Junk wax baseball cards refer to the mass-produced collectible baseball cards that were produced and released in enormous numbers from the mid-1980s until the early 1990s. This time period marked a huge boom in the sports card industry as modern production and printing techniques allowed card manufacturers like Topps, Fleer, and Donruss to mass produce cards at unprecedented levels.
The overproduction and saturation of the market led to a glut of cards being released that has resulted in most from this era having very little value today. Hence, they became commonly referred to as “junk wax” cards. During the junk wax era, card companies were focused more on continuing to sign new licensing deals and pumping out as many new card designs, sets, and variations as possible rather than paying attention to issues like scarcity, quality control, or the longterm collectibility of the cards.
Some key indicators that point to why junk wax baseball cards have ended up being less desirable from a collector standpoint include the sheer number of cards released during this time. For example, in 1989 Topps released 792 different baseball cards as part of its flagship set alone. This was more than double the amount from just a few years prior. Card quality suffered and many print runs were sloppy with issues like poor centering, color variations, and printing errors being fairly common among junk wax era cards.
Perhaps the biggest reason these cards have lost value was simply overproduction and an inability by the card companies to properly gauge consumer demand. Print runs during the junk wax era often numbered in the hundreds of millions or even billions of individual cards for some of the bigger sets. With so many of certain cards available, there was no perceived scarcity to help maintain interest. Upper Deck came along in 1989 and is considered by many the end of the junk wax era as they adopted stricter quality controls and much smaller print runs.
Some key sets that exemplified the junk wax era and are still quite plentiful today include 1987 Topps, 1988 Donruss, 1989 Upper Deck, 1990 Score, and 1991 Fleer. Ripping open unopened boxes or packs from this period almost always results in rows of very familiar and easily obtained players. Superstar sluggers like Ken Griffey Jr. or Barry Bonds that were rookies during this era can often be obtained for just a dollar or even less depending on the specific card.
The economics of the trading card business also contributed greatly to the problems associated with junk wax. Distribution deals with retailers often involved “stickers” or sealed case bonuses being thrown in as marketing incentives. This served to further saturate the market as stores would rip these bonus boxes open and put even more individual packs on shelves. The rise of discount outlets like Walmart creating a race to the bottom on prices also did not help with long term collectibility.
While the junk wax era created a collectibles bubble that burst, there are still some cards that appreciate in value or have withstood the test of time. Rare error variations, special parallel or autographed versions, and outstanding rookie cards of all-time greats like Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera are examples of singles that maintain collector interest despite coming from otherwise junk wax sets. For the most part, boxes or stacks of unopened 1988 Fleer, 1991 Score, or 1990 Upper Deck packs will not yield big profit potential like earlier and later eras in the history of baseball card production. Thanks to the sheer abundance produced, junk wax cards remain aptly named as being of far lesser collector interest and value today compared to most other baseball cards.
The junk wax era from the mid-1980s to early 1990s represented the peak of an unsustainable sports card boom brought on by new technology and licenses. Massive overproduction far exceeding fan demand resulted in most baseball cards from this period having very little resale value today. While an interesting time capsule of players and designs, junk wax cards are generally only of interest to specialized collectors rather than being a mainstream set worth high premiums like issues produced pre-1986 or post-1991.
