Baseball card collecting started as a hobby way back in the 1800’s when baseball equipment companies started promoting their products using sports cards. It was only later that companies like the American Tobacco Co., American Caramel Company, Goudey Gum Co. and the O-Pee-Chee company started producing cards to promote their products. However, in a write-up about vintage baseball cards, these are the cards that hold a special place in the minds of the old baseball card collectors. A beginner to sports cards has heard of valuable cards, like the Honus Wagner card, that adds both value and prestige to baseball card collecting. Needless to say, that the Honus Wagner card was not the only vintage card of the old era.

Vintage cards include sets like the Old Judge series of cards manufactured by Goodwin and Company of New York. They were very popular baseball cards of their time. When popularity for baseball started to take off and baseball became the national pastime of America, these rare baseball cards were just being issued. After this came the T-206 and T-205 set of cards manufactured by the American Tobacco Company, popularly known as the white-bordered and gold-bordered cards, respectively. These cards still remain top favorites among collectors, for their baseball card collection, because of their attractive design, easy to handle nature, thick paper and also because they featured some of the great players like Joe Tinker, Frank Chance, Ty Cobb, Frank Bowerman, Johnny Evers and many others, including, of course, Honus Wagner.

After the tobacco industry, it was the confectionaries that entered into manufacturing valuable baseball cards. The early baseball cards of this era included the cards of players like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and these definitely add weight to your old baseball card collection. Later on, of course, came the various gum companies, like the Bowman Gum Company, Topps Gum Company and other. Notable amongst their old sports cards is the famous Mickey Mantle card that still eludes the baseball card collection of many avid baseball card collectors.

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Before actually starting your own baseball card collection, it is important to understand a little about the baseball card industry and the kinds of cards available. In the early days of baseball card collecting, people bought candy and gum and were thrilled to open their packs to reveal the cards within. However, today, the entire baseball card collecting hobby has become a million dollar industry. It is important to understand the different kinds of cards available and their value.

Rookie cards, which are the first cards of any baseball player, are the only ones of their kind and are a special collector’s item. In modern baseball card collecting, another very important  sports card collectible is the Star card, which are cards of today’s current baseball stars. There are also semi starred and minor starred cards but these may not be as valuable as the Star cards in the future. Then comes the common card, which has the least value but if you are an avid collector of teams and players, then this is important to complete your set. Cards with serial numbers are also a good collector’s item because they are finite in number, or at least the manufacturer’s want you to think so.

The third kind of collectible in baseball card collecting is the autographed cards that have signatures of the players on them. Another similar card is the memorabilia card or game used card that has piece of some equipment used by the player during that game. These baseball cards have a special attraction for baseball card collectors, but not all.

Lastly, the complete sets introduced by the various card manufacturing companies are a good way to start or even continue a baseball card collection. This is a complete box or pack with different kinds of cards within it, of which some may be to your liking and some not. Buying a set is definitely a gamble but it may be worth it as you can choose from Premium or basic sets and both add value and prestige to your baseball card collection.

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