During the 90s, I spent hundreds, if not a thousand or more dollars on hockey, baseball, football and hockey cards.
It’s no secret that the 90s was the top of the bubble for the sports card industry, when the companies started overproducing them and making young buyers such as myself think we were putting our money into smart investments. You know, because those Chris Webber rookies cards should be worth hundreds today, right?
I lost many cards in the fire three years ago (mainly do to getting wet from the fire hoses), but for some reason, I had several of my ‘good’ sets at my father’s house when that happened.
Recently, I went through the cards to see what they were worth. The answer: Not even enough to sell. Even my Shaquille O’Neal rookies aren’t going for much. One of the problems is finding a buyer. Not everyone is actively searching for Ark Monk rookie cards, for instance.
But then I found one card – JUST ONE – that people were still buying, and paying good money for. It was an Alex Rodriguez rookie card, in a case with his name on it. The funny thing about it was that when he was a rookie, it wasn’t exactly a secret that he was going to be good, and the card was priced rather high back then. I think it was in 1995 when I purchased the card for $30. It shocks me that I paid that much, but perhaps I was thinking the same way with the other guys back then: I need to get their rookie cards because they would be worth a fortune in the future.
Anyway, I just sold the Rodriguez card for $72 on eBay, with 25 people watching. Someone had offered me $50 for it before bidding ended. Sure, it’s possible that the card may be worth more in the future, but I’m not interested it holding onto it even longer in anticipation of that. In fact, instead of investing in stocks, I wish I had spent all that money on A-Rod rookies, held them for 15 years and sold them now.
Anyway, cheers to you, A-Rod. I don’t like you at all and am not a fan of any teams you played for, but you made me some money, and so far, you’re the only athlete to do so.