David Rima sat cross-legged on the concrete floor of the Anaheim Convention Center this week, gazing at a dozen century-old baseball trading cards. The corporate headhunter had just spent about $300 to augment his collection of the tiny cards that were distributed long ago by tobacco companies, and he still had more money to spend.
"They're so beautiful, so fascinating," Rima said.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday September 03, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 0 inches; 38 words Type of Material: Correction
Baseball cards: An article in Sports on July 29 said that a rare Honus Wagner card that sold for $1.25 million in 2001 came from a set of 700 cards. In fact, the T206 series contained 514 cards.
No matter, he conceded, that it is virtually impossible for "a working man" to snare all 700 cards in the 1909 set that is best known for the mint-condition Honus Wagner card that in 2001 sold for $1.25 million. That card is on display at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Anaheim, the biggest collectors show of the season, which runs through Sunday.
This year's show is expected to draw about 35,000 visitors, a stark contrast to the 1991 event that was held in Anaheim at the height of a sports card collecting frenzy. More than 100,000 treasure seekers in 1991 jammed the convention center, forcing a harried fire marshal to repeatedly close the show doors.
The sports memorabilia industry continues to suffer from the glut of new baseball cards that entered the market and overwhelmed many longtime collectors who simply stopped collecting. And the industry that is synonymous with bubble gum suffered a classic speculative bubble that burst, leaving many hobbyists saddled with cartons of essentially worthless cards.
"There was a fascination with sports trading cards that was fueled by the belief that you could get rich quick," said Tracy Hackler, an associate publisher with Dallas-based Beckett Media, which publishes sports collectibles magazines.
During the 1991 Anaheim show, thousands of youngsters scrambled to grab free promotional cards being distributed by manufacturers. "They'd get 10 of their friends to stand in line and collect 10 bags," said Jeff Rosenberg, president of Houston-based Tristar Productions, which produces sports collectible shows and authenticates memorabilia. "Then they turned around and sold them to collectors inside the show who were paying hundreds of dollars."
Although there are trading cards for other sports -- football, basketball, hockey and tennis -- baseball cards have long dominated sales. In 1991, the wholesale value of all new sports trading cards soared to a record $1.2 billion; last year sales fell to $250 million, according to Card Trade, an Iola, Wisc.-based trade magazine. The card glut can be tied to a 1981 court decision that stripped Topps Co. of its exclusive contract to produce baseball cards. Donruss, Fleet, Upper Deck and other rivals quickly issued their own baseball cards.
