I took a two decade break from card collecting beginning in

1960 to discover the real meaning of girls (which I'm still trying to discover). This adventure led me to a marriage, children, two cars, a house, and associated relentless payments. Around 1980 the "smart money" in baseball cards was in buying full sets with the thinking that if once in a while you got a Mantle, Williams, Mays, etc. caliber HOFer RC it more than paid for the set.

I did not follow that path, instead, I dipped my toe in the pre-war pool. And when it didn't get bitten off, eventually became entirely submurged. But I wonder how those smart money guys did. Is there a list of the 1975-1990 HOF RCs with current prices handy? Guys were buying several sets each year.

How about this one? I remember it selling for upwards of $200. Now it's probably worth $5.



Edit: Sorry, I just saw you were referring to HOF cards. But you know, back then everyone thought this guy would be an HOF lock.

I betya that many (including me) thought that Rose had a "lock" too. And Im sure that a plot of his card prices by year would be very interesting.

But in doing a quick check on HOF RCs since 1975, the theory of buying complete sets, was apparently sound from the perspective that baseball cranked out HOFers at a rate of about one per year. But not in the 50s style of Aaron, Mays, Spahn, etc. More along the lines of Bruce Sutter, Paul Molitor, Ozzie Smith, Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett, etc. Very deserving ballplayers, but not all of top tier caliber.

I haven't checked values of the 10 HOFers I IDed for the interval of 1975 - present, but Id be surprised if there was as much money generated as planned.

gil...my parents are getting ready to move and so I went to their house 2 weeks ago and went through all of my stuff trying to decide what to save and what to get rid of. There were 15000 or so bb cards from the 70's-early 90's. I cherry picked all of the rookies/hof'ers I wanted and the rest is gone. After consulting the beckett guide on values...they're a fraction of what they once were. You definitely spent the smart money my friend!