Any baseball card experts?

[LadyyRedd]

I came across some baseball cards in a box and want to know if they might be worth anything before they get tossed in the recycle bin.

1983 Topps Cards
Steve Trout, Pitcher, White Sox (card #461)
Rafael Ramirez, Shortstop, Braves (card #439)
Charlie Puleo, Pitcher, Mets (card #549)
Tom Filer, Pitcher, Cubs (card #508)
Tony Perez, DH-1st Base, Red Sox (card #715)

1981 Topps Cards
Tom Veryzer, Shortstop, Indians (card #39)
Pat Putnam, 1st Base, Rangers (card #498)

Anyone have any ideas??

Kimya

 

[lyeag]

Go to the store and pick up a copy of Beckett magazine. They list card prices

 

[lap3]

What's the condition of them? Mint? NM?

 

[LadyyRedd]

Without knowing the definitions of the ratings, I'd say Good. 2 of them may only be fair, but a couple might be better than Good. They were just in a storage box with a bunch of other papers and stuff.

Kimya

 

[foolishmortal]

They are not worth spending the money for a Beckett.

I wouldn't toss them if I were you, maybe see if a local kid would like them or what not. I have been collecting since I was 7.....way older now....lol, and would have loved to get some free "older" cards when I was starting out. Especially when you see how much the packs are nowadays.

Imagine the look on a littles one face when the see a card from...ohh no way 1981 & 1983....lol

If I had to guess you are probabaly looking at around $1-$2.00 a piece tops...but then good luck trying to get even .25 for them. The stores will sell them to you for close to book price but will never even give close to half of book price.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Here's another question--I bought a complete topps set in 1998 when my son was born--I just put the box up in my closet and never opened anything up. That was the year Maguire and Sosa had their little duel. How many years should I just sit on these cards before they might be worth anything?
Robin M.

 

[foolishmortal]

Full sets are sort of a wierd thing. It is a full set of regular cards...not inserts, inserts are where the money is.

I have full sets from early a dn alte 80-s & 90's and they are not even worth what I paid for them. A good case in point is Ken Griffey's rookie season. He along with about 4 others, thier cards where the whole set value, the other 200 cards were useless pretty much.

So if you are looking for money value from 1998 topps, you may want to have them passed down for a few generations...lol.

It's all about the inserts, and graded mint and gemmint 10 rookie cards!!!

 

[Papa Deuce]

Here's another question--I bought a complete topps set in 1998 when my son was born--I just put the box up in my closet and never opened anything up. That was the year Maguire and Sosa had their little duel. How many years should I just sit on these cards before they might be worth anything?
Robin M.

50 - 60 years... maybe 75. In 1998 the market was still overloaded with too much production of cards. Like the other poster said, it is mostly all about the inserts.

Strangely enough, some of the most valuable cards of all time are the checklists from older sets. Why? Well, because before baseball card collecting became a fad / investment idea, kids used to use the checklists in the spokes of their bikes more than any other card.

 

[Golter]

In my opinion the Baseball card industry went into the tank in 1988. The only thing that was worthwhile since then was the 1989 Upper Deck cards. For the longest time, Topps was the staple. They would put out one set of cards each year, with an occasional update set at the end. There were other manufacturers that produced cards to compete with Topps who had a monopoly since the the early 1950's. Then came the 1980's and Donruss and Fleer entered the market in 1981. They were well recieved and had some valuable cards produced up until 1988 when the market was just flooded. I mean there were baseball cards everywhere, and it ruined it.

I started collecting cards when I was 6 in 1977. I collected for fun and would play games with them and didn't real care if they were kept in good shape. I even defaced a 1979 Dale Murry card with a mustache and beard because I was mad at my brother Dale. Now, its different, packs of cards can cost $20, and you still dont know if they will be of any value. My collection is 1,000,000 cards deep, and has a street value of $15,000 or so.

I have some nice cards that my 6 year old son will inherit one day. My pride and joy is a 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie card that was graded by a service (PSA) as a 10. History will look back kindly on him and this historic card, #1 Upper Deck from the inagural set. He will come out of the "Steroid Era" as the only member of the 500 Home Run club that didn't cheat to get there. Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, and Palmero all cheated to get there. ARod will get there and his will also be legit.

The OP had questions about those specific cards, they are all "commons" and are of little to no value. $1.00 at most.