Been buying up packs, sets and boxes now I need to decide how to sort

[wdwfan]

I've been buying a few boxes and sets from the junk wax era (1980s-1992). I've broken some of the boxes, and I've decided I wanted to break apart the sets and organize them for trading/selling. My question is where should I put certain players.

A.) Rookies
Which RCs should I pull? I know there's the big ones like Ripken ('82), Boggs, Sandberg, Gwynn ('83), etc. I know I need to pull out those. But what "second tier" RCs should I pull out of the commons box? I'm referring to guys like Julio Franco, Joe Carter, Doc Gooden, Daryl Strawberry, Jose Canseco, Bo Jackson, Barry Larkin, Palmeiro, Clark, Biggio, Sheffield, Edgar Martinez, Smoltz, Sosa, Gonzalez, etc.

B.) Stars
Who should I consider stars? I know guys like Ripken, Gwynn, Boggs, other HOFers are going to sorted into individual players and pulled from the commons box. But what about other second level stars or HOFers that are past their prime/collectible time? I'm talking guys like Rose, Schmidt, Frank Robinson (mgr card), etc.

Again, this is for years like 1980-1992. I'm going to be sorting everything into commons boxes and then into stars and RCs and setting up to sell at shows. Going to sell the commons for the following prices: 1980 for 15 cents each or 8 for $1, 1981-1985 for 10 cents each (!2 for $1) and 1986-1992 for 5 cents each (or 25 for $1).

[swarmee]

Sounds like a lot of work for no gain. I just donate mine to charity. Is your goal to actually make money?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Sounds like a lot of work for no gain. I just donate mine to charity. Is your goal to actually make money?

Like swarmee said, donating them is by far the best way to make $ with junk era cards. If you can find a place that will take them.

From my experience those cards are worth WAY more still in packs and boxes. Once opened they are basically worthless.

I tried giving mine away with no luck and finally ended up burning around 250k cards from that era. I even tried selling a full large USPS box full of only star and super star players. I got $.15 for my troubles, yes 15 cents.

[steve B]

That's weird.

A friend of mine picked up a bunch of boxes of junk wax era stuff, something line 10-15 3200 count boxes.
I checked it out for him and found a handful of cards I liked, mostly oddball stuff or UD cards with different holograms.

He got it for free from a town free or cheap stuff website.

I offered $50 sight unseen, but he knows I rarely sell things and basically held that as a last resort. He advertised it all, less a couple boxes of game cards, and ended up getting $60.

I've taken similar boxes to flea markets, and didn't sell much. It did lead to my favorite sale though. One kid asked how many cards he could get for his handful of change. He had maybe 35 cents. After getting moms permission, I told him he could have as many as he could hold in two hands. He ended up with a couple hundred cards.

I have done well with that sort of stuff at yard sales. Unsorted, unless it was a set, and mostly not in baseball card boxes.
I used to pull any card that was in Beckett, plus players I thought had an outside chance at a career milestone like 3000 hits or strikeouts etc.
I still have most of that stuff.

[Tripredacus]

Even tho there has been a recent boom in interest in junk wax era products, the supply is still much larger than the demand. I think it is just due to the cards having very low value, and being priced accordingly people can just buy a box or a complete set for cheap.

If you want a feel for the secondary market, go to a card show. If anyone has those cards, they are likely to be dime box or cheaper, or bulk lots. Then you can get an example of how it is done, and whether your idea will work out. If you are doing it just for fun, maybe do team lots. I used to do that on Ebay but it was a lot of work. Even so, never made a profit.

[buymycards]

I used to sell a lot of this stuff at shows. People won't pay 1 cent each for commons. I was selling 3000 count boxes for $8 (The empty box costs $4). Sometimes they would sell and sometimes they wouldn't. Most stars and rookies from 1986 through 1992 went into my dime box, along with most of the inserts. If someone offered me $30 for a 3000 count box of dime cards, I took it. There were other dealers that brought dozens of these types of boxes.

There are some exceptions, such as tough inserts and big name rookies, but good luck getting more than a buck for most of these.

I purchased most of the cards as parts of larger collections, so I got rid of the junk at the shows and put the better cards on eBay.

Rick

[wdwfan]

I've talked to the local Boys and Girls Club about donating, and they won't take them. The nearest children's hospital is in Dallas, about 140 miles away. I'm not donating them to Goodwill. So there's really no option to donate.

So you would burn a 1980 Topps Nolan Ryan (BV $10) or 1982 Topps Cal RIpken Jr. RC (BV $40)? I find that hard to believe. I'm really just wanting to pull HOFers and key RCs out of these and then do whatever I need to do with the commons. If I can give them away to people working on sets (for just the cost of shipping), so be it. It helps someone else out.

But I just can't fathom burning or throwing out RCs of guys like Ripken, Sandberg, McGwire, Mattingly and HOFer cards like Ryan, Schmidt, Henderson, etc.

Originally Posted by bnorth

Like swarmee said, donating them is by far the best way to make $ with junk era cards. If you can find a place that will take them.

From my experience those cards are worth WAY more still in packs and boxes. Once opened they are basically worthless.

I tried giving mine away with no luck and finally ended up burning around 250k cards from that era. I even tried selling a full large USPS box full of only star and super star players. I got $.15 for my troubles, yes 15 cents.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by wdwfan

I've talked to the local Boys and Girls Club about donating, and they won't take them. The nearest children's hospital is in Dallas, about 140 miles away. I'm not donating them to Goodwill. So there's really no option to donate.

So you would burn a 1980 Topps Nolan Ryan (BV $10) or 1982 Topps Cal RIpken Jr. RC (BV $40)? I find that hard to believe. I'm really just wanting to pull HOFers and key RCs out of these and then do whatever I need to do with the commons. If I can give them away to people working on sets (for just the cost of shipping), so be it. It helps someone else out.

But I just can't fathom burning or throwing out RCs of guys like Ripken, Sandberg, McGwire, Mattingly and HOFer cards like Ryan, Schmidt, Henderson, etc.

Opening packs from the early 80's is a huge $ loser. Boggs, Sandberg, and Gwynn rookie can be bought for a few $ each. Unless you pull and get one graded a PSA 10 you are throwing $ out the window of a moving vehicle.

I burned cards from 1985-2000 including all the rookies and star players because for me it was not worth sorting. I made a thread and posted pics on here of it.

Maybe you will have better luck than me and several others.

[wdwfan]

My goal is to be able to help others working on sets from those years. I enjoy building sets, and I am sure others do too. It's frustrating to try and find stuff for said sets. So I'm hoping to help others out.

My goal isn't to make money. If I happen to make a few bucks on the side, so be it. I"ll turn around and use that few bucks to buy more sets/packs/boxes/cards.

Originally Posted by swarmee

Sounds like a lot of work for no gain. I just donate mine to charity. Is your goal to actually make money?