What to do with 80's and 90's cards?

[z28jd]

I think the internet has helped make cards easier to get and sell, so the prices reflect that. Back in the mid-80's, you either had to get a card in a pack, pay dealer price at a card store/show or trade with a friend. Now you can just find the lowest price among 100's or thousands on Ebay and buy it.

I remember looking at a Steve Carlton rookie at my local card store every time I went there and wanting to get it, but didn't have the money. It was around 1990 before I had a job and the price was about $60, so that wasn't happening. No one I knew had it, so the card was basically unattainable.

Twenty-five years later, there are about 100 of them on Ebay and I can still get one for the same price, with a handful to choose from.

If you compare that card to a 1989 Topps Randy Johnson, the difference in copies that exist is staggering to say the least, so the price on those have dropped over time even though he just made the Hall of Fame. I'd bet not too many people are throwing that particular card away today, so it will likely never raise much in value.

I still holdout hope that the cards will have some value down the line, but the worst case scenario of having cards to look at from my youth isn't a bad scenario to me.

While a part of me appreciates the people throwing them out and cutting down the population, I think the better thing to do is bundle them and hand them out to kids, either at school or Halloween. Possibly get a future collector hooked and keep the hobby going. If they throw them out instead or ruin them, no big deal.