Kid Nichols had an outstanding career as a pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1890 through 1906. Playing most of his career with the Boston Beaneaters/Braves franchises, Nichols compiled a 305-230 record with a 2.61 ERA and 2,308 strikeouts in 606 games. Despite his accomplishments on the field, Nichols had a humble personality and shunned publicity. His baseball card collecting has not achieved the same heights as contemporaries like Cy Young or Nap Lajoie. With renewed focus on 19th century baseball figures, collectors have come to appreciate and seek out the few surviving Kid Nichols cards from the early 20th century.
One of the earliest extant Nichols cards is from the legendary 1909-11 T206 set issued by the American Tobacco Company. Considered one of the most iconic and valuable early sets, the T206 featured photogenic images of major leaguers on small cardboard pieces included in packs of cigarettes. Only a handful of the estimated 2000 examples of Nichols’ T206 card are known to still exist today in varied states of preservation. Grading services verify and authenticate genuine specimens, with the highest grade examples in near-mint condition commanding prices upwards of $30,000 at auction due to rarity and the allure of the venerable T206 set. Later tobacco issues also captured Nichols’ likeness, though in far fewer numbers that diminish in value.
In the teens and 1920s, several prominent baseball card companies produced sets that highlighted Nichols. Most notable are his cards from the E90 and E95 series distributed by the American Caramel Company starting in 1911. These early 20th century issues depicted Nichols in an action player image wearing his Braves uniform. Several variations exist within the numbered E90 and E95 sets, with the scarcest printings bringing thousands when offered at major card auctions or antique dealer shops. Also of note is Nichols’ inclusion in the infamous 1909-11 M101-8 Walter Motor Truck set produced by the G.B. Miller Company. Only a handful of his image from that pioneering pre-WWI football/baseball card set are known to have survived in pristine condition.
The Goudey Gum Company issued their famous 1933 baseball card set featuring retired players that included Nichols. As one of the first modern gum card sets, the 1933 Goudey represents an important step towards today’s model of inserting cards in confections. Even 80+ years later, high grade Nichols specimens from this set can sell for hundreds due to the set’s significance. Several smaller regional and independent baseball card companies operated in the late 1910s-1920s as the hobby started to take off. Among the rarest are Nichols images produced by the Willis Candy Company, Wm. Leifer Cigars, and Vance Candy. Only a small number of each variation are documented to still exist.
As baseball cards transitioned to the modern cardboard era following World War II, Kid Nichols’ playing days were too distant to regularly include him in new sets. Collectors of vintage players and teams made efforts to memorialize figures of the 19th century game. The 1950s saw the Dandee Brand set pay tribute to stars of the past like Nichols. In 1951, the Famous Fabulous Wild West set provided one of the few color images produced of the deadball period hurler. The 1960 Topps Giants Minor League Prospects issue also recognizes Nichols as among baseball’s early greats. These later 20th century commemorative sets represent the bridge that kept Nichols’ career and contributions in the view of succeeding generations of collectors.
While never achieving the universal popularity or value as contemporary Hall of Famers like Cy Young, collecting Kid Nichols’ baseball cards has grown in relevance and interest in recent decades. Archival efforts by the Hall of Fame, SABR, and major libraries have compiled photographic and statistical records of Nichols’ time that deepen appreciation for his career. As a star pitcher in the formative years of professional baseball who helped popularize one of America’s pastimes, Kid Nichols deserves recognition today through his surviving baseball cards as artifacts of sports history. With dedicated searching, collectors can still uncover examples of Nichols’ scarce early 20th century issues. The man nicknamed “Kid” has grown into an significant figure for vintage card aficionados seeking to document the story of America’s National Pastime in card form from baseball’s earliest days.
