Pre-80s Rookie Card Craze?

[steve B]

Yeah, the Charboneau thing was brief, but impressive at the time.

The area I was in had a card shop, unusual for 81. And the Cards of all 3 companies arrived well before spring training. The premium wasn't huge, but getting anywhere from .50 -1.00 for a card that was brand new was usually only for big stars like Reggie Jackson or locally Yaz. I did pretty well helping break down vending cases to make sets and stacks of stars and rookies.
(Sorted cards for trade value, so much a set, another bit of trade for 100 of a certain player. ) Of course the guys who had paid a buck each for a hundred count - or more! of Joes card were out quite a bit when he got hurt. One guy bought a vending box full at .50 each.

And they came right back demanding Valenzuela cards soon after.

I put my trade pay into Low grade 48 bowmans and probably a t206 or two.
Sold the Bowman set to fund a ski trip about 5 years later, so I guess I did a bit better than they did.

Steve B