Baseball Cards?!?!?

Crazy talk right? Here is the challenge. Go to your local store and try to buy a pack of baseball cards for under $1.00. Do they even make baseball cards any more?!?! I was at the local grocery store and I asked the guy at the check-out counter where they had packs of baseball cards? Simple question right? The guy just stares me down then laughs a nice full belly laugh. He then said, "What is this 1978? Do they even make baseball cards any more?" Like 1978 was the magic cut-off date for baseball card production. If it was I was never informed of it!

For some reason baseball cards are becoming harder and harder to find by the pack. When you do find them the store only sells them by the box for five times more then the cards inside are even worth! Just for the fun of it I purchased one of these boxes from a place that wasn't trying to rip me off. I opened every pack, sorted the players by team then got out the latest price guide. I was lucky if only one card was worth 25 cents. I paid $50 for this box and only one card was worth 25 cents. Try selling that to a card store and they will only pay you 5 cents for the card because they are in business to make money not lose money.

Once in a while I will find a store that does have baseball cards for sale at the checkout by the pack, but even those cost anywhere from $1.75 to $5.00 each! But with the current baseball market if you are looking to make any money you have to sell your cards when the player is red hot! Because next year or in the off season he might get caught shooting roids. My brother held on to his Barry Bonds rookie card way too long. I can hear my dad now, "You boys save those cards and keep them nice, they are gonna be worth something some day."

Me and my brother grew up in the '80's. So what do we do with all of our Roger Clemens, Jose Conseco, Mark Macgwire, Barry Bonds cards? I could go on unfortunately but I wont. Maybe 1978 is the year when players started thinking "Cheating is ok, no one will ever know." The average baseball card purchaser from the 80's and 90's most likely has a collection with at least 65% of what they have is worth zilch. At least right now its worth zilch.

If you find a place that sells good packs of baseball cards for $1.00 or less in the Baltimore area please let me know! Until then the hunt will be on and if I find any I'll share it here and on the PodCast!

-Case Rocker