I often wonder.....

[jchcollins]

It's funny to me how even after cards were a thing and "known" to be valuable in the 1980's - still - our perception of condition and keeping them nice is ever evolving. Back in the late 80's and early 90's, there were many vintage cards that we would have called "mint" which would probably be nice PSA 6's today. Even with current Topps cards right out of the pack then, the commons and players that were not superstars and rookies occasionally going directly into toploaders (we didn't use penny sleeves back then, or at least I didn't...) were still being shuffled and going into boxes. So it was not uncommon to have a dinged corner here and there, and of course centering was not really a concern at all. In going back and looking at my large stacks of commons or maybe even a favorite player in the 90's - say Don Mattingly - the cards are generally in good shape, but for some it's obvious that they've been handled. Whereas today maybe an "8" is a bad grade for a modern card, back then a lot of my modern cards that got handled probably were left in PSA 5 or 6 shape, not 9 or 10. And this is when we knew condition concerns affected card value.

I wonder what happens next, with everybody today grading ultra modern hot rookies. In the future will companies like Topps and Panini just issue cards that have already been graded? LOL.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

I wonder what happens next, with everybody today grading ultra modern hot rookies. In the future will companies like Topps and Panini just issue cards that have already been graded? LOL.

It's already been done. I think 21 years ago?

[mortimer brewster]

I collected football cards in the fall of 1971. When football season ended my friends and I took our cards to the school playground and threw them in the air and watched the smaller kids run after them. This was after several months of pitching them against the school wall and writing on them. None of us thought to save them.

[CTDean]

I started buying 1 cent packs in the 1950's and it was for the gum. I saved the Orioles and the rest were eaten up by my bike spokes. I bought unopened boxes of 1959 Topps 1 cent packs from a friend in school for $1 a box. Opened each 1 cent pack, threw the card away and sold the gum for a nickel. Didn't start collecting cards until I was 28 in 1974.

[Case12]

Originally Posted by CTDean

I started buying 1 cent packs in the 1950's and it was for the gum. I saved the Orioles and the rest were eaten up by my bike spokes. I bought unopened boxes of 1959 Topps 1 cent packs from a friend in school for $1 a box. Opened each 1 cent pack, threw the card away and sold the gum for a nickel. Didn't start collecting cards until I was 28 in 1974.

Ever get a stale piece of gum that broke and crumbled in your mouth? - yuck.

[Case12]

I started to take care of certain cards in 60's and 70's when the 3D versions came out. Those were awesome, and too cool to put on my bicycle. :-)