The earliest known baseball card price guide was published in 1908 by Jefferson Burdick. His American Card Catalog and Price Guide was one of the first publications dedicated entirely to tracking the values of baseball cards and other sports cards from the late 19th century.
At the time, most baseball cards were included in packs of cigarettes or other tobacco products as promotional incentives. Brands like Allen & Ginter, Old Judge, and Sweet Caporal issued some of the earliest baseball cards between 1886-1905, featuring photographs of star players from that era. With the sport of baseball rapidly growing in popularity across the United States in the early 1900s, Burdick recognized a market for collectors who wanted to understand the rarity and value of the cards in their growing collections.
Burdick’s price guide was just 16 pages and listed pricing information for only several hundred of the oldest and most sought-after baseball cards from the 1880s and 1890s tobacco era. Many of the early stars of the National League like Cap Anson, Cy Young, and Honus Wagner had cards valued between $1-5, which would be around $30-150 in today’s dollars when accounting for inflation. This first guide helped establish the earliest marketplace for baseball cards as collectors.
In the following decades, the popularity of baseball cards continued rising alongside the sport. Newer card sets were issued by companies in the 1920s like American Caramel, Goudey Gum, and Play Ball Cigarettes. The Great Depression of the 1930s slowed baseball card production for a few years, but the hobby rebounded strongly in the late 1930s as the economy recovered. By this time, annual sets were being released by companies seeking to capitalize on the growing collector base.
As more and more new baseball cards entered the marketplace, the need for updated pricing information grew. In 1952, the Guide Book of United States Coins was first published by R.S. Yeoman, featuring valuations for not just coins but also early baseball cards up through the 1930s. This publication helped expand the collector audience beyond just baseball card aficionados.
The modern era of baseball card price guides began in the 1960s. The era saw an explosion in the popularity of the hobby, driven by the rise of affordable wax pack cards found in supermarkets and corner stores. Topps dominated production and released annual sets featuring the biggest stars of MLB. With so many new collectors, pricing guides became essential.
In 1960, the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards was first published under the Foley Publishing banner. This seminal guide listed values for cards all the way back to the tobacco issues of the 1880s up through the most recent 1959 Topps set. It helped collectors understand the rarity and value of their growing collections in an easy-to-use format. For the next 50+ years, the Standard Catalog would be updated annually and become the most trusted name in the price guide industry.
As the 1960s progressed, other notable guides entered the scene like the Beckett Baseball Card Monthly Price Guide (1968). Beckett provided timely monthly updates on the rapidly changing values in the collector marketplace. Their focus on the hobby’s most recent cards set them apart from annual comprehensive guides like Standard Catalog.
The 1970s saw the hobby reach new heights of popularity, driven by the rise of sports card conventions and the emergence of the first serious adult collectors. Iconic sets like Topps’ 1972 and 1975 issues featured the biggest names in the game on the cards. This increased demand led to price guide competition.
In 1972, Padre Publishing launched The Trader Speaks price guide edited by Robert Lifson, offering collector-focused content beyond just prices. Bowman Gum also published their own guide in the 1970s as they challenged Topps for card production dominance. Through the 1970s and 1980s, price guides from Beckett, Padre, and Standard Catalog jockeyed for collector mindshare with timely updates and expanded content.
The late 1980s saw the first “card boom” as speculation took hold. Prices skyrocketed, especially for vintage cards of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and other early stars. The hype was further fueled by the debut of the premium sports card company Upper Deck in 1988. In response, price guides expanded coverage of newly valuable vintage and modern rookie cards to keep up.
The bubble soon burst in the early 1990s as the marketplace was flooded with overproduced modern cards. Values crashed and the industry contracted, though the hobby maintained its dedicated collector base. In the lean years that followed, the “Big 3” price guides of Beckett, Padre, and Standard Catalog endured to provide vital pricing information to the community during the reset.
By the late 1990s, a second sports card boom was underway and the rise of the internet transformed the industry. Online auction sites like eBay allowed collectors worldwide to easily buy and sell cards. Beckett was quick to embrace the digital age, launching Beckett.com in 1998 to provide online guides, news, and auction price tracking to complement their print offerings.
Today, while print guides still have dedicated followings, most collectors rely on digital resources to track the rapidly changing values set in the online marketplace. Beckett remains the dominant guide, while competitors like PSA and Cardboard Connection also provide respected pricing data. With new stars, sets, and collecting trends emerging, price guides continue to play a crucial role in the multibillion-dollar sports card industry and hobby. They have been documenting the history and value of our favorite players since the very earliest cardboard issues over 130 years ago.
