by John W. Losh Ii

Created on: March 25, 2007   Last Updated: November 25, 2008

All I know is, today's sports card buying is certainly NOT what it used to be! I began collecting mostly baseball, but some football cards as a kid. Moved several times between ages 17 and 19, and lost my football cards. Anyway,in my youth, I never really understood the value-just knew that I could't wait for Saturdays, to get my allowance, buy some cards, and open them , and chew the bubble-gum while I watched Johnny Bench teach kids Baseball Fundamentals on "The Baseball Bunch", then watch Mel Allen sum up "This Week....In Baseball", followed by the NBC Saturday Game of the week-even an occaisional double-header. (Especially when those games included my hometown KC Royals-as the 1985 World Series Champ guys were still playing-the ones that the song "Baseball In KC" was written about). The grocery stores were always offering some Royals Promotional items, for buying so much in groceries-like player glasses, autographed photos, etc. Heck, back then, you could get Royals games on local-tv, WITHOUT having to have Cable, 6 days in a row-today, if you don't have "Metro Sports" or "Fox Sports Net", forget it!

Anyway, I kept all my Baseball "Bubble-Gum Cards", and, a guy that I met at one of my jobs,that has been one of my best friends, since about 1988, pulled out his Life-Long collection, and showed me the values of some of the cards, (He kept track regularally through Beckett Baseball Card Monthly"-Which is also NOT what it was, even at that time), encouraged me to bring my cards over, and we'd price them. I had
guys like George Brett, Cal Ripken Jr, Roger Clemons, Reggie Jackson, "Donnie Baseball"-Don Mattingly, and many of My cards were really worth something-so I was hooked! We started collecting together, and at that time (about 1990/1991), you could buy a box with 36 Packs, containing 10 cards each,that even had enough duplicates,that I got one, he got one, and I was able to save one for my then unborn, but now 12 year old son, all for just $10.00. The owner of the card-shop I spent most of my time in then, later got me into Football cards again as well.

But, today, card buying is a complete Rip-Off! You can't spend that same $10.00,for a box, you have to spend $20.00 or more, and you MIGHT get 5 packs, with MAYBE 5 cards per pack. The only way around that, is to buy a variety pack, with packs from various different brands-and maybe for that $20.00, you might get a decent amount of cards, that will also be from different years. And, what you used to spend $1.50 for, in an individual pack, will cost you $3.00 or more, just to get 10-12 cards.

And, if you want to make trades-the card shops will direct you to come to "Trade Night", and you're a nearly 40 year-old, being offered a buch of $2.00 cards, by a bunch of snot-nosed 10 year olds, for your $50.00 Cal Ripken card, when the hard plastic Screw-Together casing you have it carefully preserved in, cost you more than three of their $2.00 offerings. And, you may even spend MORE than that $10.00. if you want to buy that same circa 1988 or so 35-Pack, 10-Card-Per-Pack Box. And trying to price those cards, by buying the magazines or Price books......Good Luck!
I used to do a Part-Time, Once-A-Week Faith-Based Sports Radio Show, and would have LOVED Making opening card-packs on-the-air, part of the show,but never did, for these same reasons.

Needless to say, I don't buy cards regularally anymore-every once in a while, I may buy a couple individual packs-usually in Football Cards, hoping to get players on my Fantasy Football roster for the season, and our League Commissioner usually gives each team owner cards of each of their players, at the close of the season.

These days my chosen Hobby is more Die-Cast and model car collecting.

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