Every baseball card has its day

By David Mullen

It has been a ritual for young sports fans for generations. Mow lawns. Wash cars. Sell lemonade. Do chores around the house. Maybe even get a paper route. You did whatever it took to have your own money and not just any money. Baseball card money.

My retailer of choice was Art’s Five and Dime six blocks from my parent’s house in Oakland. The dapper Art – always clad in a vest and tie — would get a new shipment of Topps wax packs weekly during baseball season. They were 10 cents a pack with 10 cards and a stick of gum that was so hard it could break teeth. It must have been a conspiracy started by dentists nationwide.

Forget about football, basketball, hockey or comic book cards. Our superheroes were baseball players. A Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Henry Aaron, Roberto Clemente or any Oakland A’s card was like striking gold. Or in the case of the A’s, green and gold. A Vida Blue or Sal Bando or young Reggie Jackson image brought more joy to an East Bay kid than any Orioles or Red Sox or Phillies card could ever bring.

Sorry Johnny Callison. Give me a Joe Rudi card any day.   

Saturday, Aug. 7 is National Baseball Card Day. Social media, video games and Marvel movies are dominating the interest of today’s youth. It would seem that honoring the collecting and trading of baseball cards would go unnoticed.

“The card market is going like crazy now,” said Dean Fuller, owner of Nick’s Sports Cards & Memorabilia in a strip shopping center at 7612 Campbell Road. Since 1989, Nick’s has been the go-to place for all cards and sports memorabilia in Dallas. “We get new customers in here all the time. New kids coming in. I personally love to get the new kids into the hobby. My leaning is if you don’t bring the new kids in now, in 15 years you’ve got problems down the road because you’ve got no hobby out there.” Nick’s offers several in-house card programs targeting youth.

“The card market absolutely, 100 percent exploded during the pandemic,” Fuller said. “What happened was — in part — when you had those lockdown orders, people started going through their collections. Nostalgia kicked in and people start buying cards again.” He saw the price of Michael Jordan cards go “crazy wild” after the 10-part ESPN documentary “The Last Dance” entertained record TV audiences shut-in by COVID-19. “Boom! You had the perfect storm,” Fuller said. 

The days of the dime packs are gone. Today’s Topps Opening Day baseball pack went for about $2.50, and a pack can run up to as much as $100, offering special, one-of-a-kind cards and autographed game pieces. “What you get out of a pack of cards today,” Fuller said, “aren’t what we used to get.

“The other day somebody texted me a deal about a [Kansas City Chiefs quarterback] Patrick Mahomes card,” Fuller said. “It was a rookie card with a signed patch and an 8.5 grade.” Cards are graded from 1 to 10 with 10 being a card in perfect condition. “It is going for $4.3 million.”

While cards of baseball greats — called “Vintage” in the business — like Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig or Mays or Mantle still get top dollar, cards of today’s star players — called “Modern” — like Fernando Tatis, Jr. are pricey. “Their body of work might be this big,” Fuller said, making a hand gesture that reflected the fact that the 22-year-old San Diego Padres shortstop has played in just 230 career games. “But their cards are going for 50, 60, a hundred grand already.”

Like any investment, Fuller cautions that collecting cards to make money can be risky. “Look at [New Orleans Pelicans forward and 2019 No. 1 NBA pick] Zion Williamson and it’s true with any athlete. If you blow out a knee, you get injured or have off the field issues, your value just sank greatly. But his cards are staying way up there. Luka Doncic — he has cards going for $4 million. 

“I bought cards as a kid,” Fuller, 65, said. “I would go to the local drug store and pick out my Topps pack off the rack. I paid 10 cents. People laugh. I didn’t think twice about buying a pack of 1968 Topps for 10 cents. That was just the price that they were. You talk to a young guy today and they are blown away by that.” 

Baseball cards remain popular at Nick’s, although basketball cards, thanks to media darlings like Jordan and LeBron James, command the highest prices. Pokémon cards are more popular than hockey cards. 

In 1990, a 1968 Topps New York Mets rookie card of Nolan Ryan and Jerry Koosman made news when a new card shop owner mistakenly sold one to a boy for $12. The card was valued at $1,200 at the time. “Heritage Auction here in Dallas just had a ‘10-up’ [card in mint condition] of the Ryan card. The estimate for it was $150,000.” In August 2020, a mint Ryan rookie card sold at auction for $600,000.

I have two 1968 Topps Mets rookie cards. They are “the other rookie card” featuring Gary Gentry and Amos Otis. Present value is about $30.

Nick’s is named after Nick Redwine, who opened the store with wife Debbie before selling it to Fuller in 2016. Redwine called Fuller, “a lawyer by trade” and an avid card collector, to discuss how to sell the business as Redwine planned on moving to Tulsa. 

Little did Redwine know that he was talking to the new owner. “I ended up buying the place from him,” Fuller said. “I hadn’t thought about owning a store. My law practice was doing well.” The Redwines remained on board for a few months to help Fuller learn the nuances of the card market. “Debbie was a master at buying.”

Fuller, who moved to Dallas decades ago to get out of the Michigan cold, was familiar with Nick’s when he would take sons Josh and Jake to share an experience that was an important part of his youth. “I grew up in Detroit,” Fuller said. “I grew up a Detroit Tigers fan.” Fuller proceeded to sing “Go Get ’em Tigers,” the team fight song. A card seller sitting nearby heard the crooning and said, “It sounds like a war song from the depression.” “[Hall of Fame outfielder] Al Kaline was my favorite guy,” Fuller said. “Passed away on my birthday. Maybe sending me a message. I don’t know.”

Being a University of Michigan grad, Fuller has a special interest in former Wolverine quarterback Tom Brady, the reigning Super Bowl champion. “Brady cards are going through the roof,” Fuller said. 

Fuller still has his own card collection. “I bought from Nick for more than 20 years,” Fuller said. His most prized personal possession is not a card, but a Michigan license plate signed by former Tigers Mickey Lolich and Willie Horton. “It’s worth nothing, but where are you going to find one of those?” 

If such an item was available, it would probably be at Nick’s.

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