Hi there. My brother recently passed away after a short illness and I inherited his HUGE collection of cards - mostly baseball, but he also had some hockey, football, and basketball cards. I am a total novice at this and don't know where to begin. I loved him dearly and miss him much; however, organizational skills weren't his strong point! The boxes are stacked 5 feet high and about 12 feet wide and as far as I can tell there isn't much rhyme or reason to how they are organized. HELP! Where do I begin? What is the best way to organize them - by set, by player, by team, by year, by brand? I'm not in any big hurry to get rid of them; although they are taking up a lot of space, but I don't want to give them away either. I would have to guess there are at least 20,000 cards and most likely more. Any tips on where to start would be helpful. He does have a couple of albums, but even those seem to be really randomly "organized". Although I did find one that has an entire 1989 set (lacking 1 card); which doesn't appear to worth much at all. Is there a list somewhere of what cards are worth selling individually - for instance valued at more than $5? I would gladly go through them to find any of value and then try to sell the rest in bulk. Anyway, any tips anyone would care to share would be much appreciated. Thanks! MellyMay from MN
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Melly May- welcome to the site. I'm sorry to hear about your loss. First thing I would do is check which years of cards your brother had. Unfortunately, cards from 1987-1998 are not very valuable. This was when cards were overly produced. I would suggest pulling out any vintage cards (pre-1986). They hold some value. Cards from the past 15 years hold some value as well. My suggestion woud be to pull those out.Favorite baseball players include: Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Kirby Puckett, Pete Rose, Tyler Colvin Mark Appel
Favorite football players include: Peyton Manning, John Elway, Daunte Culpepper, Mike Alstott, Blake Bortles, and Dri Archer
Collecting: 2012 Topps Mini 1987 topps... non-certified autos (in person or through the mail), autographed cards with bible verses
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Agreed, Sorry for your loss.
Originally posted by ucffans View PostMelly May- welcome to the site. I'm sorry to hear about your loss. First thing I would do is check which years of cards your brother had. Unfortunately, cards from 1987-1998 are not very valuable. This was when cards were overly produced. I would suggest pulling out any vintage cards (pre-1986). They hold some value. Cards from the past 15 years hold some value as well. My suggestion woud be to pull those out.U.S. NAVY VET ~ I ONLY MAIL ON FRIDAYS
http://www.facebook.com/#!/JoseOzzieCanseco
Click Banner for Trade List and Bucket Link
Jose Canseco total 968/2,658 = 36.4% 53 g/u 15autos
Ozzie canseco total 41/42 =98% 1g/u 4 autos
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As far as the mass produced years (which based on the fact that he has a 1989 set, I am afraid you will have quite a few of), I might suggest selling those by team.Favorite baseball players include: Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Kirby Puckett, Pete Rose, Tyler Colvin Mark Appel
Favorite football players include: Peyton Manning, John Elway, Daunte Culpepper, Mike Alstott, Blake Bortles, and Dri Archer
Collecting: 2012 Topps Mini 1987 topps... non-certified autos (in person or through the mail), autographed cards with bible verses
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Thanks for the info. I did find a box that seems to have very random cards - some from the sixties and seventies. I'm guessing he already went through his numerous boxes and pulled out those he thought might be worth something. Where is the best place to "value" individual cards? I will attempt to look up some of them in that box and see if my assumption is correct. Thanks again.
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Originally posted by MellyMay View PostThanks for the info. I did find a box that seems to have very random cards - some from the sixties and seventies. I'm guessing he already went through his numerous boxes and pulled out those he thought might be worth something. Where is the best place to "value" individual cards? I will attempt to look up some of them in that box and see if my assumption is correct. Thanks again.
Start with obtaining a magazine called Beckett. It is the industry standard. Since your collection is varied with many types of sports, you will need to purchase several Beckett magazines. One for football, baseball and so on. Try to purchase these magazines from a local card shop and introduce yourself as well as your collection. Normally, card shop owners are extremely helpful with new clients as they would like to create a repoir with you.
If you can and have the time, take a couple of photos of cards that you'll find in your collection that have value. You'll be able to get a good idea of value via your Beckett price guide and post these cards on CCW. You'll be pleasantly surprised by with whom would like to purchase and or trade with some of your collectibles. And you might be pleasantly surprised by a hidden gem that not only is rare but also carries a premium.
Good luck and have fun,
ToshiI am easy, I collect any and all NFL cards. Individual players I really enjoy are Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan, Andrew Luck, RGIII, and Russell Wilson. My passion is Favre rookie cards and vintage cards.
http://sportscardalbum.com/u/toshi
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I must add, after you take a photo of your card or cards, post them here or on the trade thread and you can ask more questions in regards to your card(s) in the photo. You might have members questioning you if you would like to sell your card(s) in the photo or even a trade if you so care to.
ToshiI am easy, I collect any and all NFL cards. Individual players I really enjoy are Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan, Andrew Luck, RGIII, and Russell Wilson. My passion is Favre rookie cards and vintage cards.
http://sportscardalbum.com/u/toshi
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Here are two free online price guides. They should get you close enough to get an idea. The most accurate will be Beckett.
Free Baseball Card Price Guide
Free Sports Cards Price Guides: Baseball, Basketball, Football, HockeyFavorite baseball players include: Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Kirby Puckett, Pete Rose, Tyler Colvin Mark Appel
Favorite football players include: Peyton Manning, John Elway, Daunte Culpepper, Mike Alstott, Blake Bortles, and Dri Archer
Collecting: 2012 Topps Mini 1987 topps... non-certified autos (in person or through the mail), autographed cards with bible verses
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I thought it might be more appropriate to have this thread in the baseball talk section of the site. It is more of a discussion thread than a meet and greet thread.
Good luck with your cards by the way. This is what is fun for me in the hobby. I love to organize cards and find new 'diamonds in the rough' in huge boxes of stuff.
Collecting any Boston Sports (base,insert,GU,Auto) All Teams (Red Sox,Celtics,Patriots,Bruins)
Also collect UNH Football/Hockey cards
Also now collecting any cards including all dupes of all the following :
MLB : Brian Wilson (Giants, Dodgers), Chris Carpenter (Blue Jays, Cardinals), Sam Fuld (Rays), Mike Flanagan (Orioles, Blue Jays), Phil Plantier (Padres, Red Sox), Jeff Locke (Pirates)
NFL : Kendall Reyes (Chargers), Greg Landry (Lions), David Ball (Bears), Jerry Azumah (Bears), Dwayne Sabb (Patriots), Dan Kreider (Steelers), Ricky Santos (no pro cards)
NBA : Matt Bonner (Spurs)
NHL : Steve Leach, James VanRiemsDyk, Jason Krog, Eric Boguniecki, Andy Brickley, Ty Conklin, Kevin Dean, Rod Langway, Bryan Muir, Daniel Winnik
I unfortunately can no longer afford to trade outside the US. Even rates to Canada are way too high now!
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