A Beginners Guide to Sports Card Collecting


The biggest key to card prices, invariably, is the player on the card. While scarcity and condition are key things to consider when determining prices, it is ultimately the desirability of the player on the card that is the determinant of price. Player desirability is a product of many factors.Just like stocks, the most important thing in determining the attractiveness of a player is numbers. Above all else, it is the attaining of career and individual records and enshrinement in the Hall of Fame that drives prices. Beyond this, players with special significance or special regional identification will generally attract more moneyAlso just like stocks, the newer the player (or the company), the riskier the investment. Rookie cards of players with little or no major league experience are extremely volatile and can lose a high percentage of value in a very short time. However, they can also result in your biggest gains.The biggest key to card prices, invariably, is the player on the card. While scarcity and condition are key things to consider when determining prices, it is ultimately the desirability of the player on the card that is the determinant of price. Player desirability is a product of many factors.The most popular baseball player to collect from the 1950s and 1960s is Mickey Mantle. Mantle's cards in a given set can sell for more than double what any other card in the set sells for. While Mantle is universally acknowledged as a great ball player, it was his time playing in New York and becoming the idol of most every American boy that has accounted for his longevity. In baseball, there are more collectors of the Yankees than any other team and it is the number of Yankees collectors, compared to other teams, that has propelled Mantle prices.The second most collectible baseball player of the 1950s and 1960s, interestingly enough, is Roberto Clemente. While Clemente was a great ballplayer, it is surprising that he ranks above players like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, particularly given their numbers in relation his. But there are other factors at work with Clemente. First of all, there was the tragic story of his death in 1972 on a relief mission. More importantly, there was his role as the first great Latin ballplayer, leading the way for many of the game's finest players in future generations. Clemente is more valuable than Mays and Aaron because he is considered more than a baseball player (although he was a sure Hall of Famer on the field). He is considered an icon for Spanish speaking ballplayers.In the 1970s and 1980s, the most popular player to collect is Nolan Ryan. Ryan is an interesting case of another player who broke the mold. While many would argue than Ryan was not the most effective pitcher of his generation, his 5,000+ strikeouts and, more importantly, his 7 no hitters, 3 more than anyone in history, are the stuff of legends. Ryan pitched his 6th and 7th no hitters while in his forties, a time when he astounded most observers by his effectiveness at such an advanced age. For his truly unique accomplishments, Ryan stands alone and commands a price like few others.The hottest players of the 1980s and 1990s have been Cal Ripken Jr. and whomever has been hitting the most home runs (Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey, Jr., Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa). Ripken's cards owe much of their value to "The Streak", but there is another aspect to Cal's career that makes him a long term hold, namely his redefining of the shortstop position. Long considered a defensive position, Cal turned it into the most important position on the field defensively AND offensively. If it were not for Cal, Jeter, A Rod, and Nomar might have all been outfielders. While all three may put up better career offensive stats than Cal, they would not be there without him.The home run attraction first began in 1991 when Cecil Fielder became the first man to hit 50 home runs in a season since 1977. It really took off in 1998 with the McGwire Sosa chase and again in 2001 with Bonds' monster season, but may be seeing its end with the recent steroids scandal. Nevertheless, the cards of Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, and Griffey have been driven by one thing, their chance to break Hank Aaron's career home run mark. Of the three active players (McGwire having retired), it is the one who breaks Aaron's record that will ultimately attain the top price and be the benchmark card of the period along with Ripken. If none of them do it, then one should take a long look at A Rod (or buy more Aaron cards.)In football, there are quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and everybody else. Quarterbacks are usually the most valuable. Young active quarterbacks like Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper and Peyton Manning drive prices among under 30 players. However, the two most valuable veteran players are not quarterbacks. Emmitt Smith will likely become the all time career rushing leader in 2002. That, along with his Super Bowl rings (and the fact that he's a Dallas Cowboy), makes him, at least for a while, the key running back card of the 1990s. However, the key card among active players is currently Jerry Rice, who is establishing himself as one of the greatest offensive players in Kawhi Leonard Swingman Jersey history, and his rookie card will likely stay at or near the price level of the key quarterbacks of the 1980s and 1990s (Montana, Marino, Elway).