HOW DO YOU KNOW BASEBALL CARDS ARE WORTH MONEY

Leave a reply

There are several factors that determine whether a baseball card is worth any money or not. Most newer cards from the last 20 years or so usually do not hold much monetary value, but older cards from the 1950s through the late 1980s often do appreciate in value over time based on certain attributes of the card. The main things to look at to assess a card’s potential value include:

Condition of the card: Just like with coins or other collectibles, the condition and grade of a baseball card is extremely important to its value. Near mint or mint condition cards will always be worth more than cards that are worn, creased or damaged in any way. Make sure to carefully examine the front and back of any older card to check for whitening on the corners/edges, scratches, creases or other flaws that could decrease its condition grade. Cards in top shape like mint 9 or Gem Mint 10 condition regularly command the highest prices.

Player featured and stats: The most valuable cards will feature star players, especially those who had Hall of Fame careers. Cards of legends like Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and other all-time greats from the pre-1980s are usually the priciest, assuming good condition. It also helps if the player was featured early in his career before establishing themselves, or if the card captures a noteworthy season stat or achievement. Rookie cards or cards showing a player’s first team are very desirable.

Year and issue of the card: The older the card the higher the potential value. Certain years held more significance than others due to league changes, memorable seasons, or significant card releases. For example, cards from the 1950s tend to be highly sought after. The 1952 Topps and 1954 Topps sets hold special cache due to being the first widely distributed modern issues. Also 1986 Fleer, 1987 Topps, and 1989 Upper Deck rookie cards boom interest since they introduced new manufacturers. Be sure to research when the player debuted as well as any landmark years in their career too.

Number and rarity: Especially with older 1950s-1970s issues, the rarer the card number and the smaller the print run, the greater its collectibility tends to be. this is where card checklists and population reports come in handy. You’ll want to verify what the original printing quantities were like and how scarce higher numbers or particular series subsets are today. Even common players can have valuable rare variations, parallels, or one-offs that make them collectible to hobby enthusiasts.

Authenticity: Some valuable vintage cards have unfortunately been tampered with over the decades through doctoring, trimming or forging signatures/years. Knowing hallmarks of legitimate vintage issues is important so you don’t accidentally overpay for a fake. Reputable grading companies like PSA, BGS or SGC can help verify authenticity through their rigorous authentication process and slab encasement. Even raw cards should have proper aging, centering and production traits of the original manufacturers.

Current asking prices: Completing research on how much similar or comparable graded example have recently sold at auction gives you a baseline for a card’s present estimated market value. Resources like PSA’s and BGS’s population report data, eBay’s “Sold” listings, and online price guide sites such as PSA SMR Price Guide can provide invaluable sale comparables for properly assessing what a card in a certain condition and with particular characteristics might reasonably be expected to sell at retail or auction in today’s market.

Supply and demand factors: Certain players see periodic spikes in interest that drives up short term demand, like prolific rookie seasons, Hall of Fame inductions, milestone stats reached, or even untimely passings which spark renewed collecting interest. Wider collectibles market trends and overall hobby economic climate also influence short versus long term value prospects. Carefully monitoring fluctuations and knowing what can temporarily inflate or deflate prices is useful context.

Having an understanding of all these elements that grading services and experienced collectors evaluate is key to cut through clutter and identify baseball cards sitting in attics, basements or collection boxes that could hold hidden value. With diligent research, even seemingly common issues have the potential to be surprisingly valuable, so it pays to learn the finer points of what separates money cards from run-of-the-mill examples. Taking the time to educate yourself on card attributes and markets allows making informed choices on what might be worth professionally grading or selling to turn a hobby find into a potential monetary asset.

HOW MUCH ARE MY BASEBALL CARDS WORTH APP

Leave a reply

There are several baseball card valuation apps that can help you determine the estimated worth of your baseball card collection. It’s important to note that an app’s valuation is just an estimate and the actual selling price of a card could be higher or lower depending on its true condition and demand from collectors. The top few baseball card valuation apps include:

CardMavin: This is one of the most popular apps for valuing baseball cards. You can search by player name or scan the barcode on the back of the card. The app will then search its database to provide a recent sold value range for that particular card in similar condition. CardMavin values over 750,000 individual baseball cards in its database. Values come from sales data tracked by the industry’s largest online sports card auction sites. In addition to a ballpark estimate, you can upgrade to a CardMavin membership for professional grading reports that provide a finer breakdown of condition and a more accurate appraisal.

Collector Score: Similar to CardMavin, Collector Score allows you to search by player name or scan cards to retrieve estimate values. It has a database of over 500,000 baseball cards to compare against. One advantage of Collector Score is that in addition to recent sales data, it factors in demand trends, print runs, and other supply/demand dynamics that can influence a card’s long term trajectory in value. This gives a more well-rounded perspective beyond just the last few months of transactions. You also have the option for a paid professional assessment if you want a truly expert opinion on condition and estimated auction proceeds.

Beckett Price Guide/Collector app: Beckett is a veteran name in the collectibles price guide publishing world and their mobile app is helpful for quick lookups. You can search by sets, years, teams and get ballpark prices. One downside is their app database is not as robustly updated as CardMavin or Collector Score, relying more on their annual print guide. But Beckett remains a trusted brand recognition for many collectors. The app is free to use but a subscription unlocks extra features.

Sports Card Investor: This app takes a slightly different approach by aggregating recent auction results solely from platforms like eBay to establish value benchmarks. There’s no internal database, just real-time search and analysis of recent, verified transactions. This on-the-fly approach means values will always be based on the most up-to-date market activity. The app won’t provide estimates for incredibly rare cards that don’t trade very often. It’s best used for more common vintage and modern issues. The app and accompanying website both offer extra analysis tools for investors.

While helpful tools, it’s important to remember that apps can only provide estimates based on incomplete data. True value is ultimately determined by willing buyers and sellers in an open marketplace. Condition is especially difficult to assess without physically holding the card. Consider having valuable collectibles professionally graded to maximize realized value. Apps should only be used as a starting point – don’t assume the numbers are gospel. With some experience, savvy collectors can often surpass app estimates when skillfully marketing unique items. Always do additional research before setting rigid expectations of an cards’ worth.

Apps like CardMavin, Collector Score, Beckett and Sports Card Investor are great initial resources for getting a ballpark idea of what your baseball cards may be worth. But their estimated values should not be the final say, as condition details, recent market trends and demand can still ultimately influence true sale prices up or down. Take app values as informed second opinions, not as definitive appraisals. With diligence and networking within the hobby, shrewd collectors can significantly surpass automated estimates by truly understanding their collections’ desirable niches and rarities appealing to specialized buyers.

WHAT GUM WAS IN BASEBALL CARDS

Leave a reply

For many decades during the 20th century, baseball cards were commonly packaged with a small stick or piece of chewing gum. This tradition began in the late 1880s when American card manufacturers started including gum and other small toys and incentives along with cigarette cards and baseball cards as a marketing gimmick. The gum was originally seen as a way to get consumers, especially children, more interested and engaged with the baseball cards. It helped make the experience of collecting and trading cards more interactive and fun.

The specific gums used in baseball cards varied over the years depending on the card manufacturer and time period. Some of the most common gums included in cards in the late 19th/early 20th century were Black Jack, Cuesta-Rey, and Fleer’s Juicy Fruit gum. Often these early gums were a simple stick of chewing gum made primarily from chicle, the sap from sapodilla trees that is the key ingredient in most chewing gums. The gum sticks were usually quite small, only about 1/2 to 1 inch in length to allow them to fit easily inside tobacco tins and card packages.

By the 1930s-50s, the two biggest manufacturers of baseball cards, Topps and Bowman, perfected the process of mass producing gum-with-cards packages on a large scale. Topps in particular helped popularize and normalize the tradition of finding a piece of bubble gum inside baseball cards. They utilized Bubble Yum, their own branded sweetened chewing gum made of sugar, corn syrup, gum base, and natural and artificial flavors. This gum had a distinctive bubblegum flavor and produced large bubbles that kids found very fun and satisfying to chew.

During the peak years of the baseball card boom from the late 1950s through the 1980s, Topps solidified its dominance of the market and its packaging of cards with Bubble Yum gum became the standard. The gum was often a small oval or circle shape, around 1/2 inch in diameter. It was usually quite tough and sticky, designed to last a long time in the mouth for maximum chewing enjoyment. Some memorable brands and lines of gum packaged with Topps cards included Pink Bubble Yum, Clean White Bubble Yum, and Bubble Gum Time.

As competitors like Fleer and Donruss entered the baseball card scene starting in 1981, they emulated Topps’ successful model and also included gum. Fleer utilized “Fleer Stik” gum sticks that were similar to the original cigar-tin included gums, while Donruss used “Donruss Chewz”. Through the 1980s and early 90s, the specific gums may have varied between manufacturers but the tradition of a small piece of bubble gum reward inside baseball card packs remained strong.

As the 1990s rolled around, concerns started being raised about the potential hazards of including loose gum with small collectibles that kids would handle. There were worries kids could choke on gum pieces or trading and collecting cards with gum residue could spread germs. In response to these valid public health and safety issues, the baseball card companies slowly phased out including actual gum in packs starting in the mid-1990s.

While baseball cards no longer contain real gum, the memory and nostalgia of that iconic tradition remains an indelible part of the history and culture surrounding the hobby. Finding that small gum reward was an exciting surprise that hooked many young collectors and fueled their passion and dedication to amassing complete sets. Even today among older collectors, the very concept of a “gum stain” on a valuable vintage card can instantly trigger fond recollections of carefree summers spent eagerly opening packs in search of their favorite players.

Chewing gum was included inside early tobacco cards, baseball cards, and trading cards primarily as a marketing gimmick to engage consumers starting in the late 1800s. Over the peak decades of the 1950s-80s, Topps helped solidify and popularize the tradition through their mass production of cards paired with Bubble Yum gum. Though real gum is no longer provided for safety reasons, the memory of selecting that small gum reward remains an integral part of the rich history and nostalgia surrounding baseball cards.

WHERE DO I SELL BASEBALL CARDS

Leave a reply

Online Marketplaces and Auction Sites:

eBay – eBay is one of the largest and most popular online marketplaces for buying and selling all kinds of collectibles, including baseball cards. On eBay, you can list individual cards, sets, or entire collections for auction or at a fixed “buy it now” price. When listing cards on eBay, be sure to include clear, high-quality photos and a thorough and accurate description so buyers know exactly what they are purchasing. You’ll want to carefully pack cards for shipping as well. eBay takes a small commission from completed sales.

COMC (Cardboard Connection) – COMC is a large online marketplace that is baseball card-centric. You can send your cards to them to have professionally photographed and added to their online database. COMC handles all shipping and customer service, and you receive payment on a net 30 schedule after cards have sold. COMC charges commission on sales but takes the hassle out of handling shipping and customers.

Heritage Auctions – Heritage Auctions runs both online auctions and in-person auction events, and is a leading destination for collectors of valuable vintage and rare baseball cards looking to potentially find top dollar for their items. Auctions require a buyer’s premium/commission on top of selling prices.

Local Card Shops and Shows:

Local Comic Book, Card, and Collectible Shops – Many areas have brick-and-mortar hobby shops that buy, sell, and trade sports cards and other collectibles. These local shops are a convenient option for face-to-face transactions, and sellers can expect a fair price for clean, organized inventory. Shops need to make a profit but want repeat customers as well.

Card Shows – Organized card shows pop up frequently in major cities and convention centers, where dozens of individual dealers gather tables to buy, sell, and appraise cards and other sport memorabilia. These shows are great opportunities to move large volumes of cards at competitive prices to many buyers at once. Sellers will need transport and setup for a card show.

Direct Buyers:

Online Buylists – Websites like BaseballCardPedia.com maintain public buylists from major private collectors indicating the types and editions of cards they actively search for. Sellers can reference these buylists to see if any holdings match up, then reach out directly with an offer to sell.

Facebook Groups – There are many highly active Facebook groups focused on trading, buying, and selling sports cards. Within these communities, sellers can make “want lists” known, post photos of cards for sale, or find other collectors looking to make direct arrangements.

Other Individuals – Sellers can always reach out to other known collectors, card shop owners, or sports memorabilia re-sellers to see if they are interested in purchasing any cards outright or working out a consignment deal. Networking is key.

When pricing cards for sale through any outlet, sellers should research recent eBay “sold” listings, Beckett price guide values, the quality/condition of the particular card, and factors affecting its popularity and demand. An asking price too high may mean unsold inventory, while pricing too low leaves money on the table. Armed with patience and knowledge, there are reliable options for finding a card’s fair market value. With some effort, collections can be successfully monetized.

HOW TO FIND THE TRUE VALUE OF BASEBALL CARDS

Leave a reply

There are several factors that determine the value of any given baseball card. The most important things to consider when evaluating a card’s worth are the player, the year it was printed, the card’s condition or grade, and any notable differences or errors that make the card rare. Here are the key aspects to look at in detail when establishing a card’s true value:

The player is hugely important, as star players from history who had great careers will generally have the most valuable cards. Things like championships won, career statistics, Hall of Fame status, and fame/notoriety of the player all contribute to demand and pricing. Rookie cards or cards from a player’s early career tend to be the most sought after. Even stars can have cards that aren’t worth much depending on other factors.

The year the card was printed from the specific set provides needed context. Generally, the older the card the more valuable as fewer remain in existence. Certain yearly sets that were overprinted may have even old star player cards hold less value. Knowing the specific year, brand (Topps, Fleer, etc.), and set (Base, Insert, Parallax, etc.) a card comes from allows accurate comps.

The card’s condition or grade is critical to determine its worth. Individual cards can vary wildly in price based on even minor condition differences. Many professional grading services like PSA or BGS have established scale systems (1-10) to standardize condition. Higher grades (8-10) can increase value exponentially while low grades (4 or less) may make some cards only worth a few dollars regardless of player or year. Things like centering, corners, edges and surface all factor.

Errors, variations, serial numbers, autographs or memorabilia make certain otherwise ordinary cards extremely valuable anomalies. Examples may be a missing/extra color swatch, off center printing, serial #0001 card, or auto/relic version of an otherwise basic base card. Even modern ‘hit’ cards for top players can go for thousands with the right rare parallel, autograph or memorabilia difference.

Once armed with the key player, year, set, grade/condition and any special variation details – sites like eBay can then be used to search for recently sold “comps” to compare. Looking at 6 month or yearly sale averages helps establish a true market value range. Not all online listings end up with actual sales so be sure to check completed auctions. Card shows, local experts/collectors and authoritative yearly price guides can also help inform final estimated worth.

While this covers core factors that determine baseball card values, other collectibles bring additional attributes into consideration like autographed items needing experts verify signatures or memorabilia pieces requiring authentication of materials used. And as with any collectible market, values fluctuate over time based on popularity and availability changes. Overall to protect yourself, understanding as much detail as possible about what exactly you have is key to finding the true value and ultimately determining a fair asking or purchase price. With diligence researching all the available indicators, a well-supported value estimate can be established for virtually any baseball card.

DO THEY STILL MAKE TOPPS BASEBALL CARDS

Leave a reply

Topps has maintained the exclusive license to produce Major League Baseball cards in North America since 1981. This exclusive deal gives Topps the only officially licensed rights to use team logos, uniforms, and player likenesses and photograph on baseball cards. The current licensing deal between Topps and MLB runs through 2025, ensuring Topps will continue to be the premier producer of baseball cards well into the future.

Each year, Topps releases several different baseball card products aimed at collectors of all experience levels and budgets. Their flagship series is the annual Topps Base Set, which features the latest photos of all Major League players on standard trading card stock. For the 2022 season, the Topps Base Set included over 700 cards across several Series 1-4 releases from February through July. By far the best-selling and most collected modern baseball cards each year are from the Topps Base Set.

In addition to the base set, Topps also releases higher-end products like Topps Chrome, Topps Finest, Topps UPDATE, and Topps Heritage. Chrome features player photos with refractors and parallel color variants, Finest uses premium stock and inserts, UPDATE releases midseason player updates, and Heritage replicates classic designs from the 1950s-80s. These special sets are aimed at more experienced collectors looking for inserts, autographs, and limited parallels.

For the budget-conscious collector, Topps also distributes value packs and boxes containing the base set and inserts at a lower per card price point. Products like Topps Series 1 & 2 Hanger Boxes and Value Packs make collecting attainable for any fan. And for the casual fan that simply wants current stars, Topps also provides retail blaster and jumbo packs at national big-box retailers and local hobby shops each year.

In addition to physical cardboard cards, Topps has become a leader in the growing world of digital and virtual baseball cards as well. Topps BUNT and Topps NOW are popular MLB licensed mobile apps that allow users to collect and trade virtual real-time cards featuring the latest games, performances and milestones. In 2021, Topps even became the first-ever licensed physical trading card company to launch Major League Baseball NFT trading cards featuring star players.

Though competitors like Panini have entered the market in recent decades, Topps maintains around 90% of the total baseball card sales industry each year thanks to their exclusive MLB license and multi-decade reputation. With no indication the MLB deal won’t be renewed, Topps baseball cards will assuredly continue being produced and remain the most popular and collected cards for the foreseeable future. Their wide range of annual products ensures there is a Topps baseball card option available to attract both novice collectors as well as seasoned veterans seeking the next vintage find or rookie hit. After 70 continuous years in business, Topps baseball cards show no signs of disappearing from the market or losing their prominent place within the larger sports card industry and pop culture.

In closing, despite changes in technology, fan interests, and competitors entering the space, Topps has endured as the preeminent producer of officially licensed MLB trading cards due to smart licensing agreements, talented creative teams, and diverse yearly product lines. As long as baseball is being played, Topps baseball cards will be there to commemorate each season and help grow new generations of lifelong collectors.

WHY WERE BASEBALL CARDS INVENTED

Leave a reply

Baseball cards were initially created in the late 1800s as a promotional tool used by cigarette and tobacco companies to encourage people to purchase their products. At the time, baseball was one of the most popular sports in America and tobacco companies knew that including pictures of baseball stars in their packaging would attract new customers, both young and old. These early baseball cards were typically small, around the size of a modern business card, and inserted randomly into packs of cigarettes or chewing tobacco. They featured photos or illustrations of prominent baseball players from that era along with basic stats or biographies on the reverse side.

One of the first companies to produce baseball cards as a promotional item were the Goodwin & Company, a cigarette manufacturer based in New York City. In 1869, Goodwin & Company began including illustrated lithograph cards of famous ballplayers in their packaging. Other early tobacco brands to embrace the baseball card concept included Allen & Ginter in the 1880s as well as Buck Chase Cigarettes and Mayo Cut Plug Tobacco around the same time period. These primitive cardboard inserts proved successful at driving sales so baseball cards quickly became a standard promotional strategy used across the tobacco industry.

By the late 1880s and 1890s, as the fledgling National League and American Association baseball leagues gained popularity, tobacco companies ramped up production of baseball cards as a key marketing ploy. Premium sets featuring colorful lithographed portraits of stars from teams like the Boston Beaneaters, Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds generated newfound interest in both specific players and the sport as a whole. Allen & Ginter even pioneered the first “set” of baseball cards in 1887 that could be collected and swapped by fans. Their multi-sport series established the format for baseball cards for decades to come.

In 1889, Goodwin & Company produced what is considered the first “modern” baseball card design still familiar to collectors today. Made from thicker cardboard stock and measuring approximately 2.5 x 3.5 inches, these cards spotlighted individual players on the front with their name and team insignia while biographical details and career stats were listed on the reverse. This uniform size and layout became the industry standard that remained unchanged for nearly 100 years. As baseball’s fame continued to escalate nationwide at the turn of the 20th century, so too did production of baseball cards from firms like American Tobacco Company, Piedmont Cigarettes and Lambert & Butler Cigarettes.

No longer just simple inserts, baseball cards were now carefully crafted premiums included in pricier cigar and cigarette packs aimed at adults. Color lithography techniques improved image quality tremendously while the collecting phenomenon really started to take off amongst enthusiasts. Younger fans also drove demand since tobacco laws at the time did not prohibit their purchase or use of baseball cards. From 1910-1915, manufacturers released some of the most artistically ornate and collectible early 20th century sets including T206 White Border (released from 1909-1911), E95 Allen & Ginter (1911), and E121 Hassan Triple Fold (1911).

At the same time, chewing gum maker Merritt & Company of Brooklyn produced several well-regarded baseball card sets featuring superstars Dazzy Vance, Babe Ruth and more. Gum was used by companies as an alternative premium item that could appeal to both children and adults and remain legal. The rise of anti-smoking legislation over subsequent decades moved Topps Chewing Gum firmly into the baseball card driver’s seat starting in 1951 with their enormously popular flagship release. Topps set the standard that remains to this day for sports card design, licensing, limited series production runs and more.

While initially created solely as promotional incentives to drive tobacco sales in the late 19th century, baseball cards experienced decades of careful refinement and exploded in popularity alongside America’s pastime. Manufacturers originally used them to tap interest in iconic players and teams but inadvertently sparked a multibillion-dollar worldwide collecting and memorabilia industry that still thrives today. Baseball cards introduced generations to the sport by spotlighting beloved athletes like Babe Ruth and allowing fans to swap or show off their prized cardboard pieces. Even after over 150 years, they remain an iconic tie to baseball’s rich history and culture.

ARE MODERN BASEBALL CARDS WORTH ANYTHING

Leave a reply

The value of modern baseball cards depends on several factors, but in general many recent cards do not carry huge values. There are still some cards from the past couple decades that can be worth a decent amount of money, especially for popular star players or special rookie cards.

Baseball card collecting saw a huge boom in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the emergence of ultra-popular sets like Upper Deck, SkyBox, and Fleer leading to mass production of cards. This surge in interest and availability greatly increased print runs of cards from that era. While some star rookies and rare parallel versions from that time period can still fetch four-figure prices, the glut of produced cards means most common versions from the late 80s/early 90s sell for just a few dollars.

Production and interest began tapering off in the latter half of the 1990s. Sets still came out each year but in smaller numbers, as the baseball card craze started to fade. This makes cards from 1995 onward a touch more scarce than the preceding decade. Rarer parallels or star rookie cards can occasionally sell in the $50-100 range for this period. Common cards still don’t hold much value at just a couple bucks each.

In the 2000s and 2010s, the baseball card market stabilized at a smaller but dedicated collector base. Print runs were much smaller than the boom years, with annual sets usually numbered in the millions rather than tens of millions produced. This scarcity boosted values modestly compared to the late 80s/90s boom. Baseball also became more corporate and expensive for fans during this era, keeping demand and therefore prices relatively low.

Here are some examples of modern baseball cards that can hold value:

Bryce Harper 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft RC BGS 9.5 – Recently sold for $5,000. Considered one of the best prospects ever, Harper’s ultra-rare pristine rookie remains a strong Mojo card over a decade later.

Mike Trout 2009 Bowman RC PSA 10 – Consistently sells in the $1000-1500 range. Widely regarded as the best active player, Trout mania keeps his rookie in high demand.

Juan Soto 2018 Bowman Chrome RC Auto BGS 9.5 – Sold for over $1,000 shortly after his huge debut 2018 season. Soto mania, a perfect grade, and scarcity makes this a desired modern rookie.

Giancarlo Stanton 2008 Topps Chrome RC PSA 10 – Still fetches $300-500. A pre-Yankee pop power standout, Stanton’s 10-graded rookie maintains collector interest.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2018 Bowman Chrome RC Auto PSA 10 – Rises over time but still $400+. Destined-to-be-great rookie autos are always in demand from prospects like Vlad Jr.

Bo Bichette 2019 Topps Holiday RC PSA 10 – Can approach $200 due to playing on a contender and staying incredibly hot early on. Modern rookies gain buzz if immediate success is achieved.

Fernando Tatis Jr. 2019 Topps Holiday RC PSA 10 – Around $150-200 as a budding star’s rare flawless graded rookie from his breakout 2018-2019 season.

Rookies of future all-stars and current young talents tend to carry the most value from the past 10-15 years, pristine graded copies selling the highest. But parallels, special insert sets, or serially numbered cards of the sport’s biggest names can also command strong modern prices, typically topping $100. Everything else mass produced in the 2000s and beyond has unlikely retained significant monetary worth. Desirable modern cards can still gain value as star players cement their place in MLB history or retire. As with all collectibles, rarity, condition, pedigree and sustained public interest are keyfactors in whether a card from any era is worth owning as an investment piece or simple fan item. Selective modern issues do stay relevant to dedicated collectors, even if the glut of 80s-90s production means most recent decades lag the investment returns seen from vintage cardboard. But demand exists for rookies and stars that trigger baseball nostalgia, fueling some modern card markets on a smaller scale.

While the late 1980s and early 1990s baseball card boom means most common issues from that time period hold little monetary value today, some special rookie cards, star players, and rare parallel versions can still fetch prices above $100 due to their popularity and/or scarcity over 25 years later. For the 2000s-2010s era, flagship rookie cards of future superstars like Harper, Trout, Lindor, Acuna and others plus 10-graded copies in particular have shown staying power above $200-500. But mass-produced base cards from sets during this “smaller market” timeframe typically sell for just a few dollars unless serially-numbered or paralleled down to only a handful in existence. The collection and resale value potential for modern baseball cards requires a selective eye towards the sport’s biggest names and their rarest, highest-graded rookie issues to yield the best returns, if any, as an alternative investment to vintage cardboard from before the 1980s boom changed the collectibles landscape forever.

HOW MANY BASEBALL CARDS EXIST

Leave a reply

Estimating the total number of existing baseball cards is quite challenging because of the decades-long history of the baseball card industry and because cards are constantly being created, collected, and traded. Here is my attempt at breaking down the major factors involved in this calculation and providing a reasonable estimate.

The earliest known baseball cards date back to the late 1800s when cigarette and tobacco companies began including small cardboard pieces featuring baseball players in their products for promotional purposes. During the early 1900s, candy companies also began inserting baseball cards into their products. Baseball card production was not yet a major industry. The modern baseball card collecting hobby really began taking off in the 1950s when Topps gained the exclusive license to produce cards featuring active Major League Baseball players.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Topps was the dominant baseball card company, releasing annual sets each year that only featured a couple hundred cards. As interest in collecting grew through the 1960s and 1970s, competitive card companies like Fleer and Donruss entered the market. This led Topps, Fleer, and Donruss to significantly expand their annual set sizes to around 600 cards to meet growing collector demand. These decades saw the rise of multi-year sets, traded sets, oddball issues, and regional promotional cards inserted in products.

The boom in baseball card popularity continued in the 1980s, with annual flagship releases from Topps, Fleer, and Donruss expanding again to 700-800 cards as more minor leaguers and past star players were featured. There was also major growth in the number of team and playoff issue sets, special parallel releases, and regional promo variations. Additional companies like Leaf also began regular baseball card output. Reliable estimates suggest around 5,000 total unique baseball cards were produced yearly during the peak 1980s card era.

While interest declined some in the 1990s amidst new hobbies, baseball cards were still being pumped out, with the same companies continuing regular 700-1000 card annual releases and a steady stream of special issues. The late 1990s brought a renaissance as collectors from the 1980s came back into the hobby. Iconic ultra-premium releases from Upper Deck, Donruss Elite, and Topps Chrome catered to this demand. Companies focused more on parallel and autograph/memorabilia insert cards to appeal to different collector niches.

Moving into the 2000s-present day, the baseball card market has further fragmented. While the big 3-4 companies still release core 700-1000 card yearly sets, there are now hundreds of smaller and boutique firms putting out targeted inserts, parallels, and autographed/memorabilia cards for narrow interests. Topps alone has estimated they put out over 10,000 unique baseball cards in recent years between all their standard and high-end offerings. When accounting for all modern companies, a reasonable estimate is 20,000-25,000 new baseball cards are produced annually.

Going back to the beginning of the modern collecting era in the 1950s and accounting for steady growth and increased specialization seen since, a conservative calculation would be that around 750 million unique baseball cards have been created over the past 70+ years. One could reasonably argue the total number of cards produced is over 1 billion once considering pre-1950 cigarette cards, regional and promotional issues which are hard to track, reprinted cards that are essentially new variants, and cards from companies overseas.

Of course, not all the hundreds of millions of cards produced over more than a century still exist today. Many have been lost, damaged, or taken out of circulation. A good assumption would be around 25% of total cards have been lost, meaning the estimated number of extant baseball cards today available to collectors is somewhere between 500-750 million cards. New caches of older cards are always potentially discovered in attics or collections, so this number is difficult to pin down precisely and will continue growing as long as baseball card companies remain in business.

While impossible to know the exact figure, based on available data on the history and scope of baseball card production since the late 1800s, a well-reasoned estimate is that there are currently between 500 million to 1 billion unique baseball cards that have been created overall through today, with the population of cards still in existence for collectors realistically totaling somewhere in the wide range of 500 million to 750 million cards. The number will continue expanding long into the future as new cards are added to the collecting population each year through present-day manufactures and reprints of classic sets.

WHEN DID FLEER START MAKING BASEBALL CARDS

Leave a reply

Fleer Corporation began producing baseball cards in 1956, becoming the first successful competitor to gain market share against industry leader Topps Chewing Gum. Fleer was founded in 1881 by brothers Frank and William Fleer in Philadelphia as a manufacturer and marketer of chewing gum. Through most of the 20th century, Fleer primarily produced gum while also experimenting with other confectionery products like candy and bubble gum.

In the early 1950s, Fleer began exploring opportunities to expand beyond gum production as worldwide gum sales leveled off following a post-World War 2 boom. Company executives noticed the growing popularity of baseball cards among American children and saw an opening to break into the trading card market which was still in its infancy but growing rapidly thanks to Topps’ success with their 1951 and 1952 sets featuring players’ photos on the front for the first time. Fleer saw trading cards as a way to recruit new young customers to potentially buy their gum as well.

In 1954, Fleer produced their first non-sport related trading cards as a trial run. Called “Funny Valentines”, the cards featured humorous drawings on the front instead of photos. Despite little promotion, they sold reasonably well and gave Fleer confidence they could compete with Topps in the baseball card space. However, Topps had already solidified deals with both major baseball leagues as the exclusive gum and candy maker so Fleer would need to find another way in.

After failed negotiations with minor leagues, Fleer came up with a creative workaround. In 1955, they decided to produce cards featuring current major leaguers but without licensing deals. Instead, Fleer paid players individually for rights to their names and photos, sourcing pictures from newspapers, magazines and team publicity photos instead of original photographer shoots. This stratagem allowed Fleer to release their first baseball card set in spring 1956 featuring over 350 major league players without breaching Topps’ exclusive deals.

The 106-card 1956 Fleer set debuted to widespread attention but mixed reviews. While praised for vibrant color photo reproduction, errors with some player stats and team affiliations drew criticism. The set still sold well thanks to aggressive Fleer promotion and novelty as the first competitor to Topps in the nascent but booming baseball card boom. An estimated 9-10 million Fleer packs were sold that first year, netting around $750,000 in profit.

In 1957, Fleer improved on their formula with a hugely popular 212-card release. Featuring cleaned-up design and accurate stats, the set was a critical and commercial success that really established Fleer as a legitimate threat to Topps. Meanwhile, legal challenges from Topps seeking to block Fleer’s access to players due to their exclusive deals wound through the courts without any definitive rulings. Undaunted, Fleer pressed forward with innovative releases like 1959’s Cel-O-Paks which featured cards sealed in waxy cellophane pockets.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Fleer and Topps waged an intense behind-the-scenes trade war as the only two major baseball card producers. Both companies aggressively signed players to exclusive contracts and filed numerous lawsuits against each other for alleged contract tampering, antitrust violations and intellectual property infringements. Despite legal battles and Topps’ greater distribution muscle, Fleer managed to maintain around 25-30% market share during this era through dynamic product design, shrewd contracts and relentless innovation in sizes, sets and specialty subsets.

A key advantage Fleer developed was their status as an independent, family-owned corporation compared to Topps’ position as a public company beholden to shareholders. This allowed Fleer more flexibility to take risks, stay nimble and focus first on the collector experience rather than quarterly earnings reports. They became famous for experimental non-sport sets on topics like monsters, space and American history that helped diversify beyond baseball while keeping the brand fresh. It was this risk-taking creative spirit that defined Fleer as “The Pepsi to Topps’ Coca-Cola” in the trading card world.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Fleer maintained their position as the clear #2 player in baseball cards behind Topps but developed a loyal following among collectors. Major innovations included 1967’s tremendous success with the first football cards in decades as well as blockbuster annual “Million Card Sets” topping 1,000 cards each during the late 1960s/early 1970s boom. Escalating costs and production Complexities made it increasingly difficult for the small, family-owned Fleer to compete financially with the mighty Topps behemoth controlling over 70% of the market.

After nearly being acquired in the mid-1970s, Fleer underwent a restructuring that saw them shift from primary focus on trading cards to other toy and game products through the 1980s. They never fully exited baseball cards and remained a respected secondary producer behind Topps with popular annual sets. In 1992, Fleer was purchased outright by card manufacturer SkyBox International (later acquired by The Upper Deck Company). Under new ownership, Fleer experienced a revival in the 1990s alongside baseball’s resurgence by pioneering innovative inserts, parallels and short prints that reinvigorated the high-end hobby market.

Throughout its pioneering six decade history, Fleer established itself as the David to Topps’ Goliath in American baseball cards. Despite perpetual legal harassment from the incumbent, Fleer’s perseverance, creativity and nimbleness fighting above their weight class made them synonymous with innovation, risk-taking and the underdog spirit in the hobby. While Fleer has changed ownership hands since and seen annual disruptions, their legacy of fun, accessible sets from the pioneering 1950s through experimental 1980s ensured they remained “America’s second card company” who helped shape baseball cards into the beloved modern collectible we know today.