Question for people who began collecting in the early 1990s.

[Rookiemonster]

I started collecting in 1992. I didn’t even know what a rookie was. I only wanted cards from packs. I liked 1992 Topps and I chased the Gold cards. I liked most of the sets in 1992. Fleer and Donruss from that time had great inserts. So I would say I chased INSERTS of the player l liked.


When I finally learned about rookies and read a few Beckett’s I wanted specific cards Ripken rookie, Griffey RC, Frank Thomas , and of course mantle mays and a other guys I never heard of that were valuable .

[todeen]

I was 5 in '91 when my parents started buying me packs of Topps. They sold them at our local grocery store. I can remember them because of the 40th Anniversary logo on them. I had no clue who was good or who was bad, I just liked the action pictures. The most famous players were the players on the local farm team - Billings Mustangs. We went to the games and I got the team sets and tried getting autographs.

I remained a pack collector even as I learned more player names, started watching games on tv, etc. Eventually in middle school I added buying specific cards in addition to pack buying. I fell away from packs about my senior year of high school. In college I started collecting 1961 Topps, and then there was a phase where I didn't really care to collect cards very much. I started buying autographed baseballs for a time. When I was about 22, I donated most of my cards to the YMCA (It was like 50k - 70k individual cards from the early 1990s). I kept the Reds cards, rookie cards, and some sets I had been working on. I got married and bought a little bit here and there. Then about 5-6 years I go I became more heavily involved with vintage Reds collectibles, continuing the 1961 Topps set, and buying Wheaties backs. I no longer buy packs, and I no longer collect modern. Last modern cards I bought were in 2005-06. The Topps and Bowman Heritage sets.

I buy maybe 1-3 items a month now.

[bnorth]

I collected from around 87-91 the first time. Bought anything Wade Boggs I could find and opened many many cases of cards.

My second venture was from around 1995-2002. Still bought anything Wade Boggs. Only opened boxes to sell. I was on eBay from almost the beginning. I never lost $ on a single box I opened till around 1999. Then very quickly it went from never losing $ to almost always losing money opening boxes.

Got back into collecting around 2006 and still buy Wade Boggs. I have opened a few junk wax boxes for amusement only.

[Mike D.]

I started collecting in 1987 at age 11. I feel like it was at least a couple years before I ever bought an individual card that was published before 1987. It was all about buying packs (and eventually boxes). I can remember buying probably 6 wax boxes of 1990 Donruss that year. Blah.

Now, it's probably been 10 years since I bought a current-year pack.

[mrmopar]

I started in 78 and aside from trading for, or trying to trade for slightly older cards between friends, I just had packs.

The guy who got me into cards would vacation periodically in Spokane and would visit a card shop out there that sounded magical to me and always brought back neat older cards (50s). He would never trade any to me though!

It would mostly be pack busting for me until I started buying all the full sets (Topps/Fleer/Donruss) via mail order in 1982, and then I continued to buy packs too.

Eventually I discovered a couple places that sold older cards and even though I also discovered a few mail order opportunities before 82, I can only ever recall buying collector sets, like RGI or TCMA.

I slowed to a near stop around 88-89 when I was in the Navy. I would still get the 3 sets thru 1989 (plus Score in 88) I think, then would later have to back fill the ones i missed, as I started back up full steam around 1993.

After getting sucked into ALL wax in the mid 90s, I finally decided it just was not worth the money around 1998-2000 range, slowly weening myself off the habit. Packs were getting more expensive and I realized that it was just better to buy what you wanted. I felt ripped off when I would spend $80 on a box and get pretty much nothing but base cards and a few inserts that might be "worth" 50 cents the next year.

I have not bought any quantity of newer packs in the last 20 years aside from a rare "older" bargain box here and there for a fun nostalgic rip party. Last one was 2 boxes of 2004 Donruss Team Heroes sometime last year that I got for under $50 for the pair. Even single random packs, which I used to pick up from time to time or get for Xmas from my wife, don't really appeal to me anymore. Have not ripped anything new (current year of issue) in at least 7-10 years.

Originally Posted by Mike D.

I started collecting in 1987 at age 11. I feel like it was at least a couple years before I ever bought an individual card that was published before 1987. It was all about buying packs (and eventually boxes). I can remember buying probably 6 wax boxes of 1990 Donruss that year. Blah.

Now, it's probably been 10 years since I bought a current-year pack.

[Harliduck]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

It would mostly be pack busting for me until I started buying all the full sets (Topps/Fleer/Donruss) via mail order in 1982, and then I continued to buy packs too.

We are the same age and area... I remember getting my first full set via mail order...1982 Donruss...it was insane I had the whole set at once. Couldn't wait to see what the new Ricky Henderson card looked like...

We had the Perrinville shop...I got to go once or twice a year with my list of 50's and 60's commons and drive them nuts...haha. Spent 20 bucks and think I was in heaven...

[mrmopar]

Maybe once Covid clears up a bit and the world goes back to normal, we can meet. I could use someone in the flesh, who can converse about baseball cards for more than 8 seconds (I think that is my wife's record ).

I used to be a little more active in roaming the shops and shows, but in the last decade or so it seems that making those trips was simply a chance to chat with the owners and I rarely found anything aI wanted or was priced where I felt it was better than just buying one online.

When I was working on the Eastside and found myself out in the "field" and close enough, I used to hit DJs in Renton around lunchtime. When my kids were younger, we drove down a few times on a Saturday, but they lost interest fast and a 80+ mile round trip drive to a card shop just doesn't make sense these days.