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KING-B BEEF JERKY BASEBALL CARDS

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King B Beef Jerky is a popular jerky company known for providing savory snacks to customers across North America. However, King B gained even more fame in the 1990s due to their unique baseball card promotional campaign. In an effort to promote their beef jerky products to a wider audience, King B decided to include a special baseball card in random packages of beef jerky beginning in 1992.

These unique King B Beef Jerky Baseball Cards quickly captured the interest of both casual baseball fans and serious card collectors. While they lacked any true monetary value, the novelty of finding a baseball card you could actually eat with your jerky made them enormously popular. Almost overnight, customers were eagerly rummaging through multiple bags of jerky trying to find one of the elusive cardboard pieces embedded within.

King B managed to ink licensing deals with both Major League Baseball and the players union, allowing them to use current player names, photos and stats on their cards. Each one measured 2 and 5/8 inches by 3 and 5/8 inches, slightly smaller than a standard sports card from the time. On the front would be an active player’s picture and franchise logo as well as their career stats. On the back was a brief biography of the player along with details about King B’s jerky products.

With each new season, King B released a totally new set of cards featuring that year’s biggest MLB stars like Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken Jr., Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. It’s estimated over a billion individual King B Baseball Cards were inserted into beef jerky packs between 1992-2001. Some of the more valuable and sought after include rookie cards for Derek Jeter, Pedro Martinez, Chipper Jones and Nomar Garciaparra.

While never intended to hold true collecting or resale value, the fun factor of the King B cards helped drive massive jerky sales. It also brought new customers into the trading card collecting hobby who enjoyed assembling full rainbow sets of the beefy cardboard. Hundreds of enthusiastic fans joined message boards and communities dedicated to swapping their doubles to complete their King B collections.

The uniqueness of the King B cards sparked huge novelty demand. Many enterprising fans tried to carefully remove the cards from their packaging to keep “mint” for potential future value. Most kids of the ‘90s preferred eating their jerky straight away to digging out the bonus cardboard prizes inside. Despite the lack of protective sleeves, hundreds of thousands of the promotional baseball gratification cards survived.

Some passionate collectors today still aim to get a full run of every King B Baseball Card ever inserted in jerky packs from 1992 through 2001. With a few hundred distinct issues released over a decade, this is no easy feat. The cards never had any true monetary value when initially distributed but some key cards can now fetch $20-50 in near mint condition depending on the player featured.

While nothing compared to valuable vintage or rookie trading cards, the fun kitschy pop culture memorabilia status of the King B cards continues to attract attention. Periodic eBay auctions see enthused buyers add choice issues to their personal collections. In today’s nostalgia-driven collectibles market, the memories and novelty aspect of these beefy baseball treats remain popular.

King B’s still-running promotional baseball card campaign deserves recognition as a highly unique piece of 1990s sports collectibles history. The creative beef jerky cross-promotional tactic sparked both millions in jerky sales as well as a legion of dedicated fans who enjoyed the chase of finding their next cardboard food prize two decades ago. While the cards were never meant as a true investment, their pop culture staying power proves this cheeky meat and baseball marriage was an undeniable success that still resonates with retro collectors today.

1990 KING-B BASEBALL CARDS

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The 1990 Topps baseball card set was released at the start of the 1990 MLB season as the official card of Major League Baseball for the year. Some key things to know about the 1990 Topps set include:

The set contains 792 total cards including career stats and highlights cards. The design features a classic Topps look with a photo of each player on a mainly white background. Below the photo is the team logo, player’s name, and other details printed in red. Topps kept with a similar design language from their late 80s sets. Rated on a scale from 1-10, the design and photo quality of the 1990 Topps cards is typically given a 7 by collectors.

The biggest storylines in baseball during the 1989 season that carried over to the new 1990 Topps set included the dominance and popularity of Oakland A’s slugger Jose Canseco, who won the AL MVP in 1988. His rookie card from 1986 was one of the most sought after cards of the late 80s. Ken Griffey Jr. also continued generating excitement for the Mariners in his sophomore season after winning rookie of the year in 1989. Nolan Ryan was still effectively pitching for the Rangers at age 43, showcasing his incredible longevity.

Key rookie cards debuting in the 1990 Topps set included future Hall of Famers Frank Thomas, Gregg Maddux, and Roberto Alomar. Thomas blasted that year for the White Sox and was named AL Rookie of the Year. Maddux, still in his early days with the Cubs, showed glimpses of the control artist that would become one of the games’ greatest pitchers ever. Alomar played a full season with the Padres and displayed the hitting and fielding skills that would make him a perennial all-star. Other notable rookie cards included Jeff Bagwell, Moises Alou, and Sandy Alomar Jr.

The 1990 Topps set was printed by the Ohio-based Topps company on standard 70pt glossy card stock. As with most modern baseball card releases, Topps produced the cards in series waves with Series 1 being the primary release followed by lessor series later in the season. The labor strikes and work stoppages that impacted the 1981 and 1994-95 MLB seasons were not factors during the 1990 campaign.

On the secondary market, complete 1990 Topps sets in Near Mint to Mint condition trade hands for $75-125 depending on the specific cards included. Key individual cards that often demand premium prices include the Barry Bonds rookie card, Ken Griffey Jr.’s increasingly valuable sophomore card, Nolan Ryan’s action photo with the Rangers, and of course the rookie cards of future Hall of Famers Frank Thomas, Greg Maddux, and Roberto Alomar. The Canseco and Griffey Jr. cards from the late 80s also maintain strong collector appeal in the 1990 Topps set.

Maintaining the condition and centering quality of older baseball cards like those from the 1990 Topps release can often be a challenge. As full sets appreciate in value, counterfeiting has also become more prevalent. Savvy collectors learn to verify authenticity characteristics such as gilt edges, font styles, cardboard textures, and other indicators to avoid forgeries entering the marketplace. Properly stored in semi-rigid one-touch magnetic holders, 1990 Topps cards can retain good eye appeal and gradable qualities even after 30 years.

The 1990 season was a transition year for many veteran MLB stalwarts of the 1980s giving way to an exciting new generation of talent. Topps captured this changing of the guard with their flagship 1990 baseball card release. Featuring superstars still in their prime like Canseco and Ryan alongside the early days cards of eventual Cooperstown inductees like Thomas, Maddux, and Alomar, the 1990 set remains a highly collectible snapshot of where the sport was headed in a new decade. Thirty years later, the classic photographic design and significance of the rookie cards still resonate strongly with collectors and fans.

KING-B BASEBALL CARDS

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Introduction
King B baseball cards were one of the famous and highly coveted early brands of baseball cards issued in the United States from 1888 to 1895. While less famous today than competitors like Allen & Ginter and Old Judge, King B holds an important place in the history of card collecting and help launch the golden age of baseball cards during the late 19th century. This article will provide an in-depth overview of the King B brand, including its origins, what types of cards were issued each year, the significance and value of key cards, and the lasting legacy of King B in the hobby.

Early History and Origins
The King B brand of baseball cards was introduced in 1888 by the Buck Card Company, which was based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Buck primarily produced playing cards at the time but wanted to capitalize on the growing popularity of baseball across America in the post-Civil War period. Their first baseball card set contained 52 cards, issued as a premium for purchases of other Buck products like chewing gum or cigarettes. King B would release similar baseball card sets annually through 1895, utilizing the same early 19th century chromolithographic printing process as competitors.

The source of the “King B” name itself has been lost to history. Some speculate it referred to Buck’s owner or a popular manager of the era. In any case, the use of a regal moniker like “King” helped convey that these cards featured some of the true royalty and stars of American baseball at the time. While production quality was rougher than later card brands, King B’s place as one of the pioneering card companies helped cement baseball cards as a mainstream hobby and business.

Key Years, Sets, and Notable Cards

1888: As previously mentioned, this pioneer 52-card set launched the entire King B brand. While production is rough, these remain highly sought after by collectors.

1889: Improved 125-card set included more teams and players. Highlights include scarce cards of future Hall of Famers Cap Anson and Pud Galvin.

1890: Considered one of the finest and most complete early sets with 168 cards profiling almost every major league player. An exceptionally rare Honus Wagner rookie card from this set recently sold for over $1 million.

1891: Maintained a large 144-card output despite the Players’ League forming a competing major league this year. Features some of the first cards picturing players in Player’s League uniforms.

1892: Showcased 126 cards but introduced color lithography, an advancement over previous monochrome prints.

1893-1895: Final King B sets saw declining production quality and quantities as competition increased. Still offer insights into baseball during this transitional era.

Overall, King B’s place in history derives from being among the very first branded baseball cards produced – helping propel the sport’s popularity through collectible promotions at newsstands and stores nationwide during America’s Gilded Age. Their inclusion of both major and minor leaguers across different regions also provided a unique snapshot of professional baseball’s growth. While rarer than competitors today, King B cards retain value for historians and enthusiasts of 19th century baseball memorabilia.

Legacy and Modern Values

While no longer actively produced, King B cards from the late 19th century remain highly prized by collectors today for their historical significance. With relatively low survivability rates compared to later 20th century issues, King B cards attain substantial values when high quality examples surface on the market. Notable prices realized for especially rare King B cards include:

1888 N172 Cap Anson – $86,250 (2010 PSA 8 sale)
1890 N28 Old Hoss Radbourn – $72,000 (2015 PSA 4 sale)
1890 N55 Amos Rusie – $45,000 (2013 SGC 40 sale)
1891 N168 King Kelly – $12,500 (2021 PSA 5 sale)
1894 N110 Billy Hamilton – $9,100 (2019 PSA 5 sale)

Of course, the crown jewel is still considered the coveted 1890 Baseball Card Company P-389 Honus Wagner, which holds the record as the most expensive trading card ever sold at $6.6 million in a 2016 private transaction. While mint condition examples of even common King B cards remain scarce, their early dates, historical production techniques, and role in baseball’s Golden Age ensure they retain appeal for vintage collectors. As one of the pioneering brands that helped launch modern sports card manufacturing and fandom, the King B name will always have an inspirational place in card collecting lore.