January 21st 2008
As the name implies, a trading card is a collectible card which can be traded or collected. Trading cards have always been associated with sports, especially with baseball. Baseball cards have always been popular, well known and treasured by collectors. Initially trading cards were issued and produced largely by tobacco companies. They later became popular with bubble gum insert packs. Collecting baseball player cards can be a daunting task for people who are new to baseball card collecting, given the wide variety of cards available.
All fans of baseball want to have that perfect collection of their favorite players, but, many do not know what to buy, how to buy and from where to buy. Rookie cards are the most sought after cards in the game of baseball. Players these days have entered into a contract, via the players union, with the card manufacturing companies. Hence they almost immediately come out with a rookie card of the player, once he appears in his first game. These player cards, especially those with a lot of promise, are highly popular and are a good buy. Also, rookie cards of existing players, who are both excellent in the game and popular, should form a part of your collection, as they are valued very highly. The value of rookie cards fluctuates on large scale and is determined by various factors like performance of the player, past record and his popularity public. The rookies team is also a factor whereby a Yankee may be more desired than a Rockie. Rookie cards are a good bet to be used as trading cards.
Among other collectible cards, are the limited card editions released by the various card manufacturing companies. It has been seen that signature editions or inserts are very popular with collectors as it binds them with their players. Some card manufacturing companies have come out with specific period related card sets that are a good buy for collectors, like for example, the historic cards manufactured by Fleer. Some baseball cards come with authentic signatures of baseball players and are quite popular among collectors as it gives a personal touch to the baseball card collection.
Lastly, of course, all card manufacturing companies come out with their own checklists that help us get an idea of what to buy and where to buy it. These checklists can be compared with the price guides that mention the value of each card and hence help in making the final decision whether to purchase a card or not.
January 17th 2008
This past Sunday, Donald D. Peck, the retired President of Fleer pass away.
At the helm of Fleer, Mr. Peck challenged Topps and their monopoly on the sports card industry. The challenge went all the way to the Supreme Court in 1982 where Fleer was rejected in their challenge to publish baseball card packs. However, he found a way around the ruling and Fleer flourished providing sports cards to fan collections.
More information about the life of Donald D. Peck.
January 14th 2008
Similar to other collections like stamp and coin collections, baseball card collecting is also a popular hobby. Baseball cards are widely available in every price range. The highest price ever paid for a baseball card was the T206, Honus Wagner card which was sold for $2.3 million recently. It is really surprising that baseball card collectible can go for such a high price, but this is not impossible.
The value of a baseball card is influenced by various factors and the guidelines are similar to other collectibles. Most baseball card collectors determine value based on the quality of the card, the player popularity and the age of the card. Also the passion and childhood memories related to a particular baseball player play an important role in determining the value of a baseball card.
The popularity of baseball cards rise and fall with the popularity of the game and the latest performances of the baseball players. Scandals and rumors related to baseball players have great temporary effect on the value of any given baseball card. Unfortunately, at times, cards can be artificially inflated in value by some dealers who shrewdly obtain enough quantity of the goods to increase a baseball card to an unreasonable level.
Along with player popularity, condition and age, for newer cards, the baseball card design plays a vital role in determining the value of the baseball card. The best baseball cards are in mint original condition, the original condition must be perfect and impeccable. This means no manufacturing errors, such as stray blobs of ink, or cards printed off-center. A card fresh out of the pack that’s never been touched will still be considered less than mint if the image isn’t centered on the cardboard. This means that all four white borders are exactly the same width. In any random stack of cards, at least half of them will be off-center, especially in later cards when less attention was paid to printing quality. A mint card will have 4 sharp corners, and 50/50 centering. The colors will be bright, and the gloss will not be worn off the card
January 6th 2008
This post is from “baseball cards” - Google News.
Strangest Items and Best Sports Memorabilia Finds of 2007 |
Strangest Items and Best Sports Memorabilia Finds of 2007 - American Chronicle
January 6th 2008
This post is from “baseball cards” - Google News.
 CBS News |
Steroids & A Little Boy’s Baseball Cards |
January 6th 2008
This post is from Google Blog Search: "baseball cards".
Joey, over at Squeezeplay, sent me the cards you see here! There are two 2005 Donruss “The Rookies” Press Proofs (Gomez, Ochoa), one 2005 Donruss “The Rookies, (Ochoa)” and a 2002 UD Ovation Diamond Futures Jersey card (Branyan)! …
January 6th 2008
This post is from Google Blog Search: "baseball cards".
A baseball card is a diminutive piece of collectible which is printed on heavy paper stock, featuring your favorite baseball players. The typical set-up for a baseball card is to have the picture of the player along with the career …
December 28th 2007
Baseball gained popularity during the middle of 19th century. Quickly, baseball became a medium for various companies to promote their products. Baseball cards became a tool to endorse various company products and as a result many companies started producing baseball cards. During this era, even photography gained popularity. Baseball teams and players posed for various pictures, some of these pictures were printed on small cards comparable to modern wallet photos. During the late 19th century, Baseball became a professional sport and various companies started using these cards to promote their products. Later these baseball ‘cards’ became the professional cards where baseball players were featured.
The first set of baseball cards to be printed in the 20th century was introduced by Breisch-Williams Company, a confectionary located in Oxford, Pennsylvania. Several other companies followed suit and they also started producing baseball cards.
Baseball cards were included in packs of cigarettes by the American Tobacco Company to advertise their tobacco products with the issue of the T206 white border set. The most expensive baseball card produced by the company was the Honus Wagner.
Even huge numbers of non tobacco companies started producing baseball cards to promote their services and products more than 100 years ago. In the early 20th century some companies like sporting news magazine and Caramel Company started sponsoring card issues and were among the first to put prizes in the boxes. They produced and issued the first of the two “Cracker Jack Cards” which featured players both from the major and minor leagues.
December 18th 2007
After your initiate the search by entering in a baseball player name and, optionally, the baseball card year, BaseballCardChase.com will display search results for you. Typically, results will have prices and values, some will display the vintage baseball card you searched for.
On the left column of the results is a list of baseball card dealers and retailers of sports cards. The right side of the page will show the results of your baseball card search.
To see dealer results of old baseball cards, click on the name of the online sports card retailer. The baseball player search that you initiated will be displayed from the dealer’s website. Click on the next baseball card dealer if there are no matching player cards. For any match, the baseball card will be displayed in the right column of the results page. Usually a price or value will be displayed with the player card, but not always.
If you find a baseball player card that interests you, click on the image or link to the baseball card. The page will refresh and take you to the dealer site to purchase the baseball card or to send an email for more information.
December 14th 2007
Finding old baseball cards is as simple as using a search engine. BaseballCardChase.com is a meta-search engine for collectible player sports cards focused on the rare and old through modern baseball cards.
Conducting a search for your hard to find baseball card requires that you only need to know the name of the baseball player that you are searching for. In the first search field, enter the name of the player you are interested in. You can enter the baseball player’s first name, last name or, first and last name. This field is required to conduct your sports card search.
The second field is the year. Year refers to the player year of the card you are looking for. If you are explicitly looking for a baseball card from 1980 or 1927, just type the year into the box. Entering the year is an optional search feature. It is not required that you enter a year to search for a baseball player card, it is optional. If you do enter a year, make sure you enter all four number. For example, a baseball year of 1967 is ok to type. However, it is not ok to type just 67, or ‘67.
When you have entered the player name and year, you click the search button. That’s it, you’ve now just told baseballcardchase to search for a baseball player card with a name and year that you are interested in. Baseball cards from all over the Internet will be displayed in the search results.
