Kraft baseball cards were a series of baseball cards issued by the Kraft Foods company from 1965 to 1987 as a marketing promotion. At their peak of popularity in the 1970s, Kraft baseball cards were nearly as widely collected by children as Topps cards. While the cards themselves lacked some of the prestige of Topps, they represented an affordable way for many young fans to build sizable baseball card collections.
Kraft began including baseball cards inside packages of Kraft caramels, cheese, and other snacks as a simple incentive to drive sales. Originally the cards featured blank backs with no stats or biographies of the players. They were essentially trading cards meant to get kids excited about both baseball and Kraft products. However, Kraft soon realized there was deeper interest among collectors and started including more detailed information on the reverse sides of the cards beginning in 1967.
From that point on, Kraft cards contained basic career stats and brief bios for each player on the back. While not as extensive as the detailed stats and information provided by Topps at the time, it was a step up from the blank-backed original Kraft cards. Collectors could now compare players and gain more insight beyond just the photograph on the front of the card. This change proved Kraft had tapped into a true collector market rather than just a promotional fad.
By the 1970s, Kraft was issuing large series of cards each year that spanned multiple packages. Full sets could contain several hundred total cards when accounting for variations, special issues, and stars of the month. While Topps reigned as the premium brand, Kraft cards allowed many young collectors to feel like they were building respectable collections on par with the accomplishments of older collectors who could afford pricier Topps wax packs.
At their peak in the mid-70s, it’s estimated Kraft cards comprised around 15-20% of the total baseball card market in terms of sets collected and traded among children and teenagers. They remained affordable and accessible compared to Topps. A full Kraft series could be completed by diligently collecting packages over the course of a season for just the cost of the snacks inside. This was crucial for young collectors with limited means.
Another factor fueling Kraft card popularity was the inclusion of multiple years of players in a single series. While Topps stuck strictly to current seasons, Kraft delved into the recent past by including stars from as far back as the late 1950s alongside contemporary players. This introduced younger fans to historic greats they may never have seen play. It also gave collectors chasing complete sets a much wider range of players to find in trades compared to Topps.
However, Kraft cards inarguably lack the long term collectability, grading possibilities, and high-end resale values of their Topps competitors. The flimsier paper stock used for Krafts leads to poor condition even for uncirculated examples. Rust-colored speckling also plagued many late-70s and early-80s issues. While welcomed by kids at the time, most Kraft cards hold little intrinsic value to investors today. The low-quality print runs and inclusions of players past their prime don’t attract as much nostalgic sentiment from collectors seeking vintage cardboard.
Despite production ending in 1987, Kraft cards remain a cherished part of the childhood collections of many baby boomers and Gen-Xers. While their investment merits pale in comparison to the hallowed brands of Topps, Kellogg’s, and others – Kraft gave countless fans an affordable entry to the captivating world of collecting during baseball’s golden era. For that reason alone, their role in history is worthy of recognition alongside the heavyweights that tower over today’s stratospheric hobby prices. Even if a 1971 Kraft Hank Aaron isn’t worth a fortune, it still carries immeasurable nostalgia for those who thrilled to add it to their complete rainbow set all those years ago.
