Mr. October & Sun Devil Alumni

Collecting baseball cards (or sports cards in general) is a dying hobby. Over the past 25 years, collectors have seen the industry peak, then fall to the depths of obscurity.

In relation to the high water mark of the mid 90’s, collectors are now standing in a puddle of what was once an ocean of upside and potential profit. This is 2014, and we now have a dying hobby that is not quite room temperature, but it is close.

Most people know that the baseball card has been around since the late 1800’s, a throw away item inserted into packs of gum or tobacco products. What they may not know is that the rarity of these cards rivals some of the greatest artistic masterpieces of our time. That rarity, in the 1980’s and 1990’s, coupled with a robust economy, created a run on cards both old and new.  

Adult “investors” who’s nostalgia for both the game and the ability to relive a part of their youth created a scenario where vintage cards such as the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Rookie card jumped from $500 to $50,000 overnight.

The card companies in early 90’s took advantage of the boom and flooded the market with hundreds of sets, sub-sets, inserts, refractors, autographs, jersey swatch cards and just about whatever they could get out the door.

In it’s infancy there were only a couple card manufacturers, by the 90’s the number had increased 20 fold. What was once an easy hobby to follow, had become a monstrosity that ended up destroying itself.

I started collecting cards in 1978. The fist pack of baseball cards I ever bought was at the now defunct Sprouse Reitz drug store in McCormick Ranch, Scottsdale, AZ. I was five years old, and for 15 cents I could get a pack of 20 cards (and a stick of bubble gum) with hopes of getting the top stars of the day:  Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, and Scottsdale’s own Jim Palmer. (I am guilty of buying Star Wars cards too.)

Flash forward ten years. As a DieHard Sun Devil, I continued buying cards, but now I had a focus. ASU beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl a couple years earlier, and I wanted Randall McDaniel, Aaron Cox, Bruce Hill and Eric Allen cards. My focus was solely guys who played at ASU.

Was anyone there to see Reggie knock these out of the park?

Card shops were all over The Valley and while most collectors were hoping for a Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey, Jr., I was thrilled and motivated to find Sun Devils in the packs I bought.

Today we have a dying hobby in conjunction with a down economy that makes a perfect storm for the pure collector. In the past couple years, I added cards that in my youth were only a dream, like the 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson that was once $400. Today, $75. The internet and more specifically, eBay have made the search for rare finds a breeze.

Over the past 25 years, I have built a collection of ASU sports cards that at some point will be donated to the University Archives. Attempting to collect everything ever printed is a near impossible task (per Beckett.com, Jake Plummer alone has over 3400 cards), but I like collecting cards, love ASU, and thats my motivation.

Reggie Jackson at Arizona State

Dave Smith’s collection of Sun Devil cards include both college and professional trading cards of ASU alumni. It includes different sports including Football, Baseball, Basketball and more. And they span the past several decades. Check them out here.