The San Francisco Giants have a rich history that dates back to when the franchise was established in New York in 1883. Since that time, hundreds of baseball cards have been produced featuring players from the Giants organization. Some of the earliest and most valuable Giants cards include those featuring players from the late 1800s and early 1900s when the team was known as the New York Giants.
One of the earliest and most iconic Giants cards is an 1888 Goodwin Champions cigarette card featuring Giants player Buck Ewing. As one of the first baseball cards ever mass produced, cards featuring Ewing in his Giants uniform are now highly sought after by collectors. Other early Giants stars with valuable cards include Roger Connor and Tim Keefe from 1887 N172 Old Judge tobacco cards. Cards of these Giants legends from the late 19th century are quite rare and can fetch thousands of dollars when in top condition.
In the early 20th century, most Giants stars had their likenesses reproduced on tobacco cards inserted in cigarette and chewing tobacco packages. Players featured included Hall of Famers like Christy Mathewson, John McGraw, and Bill Terry. One of the most iconic from this era is the classic 1914 Cracker Jack card of Mathewson, widely considered one of the most aesthetically pleasing baseball cards ever designed. High grade examples of this Mathewson regularly sell for well over $10,000 due to its beauty and historical significance.
The Giants winning teams of the 1920s and 1930s produced many memorable stars with their own collectible cards. Hall of Famers like Mel Ott, Jim Bottomley, Fred Lindstrom, and Carl Hubbell were featured on tobacco issues of the late teens through 1930s from sets like T206, 1915 Cracker Jack, and 1933 Goudey. Especially sought after are high grade examples of Ott’s 1933 Goudey card, which has appeared on the cover of Beckett Baseball Card Monthly multiple times.
When the modern era of mass-produced cards began post-World War 2, Giants stars continued to gain card popularity. Hall of Famers like Willie Mays, Monte Irvin, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal racked up dozens of impressive rookie and star cards between the 1950s-1970s that remain top Giants collections targets today. Perhaps most iconic is the iconic 1952 Topps card of rookie Willie Mays that is one of the most affordable cards showing “The Say Hey Kid” in his early Giants days in New York.
Through their move to San Francisco in 1958, the Giants maintained card stars and even gained new legends featured like Orlando Cepeda and Gaylord Perry in the 1970s. Highlights include Cepeda’s 1965 Topps rookie card and Perry’s 1974 Topps card, among his dozens featured across several sets in the 1970s as one of the era’s top pitchers. The franchise maintained stars with collectible cards into the early 1980s before cutting costs led to fewer star subjects in the late 80s.
Even after their last championship in the Bay Area in the 1980s, modern Giants have had upper deck rookies and career highlights acknowledged with special inserts. Players like Barry Bonds, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Buster Posey gained flashy modern parallels and autographs as franchise cornerstones. Bonds in particular accumulated some of the most valuable modern Giants cards as arguably the best power hitter of all time. Examples include rare autograph or memorabilia relics that can sell for thousands.
Today, a massive number of Giants team and player cards remain available across over a century of the franchise’s existence. From early tobacco greats to modern parallels and memorabilia cards, Giants cardboard continues to build upon the rich history of the club. Some of the rarest, earliest, and most iconic Giants issue tops checklists of desired collections for their historical significance and visual appeal within the collecting community. With over a century of card history, the Giants baseball card library continues to thrill collectors today.
