Conference school::sports_memorabilia

    start where you are, and go where you want to  :-)
    (i'm not kidding)
    
    ..........steve
    
    ok, maybe that's too cryptic - i'd recommend easing into it
    all.  See what's out there, decide for yourself what you like,
    determine the collector/investor ratio in your internal self,
    plan what you want in what condition, then gradually spend
    money.  It's hard to go wrong in starting with something like
    complete card sets from recent years - it gives you a lot to
    look at and enjoy, introduces ideas like different vendors,
    teams, players, rookies, stars, HOFers, etc, and is a historically
    good investment.  Try going to shows and subscribing to magazines
    to learn about things and to fill out those 1975's in the
    condition you want.  If you have collector friends, try trading.
    Find a good local store and shoot the breeze with the proprietor.
    Ask Tony - he'll talk about anything! (and knowlegeably).  Bring
    up questions in this notesfile, we need more action here.
    

    Thanks.
    
    questions:
    
    1: I shot the bull with a proprietor, he said Black players do not
       move as well as white players. Is this true? Why?
    
    2: He told me Jim Rice's card is worthless because of the fan
       dislike for him. True?
    
    I wasn't show if he was snowing me or not since I am a rookie myself
    at collecting.

    Unfortunately the answer to #1 is probably yes.  Why... I leave
    that to you.  My son, who is our family collector, is gathering
    up all the Tim Raines cards he can.  He can't decide if the relative
    low cost of these cards is racial or related to that fact that he
    plays in Canada.  Check the price for George Bell cards.
    
    	By the way, why are Mickey Mantle cards so much more valueable
    than Willie Mays cards of the same era.  There is no comparison.
    
    	I hope it is not racial, but the facts do seem to speak for
    themselves.

    Mantle more thn Mays? Probably because of the racial thing.
    
    I honestly think that stinks and so does the guy I spoke to. 
    But I still picked up 4 Ellis Burks rookie cards... 
    
    who knows. I buy who I like and I do want to pick up the Roger Clemens
    Topps update of his rookie year.
    
    

    I don't feel that it's all racial, not now-a-days anyway. For me
    personally I'll pick up any card I feel will increase in value.
    
    Maybe back years ago it was racial and that speculation then has
    carried over today. Everyone today knows that Mantle is worth more
    than Mays because they had to pay more for it. IE if you bought
    a mint Mays for 25.00 you would feel good if you could sell it for
    35.00, for a Mantle you had to pay more because the guy who had
    it before you had to pay more and so on. You certainly are going
    to be looking to sell it at a profit as well. Once up they aren't
    going to go down. Of course if Tony wants he can sell me one of
    his Mantles for half of what he paid for it.:*) 
    
    As a matter of fact yesterday I walked into a Value Pharmacy in
    West Boyleston and they had some rack packs on the floor. I got
    one with Mark Maguire on top (Dan I'm not going to open it) and
    I picked up another with Eric Davis on the bottom. For 1.49 a pack
    I figured I'd take the chance on both. 
    
    By the way Rices rookie card is worth more than Fred Lynns in the
    June issue of Baseball Card Prices.
    
    Chuck
    

re#5   Do you think Mcguire is or will be worth more than Canseco?
    
    

    It's hard to tell, depends on who's buying, right now Maguire is
    hot and he's worth more. In the future who knows, Maguire could
    do nothing and Canseco could have great home run stats. Which would
    probably figure Jose to be worth more than Maguire. Some of these
    other guys in this notes will probably be able to help you more
    than I. I help my son collect and don't have too many older cards
    but we have fun collecting and not big into investing seriously.
    
    Of course it's always fun to speculate on who's liable to be worth
    some money in the future, and even more fun to buy a wax pack of
    cards and pull a Mttingly or Maguire or Boggs and say geeze this
    cards worth a buck already.
    
    Chuck

    Excuse my ignorance.... what is a wax pack?

    That's the wax package you normally see in stores. Has about 18
    cards in it. A cello pack is a cellophane (SP) package with I
    think a little over thirty cards in it.
    
    Again when Tony or someone gets in here they will be able to explain
    it a lot better. You can't see thru a wax pack. On a cello pack
    you can see the top and bottom cards.
    
    A rack pack is a package with either 50 or sixty cards in it. I've
    seen them this year at Toys-r-us and in a dept store. There is like
    three different slots in a plastic package. The advantage is being
    able to see six cards. They sell for between 1.29 and 1.49.
    
    Chuck
    

    Thanks chuck but where is Tony?

    Great insight Tony! Thanks alot. I appreciate your viewpoint and
    will take heed to any crooks that may be out there. Are there any
    publications that you could suggest for the utmost, indebt look
    at card collecting?

    Tony, have you considered yet on my half priced offer for a Mantle?
    
    :^)   :^)
    
    Chuck

    RE: 13,15
    
    thanks for the suggestions folks. Sorry, I thought I was signing
    my name to these replies.
    I'll take that coupon Tony! Send it to Dennis McKinnon
    					   DDD/W26
    
    Thanks,
    Dennis

    up-chuck, boy it's bad enough I gotta listen to that on the golf
    course "nice up Chuck". But now in the notes file Geeze. 
    
    Chuck
    
    By the way Tony when you answered "on the way" were you talking
    about Dennis's coupon or my Mantle card. :^)

    I believe he was talking about my coupon Chuck. What year is this
    Mantle card anyway?
    
    Dennis
    

    Dennis when you see the smiley face it means I was just bustin Tony's
    cubes. From what I understand Tony collects every Mantle card he
    can get his hands on.
    
    Tony give us a hint on what cards of Mickey you have. Seeing I don't
    even have one it would be nice to drool over your collection.
    
    Chuck      :^)

    Shoot, if you want a Mickey, that's no problem.  I was down at Hall's
    Nostalgia and they had two on display you can buy.  Both were 1952
    Topps.  One was in REAL nice shape and was $8000.  (No, I didn't
    forget the decimal point!)  The other was very slightly off center
    and had kind of a rough cornere so it was only $5500.  Better hurry
    while they last though.
    
    The moral here is that you better decide AHEAD of time what you
    would like to collect and what you can realistically afford to collect.
    I collected Fleer and Donruss the first year they came out, realized
    I didn't want to try to keep up with 3 manufacturers, and decided
    to collect only Topps.  You have to decide what is right for you.

    
    I have been collecting baseball cards for about two years. Reading
    the information that is given in this notes file has been very usefull.
    Any questions that I have had seem to be the same questions that
    someone else has had previously. I know it must get a little tiresome
    talking back and forth to the same people all the time without any
    new ideas or insights into card collecting but, I'm sure there are
    alot of people like myself who read and learn more about how much
    fun card collecting can really be. Keep up the good work.
    
    
     reader in the background.
    
     I do have one question?? I've heard that cards from players in
     the east don't fare to well in the west. I have talked to people
     from Arizona who say Don Mattingly's and Wade Boggs cards are alot
     cheaper. Is this true??????
    

    This is true. The proprietor at Ed's in Nashua told me the same.
    In order for him to make a profit, he buys Sox cards from the west
    coast and sells them here for a much higher price. The same applies
    for Canseco, Joyner etc. those cards are more expensive on the west
    coast. Local boys always sell good.
    
    Dennis

    Congrats Tony, it appears that you decided what to collect and then
    went out and got it. I envy you. Like I said one of these days I'm
    gonna get just one for the sons collection. 
    
    Chuck
    
    Ps I meant to say what you WANTED TO COLLECT.

    Getting back to the East Coast vs. West Coast issue etc.  One can
    see the difference between New York and Boston.  You can pick up
    a Boggs rookie for cheap money in New Jersey, but just try to get
    your hands on a Yankee or Met there. They had a Len Dykstra 1987
    card for $2.75.  So there are very distinct regional differences
    in the prices of cards.
    
    						Tim Garahan 

     
    Thank you for the information on the different prices payed for
    cards in different areas. I have another question. On the back of
    Topps wax-packs they have four cards. A local dealer charges a few
    dollars for these. Where as a local mamma-pappa store gives them
    away. Is common for the dealers to sell these cards? Also is it
    better to keep the box intact or to cut the cards from the bottom
    of the box.
    
          Thank you
    
           Chris

    The 1988 Topps Wax boxes have 16 different panel cards, 4 on each box
    on the bottom. They are denoted 'A' thru 'P'. I have the set plus
    a few others intact with the boxes. I collected them as unopened
    wax boxes. My personel opinion is to leave them on the box-intact-
    others opinions vary. Book price doesnt tell you either way- I think
    the 88's are about $5-7, about the same for 87's. I think the 87's
    had only 8 different cards. Two per wax pack box-0 they were printed
    on the sides of the 87 boxes. Whenever I'm in the store and there
    are a few packs left in the box- I take the whole box and plop it
    on the counter. CVS and Osco don't care- They throw the dang empties
    away!!!  Dealers  sell whatever they can for whatever they can get...
    
    -John
      

    
    
    	I have a few questions.....
    
    
    
    	1. Are there such things as conterfiet Baseball Cards? If so
    	   how can you tell? 
    
    	2. Is there a better brand to collect (i.e. TOPPS vs FLEER)?
    
    	3. Are flea Markets better places to buy cards than Baseball
    	   card shops due to lower overhead cost?
    
    	4. ANyone familiar with the card shop in Hyannis? Is this a
    reputable place? 
    
    
    	I've also been interested in getting into collecting....any
    help is appreciated....
    
    
    						Thanks
    						Bob
    

    there are also other counterfeits - to date, they have been
    detectable when matched side-by-side with a real card - the
    printing process, color, card stock all give clues.  If in
    doubt, ask a knowledgeable dealer (no good dealer would be
    caught dead trying to sell a counterfeit).
    
    the best card company is the one you like best.   8-)
    every year photo quality and design attractiveness vary
    among companies.  What do you like? Why? Does price matter?
    Availability? Investment potential?  Or do you care more
    about given players or teams than you do about the card
    company?  What about the smaller card companies?  Forget
    about which company anyone thinks is best - concentrate
    on the factors that attract YOU to the hobby, and you can't go
    wrong.
    
    
    ..........steve
    

>       1. Are there such things as conterfiet Baseball Cards? If so
>          how can you tell? 

        In addition to counterfeits, there are reprints.  Several of
        the very popular (and expensive) early sets have had copies
        made.  While they are (usually) clearly marked as reprints,
        it can be confusing to new collectors.

>       2. Is there a better brand to collect (i.e. TOPPS vs FLEER)?

        I have to agree with Steve.  Especially when just starting
        you should collect whatever you like.  After a period of
        time you will discover what your tastes are.  (Of course
        after a few more years, your tastes will change again.)

        One problem with collecting just a single manufacturer is
        that while you may like one year, you might not like them
        all.  I collect Topps (only) and while I really like the
        1985, 1987, and 1988 designs, the 1986 cards are rather
        ugly.  (Yes, I'm collecting them anyway.)
    
>       3. Are flea Markets better places to buy cards than Baseball
>          card shops due to lower overhead cost?

        If you can find 'em they're usually cheaper, just be careful
        of the condition.  It's usually hard to find them mint.
        Good Luck on this one.

>       4. ANyone familiar with the card shop in Hyannis? Is this a
>   reputable place?

        What's the name?  Best bet (especially if its close) is to go
        and talk to the owner/manager/dealer.  When I lived in Michigan
        I lived near a card shop whose owner loved the hobby.  My sons
        and I would spend a lot of time there talking baseball and card
        collecting.  Spend the first few visits just making small
        purchases and seeing if you like how things are run.  I would
        rather spend a little more and give my business to someone I
        enjoy dealing with, rather than someone I don't like or trust
        just because they have the best price.  Just my opinion.

-Russell

    
    
    	re: .31-.35
    
    
    			Thanks for the info......
    
    
    					Bob
    

    re:  Hyannis.
    
    My experience has been that it is a reputable store, but that the
    prices can be "spicy."  After all, all the tourists head there on
    a rainy Cape day.
    
    Once, when I was there, a young boy [10 - 12 or so] wanted to purchase
    an expensive [$15 - $20] card and the owner wouldn't sell it to
    him without his parent.  The card [I don't remember specifically
    who it was] was worth the price, but the owner wasn't sure that
    the boy's parents would "understand."   I put that down as being
    very reputable.