Once a week, for a few short hours, my Twitter timeline forgets to show me a constant deluge of NFTs.
Instead, I see cards. Lots of them. Sometimes I can’t help myself but join in and buy one, or two… my limit is five.
That’s because on Wednesdays at 7 pm, @CardsStory makes his weekly proclamation:
Then, without fail, the floodgates open.
Strangers from all over meet to buy, sell, barter, and admire some of the finest baseball cards ever made. The names Mantle, Cobb, Ruth, and Clemente suddenly become commonplace.
Cards from the famous T206 set are seemingly always available, graded and raw.
Outside of the infrastructure used by marketplaces like eBay to facilitate deals between buyers and sellers, this Twitter thread has sprung up as an unlikely option. In place of the security of eBay, it offers community. While the thread may lack seller ratings, the public nature of the weekly ritual helps root out any scammers pretty quick. And of course… no fees.
The thread’s host and creator is a 26-year-old collector who has been passionate about cards since he was 7. He told me he started the thread after seeing Twitter sales threads on his timeline, but none focusing on vintage baseball.
“I really see it as an opportunity to grow this community and make it stronger. Give people a reason to all get to know each other and grow their relationships with people who share the same love for cards and the hobby. I think that’s more valuable than the cards themselves.”
Last night, about $12K in sales were made over the course of the evening.
Amidst the 100s of cards posted for sale each week, there will always be some familiar faces, both on the cards & behind the accounts selling them.
One of the most avid sellers on the thread is Ryan Nolan, a card collector who has gained a strong following on Twitter & YouTube as he travels the country attending card shows. Ryan told me that he uses the thread to sell his weekend pickups and fund his next card show trip.
Ryan also recently published a book called “Spotting Fakes” — filled with tips to properly identify fake cards.
The diverse array of cards up for sale on any given week can be dizzying.
Last week, an 1888 R & S Artistic Philidelphia Series Baseball Card graded PSA 8 sold for $600.
That type of hyper-vintage oddball quality is exactly what hits home with the weekly thread-goers, who often seek out a niche of cards that the general collecting community might ignore. For many of the Wednesday night attendees, the history of a card or set can mean as much if not more than the player on the front.
But that doesn’t mean Hobby legends aren’t a consistent presence.
The most expensive card ever sold via the thread was a Hank Aaron Rookie Card graded PSA 4. @SonofSamIAm sold the card for $4,200 back in December.
The thread continues to grow, and for an increasingly large population of vintage baseball collectors, it’s become a can’t miss event.
@CardsStory credits its growth to word of mouth.
“Every week now I have people that either post a tweet about how excited they are for the next thread or they post tweets of their mail days consisting of cards they bought through the thread.”
See you next Wednesday.
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