General Forum

Good morning!  I'm still making my way through my son Ian's 1986 Topps cards and have noticed a few things about his collection, other collections here, discussions about collections and their cards, collectors, and players --- but not much about card players.  

I love that his '86 Topps cards were played with.  Corners banged to hexx, creased, MGR checklists checked, and corner marks on duplicates -- plus the wax stains -- still he moved on to '87 without finishing '86 (obviously not enough $ -- we didn't buy him cards). 

Each year after '86 were played with less and less.  Kinda bummed to tell ya more than ya may want to know.  I really really really like these '86 cards.  Perhaps it's a form of grief bias ... but shouldn't cards that were obviously played with be worth more (monetarily) than cards that are treated like the British monarchy's crown jewels? 

Is there a community for collectors of cards with stories behind them?  What about a site for odd-duck collections?  For example, what about the orbs?  What about gross miscut / off-centers?  Or random lines?  See my twitter post for examples of the types of cards that have the most value to me, personally, given their uniqueness in context of year, wear, and "error" (ahem ... variation).  

Sorry if this is a common question.  Old man here ... just doing this on my extra spare time and when I can handle it emotionally.  

Off to Bed!  Up way too late for early bird me.  Blessings all. 

Russell and my dog Singleton, utterly the best comforter on earth. 

The Chronicles of Fuji always has a good story to tell about his cards.  He even has a "damaged card" collection of cards that have "seen some stuff, man."  Creases, scribbling, missing paper, etc.  Look for "damaged card pc" in his list of Labels down the left of the page.

I've still got all the 1983 Topps cards from my very first pack I bought in 1984.  Not a sharp corner in the bunch.

Hi Russell, there is a group of collectors that enjoy the lesser condition cards, however, most of them are in the pre-1980s camp. (Not saying there is no one out there who would enjoy getting your son's cards, but it's certainly not the majority of today's collectors.) The unfortante thing in this case is the years your son bought cards were the same years just about everyone on this site also bought cards, and in cases like myself, bought more and more cards in the late 80s as I was gaining in my teen years then and was actually earning money (in 1986, I started working for a trading card company). I wasn't alone in the bulk purchases of wax packs/boxes during this time. Because of the sheer amount of cards from this time period available, buyers today are looking (primarily) for cards in great shape. And even then, those cards are largely penny-dime cards with the occassional quarter here and there (minus the key rookies which can fetch a couple bucks or more). But when the gemmintiest card of Alan Knicely in the 1986 Topps set can only bring in a nickel, one that's beat to heck is rarely going to bring in anything.

Trading cards are much like coin and currency collecting - and much of the value is based on condition, then age and rarity. Unfortunately, 1986-1991 baseball cards still do not have the "age" factor yet, and certainly have no rarity. and because of that, there's little value to begin with.

That said, if you decide to sell the cards, you will most likely get a buyer, but don't expect to get anywhere near the same amout if these 1986s were in pack-fresh condition. There are collectors who like the "well-loved" cards, just generally, not this era of cards. 

I don't know about a community. There are just one or two of these kinds of nuts on every site I imagine.

I have a binder where I put error or damaged cards that are not baseball or non-sport. For there, it is only limited to 1 card per set. For baseball I will prioritize damaged cards over good condition ones in my player collection.

So when I bought a small collection and in there was half of a 1987 Randy Myers card, you can bet I kept it.

Hi Russ,

You could certainly start your own thread here talking about your son and his collection and updating it. I think several members would follow along. I wouldn't doubt as well that you might get some followers that would send you some missing cards to help you complete those sets. It might be more gratifying to receive just a few of the needed cards in a PWE and each time you receive some you can post an update about the cards received and a story about your son. I have plenty of cards you would need that I can send along so for me it would be more taking time to send them out. I have less duplicates of 1986 but I have thousands of 1987 Topps and would be willing to send you some in a PWE when you get to working on that. Best of Luck.

Brent

I also love a beat up card with a good story behind it.

I have many cards from my childhood in well-loved condition as they traveled everywhere in my pocket and always wrapped tightly in a rubber band or two.

I would enjoy reading along about you son's collection if you did want to post a thread about it.

I absolutely love cards with stories! I have 30-50 different cards all with their own unique stories just seperate from my main PC bunch of random stuff from my dad's first 1/1 which he kept on his office desk for nearly 10 years and I was always fascinated by it to a Random basketball printing plate which was eaten by a dog and the seller was even kind enough to send me a photo of the offender in question in his little time out area and had the photo "signed" by his miscreant dog. Cards with stories are fundamental to what we do as collectors and many people may not have more than 1. But every time I come across a card with a story  I take the story to heart and will hopefully always remember and one day pass down these stories and their cards attached to another collector.

Ickrotachi

When I started collecting again after the service it was the 2019 Topps S1 set. My daughter was 7 and missing some teeth. Her and my boy would open the packs and then show their favorites then they would hand them to me and I would sleeve or stack or whatever we were doing with them and one round Gemma held a card back. I said hey what you got there and she was blushing and said "hes cute Daddy, im gonna marry him" I said what do you mean when your 50 whoever that is will be on social security and your not marrying anybody till your 50 sorry. She turned the card and said so loud and squeeky But its FWEDDDIEEEE FWEEEMAN! I lost it I swear I laughed for the rest of the night. 

That card is in a box I have for her labeled "Stuff for Gemma that I saved for one reason or another" See the Card Father for details, he will never forget them"

Im sorry for your loss my friend, I too would follow your thread

Brian

I don't know of any sites that specifically cater to what you are talking about but I'd happily offer up a "guest spot" on my blog (Nachos Grande) if you'd like to reach a (slightly?) larger audience.  My first childhood set that I recall getting much of was the 1987 Topps set so you are squarely in "nostalgia" range for myself already!