The 1968 Sporting News Baseball Card Set is revered by collectors as one of the most iconic and valuable vintage issues from the 1960s. The cards in this set represented a shift towards more colorful and photographically creative designs compared to the simpler illustrations of the previous decade.
Despite only containing 132 cards compared to the standard size sets of the time that would typically have over 700 cards, Sporting News chose to focus on only the biggest stars and most impactful players from the 1967 MLB season. This gave each included player more prominence and helped the set achieve a memorable quality that has endured to this day.
Some key things that made the 1968 Sporting News set so collectible and memorable include the colorful action photography on each card as well as novel artistic touches like painted borders and typestyles. Rather than basic headshots or plain illustrations, nearly every card depicted the player dynamically in action with vivid colors that really popped compared to drabber designs of the past.
Perhaps the most famous card from the set is the Nolan Ryan rookie which has achieved record prices in recent auctions. As one of the lone copies in true gem mint condition, it exemplifies the scarcity and quality control of the 1968 Sporting News issue. While most other rookie cards from the late 1960s exist in far greater numbers, only the tightest of print runs and best preserved copies of Ryan’s debut have survived to today.
Some other notable rookie and star player cards include Boog Powell, Johnny Bench, Carl Yastrzemski, and Tom Seaver. These future Hall of Famers are iconic examples of the set’s style at capturing the sport’s biggest names in their athletic prime through top-notch action photography. Compared to their simpler Topps and Fleer counterparts from the same year, the aesthetic of the Sporting News cards truly made the players “pop” off the cardboard.
In terms of production specifics, the 1968 Sporting News set was printed by Bowman Gum Co. and distributed through the Sporting News newspaper rather than retail outlets. With a limited print run aimed at collectors rather than the casual bubblegum customer, quality control was much stricter. As a result, higher grade specimens suitable for today’s standards are quite rare compared to other 60s issues.
The scarcity and phenomenal condition of the gems that do exist have driven values through the roof in the collector market. While common players might only sell for $20-50 in average condition, the true near-mint status that so few possess can pull in thousands. For the biggest stars like Ryan and Bench, pristine specimens have crossed the $10,000 mark in recent auction results.
As one of the earliest mainstream baseball offerings specifically targeted at the collector audience rather than kids, the 1968 Sporting News set really helped kick off modern sports card collecting as a serious niche. Its creative bright photos, limited production, and focus on top players all made it immediately stand out and become a coveted piece for enthusiasts even in the late 60s/early 70s. Today it retains that mystique as one of the most visually striking and valuable vintage issues that any collection aims to highlight.
In summarization, the 1968 Sporting News Baseball Card Set was truly groundbreaking for its time and has endured as one of the greatest vintage issues ever due to its sharp photographic presentation, memorable rookie cards of all-time greats, extremely limited production, and stratospheric values achieved by high grade specimens. Even among the sea of classic 1950s-1970s issues, this set retains a mystique as an early pioneer of the collecting hobby through its focus and creative presentation of the sport’s biggest names.
