Its the last 1980s...what would you do differently
 

in terms of collecting cards in that era to make money...

everyone thought these cards would be worth lots of money and alas the big collapse

however there are cards that still go for 100 dollars + that we were buying in those cheap wax packs.... I really wasn't collecting anymore by the time of the last 80s..but if I could go back...forget the certain players or star cards of guys we didn't know how their career would go..

I think condition is everything...I would of just traded or sold every card to get the best looking examples..seems PSA 10s always have value....rather take my chances with 1000 PSA 10 commons then figure out which star player people would want..etc.

Seems like a bizarre..
 

thing to do when PSA wasn't even conceived of in the late 80s. I guess the correct answer (as it normally is with any decade and sportscard collecting) is to hoard the undervalued vintage pieces that you could buy for a couple of bucks each and have 1000% ROI on average right now.

When did 9-card pages start getting popular? I started collecting with a pack in 1986 and was probably sleeving my 1989 cards. Investing in the card sleeving business would have been profitable.

I don't think there was any feasible way to envision that PSA/Registry collecting/exponential value increases based on PSA10 labels would ever exist, even in the "infinite universes" theory of human psychology.

I think it would have been easier to convince people that the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are real than the invention of a magic plastic holder that will make that $2 card worth $200 because it has a #10 on the plastic holder even though it is the same exact card. Hell I still have a hard time believing it.

all good points...I just don't think I kept any of my cards in psa 10 shape in the 80s...in the 9 to a page sheets, cards going in and out

I cant imagine any ebay sales going through for $3000 cards if the Third party grading didn't exist...all the arguments over 'mint' and 'near mint'....

Dont even buy the cards of the 80's buy the cards prior to the 1970's

Would have bought up as many boxes of 1986-87 Fleer basketball as I could afford from the local TG&Y and Kroger.

+1

This made me laugh. I could live to be 1,000 years old and I'll never understand how a card that can be easily obtained for $.25 can sell for $100s (even $1000s) just because it is in a plastic case with an arbitrary number "10" on it.

My dad is was in the candy tabbacco bizz the 86 boxes sat there for 8 dollars ,,what was i thinking ,,

as always its the things that we all were buying billing themselves as 'collectibles' are the ones that don't have any value versus cards that later became collectible...I remember laughing when I responded to a newspaper ad to buy someones cards in the late 80s when he wanted to sell me a bunch of Jordan rookies versus what I really came there for..80s baseball cards.