Sports Trading Cards

[stick]

I've got a buddy that is talking about some old Fleer Basketball cards he collected. He primarily bought cards in 1986, and supposedly there was something special about this year. He has checked on hsolist for a number of the cards, and the pricetags for the ones that are for sale are for a tasty fee. I wonder if they actually sell for those amounts or are simply posted for a hefty fee. Both he and I don't know much about how to buy or sell cards, but I'm wondering if he has a gold mine. He's talking about multiple Jordan rookie cards, and a number of prime time players that entered the league at that time. Any suggestions on how to truly understand the market value and what to expect to fetch for the cards? I know there are trading books, but does anyone have experience in how to go about selling some of these cards?

[DTro]

If you look at the completed auctions on hsolist.....those are real prices paid and there's a very good chance he could get the same price. Don't look at the asking or starting price, look at auctions that have ended with bids. Those were completed transactions that have sold.

The best thing he could do is to get them "graded". If these cards aren't in perfect condition their value is reduced drastically.

I have a box full of baseball cards from the same time period that I should look over some time. Who knows maybe I have a treasure sitting there.

[IFallsRon]

The market isn't as good as it used to be as kids/people have moved to Pokemon and the like. Dave Mona (Sunday mornings with Sid) takes questions regarding collectibles and tells people to contact him off air.

[fishermn]

If you guys hear about anyone that does grade/price cards in bulk I would like to hear about it too. I bought a briefcase full of mid 50's - mid 60's cards from a co-worker. Most cards are in what I would grade as fair shape, but there are some spectacular names in there. Mantle, Aaron, Robinson, Killebrew, etc etc. I would love to have the whole collection graded and priced, and maybe even sold (for the right price ). But I have not really researched where I could have that done. Anyone have experience with that?

[capmorgan]

I think Shinders stores in the metro area trades and sells cards and would probably know about the grading. Keep in mind though that hsolist and paypal charge fees for items sold and take so much of items cost. If he has any Jordan rookie its probably worth hundreds but im not sure if 1986 was his rookie year.

[montanagriz]

The 1986 Fleer Basketball Set is one of the great basketball sets to collect. It does include Jordan's official rookie card. I stopped collecting cards about 10 years ago, but from what I can remember it retailed for around $1,200 at the time. Lots of other great rookie cards in the set including Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Ewing, Olajuwon, etc. Unless you really need the money, I would hang on to your cards, it's a very desirable set to have.

[BigWadeS]

I had that compelete set mint condition along with many others had them all stored at my parents' house while I was in college. The spring of 97's flood took all of them and ruined them all, keep them safe and out of harms way...just my .02