Surprised at no mention of the intro Pro-visions series from fleer 1991. Canseco PSA 10 sold at $1200, and others capped 1k in baseball and football too
I can only imagine how much time and energy goes into making vids like this, but again thanks so much for all the edification and for making the hobby a more quality experience. Also, I stopped collecting as a kid in ‘91, so this year had extra meaning for me. Rock on, Chris.
Great video. You are missing two very important sets, although I understand why. 1991 also brought us Line Drive and Classic Best. They weren't the first minor league sets available in packs but they were a step up from anything previously made and I'm sure the first with national marketing including Mike Schmidt autographs found in Classic Best. Collecting autographs at minor league games was really fun in the early 90s when guys were on so many different and cheap cards that you could actually find. Classic was a serious player for a while. They signed Shaq exclusively and were the only company that could make his cards until 1993.
This might be a thing for the QA videos, but I think it’s hard for people to realize how big of a deal Stadium Club was back then. The idea of that type of photography really blew people’s minds. Be interested to see what other inflection points there have been in the hobby
Baffled stranger... Almost 30 years ago I had an enormous collection (all baseball). I left the hobby; packed all the cards away, and forgot about all of it... Over the years, either as gifts or just for fun, I have "collected" a couple sets: 2005 Topps; 2010 Topps, 2017 Topps. all simple base sets; I just put them in with the rest and forgot about them.. Today, I am in shock at the supposed "values" of all these pieces of cardboard, especially the more recent cards. Especially surprising to me is the fact that there seems to be very little correlation between the quality of the player and the average sale prices of the cards... Might you do a "big picture" video, specifically on baseball (mid-1970s to mid 1990s), that might help the baffled collector like me understand what happened?
I tell you Chris. You bring a lot of joy to a lot of us guys who collected cards as kids and have either stayed with it or took a break and then got back into it. So many great memories when I see these videos. I think about all those Wade Boggs and Don Mattingly cards that we thought were gonna be worth 1 million bucks someday. I still have probably no exaggeration 1000 Craig Biggio’s. Topps rookies. I remember back in the day you could order one player and get as many cards as you want and of course there is different price points but you would get them directly from topps. Anyways keep up the great work and never stop making these videos please. I love every single one and appreciate you
I remember these cards well. This was during the time when I was seriously into collecting. However, I started to lose interest shortly after around 93/94 as I just became too overwhelmed with all the card sets coming out and with the cost of packs going higher and higher. I mainly collected the standard cards since I just could not afford the "premium" brands at the time.
This was the last year my dad and I were “all in” on hobby cards. My father is a bit of a completist. And we went heavy from 1989-1992. You started seeing more and more sets and companies coming out. And it became too much to collect them all 😂 My dad grew up collecting in the 1950’s-early 60’s and told me he had a bunch of Mickey Mantles as it was his favorite player as a kid. His mom threw them ALL AWAY went he got drafted into the Vietnam war. 😮
1991 TSC may have been the first modern set with gold foil, but it is not the very first gold foil set. That honor (I believe) goes to the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set. It's not a great set since the images aren't clear, but they are fun cards to add for player runs and they are also fun to have because they are the first foil cards.
Outstanding video, love this kind of content. I’d love to see these continue for sure! 1993 might be an interesting one as the upper Deck set from that year was pretty cool with tons of inserts and Derek Jeter’s rookie sp. Also, you had donruss elite with some of the first atomic parallel ( not 100% sure they were the first), leaf sets, triple play, and one of the best sets imo 1993 Topps Finest! Great stuff!
Great video! Makes you think how much enjoyment of owning a card is related to how many other people own it - which also impacts its worth. When I’m looking at my Barry Bonds rookie cards I feel fortunate to own rookies of arguably the greatest player ever. Was it mass produced, junk wax? Yes. If it was more rare/cost 10x would I like it more? Don’t think so. Sort of nice for the hobby that we could get cards (and rookies at that) of some of the best players ever and only pay a few bucks. And could’ve pulled from a pack which even kids could afford. That’s what grows the hobby. Don’t think many of us 35-50 year olds would be here if packs were $20 in the 80s and 90s. Junk wax is sort of like that great inexpensive restaurant in your neighborhood. It’s not fancy but the food is great and you land up eating there often. You still go to nicer restaurants for dates and special occasions but raise your eyebrows when you get the check and think - that was really expensive for what I got. Note: none of this applies if you’re an investor/flipper.
In 1991 I was eleven and my best friend was nine and we both collected. I went to his house one day and his mom had bought us each a pack of Stadium Club. They had just been released. When I entered the house, he stood there holding the packs. He deliberated for a few minutes, deciding which pack to give me, and handed me one. I pulled the Griffey, Frank Thomas, and Nolan Ryan. I was thrilled. He lost his mind. He got on his bike and rode away to cool off. He returned about an hour later. He still brings it up today.
My best friend from elementary school dad was in the Army during the 1st Gulf War . He has an unopened box of the Desert Shield cards . We are still friends and every so often I see them sitting in his man cave .His dad also brought back an AK47 which at the time was much cooler than baseball cards . Haha
I recently pulled a Nolan Ryan Heroes auto insert. I bought a couple boxes of the 1991 Upper Deck mostly to get that Jordan SP1 and was pleasantly surprised when I pulled that. I also pulled a Jordan, so win win.
Action Packed had been using gold foil since 1989...and really even in 1987 they had gold foil as part of their basic model. So Stadium Club was the first main baseball set release to include gold foil.
@@collectorinvestordealer Hank Aaron was in Series II, Nolan Ryan was in Series I...Same for 1992 with Ted Williams and then Bench/Morgan Autos in each series
People were clamoring for Stadium Club, like fights at Costco for boxes. I liked the Leaf cards best. Even though the inserts had high print runs of like 10,000 you had to open a ton of product to get one. I wonder how many Elite cards are sitting in $10 Donruss boxes right now?
I was in Desert Storm, and one evening one of the sergeants came into our tent and plopped down a box of unopened baseball cards and said that these had been sent to the soldiers and to take a few if anybody wanted them. I got about 7 or 8 packs and later collected some cards from others that decided that they didn't really want them. I have about 200 of the cards -- of course the Chipper Jones rookie isn't one of them. The best I have is Barry Bonds, Randy Johnson, and a Ken Griffey Jr. All-Star.
I remember when stadium club and ultra released around the same time. Stadium Club was 4-5 a pack and ultra was about a dollar or 2 per pack. I went heavy on opeechee premiere thinking it would explode like 90 leaf. Never happened
I recall hitting hitting a lot of retail stores in 91 looking for stadium club. As highly printed as the product was it was hard to get. Although the retail price was $2 per pack in hobby stores you'd have to pay more like $4 per pack.
Great video, Chris! I remember picking up packs of 1991 Topps with my Mom every time we went to the grocery store. Looking back, it's amazing how cheaply they were produced (then again, what do you expect for $0.50 per pack!). In comparison, I bought some packs of Stadium Club at my local card shop and immediately feel in love with the brand... the quality just blew me away. Not to mention that - on the first pack I opened - I pulled a Griffey, Frank Thomas AND Nolan Ryan card! I have a complete set of Stadium Club baseball for every year its been produced.
Hey Chris any idea where Beckett got their price data from or was it created out of thin air. I know for comics in the pre internet days. The over street price guide claim they contacted local dealers for their price data. Which is kind of a joke. Thanks
Chris - great summary of 1991. How about a summary of 1984? That was the first year (I believe) that the popularity of Fleer and Donruss surpassed Topps. Also the first year of Tiffany and the Rack Pack glossy All-Stars. First year (some say) of the rookie card craze with the Mattingly. Thanks for sharing.
Interesting thing about the, Michael Jordan 1991 Upper Deck, I guess it's technically his baseball RC and yet, he didn't even make his baseball debut, to 3 years later in 1994.
I was in Desert Storm, and one evening one of the sergeants came into our tent and plopped down a box of unopened baseball cards and said that these had been sent to the soldiers and to take a few if anybody wanted them. I got about 7 or 8 packs and later collected some cards from others that decided that they didn't really want them. I have about 200 of the cards -- of course the Chipper Jones rookie isn't one of them. The best I have is Barry Bonds, Randy Johnson, and a Ken Griffey Jr. All-Star.
That's an awesome momento, man! I always wondered how many made it to the troops. There's a rumor that a bunch of them never made it past an air force base in south carolina. My brother was over there in the marines and he didn't see any
@@doktorcopernikuss I've heard that same rumor, and it wouldn't surprise me if it is true. But I can at least confirm that at least some of them actually made it over to the troops in the Persian Gulf -- and not just to some big depot behind the lines because I was deployed out in the middle of nowhere in Southern Iraq when our cards were delivered. I don't remember how, but I got mine out of there in really nice shape, but I would imagine that of those cards that were shipped to the Gulf many never made it back and many of those that did, came back in less than pristine shape.
Van Poppel was supposed to be next. Plan Ryan, I remember White Sox pitching was outstanding with Fernandez back then, and Plantier had some good seasons in SanDiego! Thanx for the memories!
Great series idea Chris. Honestly I think this deserves to be done for each year, I'm sure you'd agree. But maybe going about it doing 'key' years (whatever defines that) is prudent, then perhaps backfill the less 'key' years at a future time. Covering the 1981 introduction of Fleer and Donruss would be one such moment in time. Some of the peak junk wax years with the proliferation (similar to 1991), like 1994, would also be a next logical step. Covering later 90s when autos and numbering became commonplace. When did Bowman Chrome hit? When did physical memorabilia cards become the norm?
WTH two people pulled Thomas, Griffey and Ryan in a single pack of 91 Stadium Club? I thought the first guy was lying or misremembering, but then a second guy has the same story. I never found Stadium Club at the suggested retail price of 1.25 in any retail shops, only at shows and shops where dealers were getting $5 a pack. Too rich for my 12 year old self.
The 91 Topps Benito Santiago is one of the greatest photos for a card ever. 1991 Fleer should only be open in a darkroom. 91 stadium club was too expensive for me as a 10 year old, but I did make sure to buy the Nolan Ryan tuxedo card for my Ryan PC.
In 1991 in my small city of about 90,000 there were probably about 9 or so card shops. (now there are none). There was a big bin of Upper Deck at the checkout of the grocery store. You could buy cards anywhere. I was in university and all my friends collected too.
It can't be overstated to point out $2 for a pack of cards was a lot of money back then. I had very few Stadium Club cards as a result of the premium pricing.
Topps Traded was available in wax packs in 1991. It was the second year they offered their traded series in packs. The cards are printed on a grey cardstock (vs. the factory sets, which have a whiter cardstock).
would love to see a video about unopen wax, which ones are most valuable and why. but perhaps wax from 80s - late 90s would be fun. thanks. love your videos.
Question about the Junk Wax era. Do we have an idea on the difference in print runs for sets in the early 90s compared to now? Wondering just how big of a difference there really is…
cool video; i remember buying a box of topps desert storm cards during the mark mcgwire / sammy sosa homerun race, cuz baseball cards were out of my price range. even then it was only like 10 bucks for a sealed box (probably not much more today lol)
Thank you for mentioning the 1991 Topps Desert Shields and thank you for selling me an SGC graded 96 Ken Griffey Jr. Desert Shield 4 years ago (a previous video you brought up based on a deal we did via Ebay). I put in some $ on the DS graded cards due to its history, story and scarcity. The high graded 1991 Topps Desert Shield cards seem to keep going up in value despite a dip in the overall sports card market.
I remember going to a card show in 1991 and meeting Frank Thomas and getting his autograph on a 91 Score card. Also bought some Topps packs and pulled my favorite player growing up, Nolan Ryan, and a Chipper Jones rookie. Thanks Chris for the trip down memory lane. It was the junk wax era but it was fun and it wasn't nearly as complicated or expensive as it is now.
Hi buddy. My name is Tony. Just last month I was at our local Walgreens. And I noticed that they still continue to sell those Baseball and Football cards that come in these separate boxes. So I purchased a baseball box. I’m thinking I paid about $7 or so. U probably know what I’m talking about. A bunch of different year cards. But I forgot all about how they also come with one original unopened pack of cards. My box came with a 1991 Score pack. So finally here it goes!!! I hit the Chipper Jones 1st Round Draft Pick Card. I’m not exaggerating but this card looks like it has never been touched. Except for packaging of course. So do you think that I should just penny sleeve it and top loader this card and basically just put it up for way down the road for my children or maybe grand children? And I really do have some other special cards put up also. Is The Chipper Jones card worth all this care??? I apologize for such a long talk.
Met Jeff Bagwell way back in the day after a game at the Astrodome when I lived in Houston. Super nice guy, signed autos for the couple of dozen people there that wanted one.
How dare you not mention the Home Run Legend of Nippon Baseball... Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes having his Rookie Cards in 1991!?!?!? Just kidding but man that man had quite the career!
1991 is the most iconic, memorable year of cards for me. I was 7 years old at the time. Every image shown evokes memories and sparks joy. I particularly loved the 1991 Score subsets.The Franchise, Dream Team, No-Hit Club, All Star caricatures, etc. My only complaint about the video is that Score was underrepresented. Chris, you could devote an entire video to collectible 1991 inserts and subsets. So fun for kids in particular.
Check out videos by Sports Card Professor. He's done many videos on 1991 cards and its almost become a running joke that we will never get to 1992. Fun and interesting videos though.
I will never forget that time range, I grew up collecting in the late 70s on and I was married to my first wife in 91 and by then I had began selling at local flea markets as well as collecting as I learned a great way to add to my own collection and find cards I really wanted or players I collected was selling cards I didnt mind selling at the Flea Market during that time. People looking to sell their collections because they needed some quick money would come to the flea market all the time and lots of days I would go home with less money than I came with despite selling well because I had bought so many collections from other people. But I did that on through till the strike of 1994 season. It was that strike year I stopped collecting myself. I still kept my personal collection but I quit buying for my own collection and only bought to sell as the strike left such a sour taste in my mouth I quit following baseball until after 2000, I began to notice as the 90s went on more and more people getting out of the hobby. There were for one just too many sets and many collectors were turned off by that as I was. By 1996 I decided to get out of selling all together as I wasnt making near as much money as I had been selling in the early 90s. Slowly I sold off most of what I had and then finally sold a ton of resale I had at the time at a loss to a buddy of mine just to get out of the hobby all together except keeping my personnel collection of course which was mostly vintage. But by 1999 I descovered something that we didnt have in the early 90s, thanks to the internet I found ebay and in those days seller fees were dirt cheap and I found in that tie you could sell anything on ebay there was always a collector or buyer no matter what the cards. Suddenly I was back into the hobby at such a large scale that I was buying more than I ever had before and flipping on ebay. For a few years I was able to totally quit my because I was selling so much on ebay I didnt need a job and needed more time to list and ship orders which was quickly taking up most of my life as even my wife was beginning to become frustrated by how many hours it took me to sort, group, list and then package and ship orders. I was working 15 hours a day 7 days a week in those days at home just trying to keep everything going. I was friends with other dealers who would give people my phone number when they were looking to sell collections and it was something that they didnt want to buy. I would buy any collection for the right price once I looked it over. My first wife was not happy about it. I actually was beginning to hit the wall by the end of 2000, my marriage was falling apart and even though I was living the dream and doing what I had loved as a kid for a living. Still it took every min. of my time constantly buying to refill my inventory, constantly making new listings constantly having to package orders and each day included a trip to the post office and if I was running low on anything a trip to my local shipping supply store. When my wife was wanting to go places on weekends I was always putting her off or sending her with the kids or family because I had to go see someone that was looking to sell a collection. So slowly I began to realize my wife was right in that I had allowed what I did for a living to not allow me to have time for my family or anything else in my life. It also made me realize why she always said I loved baseball cards more than I loved her. So I again stopped. Not totally but I made the weekends family days. I would not do any work on weekends at all. If someone had a collection for sale I would go see it on a week day and if I didnt have time to get as many lots or cards listed then so be it they would get listed when I did have time. I stopped pushing myself so hard. Sales went down but I wasnt as stressed out and it did make my wife happy though it didnt fix our problems all together and we eventually split up. Then the bottom totally fell out of the market and suddenly cards I could sell so easy on ebay I was suddenly stuck with. I had an inventory suddenly of hundreds of thousands of cards. Thousands of sets and no one wanted them. I couldnt sell them. It costed more to ship them suddenly than the sets were even worth. So that led to busting sets and pulling all stars and selling those which still wasnt easy to do and left me with thousands of commons no one would touch. By 2005 I finally sold everything to a guy from North Carolina for pennies on the dollar just to clear out my house. Keeping only my personnel collection, still mostly vintage. I have never gotten back to being a full time seller and probably never will as I let it get out of control and dominate my life in a way I shouldnt have. But I do still love baseball cards and I do still collect vintage and I do still sell a little on facebook Marketplace at times and ebay as I just cant resist when I go to a yard sale or flea market and come accross a collection at too good a price to pass up. Enjoy your videos. They take me back to a happier time in my younger life.
You live and you learn. Everybody does. Dont knock yourself for doing something you had passion for and enjoyed doing for a living. At least you did what your wife at the time wanted you to do, and also what you decided was best for your family by slowing down and spend more time with the family. You also had to make a living and provide for your family. So dont kick yourself for that one brother. It wasn't your fault. I went through a divorce also....remember when Michael Jordan quit basketball to try to play baseball professionally? Well my uncle once said. "Baseball is such a great sport, that even the best basketball player in the world would rather play baseball." My God bless you and your family brother.
Never really understood why the Gold Leaf 1991 Pedro Martinez card never really did much. Seems like that card should have gotten a lot more attention and is actually a pre-rookie in an MLB uniform. I still dont get that.
I got into collecting at 12, in 1992. Definitely golden age and great memories. Beckett and Tuff Stuff. I can only imagine an adolescent how much I drove my parents nuts stopping at every card shop local and vacation for me to visit. Fond memories of searching see through 92 topps rack packs at retail stores looking for gold.
I grew up in Seattle & started in 1989 as Ken Griffey Jr was my childhood favorite. Was phasing out in 1992 as I discovered girls were a thing in middle school 😂
Great video as always, I would do one on 1992 only because it's a tough year for rookies and follows the same theme from 1991 followed by one on 1993, and then go back and do '88, '89, and finally 1990 to finish the junk wax era loop.
Wasn't it about 5 years ago, you could buy those early 1990s Upper Deck baseball hobby boxes for under $10. I purchased a bunch of them hoping to find the Nolan or find the Reggie autograph. But no luck. I eventually ended up sending the Nolan Ryan card to the Nolan Ryan Foundation to get it autographed for a fee. That card is still a prized part of my collection.
Very interesting video! As someone who collects all this stuff but who only got start in 2019, I find the late 90s early 2000s to be the hardest to wrap my head around: so much going on! Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of the cards from that period but a video like this one on, say, 1998 would be super helpful I'm sure. Thanks for the great work!
Surprised at no mention of the intro Pro-visions series from fleer 1991. Canseco PSA 10 sold at $1200, and others capped 1k in baseball and football too
Didn’t 91 Score have the Mantle auto?
And 1993 would be fun to look at with all the Jeter RC
Yes 91 Score did. I would think that would've made the list as well as the Hank Aaron auto from Upper Deck.
Yeah I totally overlooked the mantle and the Aaron!
I can only imagine how much time and energy goes into making vids like this, but again thanks so much for all the edification and for making the hobby a more quality experience. Also, I stopped collecting as a kid in ‘91, so this year had extra meaning for me. Rock on, Chris.
Great video. Really like these look backs
Great video. You are missing two very important sets, although I understand why. 1991 also brought us Line Drive and Classic Best. They weren't the first minor league sets available in packs but they were a step up from anything previously made and I'm sure the first with national marketing including Mike Schmidt autographs found in Classic Best. Collecting autographs at minor league games was really fun in the early 90s when guys were on so many different and cheap cards that you could actually find.
Classic was a serious player for a while. They signed Shaq exclusively and were the only company that could make his cards until 1993.
Great idea for a series Chris! Hope you’ll do another similar video of a different year. Cheers!
This might be a thing for the QA videos, but I think it’s hard for people to realize how big of a deal Stadium Club was back then. The idea of that type of photography really blew people’s minds.
Be interested to see what other inflection points there have been in the hobby
Nice to see you back in the saddle. Thanks Chris
Could you do this for 1991 football?
My best card is a Mario Lemiuex Topps French Oppechee Rookie Card.
Baffled stranger... Almost 30 years ago I had an enormous collection (all baseball). I left the hobby; packed all the cards away, and forgot about all of it... Over the years, either as gifts or just for fun, I have "collected" a couple sets: 2005 Topps; 2010 Topps, 2017 Topps. all simple base sets; I just put them in with the rest and forgot about them.. Today, I am in shock at the supposed "values" of all these pieces of cardboard, especially the more recent cards. Especially surprising to me is the fact that there seems to be very little correlation between the quality of the player and the average sale prices of the cards... Might you do a "big picture" video, specifically on baseball (mid-1970s to mid 1990s), that might help the baffled collector like me understand what happened?
I tell you Chris. You bring a lot of joy to a lot of us guys who collected cards as kids and have either stayed with it or took a break and then got back into it. So many great memories when I see these videos. I think about all those Wade Boggs and Don Mattingly cards that we thought were gonna be worth 1 million bucks someday. I still have probably no exaggeration 1000 Craig Biggio’s. Topps rookies. I remember back in the day you could order one player and get as many cards as you want and of course there is different price points but you would get them directly from topps. Anyways keep up the great work and never stop making these videos please. I love every single one and appreciate you
I remember these cards well. This was during the time when I was seriously into collecting. However, I started to lose interest shortly after around 93/94 as I just became too overwhelmed with all the card sets coming out and with the cost of packs going higher and higher. I mainly collected the standard cards since I just could not afford the "premium" brands at the time.
This was the last year my dad and I were “all in” on hobby cards. My father is a bit of a completist. And we went heavy from 1989-1992. You started seeing more and more sets and companies coming out. And it became too much to collect them all 😂 My dad grew up collecting in the 1950’s-early 60’s and told me he had a bunch of Mickey Mantles as it was his favorite player as a kid. His mom threw them ALL AWAY went he got drafted into the Vietnam war. 😮
1991 TSC may have been the first modern set with gold foil, but it is not the very first gold foil set. That honor (I believe) goes to the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set. It's not a great set since the images aren't clear, but they are fun cards to add for player runs and they are also fun to have because they are the first foil cards.
Outstanding video, love this kind of content. I’d love to see these continue for sure! 1993 might be an interesting one as the upper Deck set from that year was pretty cool with tons of inserts and Derek Jeter’s rookie sp. Also, you had donruss elite with some of the first atomic parallel ( not 100% sure they were the first), leaf sets, triple play, and one of the best sets imo 1993 Topps Finest! Great stuff!
Great video! Makes you think how much enjoyment of owning a card is related to how many other people own it - which also impacts its worth. When I’m looking at my Barry Bonds rookie cards I feel fortunate to own rookies of arguably the greatest player ever. Was it mass produced, junk wax? Yes. If it was more rare/cost 10x would I like it more? Don’t think so. Sort of nice for the hobby that we could get cards (and rookies at that) of some of the best players ever and only pay a few bucks. And could’ve pulled from a pack which even kids could afford. That’s what grows the hobby. Don’t think many of us 35-50 year olds would be here if packs were $20 in the 80s and 90s.
Junk wax is sort of like that great inexpensive restaurant in your neighborhood. It’s not fancy but the food is great and you land up eating there often. You still go to nicer restaurants for dates and special occasions but raise your eyebrows when you get the check and think - that was really expensive for what I got.
Note: none of this applies if you’re an investor/flipper.
In 1991 I was eleven and my best friend was nine and we both collected. I went to his house one day and his mom had bought us each a pack of Stadium Club. They had just been released. When I entered the house, he stood there holding the packs. He deliberated for a few minutes, deciding which pack to give me, and handed me one. I pulled the Griffey, Frank Thomas, and Nolan Ryan. I was thrilled. He lost his mind. He got on his bike and rode away to cool off. He returned about an hour later. He still brings it up today.
My best friend from elementary school dad was in the Army during the 1st Gulf War . He has an unopened box of the Desert Shield cards . We are still friends and every so often I see them sitting in his man cave .His dad also brought back an AK47 which at the time was much cooler than baseball cards . Haha
I recently pulled a Nolan Ryan Heroes auto insert. I bought a couple boxes of the 1991 Upper Deck mostly to get that Jordan SP1 and was pleasantly surprised when I pulled that. I also pulled a Jordan, so win win.
This brings back so many memories.
Action Packed had been using gold foil since 1989...and really even in 1987 they had gold foil as part of their basic model. So Stadium Club was the first main baseball set release to include gold foil.
Great video Chris! I would have thought the 1991 Upper Deck Hank Aaron Auto/2500 would have made the list.
Ah I missed that one!
@@collectorinvestordealer Hank Aaron was in Series II, Nolan Ryan was in Series I...Same for 1992 with Ted Williams and then Bench/Morgan Autos in each series
Man Stadium Club just hit different back then.... Upper Deck was good too with the Jordan and other top rookies in that set.
People were clamoring for Stadium Club, like fights at Costco for boxes. I liked the Leaf cards best. Even though the inserts had high print runs of like 10,000 you had to open a ton of product to get one. I wonder how many Elite cards are sitting in $10 Donruss boxes right now?
I remember the first year of Stadium Club. Like over $1.00/pack !! And even commons held some value 😂
I was in Desert Storm, and one evening one of the sergeants came into our tent and plopped down a box of unopened baseball cards and said that these had been sent to the soldiers and to take a few if anybody wanted them. I got about 7 or 8 packs and later collected some cards from others that decided that they didn't really want them. I have about 200 of the cards -- of course the Chipper Jones rookie isn't one of them. The best I have is Barry Bonds, Randy Johnson, and a Ken Griffey Jr. All-Star.
I remember when stadium club and ultra released around the same time. Stadium Club was 4-5 a pack and ultra was about a dollar or 2 per pack. I went heavy on opeechee premiere thinking it would explode like 90 leaf. Never happened
More please. This is some amazing contact and brings back some great memories
I'd love to see mid 90's-99!!! I started around 93' but any video is a good video from you!
Is the Jordan upper deck card in the final edition or just the regular box
Its in the regular boxes (not the Final)
Please bring back the card sales of the week.
Starting back up this Wednesday
I recall hitting hitting a lot of retail stores in 91 looking for stadium club. As highly printed as the product was it was hard to get. Although the retail price was $2 per pack in hobby stores you'd have to pay more like $4 per pack.
When I saw the title at first I didn't think there would be much to say about 1991 cards. But there really is a lot. Great choice
Great video, Chris! I remember picking up packs of 1991 Topps with my Mom every time we went to the grocery store. Looking back, it's amazing how cheaply they were produced (then again, what do you expect for $0.50 per pack!). In comparison, I bought some packs of Stadium Club at my local card shop and immediately feel in love with the brand... the quality just blew me away. Not to mention that - on the first pack I opened - I pulled a Griffey, Frank Thomas AND Nolan Ryan card! I have a complete set of Stadium Club baseball for every year its been produced.
I love the 1991 Desert Shield cards. Thanks for sharing.
1992 is the peak of junk everything. Seems like there is a card set for everything and anything in 1992. But maybe 1991 is for Baseball.
Hey Chris any idea where Beckett got their price data from or was it created out of thin air. I know for comics in the pre internet days. The over street price guide claim they contacted local dealers for their price data. Which is kind of a joke. Thanks
Good question... I am really not sure
A lot of people chased down the 1991 Stadium Club Frank Thomas. There was a time it out sold his 1990 Leaf RC.
I remember that!
Love it. I started collecting in 85, and was buying 84 in 85 when I was 7. Would love to see 1984 or 1985
Great video as usual. How many 1989 Topps Tiffany sets were made? Maybe tell us the set run of all the Tiffany sets?
I think 1989 was 15,000. Good idea for a video...
@@collectorinvestordealer if you make the video you could possibly include the fleer glossy sets as well! Thanks for the response
Chris - great summary of 1991. How about a summary of 1984? That was the first year (I believe) that the popularity of Fleer and Donruss surpassed Topps. Also the first year of Tiffany and the Rack Pack glossy All-Stars. First year (some say) of the rookie card craze with the Mattingly. Thanks for sharing.
If your time machine came in yet, can you do 2028 next? I like to plan ahead. Much appreciated, Thanks.
Ha! That would be fun :)
I have a bunch of desert storms, including a Randy Johnson graded csg 9.
Interesting thing about the, Michael Jordan 1991 Upper Deck, I guess it's technically his baseball RC and yet, he didn't even make his baseball debut, to 3 years later in 1994.
I saw my buddy rip about 20 boxes of 1991 Donruss looking for that Sandberg and never got a single Elite card at all.
I was in Desert Storm, and one evening one of the sergeants came into our tent and plopped down a box of unopened baseball cards and said that these had been sent to the soldiers and to take a few if anybody wanted them. I got about 7 or 8 packs and later collected some cards from others that decided that they didn't really want them. I have about 200 of the cards -- of course the Chipper Jones rookie isn't one of them. The best I have is Barry Bonds, Randy Johnson, and a Ken Griffey Jr. All-Star.
That's an awesome momento, man! I always wondered how many made it to the troops. There's a rumor that a bunch of them never made it past an air force base in south carolina. My brother was over there in the marines and he didn't see any
@@doktorcopernikuss I've heard that same rumor, and it wouldn't surprise me if it is true. But I can at least confirm that at least some of them actually made it over to the troops in the Persian Gulf -- and not just to some big depot behind the lines because I was deployed out in the middle of nowhere in Southern Iraq when our cards were delivered. I don't remember how, but I got mine out of there in really nice shape, but I would imagine that of those cards that were shipped to the Gulf many never made it back and many of those that did, came back in less than pristine shape.
Van Poppel was supposed to be next. Plan Ryan, I remember White Sox pitching was outstanding with Fernandez back then, and Plantier had some good seasons in SanDiego! Thanx for the memories!
I plucked out the Jordan baseball card from a Upperdeck pack. Beckett listed it at $14.
Great series idea Chris. Honestly I think this deserves to be done for each year, I'm sure you'd agree. But maybe going about it doing 'key' years (whatever defines that) is prudent, then perhaps backfill the less 'key' years at a future time. Covering the 1981 introduction of Fleer and Donruss would be one such moment in time. Some of the peak junk wax years with the proliferation (similar to 1991), like 1994, would also be a next logical step. Covering later 90s when autos and numbering became commonplace. When did Bowman Chrome hit? When did physical memorabilia cards become the norm?
WTH two people pulled Thomas, Griffey and Ryan in a single pack of 91 Stadium Club? I thought the first guy was lying or misremembering, but then a second guy has the same story. I never found Stadium Club at the suggested retail price of 1.25 in any retail shops, only at shows and shops where dealers were getting $5 a pack. Too rich for my 12 year old self.
Please keep doing these ! I have a ton of cards from the JWE and I don’t know much about baseball cards so it helps so much identifying these
The 91 Topps Benito Santiago is one of the greatest photos for a card ever. 1991 Fleer should only be open in a darkroom. 91 stadium club was too expensive for me as a 10 year old, but I did make sure to buy the Nolan Ryan tuxedo card for my Ryan PC.
In 1991 in my small city of about 90,000 there were probably about 9 or so card shops. (now there are none). There was a big bin of Upper Deck at the checkout of the grocery store. You could buy cards anywhere. I was in university and all my friends collected too.
It can't be overstated to point out $2 for a pack of cards was a lot of money back then. I had very few Stadium Club cards as a result of the premium pricing.
This is a great series! 1991 is when I started collecting. I’d love to see way more videos in this series like 1986, 1992, 2011 etc.
Topps Traded was available in wax packs in 1991. It was the second year they offered their traded series in packs. The cards are printed on a grey cardstock (vs. the factory sets, which have a whiter cardstock).
Good catch on that!
Great video! thanks for the knowledge.
would love to see a video about unopen wax, which ones are most valuable and why. but perhaps wax from 80s - late 90s would be fun. thanks. love your videos.
I have an Ivan Rodriguez Dessert Shield BGS 9 I bought about 7 years ago, how much would that go for today?
Ivan Rodriguez was not in the 1991 Topps base set so he does not have a desert shield. He was only in the traded set.
@@collectorinvestordealer sorry, the 1 I have is Roberto Alomar BGS 9
I have mint condition rookies this year and they don't sell good on ebay. Any ideas? Thank you
Question about the Junk Wax era. Do we have an idea on the difference in print runs for sets in the early 90s compared to now? Wondering just how big of a difference there really is…
Was thee O-Pee-Chee the same company that made hockey sets in Canada?
Yes!
Great Vid never would have thought the Bagwell Studio would have topped at #1
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cool video; i remember buying a box of topps desert storm cards during the mark mcgwire / sammy sosa homerun race, cuz baseball cards were out of my price range. even then it was only like 10 bucks for a sealed box (probably not much more today lol)
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This is a fantastic video! I loved taking the trip down memory lane and learning some new things along the way!
Do you ever come across uncut sheets of cards? I have a bunch of opeechee uncut hockey from around 1990
Thank you for mentioning the 1991 Topps Desert Shields and thank you for selling me an SGC graded 96 Ken Griffey Jr. Desert Shield 4 years ago (a previous video you brought up based on a deal we did via Ebay). I put in some $ on the DS graded cards due to its history, story and scarcity. The high graded 1991 Topps Desert Shield cards seem to keep going up in value despite a dip in the overall sports card market.
Awesome vide0 - this in the PhD level of information and history that needs to be shared more among the hobby
Beckett!
I remember going to a card show in 1991 and meeting Frank Thomas and getting his autograph on a 91 Score card. Also bought some Topps packs and pulled my favorite player growing up, Nolan Ryan, and a Chipper Jones rookie. Thanks Chris for the trip down memory lane. It was the junk wax era but it was fun and it wasn't nearly as complicated or expensive as it is now.
Great video, peak of nostalgia for me as a 10 year old.
Hi buddy. My name is Tony. Just last month I was at our local Walgreens. And I noticed that they still continue to sell those Baseball and Football cards that come in these separate boxes. So I purchased a baseball box. I’m thinking I paid about $7 or so. U probably know what I’m talking about. A bunch of different year cards. But I forgot all about how they also come with one original unopened pack of cards. My box came with a 1991 Score pack. So finally here it goes!!! I hit the Chipper Jones 1st Round Draft Pick Card. I’m not exaggerating but this card looks like it has never been touched. Except for packaging of course. So do you think that I should just penny sleeve it and top loader this card and basically just put it up for way down the road for my children or maybe grand children? And I really do have some other special cards put up also. Is The Chipper Jones card worth all this care??? I apologize for such a long talk.
Hello Tony. Very cool card, although it doesnt have a whole lot of value. Worth maybe a couple dollars. But still a nice rookie of a Hall of Famer!
Like Yogi said, the past ain't what it used to be...
These are great. Maybe 1986 next?
"BE DIALING BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE DIALING"
Met Jeff Bagwell way back in the day after a game at the Astrodome when I lived in Houston. Super nice guy, signed autos for the couple of dozen people there that wanted one.
How dare you not mention the Home Run Legend of Nippon Baseball... Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes having his Rookie Cards in 1991!?!?!?
Just kidding but man that man had quite the career!
Get video! But 1991 topps traded cards DID come out in wax boxes and could be bought in packs. Keep up the great videos
Do 1985! please! 😅
great video Chris
Would love to see 1992 basketball
1991 is the most iconic, memorable year of cards for me. I was 7 years old at the time. Every image shown evokes memories and sparks joy. I particularly loved the 1991 Score subsets.The Franchise, Dream Team, No-Hit Club, All Star caricatures, etc. My only complaint about the video is that Score was underrepresented. Chris, you could devote an entire video to collectible 1991 inserts and subsets. So fun for kids in particular.
Check out videos by Sports Card Professor. He's done many videos on 1991 cards and its almost become a running joke that we will never get to 1992. Fun and interesting videos though.
Rickey, KIrby, Jose- put some shirts on, for chris'sake!
It was also the last year gum was included in packs!
Great point!
I will never forget that time range, I grew up collecting in the late 70s on and I was married to my first wife in 91 and by then I had began selling at local flea markets as well as collecting as I learned a great way to add to my own collection and find cards I really wanted or players I collected was selling cards I didnt mind selling at the Flea Market during that time. People looking to sell their collections because they needed some quick money would come to the flea market all the time and lots of days I would go home with less money than I came with despite selling well because I had bought so many collections from other people. But I did that on through till the strike of 1994 season. It was that strike year I stopped collecting myself. I still kept my personal collection but I quit buying for my own collection and only bought to sell as the strike left such a sour taste in my mouth I quit following baseball until after 2000, I began to notice as the 90s went on more and more people getting out of the hobby. There were for one just too many sets and many collectors were turned off by that as I was. By 1996 I decided to get out of selling all together as I wasnt making near as much money as I had been selling in the early 90s. Slowly I sold off most of what I had and then finally sold a ton of resale I had at the time at a loss to a buddy of mine just to get out of the hobby all together except keeping my personnel collection of course which was mostly vintage. But by 1999 I descovered something that we didnt have in the early 90s, thanks to the internet I found ebay and in those days seller fees were dirt cheap and I found in that tie you could sell anything on ebay there was always a collector or buyer no matter what the cards. Suddenly I was back into the hobby at such a large scale that I was buying more than I ever had before and flipping on ebay. For a few years I was able to totally quit my because I was selling so much on ebay I didnt need a job and needed more time to list and ship orders which was quickly taking up most of my life as even my wife was beginning to become frustrated by how many hours it took me to sort, group, list and then package and ship orders. I was working 15 hours a day 7 days a week in those days at home just trying to keep everything going. I was friends with other dealers who would give people my phone number when they were looking to sell collections and it was something that they didnt want to buy. I would buy any collection for the right price once I looked it over. My first wife was not happy about it. I actually was beginning to hit the wall by the end of 2000, my marriage was falling apart and even though I was living the dream and doing what I had loved as a kid for a living. Still it took every min. of my time constantly buying to refill my inventory, constantly making new listings constantly having to package orders and each day included a trip to the post office and if I was running low on anything a trip to my local shipping supply store. When my wife was wanting to go places on weekends I was always putting her off or sending her with the kids or family because I had to go see someone that was looking to sell a collection. So slowly I began to realize my wife was right in that I had allowed what I did for a living to not allow me to have time for my family or anything else in my life. It also made me realize why she always said I loved baseball cards more than I loved her. So I again stopped. Not totally but I made the weekends family days. I would not do any work on weekends at all. If someone had a collection for sale I would go see it on a week day and if I didnt have time to get as many lots or cards listed then so be it they would get listed when I did have time. I stopped pushing myself so hard. Sales went down but I wasnt as stressed out and it did make my wife happy though it didnt fix our problems all together and we eventually split up. Then the bottom totally fell out of the market and suddenly cards I could sell so easy on ebay I was suddenly stuck with. I had an inventory suddenly of hundreds of thousands of cards. Thousands of sets and no one wanted them. I couldnt sell them. It costed more to ship them suddenly than the sets were even worth. So that led to busting sets and pulling all stars and selling those which still wasnt easy to do and left me with thousands of commons no one would touch. By 2005 I finally sold everything to a guy from North Carolina for pennies on the dollar just to clear out my house. Keeping only my personnel collection, still mostly vintage. I have never gotten back to being a full time seller and probably never will as I let it get out of control and dominate my life in a way I shouldnt have. But I do still love baseball cards and I do still collect vintage and I do still sell a little on facebook Marketplace at times and ebay as I just cant resist when I go to a yard sale or flea market and come accross a collection at too good a price to pass up. Enjoy your videos. They take me back to a happier time in my younger life.
It was nice to read your story, man. I'm holding up my beer to you!
You live and you learn. Everybody does. Dont knock yourself for doing something you had passion for and enjoyed doing for a living. At least you did what your wife at the time wanted you to do, and also what you decided was best for your family by slowing down and spend more time with the family. You also had to make a living and provide for your family. So dont kick yourself for that one brother. It wasn't your fault. I went through a divorce also....remember when Michael Jordan quit basketball to try to play baseball professionally? Well my uncle once said. "Baseball is such a great sport, that even the best basketball player in the world would rather play baseball."
My God bless you and your family brother.
1992 would be cool.
These year in baseball cards are great. I dont care what year. The look back in time stirs up so many good memories.
Love it! I would like to see the 1956 set.
Never really understood why the Gold Leaf 1991 Pedro Martinez card never really did much. Seems like that card should have gotten a lot more attention and is actually a pre-rookie in an MLB uniform. I still dont get that.
That is a nice card but it is actually 1992 Leaf
Ha good catch. Still seems like a good early Martinez that does not get much notice.
I got into collecting at 12, in 1992. Definitely golden age and great memories. Beckett and Tuff Stuff. I can only imagine an adolescent how much I drove my parents nuts stopping at every card shop local and vacation for me to visit. Fond memories of searching see through 92 topps rack packs at retail stores looking for gold.
I grew up in Seattle & started in 1989 as Ken Griffey Jr was my childhood favorite. Was phasing out in 1992 as I discovered girls were a thing in middle school 😂
I love the year in review series you're doing. Can you do 1983 next?
Great video as always, I would do one on 1992 only because it's a tough year for rookies and follows the same theme from 1991 followed by one on 1993, and then go back and do '88, '89, and finally 1990 to finish the junk wax era loop.
I would like to see a 1988 set review
A bad year for baseball cards. Tom Glavine the only HOF rookie from that year.
Wasn't it about 5 years ago, you could buy those early 1990s Upper Deck baseball hobby boxes for under $10. I purchased a bunch of them hoping to find the Nolan or find the Reggie autograph. But no luck. I eventually ended up sending the Nolan Ryan card to the Nolan Ryan Foundation to get it autographed for a fee. That card is still a prized part of my collection.
1990 donruss
Very interesting video! As someone who collects all this stuff but who only got start in 2019, I find the late 90s early 2000s to be the hardest to wrap my head around: so much going on! Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of the cards from that period but a video like this one on, say, 1998 would be super helpful I'm sure. Thanks for the great work!