Interesting topic

[franklinguy52]

I saw this one another site and thought that I would see what my fellow TCZ members thougths are. If you could jumpo into this , with only $100, what year would you go to and what would cards would you but?

For me, it would be 1952 and buy all of those Topps cards that I could find, at 5 cents per pack. The Mickey Mantle is one of the most iconic cards and that set would be unbelievable to have. My dad was a huge Mantle fan and got me into collecting by talking about all of the Mantles that he had as a kid, so this is a no brainer for me.

 

[packman80]

Go back far enough back when $100 could have bought a Honus Wagner card. Then come back and sell it for what it's worth today.

 

[rigo tovar]

I'd agree with @franklinguy52 and the '52 topps set, imagine how many packs you'd come back with

 

[MichJohn]

Mine would be to buy the Honus Wagner cards and the other cards of that era. But could you imagine Flashing a 2014 $100 bill at someone in that era :S

 

[captkirk42]

So far good ideas the 52 set is excellent. I think going to 1933 or 34 and getting Goudeys or go back earlier to just around the turn of the 19th-20th centuries and get a bunch of the tobacco products that had cards that are thought to have almost all but disappeared.

Definitely go to 1952.

Of course for this excursion to the past one would have to get age appropriate currency, preferably in small denominations as flashing a $100 (of any era) at a cashier would cause concern. As if buying something in bulk that at the time seems menial wouldn't be suspicious enough.

 

[captkirk42]

I was going to add something about going to '52 and taking the $100 to bet on some horse races and then around World Series time make Topps a huge offer for the remaining stock of unsold cards. BUT then I reread the situation that you could use ONLY the $100. (Which the farther back you go the more valueable it becomes.)

 

[sliqwill]

yeah I think 52...now I understand the folks wanting to go back further, but how easy was it to find cards from the specific set and such...I know as a kid it was easy to find TOPPS baseball cards in 84 (when I started), 85, 86...but only 1 store in town carried Fleer and Donruss as well, and that is of the 4 or 5 places in town where you could find cards...

currently it is fairly tough to find anything other than Topps football and baseball at a store...the walmarts around here pretty much only have football and baseball, they have like 1 hockey product and 1 basketball product...its not like you can walk into any store and buy anything...

when my mom was a kid in the late 50's and early 60's, again, in a small town of maybe 2000 people, they had cards at the store, and the kids bought them for the gum...imagine how much money you could get for an unopened pack of 52 Topps...you would likely have to go to several towns to spend $100, since that is 2000 packs...as a kid it wasn't often that there were multiple boxes of a product at the grocery store...

for the tobacco stuff, I think you only got 1 per pack or whatever, so you wouldn't be able to get all that many, and may not hit a Honus...I figure you could get at least $2000 for a pack, 0 on ebay, listed or completed, but I figure if properly stored with the packs in seemingly 'mint' condition, it would be closer to $15,000, netting you a cool $30 million bucks...

 

[franklinguy52]

Some interesting answers so far. Obviously, most people would go to find the most valuable cards, and the tobacco cards and the 52s would definitely fit that. Another possibility would be to go and get some Fleer basketball cards in the early 80s. At 50 cents a pack, 7 or 8 boxes could pull some pretty sweet Jordan's in mint condition. But my second choice would actually be 1971 (the year I was born). That is my favorite baseball set, I love the black borders. I could also pick up some sweet football cards.

 

[Indiana Jones]

Go back to 1911 and buy up as many tobacco products as I can.

 

[msw_sportscards]

Yeah, because you don't already have enough. Flash some of those cancer cards.

 

[captkirk42]

yeah I think 52...now I understand the folks wanting to go back further, but how easy was it to find cards from the specific set and such...

...when my mom was a kid in the late 50's and early 60's, again, in a small town of maybe 2000 people, they had cards at the store, and the kids bought them for the gum...imagine how much money you could get for an unopened pack of 52 Topps...you would likely have to go to several towns to spend $100, since that is 2000 packs...as a kid it wasn't often that there were multiple boxes of a product at the grocery store...

...for the tobacco stuff, I think you only got 1 per pack or whatever, so you wouldn't be able to get all that many, and may not hit a Honus...I figure you could get at least $2000 for a pack, 0 on ebay, listed or completed, but I figure if properly stored with the packs in seemingly 'mint' condition, it would be closer to $15,000, netting you a cool $30 million bucks...

A bit of card history: (sort of)
Tobacco cards were only 1 per pack of whatever the product was (cigarettes, cigar, chewing tobacco whatever). The card was used to give more stability to the packaging to protect the tobacco product. I figure most smokers back then just ignored whatever was in the pack/box other than the smokes so they would toss the card out with the rest of the packaging after they were through with all the cigs. No recycling back then. Some of them probably saved the card to give to either their kids or a neighbor kid. Don't know if there were any smokers who were themselves collectors.

Grocery stores even in the 1970s and early in the 80s carried cards, usually the "rack packs". Sometimes toy stores carried cards.

 

[sliqwill]

I can tell you that I never saw basketball cards in stores until 89...

 

[Mike]

You guys are looking at this all wrong. I say jump into the time machine, go back to the days you guys are all talking about, and buy a ton of those old timer baseball cards. Then, jump back in the time machine go to the present and have them graded. Then head off into the future and sell them for a bucket load. Now you have enough money to go back to the past and buy up cards of guys you PC in the years they were the cheapest.

Heck, now that you're rich you could even go back to the past again start the process all over again. Maybe this time do it with Michael Jordan rookie cards. Better yet, buy up some of the rookie cards now, and take them back to the past with you when they were the hot rookie and sell them off. Jeremy Lin anyone? Strasburg?

Troy, you never said we could only take 1 trip in this time machine. My first trip would be with $100. My next few would be with thousands!!

 

[WestCoastSkinsFan]

Oddly enough, I'll throw a curveball skip the sports cards. I'll go back to 1993 and pick up a sealed box of Alpha or Beta Magic the Gathering boosters or starters.

A single, unsearched PACK of cards can go for hundreds if not thousands in the right condition. $100 would likely get at least one sealed box, if not more.

 

[Breaker4310]

Don't give me a hundred just let me go back and get those Jordan Rookies I had.