Hosted by Mike Schopp, The Hobby is WGR's new show for sports card and memorabilia collectors. Listen every Saturday from 8am-9am for in-depth information, interviews, tips, and tricks. Whether you have an appreciation for sports memorabilia, you're just starting a collection, or you're a serious collector, this is the show for you!
Patrick Roy: mid-80s and still strong
Not all the cards from 1986-1992 are worthless! This Patrick Roy Topps rookie, from the 1986-87 set, books at $100. (The O-Pee-Chee version, as usual, books even higher.)
By 1986, baseball cards had become famous for being a gateway to wealth. Problem is, so many were made and so many people had jumped on board that almost none of them is worth anything. Hockey and basketball cards, however, appealed to a much smaller group of collectors, and in turn, those sports' cards held on for about two more years. By 1988 or so the same thing happened to them as what happened to baseball: Everything was mass-produced, everybody bought everything, and today nothing from that era is valuable.
Send a picture of your favorite cards to thehobby@wgr550.com.
-- Mike Schopp
Card of the Week: the Bruce rookie
Bills greats Bruce Smith and Andre Reed both have their rookie cards in the green-bordered 1986 Topps set. By the mid-1980s, collectors and society at large had become pretty savvy about the potential value in sports cards. Scientists estimate that, in turn, "zillions" of these cards were produced. Both Smith and Reed should run you in the $10 range -- not bad for one and maybe two Hall of Famers-to-be.
While raw copies of these cards are downright cheap, a windfall is possible for collectors who have either or both of the set's two biggest cards, Jerry Rice and Steve Young, in perfect condition. (Let me emphasize again that perfect means perfect. Centering is a major factor.) A PSA 9 Rice or Young will fetch into the hundreds of dollars, and a next-to-impossible PSA 10 copy of either card into the thousands. Both cards are very tough to find well-centered.
Happy hunting!
Card of the Week: The Bruce Smith rookie
Bills greats Bruce Smith and Andre Reed both have their rookie cards in the green-bordered 1986 Topps set. By the mid-1980s, collectors and society at large had become pretty savvy about the potential value in sports cards. Scientists estimate that, in turn, "zillions" of these cards were produced. Both Smith and Reed should run you in the $10 range -- not bad for one and maybe two Hall of Famers-to-be.
While raw copies of these cards are downright cheap, a windfall is possible for collectors who have either or both of the set's two biggest cards, Jerry Rice and Steve Young, in perfect condition. (Let me emphasize again that perfect means perfect. Centering is a major factor.) A PSA 9 Rice or Young will fetch into the hundreds of dollars, and a next-to-impossible PSA 10 copy of either card into the thousands.
Happy hunting!
Card of the Week: Lindy Ruff, autographed Dave in Syracuse submits this card for "Card of the Week", and we oblige. Dave has gotten back into collecting and especially likes the position of the personally obtained autograph on this card. ... Send us a picture of your favorite card, your name and hometown, and also why that particular card is special to you at thehobby@wgr550.com.
Card of the Week: Mike Schmidt rookie Thanks to Jack, the listener who sent in a picture of his 1973 Topps Baseball card #615, Rookie Third Basemen. There's long-time Dodgers 3B Ron Cey on the left, Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt on the right, and the relatively unknown John Hilton in the center.
The Phillies are in the World Series, so it seems like a nice choice to me.
10/14/08 Card of the Week: 1955 Topps Baseball Here's this week's card, from my personal collection. We talked about the 1955 Topps baseball set last Saturday on "The Hobby", and this card is not only from that set but also a Hall of Fame rookie card, which I like to collect.
1955 Topps Baseball, card #124, Harmon Killebrew. PSA 5 EX. Check out the picture.
Card of the Week, Buffalo Braves-style Thanks to Dave Fell of Getzville for sending this picture of his favorite card, as well as an explanation of why this 1977 Randy Smith card is his favorite. Smith was a Buffalo State star and then joined his hometown NBA team, the Braves.
Got a favorite card? Send a picture to thehobby@wgr550.com.
Dmitri Young headlines "Hobby" lineup This week on "The Hobby" we had three guests: Beckett Football editor David Lee, baseball player and collector Dmitri Young and Dave & Adam's Card World head buyer Reed Kasaoka. Here are the links, come check us out!
"The Hobby" Card of the Week for September 27 Here is this week's "Card of the Week": 1965 Topps Football #35 Jack Kemp. It's one of my favorites. Picked it up at a show last year.
Want to see your best card featured here? Send a picture to thehobby@wgr550.com.
We talked about how grading can be a windfall, citing a recent example of Larry Csonka rookie cards selling on eBay, then welcomed Reed Kasaoka of Dave and Adam's Card World to talk about ethics in collecting.
We rank the top 10 rookies from the star-studded 2005-06 hockey crop, from Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin on down. Also, Reed Kasaoka from Dave & Adam's recaps the big card show in Chicago last week, and we have some insight on collectors for the holiday shoppers.
11/22/08: The Hobby, Episode 11 ESPN NFL analyst John Clayton came on to talk about some of the league's current young stars and also his childhood collecting cards. Chris Soluri of Dave & Adam's Card World mentions some of the most popular products on the market. And I run through some e-mail, answering questions about grading and keeping an inventory.
This week we break down some differences between all the Upper Deck hockey products, meet Clay Luraschi for an update on Topps, and discuss unopened boxes of cards from the old days with Reed Kasaoka of Dave & Adam's.
Dr. Brian Price, president of Upper Deck's hockey rival "In the Game", talks about his company's struggles with licensing rights and the economy. Reed Kasaoka from Dave & Adam's talks about how the card market changes once the baseball season ends.
10/25/08: The Hobby Barry Meisel talks about the dismantling of Shea Stadium. Very interesting!
