Modern-Vintage thread

[oplum29]

as time goes on, it seems that the category of vintage for football for example, has a clear line. everything pre-1981 is vintage. 1981 onward was considered modern, until the new stuff like Flawless, NT, Impeccable, and all the Optic stuff came in.

but now, with time, i think we have to create a new category, "modern-vintage".

this is for those guys like us that love vintage, but also modern stuff, but not so much the new stuff.

is there a way to create a new category like this with a defined years for them to fall under? say 1981 to 1999, right before the RPA (rookie patch autograph) craze took over.

like this Plummer i just won, to me, it's not vintage, but it's not modern, it's modern-vintage.

what do you all think?

[OhioLawyerF5]

I've always referred to them as modern. The more recent stuff is ultra-modern to me. And modern cards can be broken down into sub-categories, like junk wax, post-junk wax, etc...

[corndog]

I kind of think of cards printed on C1S card stock with natural backs as vintage.

No added coating, varnish, laminate, foil, etc.

[towerymt]

C1S = "coated one side", per google search

[oplum29]

i like vintage-modern, like 1981 to 1999 for example.

at least to me, in my own little category that i made up in my mind.

[notfast]

Vintage is pre 81ish IMO

Then 80’s/junk wax

Then 90’s

Then modern.

Phrase “vintage modern” to me is like 2022 Topps Chrome Platinum Jackie Robinson type stuff. Modern cards of vintage players.

[discodanman45]

A card is a card, and I don't label them anymore. I collect HOF RC's and have them in the same case. I have 1933 Goudey and 1948 Bowman HOF RC's in the same case as my 1993 SP Jeter. Heck, I have a Giannis Prizm RC in the same case as my 1957 Topps Harry Gallatin and my Donruss Mahomes RC in the same case as my 1950 Bowman Motley, since they both will be HOF players as well.

I collect cards and my 2018 Sandy Alcantara auto rookies are just as cool as my T206 commons.

[oplum29]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

A card is a card, and I don't label them anymore. I collect HOF RC's and have them in the same case. I have 1933 Goudey and 1948 Bowman HOF RC's in the same case as my 1993 SP Jeter. Heck, I have a Giannis Prizm RC in the same case as my 1957 Topps Harry Gallatin and my Donruss Mahomes RC in the same case as my 1950 Bowman Motley, since they both will be HOF players as well.

I collect cards and my 2018 Sandy Alcantara auto rookies are just as cool as my T206 commons.

i think the same way comics are labeled (silver age, bronze age, etc), card should be too. for football, i think with time, you've got to start categorizing some of these.

i like vintage-modern, 1981-1999.

[goodcardz]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

A card is a card, and I don't label them anymore. I collect HOF RC's and have them in the same case. I have 1933 Goudey and 1948 Bowman HOF RC's in the same case as my 1993 SP Jeter. Heck, I have a Giannis Prizm RC in the same case as my 1957 Topps Harry Gallatin and my Donruss Mahomes RC in the same case as my 1950 Bowman Motley, since they both will be HOF players as well.

I collect cards and my 2018 Sandy Alcantara auto rookies are just as cool as my T206 commons.

Same. I only really organize by type of holder and alphabetically.

[Diver757]

I can remember going to flea markets in the 80's with the old man and looking at the "old" baseball cards from the 50's and 60's in the cases along with the then brand new Mattingly's, Canseco's and Strawberry's. Fast forward to today and those Mattingly's are almost 40 years old. Modern doesn't seem like the right word for them, but I don't know what else you would call them.

[oplum29]

Originally Posted by Diver757

I can remember going to flea markets in the 80's with the old man and looking at the "old" baseball cards from the 50's and 60's in the cases along with the then brand new Mattingly's, Canseco's and Strawberry's. Fast forward to today and those Mattingly's are almost 40 years old. Modern doesn't seem like the right word for them, but I don't know what else you would call them.

agreed! that's why i'm for creating a new category and calling them "vintage-modern"

[rats60]

Originally Posted by oplum29

agreed! that's why i'm for creating a new category and calling them "vintage-modern"

OK, but vintage-modern should be 1970-1980, maybe extend that to 1986 for football. Anything from the junk wax era is junk wax. After that is modern or ultra modern.

[tonye82]

I don't think the word vintage should be used at all in this context. vintage to me is a word reserved for cards pre-1980. something like "older modern" makes more sense to me.

[oplum29]

Originally Posted by rats60

OK, but vintage-modern should be 1970-1980, maybe extend that to 1986 for football. Anything from the junk wax era is junk wax. After that is modern or ultra modern.

i made up the category of "modern-vintage" because in comic books, they have several different groups (silver, bronze, etc). so here was my thinking:

vintage: anything pre-1980
modern-vintage: 1980-1999
ultra-modern: 1999-present

to me, the era of ultra modern, or modern, would be with the advent of the "Rookie-Jersey or Rookie-Patch" autographed rookie cards as a regular issue in the set.

before that, if i remember correctly, "rookie-patch" cards were inserts prior to 2000? i might be wrong.

if that's the case, and they first came out in 99', then i'll amend my "modern-vintage" years.

[discodanman45]

I don't know why people just don't want to use the Junk Wax Era. I am proud of my "Junk Wax" collection, but it seems like some people just don't want to embrace that name. I grew up in it and it perfectly describes that era. I love my junk wax and my wife that has a little junk in the trunk. We are making this way too difficult!

[oplum29]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

I don't know why people just don't want to use the Junk Wax Era. I am proud of my "Junk Wax" collection, but it seems like some people just don't want to embrace that name. I grew up in it and it perfectly describes that era. I love my junk wax and my wife that has a little junk in the trunk. We are making this way too difficult!

they do, but i think it mostly applies to baseball cards only doesn't it? i don't remember a "junk wax era" for football. maybe 1991 and 1992 only?

[oplum29]

and you know what, you actually got me thinking now about football cards.

i could see this:

vintage: pre 1980
modern-vintage: 1981-1990
junk wax: 1991-1992
modern: 1993-1999
Ultra-modern: 1999 to present

but i think that's probably too much

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by oplum29

they do, but i think it mostly applies to baseball cards only doesn't it? i don't remember a "junk wax era" for football. maybe 1991 and 1992 only?

The Junk Wax Era is from 1986 to 1993 in all sports. Some people don't like to include 1986 Topps Football and 1986 Fleer Basketball in this list because of how iconic they were, but they were pretty mass produced. It is silly that people call 1987 Fleer Basketball Junk Wax, but not 1986 with a higher print run.

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by oplum29

and you know what, you actually got me thinking now about football cards.

i could see this:

vintage: pre 1980
modern-vintage: 1981-1990
junk wax: 1991-1992
modern: 1993-1999
Ultra-modern: 1999 to present

but i think that's probably too much

For me there is a simple separation of card years for me for each sport.

1981 in baseball when Donruss and Fleer were added.
1989 in Football when Score and Pro Set were added.
1989 in Basketball when Hoops was added.

Those are my separation years for the hobby. I consider 1988 in Basketball/Football the equivalent of 1980 and older in baseball.

[jchcollins]

A pure baseball perspective here, but vintage is stuff made before 1981. The dividing line in '81 was due to Fleer and Donruss finally ending the Topps monopoly. It's not really fair if you look at the years production ramped up, but anything 1981 - early 1990's before the premium card / insert craze took off is junk wax. There are exceptions to every rule, but not a ton of mass produced stuff 1981-1994 or so is super expensive.

I get the concept of "modern vintage" but you have to be careful not to simply move the timeline up on "vintage" because of age. Vintage is vintage also because of the way the cards were made, how they were sold and distributed, and then how they were collected; what was going on in the hobby at the time. In 1990, a 25 year-old card was "vintage" (though that term wasn't really en vogue yet...) because of the way it was made, which was different from the way the hobby was quickly changing in 1990. Today, a 25 year-old card would have been made in 1998. Though the physical age of the cards in the examples here might be the same, there is nothing "vintage" about a card made in 1998. I don't know of a better way to explain it.