"Are my cards worth lots of money?"

"I'm sorry, but your collection doesn't have much value." I said those words to many people when I had a card shop. Of course, they went away disappointed, but how did that happen? Because the cards they brought to me for appraisal were manufactured in the late 80's and early 90's, the "card glut" years. By the late 80's there were a few card companies in competition with each other- Topps, Donruss, and Fleer. They were making millions of cards, but they were still using cheap cardboard for them. In 1989 a new maker joined in- Upper Deck. The '89 debut of Upper Deck's product was "the shot heard 'round the world", as far as the hobby was concerened. Instead of cheap cardboard to make the cards, UD used snow-white material. But the quality of the photography is what set them apart from the other guys. And Upper Deck didn't put their cards inside of cheap wax packs, but "foil packs" to keep the cards in pristine condition. It's a classic set still highly coveted today.

Topps didn't come out with a high-quality product until 1991 when Stadium Club made it's debut. Donruss and Fleer also tried, but nothing could compare to Upper Deck's quality product. All of this made for publicity of card collecting and the public started buying, buying, buying. Topps, Donruss, and Fleer responded to the demand by making hundreds of millions more cards, mostly on the cheap cardboard they were infamous for. The glut was on. Those cards from that time are still not very valuable today, probably never will be.

Dear CollectorsHelper,

I have a Factory Set of 1991 Topps Baseball. Should I break the seal and sell the cards individually?"

-- Brian

Dear Brian, here's what you do: Break the seal on the set. Then take a stack of cards out of the box. Use about 30 cards for the stack. Get some tape and use the tape on the stack, tape it up real good. Do this for several stacks. Now you can use them for several things- as door stops, or a game of lawn toss, or even as kindling in your fireplace. The applications are practically endless.

Have fun out there...

Collectibles Are Affected By Controversy

Yes, the value of your Baseball cards, autographs, and other memorabilia will be affected by the "Bombshell" of widespread steroid use. If you have amassed a collection of items relating to a player that is mentioned in the Mitchell Report, my heart goes out to you.

Roger Clemens fans must feel like they've been kicked in the stomach right about now, but other incidents have affected other player's memorabilia too. It doesn't have to be an allegation of drug use, either. It could be something as simple as an ego-driven tirade that's widely publicized. Take Ricky Henderson, for example. In 1990 he was about to break Lou Brock's record for Stolen Bases, and his Rookie Card was zooming up in value as he was getting closer to the mark. So Henderson does finally become the new MLB Stolen Base record holder, and he's interviewed in the locker room. Ricky does his best Muhammad Ali imitation and proclaims himself "The greatest of all-time" to everyone within earshot. And he does this several times over the next few weeks, revealing something about himself that turns off the public, and the Book Value of his Rookie Card soon plummets.

As for myself, I pretty much stopped collecting modern sportscards and memorabilia when former NFL player Lyle Alzado died of brain cancer, and it became known that he used steroids. Alzado knew he was dying and told a sportswriter that he believed that his use of steroids had caused his cancer.

In the early 90's Jose Canseco was smashing Home Runs all over the place, but it was suspicion of steroid use that kept him from extreme popularity among the fans. Of course, we now know that he did indeed have some "help" hitting those dingers.

Barry Bonds went from a lean athlete to someone that now resembles The Incredible Hulk, thanks to steroids & HGH. Remember when Bonds was getting closer to Babe Ruth's HR mark of 714? Barry got upset because he wasn't being regarded as one of MLB's all time greats. He lashed out in the media that it was because he was black and was about to break a white man's record. No, Barry, it's because you are obnoxious, surly, an egomaniac, a druggie cheater, and a thoroughly disgusting individual. The biggest embarassment to MLB since the White Sox threw the 1919 World Series. I could say more, but I don't want to sound hateful :-)

And let's not forget Mark McGwire, lest Barry would think it's racism. When McGwire testified before Congress about steroid use in MLB, he had a golden opportunity to deny drug use. But he said "I'm not going to talk about the past" when asked if he used steroids, thereby letting down his fans, Tony Larussa, and everyone else that was amazed about his hitting ability. His Rookie Card's value soon fell dramatically, also.

You see, there are even more reasons to collect vintage material, when players' on-field accomplishments were really earned.

Clemens' cards will make good kindling, and you can give your autographed jerseys to the Salvation Army. Play catch with your children using those signed baseballs, no great loss now.

Have fun out there!