Reddit mentions: The best sports memorabilia books

I wouldn't feel too bad about the baseball cards in terms of an investment. Maybe you know for certain that there were some rare, valuable ones in there (and that there was someone willing to pay that price), but like Beanie Babies and other collectibles, that market was subject to over-saturation and a perception of collections being worth much more than they truly were.

This book is a pretty interesting history of baseball cards and their rise and fall.

I like this and this. Good reads, great photos, and nice coffee table book. The prices on some of the games make me chuckle

I know it's not quite the same as comics, but I've been a baseball card collector for 20 years. If you want a terrific read check out Mint Condition. It explains that, though people have been collecting cards for over a century, the idea that they could have significant value is a relatively new idea. The T206 Wagner is a famous example. It went from a relatively affordable card in the 1970s to a several hundred thousand dollar to two million dollar card in the 2000s. The most famous example, the PSA 8 Gretzy Wagner, actually has a shady past. It's more or less fact now that it was cut from a sheet, or trimmed and altered to get a higher grade, which pretty much nullifies its high grade in most collector's minds. The 90s also brought around card grading, and the idea that condition is everything. It's actually a plausible idea. There are probably thousands, maybe millions of copies of certain cards. The ones that survived being destroyed or neglected are viewed as more desirable. I think it's just human nature. The book also describes how one collector can restore old cards to get higher grades from PSA. He could potentially make a small fortune from doing this, but he actually doesn't use his talents for evil. So grading is shady in many ways but I won't get into that.

TLDR; The people that did this had no concept of future value.

Just recently got into reading baseball books. Lots of good ones already mentioned here. One that isn't mentioned that I really liked was The Card: Collectors, Con Men and the True Story of History's Most Desired Baseball Card

Not so much about baseball per se, but baseball cards, some of shady ways they're graded and judged, and some of the interesting characters that collect them.

/u/a-moo_point I have this and it is the best, you might like it! https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Life-Antistress-Expecting-Meditation/dp/1533270775

Looking at the amazon listings for the book, it looks like the guide is not a complete record of the pricing for all sets. You can get a one month subscription to beckett for one sport for like $12. You can copy and paste their pricing checklist by set into a spreadsheet to "keep" for your own use after your 1 month expires.

amazon

You need to read the NY Post writers book on the Honus Wagner card. The whole company image was built on a fradulent card grade, but the FBI from what I have heard has circled for years but never moved on these guys. So........

https://www.amazon.com/Card-Collectors-History8217-Desired-Baseball/dp/0061123935

I honestly haven't seen a big increase in Pokemon collections hitting the market. Pokemon has been cyclical their entire lifespan. Pokemon was dead in the water following the release of Team Rocket and the Gym sets. You could buy boxes from Base 2 (and Jungle) through Gym at $10-12 all day long and every dollar store had a plethora of product in stock. Then Neo launched.

The Neo sets completely revitalized the game and resurrected it from the grave. Until it died again shortly after Expedition. From there it goes up and down steadily up to the point of Black/White and it explodes again.

No Pokemon rise has come close to the levels of Sports Cards, Comics, or Beanie Babies. While the current market has given new life to old cards, it still hasn't hit levels that would flush out every collection. If you (or anyone else reading this) wants a good read that delves into the card collection explosion check out House of Cards. Great read for seeing the levels of popularity it takes to reach the sleeping collections.

> Maybe if the Magic movie does become a thing that may cause people to drag out there binders.

You hit the nail on the head. I don't have high hopes that the movie will see the light of day after the Warcraft movie disappointed. However, if a MTG movie were to be made, and it did well, the resulting impact on the game would be enormous.