Baseball cards have long been a staple of the pastime for fans of all ages to collect, trade, and enjoy. For many years the cards flew under the radar of mainstream popularity outside of diehard baseball and collecting communities. Beginning in the late 1980s and 1990s, baseball cards started gaining more exposure through product placements and mentions in television shows and movies, helping to bring the hobby to new audiences and generations.

One of the earliest and most prominent examples came in a 1988 episode of The Wonder Years titled “The Contest.” In a pivotal scene, main character Kevin Arnold is seen nervously waiting in the school hallway to find out if he has won the school spelling bee. To pass the time and ease his anxiety, he flips through and admires his baseball card collection, stopping to gaze longingly at a particularly rare and coveted card of his favorite player, Nolan Ryan.

This brief but impactful moment put the world of baseball cards on full display to the show’s large audience, many of whom were just the right age to be getting into collecting during the late 80s boom. It helped normalize the hobby and showed that card collecting was a universally relatable activity for any young fan anxious about a competition, test, or big event.

Around the same time, the 1989 film Major League featured several scenes where characters could be seen casually flipping through or trading cards in the dugout. While a more comedic take, it still helped showcase cards as a common pastime and currency among players, further exposing the hobby to mainstream audiences.

In the early 1990s, the hit sitcom Home Improvement featured main character Tim “The Toolman” Taylor as an avid collector, often seen perusing his collection or bragging about rare finds to neighbors. On one episode he even starts a baseball card business to make some extra cash. This cemented Tim Taylor as one of the first prominent TV dads to be portrayed as a collector and helped normalize the hobby for ’90s kids.

The ’90s also saw baseball cards start to make frequent appearances on Nickelodeon shows targeting younger audiences. On shows like Hey Dude, Salute Your Shorts, and Clarissa Explains It All, characters could often be seen swapping or discussing their latest card pickups between hijinks at summer camp or in the neighborhood. This was crucial exposure for capturing a new generation of potential collectors just as the sport card market was taking off.

One of the biggest boosts for baseball cards on television came from the sports-centric animated series King of the Hill, which ran from 1997-2010 on Fox. The show frequently featured main character Hank Hill and his neighbor Bill working baseball card side businesses or passionately debating the stats and players on their favorite teams.

In one memorable episode, Hank gets roped into joining a competitive adult baseball card collecting league where bragging rights and tournament championships are on the line. Scenes of the intense cardboard showdowns satirized the obsessive nature of some collectors while also glamorizing the hobby. King of the Hill hugely expanded card awareness among its wide audience of adults and children alike.

The early 2000s saw several movies directly feature baseball cards as a key plot device, further cementing their place in pop culture. In the 2003 comedy Bad Santa, Billy Bob Thornton’s character makes easy cash by stealing rare cards from homes during the holidays. The 2005 drama Fever Pitch features Jimmy Fallon’s character bonding with Drew Barrymore over their Red Sox fandom and shared card collecting past.

More recent TV shows have also paid homage to the enduring appeal of baseball cards. On the ABC family sitcom The Goldbergs, the father is often seen indulging his card hobby or schooling his kids on the history of the business. On Netflix’s Stranger Things, a young Mike Wheeler is shown proudly showing off his collection to his friends in one of the show’s most heartwarming ’80s-nostalgia moments.

Today, as card collecting has seen a resurgence among millennials and is now a multi-billion dollar industry, baseball cards continue to make frequent appearances in popular TV shows and movies. Their small but impactful roles have played a big part in normalizing and popularizing the hobby for new generations over the decades. From sitcom side plots to big screen features, cards have cemented themselves as a universally relatable symbol of fandom, nostalgia and childhood wonder on television and beyond.

A big box of baseball cards is a treasure trove of nostalgia and potential value for any collector. While the contents of someone’s personal collection can vary greatly, most big boxes contain several hundred to over a thousand cards from various years spanning multiple decades of the sport. Sifting through such a large collection and cataloging the individual cards can be an exciting endeavor full of memories and surprises.

Most big boxes of baseball cards were amassed by avid collectors starting in the late 1980s when the hobby first exploded in popularity. During the peak of the trading card craze in the early 90s, it was not uncommon for kids to purchase wax packs by the box or case looking for stars or rare inserts. Many of these packs went unopened and were stored away in attics, basements or garages for decades. Now in the modern era, some of these original collectors are going through their childhood collections and realizing the potential monetary value contained within.

When first opening a big box of cards, the collector should have several supplies on hand. A notebook or spreadsheet is essential for recording information on notable cards found. Protective plastic sleeves or toploaders are needed to safely store any valuable finds. Magnifying glasses can help inspect cards for subtle grading details. Cardboard dividers or boxes help organize the collection by sport, team, player or year as the sorting process unfolds. Proper storage in a dry, temperature controlled environment like an attic or garage is important to preserve the long-term condition of the collection.

The first step is to do a rough sort of the cards by sport. Most big boxes contain primarily baseball cards but may also include a mix of football, basketball, hockey or non-sports cards mixed in. These ancillary cards can be set aside for the time being to focus first on cataloging the baseball component. Next, the baseball cards should be sorted by the player’s team, with dividers or boxes designating each MLB franchise. This allows for easier scanning to locate potential stars or chase cards from certain eras.

Within each team subset, the cards can then be ordered chronologically by year. This reveals trends in design styles and helps date specific players’ rookie cards or prime seasons. It’s important to carefully inspect each card, especially those from the late 1980s and early 1990s, for signs of damage, wear or potential value. Mint condition cards from this “junk wax” era in pristine packs can still hold value, while well-loved cards may only be worth a few cents. Condition is key when estimating potential grades and sale prices.

Some signs of value to watch for include rookie cards, stars of the era depicted, special parallel or serial numbered inserts, autographed or memorabilia cards, and errors/variations from the standard release. Rookie cards are always desirable for established Hall of Famers but can also hold value for today’s top active players. Serial numbered parallels from 1/1 to /99 are more scarce and desirable than standard base versions. Autographs and memorabilia cards tend to carry higher price tags, especially for legendary players. Errors and anomalies create intrigue for advanced collectors.

As valuable cards are discovered, record the player name, year, set, card number, estimated condition and notable details. A spreadsheet allows for quick sorting and filtering to locate specific finds. Plastic sleeves or toploaders help protect the best cards as the long sorting process continues. Filling out the set registry on tracking websites like TradingCardDB.com is a useful way to see which common cards are still needed to complete various sets. This helps estimate the full potential contents and value of the collection.

Big boxes of baseball cards represent a time capsule into the history of the hobby and the sport itself. For dedicated collectors, the excitement of the discovery process far outweighs any monetary value tallied in the end. Unearthing memories of childhood summers ripping packs or favorite players from eras past makes all the sorting worthwhile. While some cards may hold value, many others serve as nostalgic artifacts to be enjoyed and displayed with pride. With patience and care, a big box collection can become the foundation for a lifelong pursuit of the cardboard pastime.