Question about Football card values..
 

Hi all,

I'm considering selling my meager football card collection. I have a question about values so I can set asking prices and prepare myself for what to expect. (I'm not expecting much :))



Question is: Do 70's 80's and 90's football card values generally mimic baseball cards from that era?


thanks for any opinions

Tony

p.s. same question about basketball cards.

Im confused by what it is your asking?

Football cards have nothing to do Baseball cards. They are not the same sport, the same players. Values of any cards are based on many things. The player, card condition, Supply and demand for said card(s)

Mimic? I don't know what you mean here. Football cards are not baseball cards and baseball cards are not football cards. Same with basketball.

Example: prices and values for 1976 Topps Football cards have absolutely nothing to do with 1976 Topps baseball cards. They are two different Sets who's values are base solely on the specific make up of each set. (Key Rookies, Hofers, card conditions, supply and demand of said set)

If your asking if the value of common cards from say.... 70's football cards sets are the same as 70's Baseball cards..... again the answer is NO. They have nothing to do with each other.

I do complete set runs of 60's, 70's and 80's Football cards. Baseball cards have nothing to do with the value of the football cards.

What is it your trying to sell? Im always looking for high grade upgrades for my 70's and 80's Football sets.

Im sure if you list what you have with some scans there are many knowledgable members here that would help you evaluate the cards.

John

My apologies for the confusion.:confused: I had trouble sorting thru your post as well. Although I did understand the part about football and baseball being two different sports. Thanks for clearing that up.:rolleyes:

I'll just go to ebay and sort thru completed listings like I should have done in the first place.

Ok so a 1974 topps ex-nrmt raw Terry Bradshaw sold on Nov 3 for 88 cents plus the requisite $2.50 shipping, handling, etc fee.

a 1974 Topps Mike Schmidt raw in similar condition sold for $3.09 + $2.50 on the same day.

That gives me a good idea.

just for fun,
I'll try to rephrase my orignal question. Admittedly, I didn't spend enough time trying to make myself clear. My bad...

Can I expect football cards in mainstream issues like topps, in similar condition, and of similar level stars at similar points in their career (Bradshaw vs Schmidt for example) to sell for about 1/2 to 1/3 the value of their baseball counterparts thru the 70's 80's and 90's?

i think i know what you are asking :)

football cards, really all cards from the 70-90's are worth about the same % of book as their baseball counterparts.

that being said, football cards were produced on a much smaller scale and may actually outpreform (did i just say that!) their baseball brothers over time.

hope that helps.....

Thank you sir, that does help.

I didn't realize they were produced on a much smaller scale. Is that true for the 90's as well?

FYI Tony, I dont think your OP was very confusing.

It is true however, that Baseball and Football are different sports. :)

I've always thought something seemed odd about the winter version of Baseball, now it makes more sense :D

yes, it's true but.....what's a % of a gazillion.....

so there are a buhzillion 90's football cards

Over the years I've spoken to a couple dealers at local shows and they comment on how they can always sell 70's football commons very well. They would much rather carry sharp football commons from the 70's than baseball. I tend to agree. I'll always stop to look through a 10 cent commons box of mid 70's football. I won't give a baseball box a second look. Just me.

In general, football cards are worth less when compared to baseball cards of the same year. There are obviously exceptions to this rule. For instance, the value of stars varies greatly depending upon the player and what year they are in in their career. Some sets in a given year are more popular (or less available) and that impacts value/price as well.

There is a lot of debate as to whether football cards will catch baseball cards in value as the popularity of football continues to grow. Some believe this popularity will eventually increase demand for football cards and prices will increase. Others believe football's growing popularity is so broad and diverse that this doesn't necessary mean more people will want to collect football cards.

Both baseball and football cards were massively overproduced in the early 90s resulting in a huge glut of sets and cards from that era. Most cards from that era are essentially worthless and you will have trouble getting someone to take them even if you give them away for free. I've heard dealers at shows tell sellers: "I wouldn't take up the space with your cards if you gave them to me". I've seen sets on ebay sit for months at 99 cents (with $10 shipping) with no takers. For the most part, if you're trying to sell sets from the early 90s, you might as well shred the cards and use them to pack other things with. Sorry to pop anyone's bubble who has a lot of cards from the early 90s they think they're going to retire on.

jeff

Jeff,

thanks for the great post. Pretty much sums up what I suspected but wanted to verify!

Hah! Over the years I've consolidated my football cards into one monster box of "cards I like" - 3/4 of them are 90's cards including complete sets of 91 TSC, 92 skybox, and 94ud cc silver teams. :cool:

Should've kept the 70's commons I suppose - but sounds like they wouldn't have been big money makers anyway as they were all in "played with as a kid" condition.

No worries....

Always liked the look of some of the early Bowman sets.

I put together a 52 bowman baseball set in good-vg condition a couple of years ago with only moderate difficulty and cost.

How would you rate the difficulty of similar football sets in good-vg condition as far as availability and cost goes?

Tony

Early Bowman football cards in G-VG are readily available on ebay and I love the look of the old Bowman cards ... in particular the 1950 Bowman and 1952 Bowman Large sets.

For some sets, baseball commons are more expensive than football while for others it's just the opposite. Regardless, completing the football sets is typically much easier than completing the baseball sets for a number of reasons:

1. The football stars are not as expensive to obtain. For example, early '50s Mickey Mantles are often very expensive as compared to the most expensive card in each football set.

2. Football sets are much smaller than baseball in this era so there are fewer cards you have to purchase to complete them.

Note that before you tackle 1952 Bowman Large, some of the SP's in this set are VERY expensive and difficult to obtain. The other Bowman sets are much, much easier to finish than this one.

Hope that helps.

jeff

That does help,

thank you Jeff.

I just thought you were over thinking the pricing of the cards in relasionship to each other.

To me the sale of a midgrade 74 Terry Bradshaw really has nothing to do with what a 74 Mike Schimdt card might sell for and visa versa. Many factors can effect the price of each of those cards, corners, centering, eye appeal, etc... but neither of those cards are one of the factors in determining the pricing of each other.

I apologize if you felt offened by my Previous reply( surely not intented), I was only trying to be helpful with the question. I sense some sarcasim in the repies so I will just bow out and allow the other qualified board members to assist you.

Sorry I could help you out.

Regards

John

Hey John,

No harm and yep I did respond with some sarcasm but it was intended in good fun:)

With all due respect, I think if anyone was over-thinking it was you. (That is intended in the best spirit as well).

I have enjoyed looking at your football posts especially the older pictures ( I think you posted that classic of Baugh) and your Staubach collection led me to youtube to relive some of the good old days.

Thanks and have a great weekend

Tony