep," he replies.
"1989?"
"Yep. Bat slung over his shoulder," he replies.
I tell him that these three cards could have each netted him several hundred dollars in the early 1990s.
"How much are they worth now?" he asks.
"About $20 all together."
If he finds a generous buyer.
In the 1980s people were discovering that their stash of cards stowed away in the attic, the ones they collected as kids in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, were in fact very valuable collectibles. Everybody began scooping up as many baseball cards as they could, dreaming about how much they would appreciate in value in a couple dozen years.
Card companies, responding to demand, began over-producing cards in the 1980s and 1990s. For a while this didn't effect the value of particular cards. If a card is valuable now, people figured, imagine how much MORE valuable it will be in the future. So everybody kept buying, and prices kept going up. The Jose Cansecos and Frank Thomases and Ken Griffeys became investments.
Eventually people realized that these cards were actually pretty easy to come by, and as demand ebbed their value dropped. And dropped. And dropped. Of course, it doesn't help when your "investment" has trouble landing D-list celebrity boxing gigs later in life. (Seriously, did you hear about this? Jose was slated to box. He sent his twin brother to fight instead AS IF NOBODY WOULD NOTICE.)
I told him that there were some Frank Thomas rookie card variations that may still be valuable. On one of them Topps forgot to put his name on the front of the card. That one is pretty rare, so maybe he should check to see if he has it. But I know he doesn't. He has the used-to-be-valuable-but-no-longer card. So do I. So does everybody else. It's currently appreciating a few cents in a closet somewhere.
Anyway, buddy says he used to love Jose Canseco. In fact, he says he still has Jose Canseco's rookie card.
"Topps or Donruss?" I ask. Donruss produced Canseco's rookie card first. Topps' Canseco card came in an addendum to the 1986 set called a Topps Traded set. Fleer did the same thing with an "Update" set. But since Donruss beat them to the punch the Donruss Canseco rookie card is the most desirous one. WAS the most desirous one...
"Donruss," he replies.
"Does it say Rated Rookie on it?"
"I believe it does," he replies.
He goes on to tell me about other cards he may still have lying around somewhere.
Frank Thomas rookie card --
"Topps? 1990?"
"I believe so," he replies.
"Is he down on one knee, still in his college uniform?"
"Yep," he replies.
Ken Griffey, Jr. rookie card --
"Is it Upper Deck?" I ask.
"Yep," he replies.
"1989?"
"Yep. Bat slung over his shoulder," he replies.
I tell him that these three cards could have each netted him several hundred dollars in the early 1990s.
"How much are they worth now?" he asks.
"About $20 all together."
If he finds a generous buyer.
In the 1980s people were discovering that their stash of cards stowed away in the attic, the ones they collected as kids in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, were in fact very valuable collectibles. Everybody began scooping up as many baseball cards as they could, dreaming about how much they would appreciate in value in a couple dozen years.
Card companies, responding to demand, began over-producing cards in the 1980s and 1990s. For a while this didn't effect the value of particular cards. If a card is valuable now, people figured, imagine how much MORE valuable it will be in the future. So everybody kept buying, and prices kept going up. The Jose Cansecos and Frank Thomases and Ken Griffeys became investments.
Eventually people realized that these cards were actually pretty easy to come by, and as demand ebbed their value dropped. And dropped. And dropped. Of course, it doesn't help when your "investment" has trouble landing D-list celebrity boxing gigs later in life. (Seriously, did you hear about this? Jose was slated to box. He sent his twin brother to fight instead AS IF NOBODY WOULD NOTICE.)
I told him that there were some Frank Thomas rookie card variations that may still be valuable. On one of them Topps forgot to put his name on the front of the card. That one is pretty rare, so maybe he should check to see if he has it. But I know he doesn't. He has the used-to-be-valuable-but-no-longer card. So do I. So does everybody else. It's currently appreciating a few cents in a closet somewhere.
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