Navigating the trading card and sports memorabilia hobby can seem daunting, whether you’re coming into it for the first time or returning to it after decades away. After all, there was a time when the most difficult question related to trading cards was whether to eat the gum packaged with them or not, but now the landscape is far more complex.
Well, The Athletic’s collectibles staff is here to help. We had our colleagues from across the company submit their collectibles questions, which we’ve answered below.
Buddy of mine is a big card collector and he’s always talking about the process of getting cards graded. Seems like the entire process is ripe for fraud and the cost to get cards graded seems outrageous to me. Would love an explainer on the process, which ones can be trusted and how important it is if you have a card that has value. —Josh Hargreaves
This is probably dependent on the card and its condition, but should I get my best stuff graded? And Beckett or PSA? —Martin Oppegaard
Grading has become a major component of the trading card industry, but it’s definitely something that invites a lot of questions, too. First the purpose it serves: The value of trading cards is very much tied to the condition they’re in. Graders provide a third-party assessment of condition and authenticity, which they then preserve by encasing the card in a tamper-proof plastic shell. Grading generally serves as the frontlines of the industry’s fight against fraud. It also can add significant value to a card. So even when the grading cost is relatively high, it’s an investment that can pay off. However, it really depends on the card.
There are a variety of different grading companies, some with specific niches and specialties. Pricing varies from company to company and can be dependent on the value of the specific card being graded.
SGC has built a reputation for its expertise with vintage cards (those made before 1975) and more economical pricing. CGC is perhaps most known for grading comics and non-sports cards (like Pokemon). Beckett was once the industry leader and is unique in that it lists grades for each specific element of the card on its labels.
But by far the biggest today is PSA. The market has decided that a gem-mint PSA 10 grade carries a value premium, but a PSA 9 — which is still “mint” according to the company’s grading scale — ultra modern card (one produced in the last 5-10 years) is increasingly selling for about the same or sometimes for slightly less than an ungraded example of the same card. Why? Because a card graded a 9 is exactly that, but an ungraded card could get a 10. I mean, it probably won’t, but that chance is enough for some people.
The decision to grade a card usually comes down to value potential, condition, and whether you intend to sell it. If you want help in determining all of that, many hobby shops offer grading prep services where they will give your cards an initial assessment, suggest which to send off for grading and then handle that process for you (for a fee). If you don’t have a card shop near you, Gamestop has started providing this service specifically for PSA grading. But if you’d rather handle the submission process yourself, the website of the company you’re submitting to will lay out the required process from how to pack the cards to the forms you’ll need to fill out and the payment needed.
Of course, you by no means have to get your cards graded. There are plenty of reasons why people don’t, from feeling like there’s too much human error or variance inherent in the process to simply not liking the cases that graded cards get sealed into. Plenty of ungraded cards are bought and sold every day, too. —Brooks Peck
I have two Wayne Gretzky rookie cards that I don’t even want to touch, let alone pack up and put in the mail. How secure is the grading process and is there anywhere to get it done in person? —John Vogl
The grading process itself is largely secure when you use one of the reputable companies listed above. Although rare, thefts have occurred as cards make their way through the mail system, so concern about sending off valuable cards isn’t uncommon, even though insurance can cover the monetary value of the cards in question. That said, the grading companies frequently do in-person or drop-off services at a number of card shows and conventions around the country, taking those mail concerns out of the equation. If there’s a particular grading service you’re looking to use, check their website for a schedule of which events they’ll be at. —Brooks
How do I know how much my old cards are worth? —Vik Chokshi
From the “Can I throw this out now?” perspective: Those cards from the ‘80s … will those prices ever appreciate or is the inventory just too massive? Anything worth keeping on an individual level besides my Donnie Baseball ’84 Topps rookie card or can I clear out about nine cubic feet in my closet? —Mike Hume
To find out the value of your cards, there are a few ways you can go. First, you can type the card information into eBay and then click the “sold items” options to see the prices cards actually have sold for recently (it’s important to check those sold listings and not just what people are asking — a lot of people list worthless cards for big money, but they ain’t gonna get it!). Second, you can go to 130point.com, which compiles sales from eBay and a number of other marketplaces. Third, you can use an app like CardLadder or Market Movers, which compile and chart sales data, but charge subscription fees for advanced info. PSA’s official app also just added the ability to scan a card with your phone and tell you sales and grading info for it. Other apps like CollX and Collectibles.com also provide card scanning functions.
As for Mike’s question, valuable cards from the ‘80s and ‘90s are a bit more few and far between. This period was known as the “junk wax era” (a reference to cards coming in wax packs) because they were massively overproduced and as a result, supply far outstrips demand for them, thus depressing their overall value. There are still valuable cards from this period, like certain rookie cards of key Hall of Famers and certain rare ‘90s insert cards, particularly in gem-mint grades because quality control was poor back then and a lot of cards had condition issues before they even went into packs. I would recommend taking a day to sift through what you have and check values. It might sound tedious, but it’s a fun stroll down memory lane that pays off either with identifying valuable cards or the ability to get rid of a lot of junk. (Or both!) —Brooks
Explain to me case breaks like I’m an idiot. —C. Trent Rosecrans
Box or case breaks serve as one of the most popular methods of buying sports cards today. It can be a more affordable way to acquire cards of the specific players or teams you want rather than buying packages of cards on your own. It can also be a massive gamble where you can walk away with little to nothing.
Box breaks typically occur through live streams on the internet and are hosted by hobby shops, online vendors or individual sellers. There are several major platforms, such as Fanatics Live, eBay Live and Whatnot, where online vendors host live streams. Other break streams appear on YouTube in the dealer’s own channel.
The process involves a dealer selling the rights to a configuration of cards from sealed packages (usually large quantities of them) before they’re opened. The most common configurations sold are by team or individual player. So for a fraction of the total cost of all the packages being opened, you can buy the rights to all the cards of that one team or player that come out of them. If no cards from the team or the player purchased show up in the packs, the buyer walks away with nothing. But if a rare or valuable card of that team/player is pulled, the buyer gets it for much less than they could on the open market, like the collector who bought the Washington Commanders spot in a break for $36 and got a Jayden Daniels rookie card worth more than $200,000 as a result. —Larry Holder
What (broadly speaking) is the market for my 1990s Starting Lineup action figures? —Matt Baker
When it comes to Starting Lineup figures, you may have more in terms of nostalgia value than dollar value. The brand has made an impressive comeback in recent years with some nicely detailed NBA action figures that include big names such as LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and a very buff Steph Curry.
In terms of vintage figures, the price will depend on if the figures are still in their original packaging. And even if they are unopened, only certain players break the bank. For example, the 1988 Doug Williams Starting Lineup figure, that was a favorite of my younger days, still boxed has sold for anywhere from $37-$80 on eBay recently, while unboxed its sold for $20 or less. The 1988 Michael Jordan figure still in the box has sold for $60-$125 and on its own for $25 or less. It really depends on the player you have and the condition of the figure (and even the box). None of these are “sell immediately” prices and if I was lucky enough to stumble upon some classic Starting Lineup figures, still boxed or not, I’d probably just keep them for myself. —David Betancourt
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I have a six-year-old who I’d like to get started into collecting sports cards. Where do I start? —Nick Kosmider
This is a remarkably perfect question, because I happen to have a six-year-old who is just starting to get into collecting cards, too. My first piece of advice would be to not limit them to just sports cards. If your six-year-old is anything like mine, they may not be fully invested in sports just yet, so Star Wars cards, Pokemon, or cards with Disney or Marvel characters on them can be a great starting point for that age group. My daughter has enjoyed collecting a bit of all of those, but she also loves Bryce Harper, so she had a great time going through my collection and picking out all the Harper base cards she wanted to keep for herself. I got her a zip-up card binder from Amazon (the zip is a key component for keeping cards inside the binder) and she took the time to put all her cards in just the right order inside it.
From there, if you have a card shop or card show in your area, they’ll have $1 bins that are perfect for kids (and adults) to sift through. Tell them they can pick out 5-10 cards they want from there and after an intent search, they’ll come away with a prized haul that won’t break the bank. Of course opening packs is fun for everyone, but it can also get expensive depending on which ones and how often you do it, so I’ll leave that part to your own budget and desire. —Brooks
I have three copies of the SI For Kids issue with the Tiger Woods rookie. Mag is in pristine shape. I am sure plenty of people have full SI For Kids magazines with well-known rookie cards in the middle that are uncut. What is the best practice here and what is the value? Keep the magazine intact, or gamble that you can somehow get the valuable rookie card out of the inserted cards in gem mint condition? Thanks. —Richard Deitsch
Recent sales of that issue (December 1996) with the uncut cards intact range from $300-$800. The last gem-mint PSA 10 graded example of the Tiger Woods card on its own sold for $25,800. But out of 2,177 examples of that card graded by PSA, only 22 have achieved a 10 grade. Those aren’t great odds and achieving a 10 comes down to more than just how perfectly you can separate it out of the perforated sheet — it has to have been printed with near perfect centering, have no surface imperfections, etc. There are 200 PSA 9s and the last sale on one of those was $1,878. That’s more attainable, but still not a guarantee. There are 677 PSA 8s, the largest grouping of any grade, and the last sale on one of those was $700.
So it’s a sizable payoff if you separate the Woods card out and get a 9 or 10 grade on it, but the odds are likely against you, even if the magazine itself is in great shape. —Peck
GO DEEPER
SI For Kids cards are selling for as much as $117,000. Why?
What’s the best way to make the hobby as economically friendly as possible? So, maybe some advice on paring down what you collect and then how best to benefit from what doesn’t fit into your collection. —Jim Ayello
First of all, there are a lot of beautiful/awesome sports cards from all eras that don’t cost a ton to collect. This hobby tends to focus maybe a bit too much on the biggest/rarest/most expensive and unattainable cards and that can create a dissatisfaction loop that gets very expensive very fast for anyone chasing those cards. So if you mentally recalibrate to put aesthetic and sentimental value above monetary value, you can assemble a more economical and perhaps even more satisfying collection.
Now, if you do still want to chase more monetarily valuable cards in the most economical way possible, you have to keep it hyper focused. That will likely mean eliminating the gambles and not buying sealed wax or buying into breaks. Buy singles in the offseason, when prices tend to decline and sell when others are FOMOing in. Remember that the value of most cards will go down the further you get from their initial release, so be patient when it comes to buying cards you want for the long-term. If you’re starting with a sizable pre-existing collection, keep only what you really, truly care about the most and make everything else expendable, then reassess those groups every few months. Don’t keep cards just to keep them. Sell some moderately valuable cards in order to buy one more valuable card. Keep your books as balanced as you can. It’s definitely possible to collect at a break-even point or even a net profit, but it takes some vigilance, which can be a fun challenge. —Peck
Have a collectibles question of your own that isn’t covered here? Share it in the comments section and it could be used in a future collectibles mailbag.
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