Vintage APBA Cards: Any Value at All?
 

Just wondering if the couple hundred random cards remaining from the joy/scourge of my youth, APBA Baseball, have any value or interest at all? I have everyone from Yogi Berra to Ed Bouchee. I'm sure not much value--not exactly Tom Barker or Fan Craze--but wonder if any?

PM sent from an old APBA guy.

If you need any, I probably have them.

There is value of the early years 1950-1957. Anything after that is not that rare. Older out of print issues with rarity are now being printed as they are ordered by the new owner, which should have an adverse effects on the value of previously short-printed sets.

Actually I play a lot of Apba. Reprints are reformulated so there is still some value to full Sets even through the mid 70s...

Vintage APBA Cards
 

How do you tell the age of them. I bougt a geat many 15 years ago and they are still in the closet. How do I tell the age?

Have a green infield plus some mailing boxes. I thimk they might be from the 60.

Any help would be appresiated

Vic Stanley

psafootball@verizon.net

Hi Greg -- since you asked if they had any value at all, then the answer is definitely yes. APBA games and card sets are avidly collected by many, and while many season sets have been reprinted (some more than once), both the original editions and the reprint sets will find buyers.

Naturally, age, condition, and completeness affect price, but like we always say, "ya never know at auction." Original 1950s sets generally command the highest prices -- sometimes over $1000. for a complete set in minty shape -- but complete, minty sets from the '60s and '70s, and occasionally even the '90s, can go for $100.-$200. Of course, even high-demand sets can get away for as little as $20.-$40., too, and sets of more recent issue or in lesser condition can be had for $10. or even less.

Vic, you can determine the season set to which a card belongs by the placement of the red 12. It's next to the same black number on every player's card in the same season, but next to a different black number on every card in other seasons, if that makes sense. Ferinstance, the red 12 is next to the black 26 on every card in the 1951 season set (issued in 1952), but next to the black 23 on every card in the 1954 season set (issued in 1955), and so on. The red 12 is also next to the black 26 on every card in the 1968 season set (issued in 1969) and the 1997 set (issued in 1998), but the players included in the set will quickly show which year it's from. Reprint sets usually have a copyright date on the cards.

Hoping that's of some help...

Yes original issue cards, especially full sets and team sets do have value. Even if that season was re-issued, the re-issue is not the same. The "stats" makeup and many pitcher grades of the reprint is very often different from the original due to I believe a newer formula in creating the cards. The "12" will tell you the season. And even in the re-issues the 12 will reside on a different outcome.

I'm sure if you give some examples of your cards where the 12 lies, there will be members here who can identify the season. I was an old APBA player and still have a few sets and I think I have a list of seasons and the twelve, and can assist in looking up seasons.

Here's a link to the 12s and corresponding season numbers.

http://www.apba.net/zip/12.htm

I recently sold a well loved 1958 set (original) to pay for a well loved DeLong Gehrig...they went for about teh same, around $300.

Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately I do not have anything like a full set from any year, just a few hundred scattered cards mainly from '57 to '60. I wondered if individual Hall of Fame cards from then have any value. I thought they might when I sold a Koufax and a Clemente for about $15 each on eBay last year but then none of the others sold (not even Mays) so I think that was just a fluke... BTW, I have been in an APBA computer league since '88 with a friend and we have won a few titles....

I sold a large hoard of apba...mostly baseball...a fair amt of football...and some basketball and golf. Most was complete, mint and unused. There was a lot of value there...but sadly there is little value to be gained from less than complete seasons of all teams...and even less for random cards...from my experience.

Good news is that it seems there is a healthy group who still collect/play apba!?

I sold a large hoard of apba...mostly baseball...a fair amt of football...and some basketball and golf. Most was complete, mint and unused. There was a lot of value there...but sadly there is little value to be gained from less than complete seasons of all teams...and even less for random cards...from my experience.

Good news is that it seems there is a healthy group who still collect/play apba!?

Chiming in to say there's a buyer of APBA season sets right here if anyone has season sets from the 30s to mid-late 80s! I can take the cards for tabletop play or season disks for PC, whatever you got.

I'm not interested in valuable collectible sets, cheap reprints are my choice. "I play for the love of the game" :cool:

Thanks!

~Matthew