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WHEN WILL 2023 BASEBALL CARDS COME OUT

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The release of new baseball cards each year is something that many collectors eagerly await. Baseball card manufacturers go through an extensive planning and production process to ensure that the newest sets are ready to hit store shelves at around the same time each year. While release dates may vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer, here is an overview of when fans can expect to see the major 2023 baseball card sets released:

Topps has been the leading manufacturer and brand in the baseball card industry for decades. They will be releasing their flagship Topps Series 1 baseball cards in late February or early March 2023. This release date allows them to include players’ photos, stats and team info from spring training and the start of the regular season. Series 1 is usually the largest and most anticipated set each year. In mid-April, Topps will then launch Series 2, followed by Series 3 in late August/early September when rosters have been settled after MLB’s trade deadline. The final Topps Update set generally comes out in early November, once the season and playoffs have concluded. This set includes any rookie cards for players who debuted mid-season and playoff stats/images.

Panini is Topps’ main competitor in the modern baseball card market. They time their release to come shortly after Topps Series 1 each year. Baseball fans can expect the 2023 Donruss baseball set to hit stores sometime in March. Panini’s other major release is usually their Contenders set, which focuses more on memorabilia cards and parallels. Contenders often releases in early summer around June. Later in the year, Panini may come out with Postseason or “Classics” style sets capitalizing on excitement from the MLB playoffs/World Series.

Upper Deck has been releasing baseball cards at a slower pace in more recent years but still provides popular sets for collectors. Their 2023 Diamond Kings collection is projected to be available starting in April. Upper Deck usually has a fall release as well, such as their “MLB Showdown” type sets hitting shelves around September/October.

Other smaller independent manufacturers like Leaf, Press Pass, and Allen & Ginter also craft sets each season but on smaller printing runs. Release dates can vary more for these brands but many land in the similar March-July timeframe. Some companies focus on more specialized concepts like vintage-style designs or throwback uniforms sets.

Of course, unforeseen production issues, pandemic-related delays, or breaking MLB storylines could impact the targeted release plans of these companies. But based on historical patterns, the late winter/early spring period of February to April is when collectors can expect to find most of the major flagship 2023 baseball card sets stocked initially at hobby shops, mass retailers, and online distributors. The season will then continue with additional inserts and specialty releases throughout the summer and fall. With this detailed overview, baseball card fans have a good idea of when to be on the lookout for exciting new cardboard to collect!

WHEN DID BASEBALL CARDS COME OUT

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In the early to mid-1880s, cigarette manufacturers like Allen & Ginter, Goodwin & Company, and American Tobacco Company began including premiums – usually small cards – inside their cigarette packages to help promote sales and brand loyalty. These premium cards often featured famous personalities and landmarks from around the world. In 1886, a young employee by the name of James Siddons convinced Goodwin & Company to include baseball players on their premium cards, featuring players from that era like King Kelly, Amos Rusie, and John Clarkson. This is widely considered the first major release of modern baseball cards.

The inclusion of popular baseball players on cigarette packs proved wildly successful for sales. Between 1886-1890, dozens of cigarette companies jumped into the baseball card frenzy. Each company aimed to feature popular players of the day to attract customers’ interest. Sets from the time period featured not only star players, but lesser known minor leaguers as well, and several variations exist highlighting different poses, expressions, and uniforms for each player. Technological advances allowed for color lithographs on some sets near the end of the 1880s boom.

The early 1890s saw the baseball card bubble burst as the market became oversaturated. Many smaller cigarette companies folded, and the two dominant players who remained, American Tobacco and Goodwin & Company, moved away from baseball cards entirely. This effectively ended the first wave of modern baseball cards until the turn of the century. Some key developments during this lull period included the rise of collectible trade cards featuring baseball stars issued by candy companies like Charles Goodyear Company in the mid-1890s.

In the early 1900s, the baseball card market regained steam as tobacco brands reintroduced cards and new competitors emerged. In 1909, Zip cigarette packs included the hugely popular “napkin slab” type cards printed on pressed fiberboard. Many stars of the deadball era like Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson appeared. The 1910s saw sets issued by Sweet Caporal and Mecca cigarette brands which featured multicolored lithographic images. Bowman Gum also released their famous early designs highlighting stars like Home Run Baker and Shoeless Joe Jackson.

By the late 1910s, the emerging popularity of bubble gum led brands like Goudey Gum Company and Fleer to dominate the baseball card market through the 1920s-1930s with their gum-included cards. Goudey released several iconic sets from 1933-1938, many with intricate color photos. Fleer also put out sets featuring the raw talents of stars like Ted Williams and Bob Feller capturing the golden era between the World Wars. With refinements in printing process and growth in the trading card culture, the 1930s cemented baseball cards mainstream appeal.

Into the post-World War II era of the 1940s-50s, competition remained high between Topps, Bowman, and other manufacturers continuously pushing technological boundaries. Photography became sharper, multi-color printing more vivid. Iconic stars like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Jackie Robinson had their way onto cardboard. The late 1950s also saw the rise of the modern concept of “rookie cards” which helped skyrocket the value of first-year cards in the decades since.

This period established baseball cards as a fundamental part of youth culture. Sets became coveted by children across America as a mutual passion for the game grew both on the field and through collectibles. Vast improvements in printing process and special chases like variations, serially numbered refractors, and coveted autographs have taken the hobby to new heights ever since. Over a century after its origins, baseball cards remain proof of the enduring marriages between our national pastime, business, and childhood nostalgia. That original bond of ballplayers, tobacco, and trading has spawned billions in collecting and never stops growing generations of avid fans.

Baseball cards emerged in the mid-1880s as tobacco companies used baseball stars on cigarette premium cards to boost sales, sparking the “Golden Age” of baseball cards until the early 1890s. The 1900s saw a revival as tobacco and candy brands issued sets preceding modern gum-based card issues from the 1910s on by companies like Goudey and Bowman. Technological innovations and post-war stars solidified baseball cards as ubiquitous childhood collectibles and billion-dollar businesses today, proving part of baseball’s enduring legacy. The overall history shows how baseball cards have evolved from a scrappy tobacco premium to a cornerstone of both the game and memorabilia industry for over 135 years and counting.

WHEN DID BASEBALL CARDS STOP INCLUDING GUM

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The tradition of including gum or small toys with baseball trading cards originated in the late 1800s when American tobacco companies like American Tobacco Company and Good & Plenty began inserting non-sports related cards as promotional incentives in their tobacco products. This helped boost sales of their chewing gum and cigarettes. In the 1930s, baseball cards fully emerged as the dominant sport included in packs of gum and candy as interest in the national pastime rose significantly during the Great Depression era. Some of the most iconic early brands that produced baseball cards with gum included Goudey Gum Company, Bazooka Bubble Gum, Topps Chewing Gum, and Bowman Gum. These companies ruled the baseball card market for decades as kids eagerly sought out the latest cardboard collectibles to snack on gum and trade with friends.

Starting in the 1970s, mounting health concerns were raised over directly associating tobacco and confectionery marketing aimed at children. As the dangers of cigarettes became more widely known and tobacco advertising to minors was restricted or banned, baseball card manufacturers started exploring alternative distribution methods. In 1981, Topps Chewing Gum, long the dominant force in the baseball card industry, removed gum from its card packages for the first time while still producing cards under the “Topps” brand name. They instead opted to sell unsealed wax packs of cards without confections, signaling a transition toward marketing directly to baseball card collectors rather than as an adjunct to candy purchases.

Other gum and candy manufacturers followed Topps’ lead in short order. Bazooka Bubble Gum ended its iconic run producing baseball cards in 1982. The company felt increasing pressure to dissociate from directly marketing to kids given health criticisms over sugary snacks. Bowman Gum ceased its baseball card line in late 1982 as well citing pressure from advocates for limiting junk food advertising to youth. This left Topps as essentially the sole surviving brand, though they no longer included any gum or incentives besides the cards themselves.

In the following years, several regional and independent baseball card companies attempted to fill the void left by Topps, Bowman, and Bazooka discontinuing their product lines. brands like Fleer and Donruss launched in 1981 and 1982 respectively. They struggled to gain widespread marketplace recognition competing against the longtime incumbent Topps brand without major gum company backing and distribution channels. Topps’ dominance was further solidified when Donruss and Fleer signed exclusive licensing deals with Major League Baseball in 1987, leaving Topps as the sole brand producing cards endorsed by MLB itself.

This gave Topps an insurmountable advantage over would-be challengers and cemented their monopoly over the modern baseball card era into the 1990s and beyond without direct competition. As the collectibles culture around baseball cards exploded in popularity beyond an ancillary market for candy purchases, Topps transitioned fully into being a memorabilia and collectibles company, focusing on specialized releases, inserts, and parallel sets aimed at veteran hobbyists rather than casual bubble gum customers.

Changing social attitudes around junk food and tobacco marketing to children prompted the end of including confectioneries like gum with baseball card packages in the early 1980s as manufacturers bowed to public pressure. This transition also coincided with baseball cards becoming fully established as serious memorabilia collectibles apart from their inception as promotional sweets incentives over a century ago. While many still nostalgically recall trading cards with sticks of bubble gum, the direct pairing of the two became outdated and fell by the wayside as America’s pastimes evolved through the late 20th century.

WHEN DOES 2023 BASEBALL CARDS COME OUT

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The release of new baseball cards each year is something that many collectors look forward to. While there is no single definitive release date that all card companies adhere to, most 2023 baseball card products from the major manufacturers begin hitting store shelves in late winter/early spring of 2023.

The exact timing can vary depending on the specific set, license holder, and retailer, but historically one of the first major releases each year comes from Topps. As the longest-tenured and best-selling card company, Topps has generally released its flagship Series 1 baseball cards in late February or early March. This marks the official start of the new season of releases. In 2023, industry experts are predicting that Topps Series 1 will arrive in stores around the first week of March.

Shortly after the Topps Series 1 release, hobby collectors and fans can expect the launch of other annual sets. Panini generally puts out its Donruss and Contenders products in March as well. Around the same time, Topps Archives and Heritage are also made available. These offer up retro and vintage-style designs that are popular with collectors seeking a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

Moving into April and May, the card release schedule ramps up significantly. In addition to ongoing Series releases from Topps and Panini, this is when more niche and high-end products hit the scene. Some notable examples include Allen & Ginter and Stadium Club from Topps which feature unique collector’s items mixed in with the cards. Luxury brands like Triple Threads, National Treasures, and Immaculate also arrive with their ultra-rare autograph and memorabilia inserts.

Independent manufacturers also roll out new season offerings. Companies like Leaf, Panini Limited, and Donruss Elite offer higher-priced boxes with low print runs aimed at the most avid card fans. Many LCS’s (local card shops) also release exclusive sets around this time tailored towards their local collector base. And major retailers like Target and Walmart introduce their own house brands to satisfy the increased demand for baseball cards.

As spring turns to summer, the cadence of new sets continues virtually unabated. Popular products like Bowman, Chrome, and Topps Update keep collectors engaged with regular shipments to stores through August. This is when many new rookies from that year’s draft class are first featured after making their pro debuts. It also provides an opportunity for any breakout players from the first half of the MLB season to receive increases in their rookie card valuations.

By late summer/early fall, the primary card manufacturers have largely transitioned from new season releases to special commemorative products. This includes the playoff-themed offerings from brands like Topps, Panini Playoffs and Contenders Playoff Basketball. These help extend the hobby season right up to the World Series. Then things begin to wind down as attention shifts towards the following year.

While release dates may fluctuate slightly year to year depending on unforeseen delays, collectors can generally expect the 2023 baseball card season to be in full swing by early March. From that point onward through late summer/early fall, an abundance of new sets from all the major brands will ensure that baseball card fans have plenty of product to engage with as they seek out their favorite players, teams and chase rare pulls. Marking a true highlight each year for the hobby.

WHEN WERE BASEBALL CARDS POPULAR

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In the 1880s, companies like Goodwin & Company and Allen & Ginter began dedicating entire series to baseball players. These early tobacco cards were produced on low quality stock and featured murky black-and-white images with very little biographical information. They ignited immenseinterest among children and baseball fans who sought to collect full sets. The inclusionof sportscards in tobacco products helped normalize smoking at a young age in America.

The popularity of baseball cards grew steadily throughout the early 1900s. In 1909, the American Tobacco Company released what is considered to be the most iconic set in card history – the infamous T206 series. Printed on high quality card stock and featuring vivid color portraits, these cards highlighted stars of the era and are among the most valuable collectibles today. World War 1 caused a drop in production as resources were diverted, but cards rebounded strongly after the war ended.

In the 1950s, the Topps Company gained dominance in the baseball card market and published highly successful sets annually. Their innovative design choices like the vertical format, photographing players in action shots, and the classic color-striped borders defined the ascetic of cards for decades. Young boys traded and collected with fervor, kicking off regional and national crazes. The traditional tobacco affiliation also diminished greatly during this period.

The 1960s saw cards reach new heights of popularity boosted by the civil rights movement and players like Mickey Mantle capturing mainstream attention. But the 1970s was when the modern collecting frenzy would take hold. Increased mass production and distribution through drug stores, supermarkets, and card shops made sets exponentially more accessible to kids. High inflation also drove many to view cards as potential long term investments. The arrival of stars like Roberto Clemente and Nolan Ryan kept interest red hot.

In the 1980s, scarcity strategies and emphasis on rookies made properties like the Topps Traded set extremely hype. Michael Jordancrossed over from basketball and boosted interest in all sports cards. Expos and conventions proliferated as collecting communitiesorganized regionally and nationally. But the bubble soon began bursting as an oversupply of products watered down scarcity and demand fell. Still, favorites like the Upper Deck brand launched in 1989 helped maintain enthusiasm.

The 1990s saw a resurgence thanks to the rookie card boom surrounding future stars like Ken Griffey Jr. Widespread preference for investable mint and near-mint condition cards caused average issue cards to plummet in value. The rise of onlinesales and auction sites also transformed themarketplace. In the 2000s, cards adapted by shiftingfocus towards memorabilia relics and autographseuven as cultural interest declinedsomewhatfrom the speculative 1990s peak.

Currently, while no longer as mainstream ascrazes of the 50s-90s, baseball cards remain a popular nostalgic hobbyand collecting community. Modern formats like graded/slabbed cards try blending investment and entertainment.Notable historiccards stillsellfor recordprices showing ongoingdemand. With each new generation of stars and players,cards maintainsallegiance from lifelong fans andintroduces thepastime to youth.Whether brokenthrough packets or preserved inportfolios, baseball cardshave proven a classic Americana collectiblewherethenostalgiaofsummers gone by liveson.

Baseball cards have endured immense popularity from the late 19th century when included as advertisements intobaccoproducts, through the post-war boom of the 1950s drivenby Topps,the peak maniain the speculative 1980s and 1990s, and remain today as a quintessential partofboth thesports nostalgiaexperience aswellas a long-term investment optionfor passionate collectors.Noother sportshas witnessedsuch a loyal andhistoric relationship withitscorresponding trading cardindustryas baseball.

WHEN DID BOWMAN START MAKING BASEBALL CARDS

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The Bowman Gum Company was founded in Delaware in 1885 by William Bowman. Originally, the company produced chewing gum but did not get involved in the baseball card business until purchasing certain assets of the Goudey Gum Company in late 1933. Goudey had issued highly popular sets of gum and baseball cards from 1933-1936 but experienced financial difficulties during the Great Depression and was forced to close its doors.

Seeing the potential, Bowman acquired Goudey’s card manufacturing equipment and trademarks and decided to continue the concept of including a baseball card with each stick of gum. In 1934, Bowman issued its first set of cards as Goudey had done the prior years. Known as the “1934 Bowman Gum”, the set featured 165 cards highlighting players from the American and National Leagues in a very similar green-bordered design to the previous Goudey issues. This established Bowman as the new leader in the baseball card industry.

Bowman would go on to produce annual sets each year from 1934 through 1939, chronicling the players and teams of Major League Baseball. Each set steadily grew in size, with the 1935 and 1936 issues containing 200 cards, the 1937 release featuring 219 cards, and the late 1930s sets totaling a massive 365 cards each. The photography and production quality continued to improve as well under Bowman’s guidance.

In addition to the base sets, Bowman also experimented with variations like their famous “Diamond Stars” parallel subset cards recognizing some of the game’s biggest stars. They issued special promotional cards, oddball sized cards, and regional variations as interest in card collecting exploded across America during this time period. While tobacco cards had previously been more common, the Bowman Gum cards were the first mass-produced cardboard baseball cards inserted into bubblegum. This format took off and is still used extensively today by card companies.

When the U.S. entered World War II after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Bowman’s resources were diverted towards the war effort. Like many businesses, they suspended civilian card production through 1945 to focus on more essential goods. After the war ended, Bowman rejoined the sportscard scene by releasing sets in 1948 and 1949. The 1948 and 1949 issues paled in comparison to their golden era of the 1930s, containing a mere 60-70 cards each with plain designs. Competition was also increasing.

Bowman sold its baseball card operations after the 1949 season to Philadephia Gum and Chocolate Company, which continued producing Bowman cards for a couple more years before the brand disappeared. By the mid-1950s, Topps Chewing Gum had emerged as the dominant force in baseball cards and monopilized the market for decades. Still, Bowman was instrumental in popularizing the modern format of sports and trading cards inserted in chewing gum from 1933-1939. Their iconic vintage cards remain some of the most collected in the hobby.

In 1995, Upper Deck acquired the Bowman trademark and relaunched it as a high-end baseball card brand. Since then, Bowman cards have been produced annually focusing on prospects, rookie cards, and autographed memorabilia parallel inserts alongside the bigger Topps Series 1, 2, and Update releases each year. Modern Bowman issues like Bowman Chrome, Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects, and international Bowman products provide a second major baseball card organization. So while Bowman’s original golden era faded after WWII, the name is still synonymous with the sport over 80 years after they first sparked the modern baseball card craze by taking over from Goudey in 1933.

In summary, Bowman Gum Company entered the baseball card business in late 1933 after acquiring the remaining assets of the bankrupt Goudey Gum Company, including their card production equipment. From 1934 through 1949, Bowman issued highly popular and collectible annual sets that grew the hobby significantly and established the enduring format of sports cards packaged with gum. They continued Goudey’s tradition before selling their card division after 1949, but the Bowman brand was later revived successfully by Upper Deck in 1995 and remains a prominent name in the industry today focused on prospects, parallels, and high-end products. Bowman’s innovation and cards from their formative 1930s golden era left an indelible mark on the baseball card collecting world.

WHEN DID BASEBALL CARDS BECOME POPULAR

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The earliest forms of baseball cards date back to the late 1860s when cigarette manufacturers like Goodwin & Company and American Tobacco Company started including pictures of baseball players in their cigarette packs. These early cigarette cards did not feature a player’s biography or statistics and were primarily used for promotional purposes by the tobacco companies. The consumer demand and collecting aspect of baseball cards did not truly take off until the 1880s-1890s period.

During this time, the modern baseball card began to take shape, featuring more robust summaries of key statistics and biographical details of players on the front with advertisements on the back. Companies like Old Judge, Sweet Caporal and Pearl Baughman started mass producing sets of cards that could be collected and organized in albums. This helped spark baseball card collecting as a hobby. The emergence of modern baseball cards coincided with the growing popularity of the sport of baseball itself during the Gilded Age.

Between 1887-1906, a period historians refer to as baseball’s “Golden Age”, the sport saw immense growth as a professional pastime. Major League Baseball was established in 1903. Attendance at games skyrocketed as new franchises popped up and legendary players like Babe Ruth, Cy Young and Honus Wagner began their careers. This boom in general baseball enthusiasm helped drive demand for collectible cards featuring the sport’s new stars. Companies ramped up baseball card production to capitalize.

By the 1890s, tobacco companies were dedicating entire series to groups of baseball teams and leagues rather than mixing sports. Cards from this era like the famous 1909-1911 T206 set are among the most valuable in the hobby today due to their rarity and condition. Production continued to increase over subsequent decades. The rise of popular player “types” like the clean-cut “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in the early 1900s helped capture the public imagination and stoked more card collecting.

Meanwhile, improvements in color lithography made for highly detailed and vivid card illustrations that collected eagerly snapped up. The invention of bubble gum in 1928 ushered in the “golden age” of modern baseball cards as companies used them successfully to market their gum products to children. Gum brands like Goudey Gum Company and Bowman Gum dominated production through the 1930s-1950s heyday. Their crisp, colorful cards featured the legends of that era like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio in their baseball prime.

By World War 2, baseball cards had evolved into a true nationwide phenomenon for kids and adults alike. Their designs grew more complex with action shots, statistical breakdowns, and quizzes on the gum wrappers. Cards also helped families stay connected to favorite hometown players during wartime. The subsequent post-war economic boom saw surges in general baseball attendance and participation which maintained steady card demand. In the following decades, Topps claimed industry dominance and ushered cards into the modern collector era with innovations like the first traded ‘Rookie’ and annual ‘Update’ sets.

Baseball cards arose in the late 1800s as collectible promotional items during a golden age for the sport’s popularity. Mass production in dedicated series helped spark their general consumer popularity as a widespread collecting hobby through the early 1900s heyday. Continuous demand driven by baseball’s growing fanbase nationwide, improvements in card design and quality, emerging superstar players, as well as clever marketing strategies through gum promotions sustained the baseball card craze for generations of enthusiasts up through today.

WHEN TO BUY BASEBALL CARDS

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There are a few key times that are generally good opportunities to buy baseball cards. One of the best times is right after the season ends in October. This is when supply is highest after new cards have been printed and released for the current season. With the season over, interest and demand tend to drop off a bit right after the World Series is completed.

Card manufacturers and sellers want to clear out their existing inventory to make room for the next year’s cards. This increased supply and decreased immediate demand means sellers may drop their prices some to help move the current stock. For fans looking to add to their collection or start a new collection, this postseason period can be a advantageous time to find the largest selection available at relatively affordable prices.

There are also some savings to be had during the late fall and winter months from November through January before the new year. The card industry tends to be somewhat slow during the offseason with less new products being released and fans’ interests focused more on other winter sports. Many online retailers and local card shops will offer promotional sales and discounts during this quiet time of year to attract customers and generate revenue when business is slower. Deals can be found on both singles and boxes/packs of the recently concluded season.

Another good buying window is right before the new season begins in late February and March. As spring training gets underway and opening day approaches, anticipation starts to build again for the upcoming 162-game schedule. Until those first regular season games are actually played, demand isn’t full peak yet. Sellers want to clear out as much of their remaining stock from the prior season as they can in preparation for the new crop of cards debuting in the upcoming few weeks. Price reductions may be applied during this transition time.

One of the most overlooked opportunities comes 2-3 months into the season from May through June. Right after the rush of Opening Day and the initial release of the new year’s card products, interest levels off a bit until injuries, trades and better weather kicks things into higher gear. This can present a mini lull where some retailers slash prices to attract customers and move old inventory with less competition from new releases. Singles and boxes from the early part of the current season may see some discounts applied relative to launch prices.

In July and early August, trade deadline deals and playoff pushes start to heat updivisionsal races as the All-Star break comes and goes. Card demand begins to rise again in anticipation of the season’s second half. Prices stabilize and maycreepup some as we approach the “dog days” of summer. Late August through very early September as rosters expand and wild card races intensify provides another slight respite. Sellers try to make room for expected postseason activity.

The month immediately following the World Series is ideal for finding value on the singles, relics, and autographs from players who stood out over the entire 162-game season and especially the playoffs and Fall Classic. With the awards season fully underway by then and some speculation starting for the Hall of Fame, certain standouts from that year will be in higher demand for PC builds. But the overall market demand comes back down as offseason mode is in full swing again. Inventory needs to turn, so prices can be lower on the season’s true stars versus right after playoff runs.

The best overall opportunities for savings on baseball cards usually coincide with periods of transition – from season to offseason, from one year to the next, and during those brief lulls within a season when interest temporarily levels out. Watching sales, knowing when release cycles occur, and understanding ebbs and flows in demand can deliver some deals with a little timing and patience added to the collecting strategy. With some research and shopping around different sellers, savvy buyers can optimize their budget throughout the baseball calendar year.

WHEN DID BASEBALL CARDS BEGIN

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Some of the earliest forms of baseball cards more closely resembled trade cards or cabinet cards – photographs mounted on card stock that were given out to customers as a form of advertising by businesses. In 1868, a Boston-based company known as the Pemberton Tobacco Company began including lithograph cards in its packages of cigarettes featuring early baseball stars and other baseball-related images as a marketing technique. These items were essentially meant to be keepsakes to help promote the sale of the tobacco product, and are considered among the first true baseball cards distributed.

In 1869, Goodwin & Co. began placing illustrated cards depicting Chicago White Stockings players in its packs of cigarettes. These early baseball-related cards were far more focused on advertising the tobacco product than the athletes themselves. It wasn’t until 1885 that trading cards began to become more common and geared primarily as collectibles unto themselves. In that year, a tobacco company known as Allen & Ginter began inserting small pieces of card stock with images of baseball players and other notable figures into its cigarette packages. Instead of just promoting the brand, these cards focused more squarely on the people portrayed.

This new generation of baseball cards was thicker and produced using a high-quality lithographic printing process. Each card contained an image on the front and sometimes biographical information on the back. They were not merely advertisements but intended exclusively as collectible novelties that built upon the rising popularity of the sport. A star of this earliest era of quality lithographed baseball cards was John “Hello Central” Solomon, who made his major league debut in 1887.

By the 1890s, tobacco companies had fully embraced baseball cards as a dominant fixture in their products. John Player & Sons began including cards in packets and cans of tobacco in England at this time. The most prolific American producer from this decade onward was the American Tobacco Company, which had acquired Allen & Ginter and several other manufacturers. Between 1885 and the 1951, over 20 billion cigarette cards were distributed by American and other companies, with baseball being one of the most popular sports featured.

From the late 1880s through the World War I era in the late 1910s, tobacco companies regularly churned out new baseball card sets, engaging famous artists of the day like Tomlinson and Carl Horner to illustrate them. Major stars of the period like Cy Young, Honus Wagner, and Cap Anson were featured extensively. These years also saw the rise of regional independent tobacco companies like Leaf and Piedmont issuing localized baseball card sets. The Great Depression of the 1930s slowed production considerably as disposable income declined sharply.

Following World War II, the golden age of baseball cards began in the late 1940s and 1950s as the economy rebounded and interest in the national pastime surged with icons like Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial and more gracing the cardboard. Tobacco companies responded by reviving colorful illustrated card issues inserted in cigarette packs. Gum and candy companies like Bowman and Topps also entered the scene in 1949, using the cards as incentives to drive sales of their confections. Their use of colorful photographic images vastly improved production values.

In the succeeding decades, these sport card businesses like Topps and Fleer gained dominance, using airbrushed photos on the cardboard stock until the late 1980s. In the modern period from the 1990s onward, technological advances like chromium and premium parallels helped cards evolve into a serious financial speculative investment field apart from their value solely as collectibles. Nevertheless, the legacy of baseball cards as a beloved licensed tie-in product can ultimately be traced back to those earliest advertising cards inserted in tobacco products from the 1860s-1900s.

Baseball cards emerged in the late 1860s as lithographed trade cards and cabinet cards that were included mostly as advertisements in cigarette and tobacco products to help promote sales. Through the 1880s and 1890s, they grew into specialized collectibles focused squarely on baseball players through the work of companies like Allen & Ginter. Major stars of the early professional baseball eras built the iconic status of early lithographed cardboard issues up through World War I. Following the postwar economic boom starting in the 1940s, baseball cards truly entered their golden age of popularity through the issuance of thousands of sets by tobacco firms, gum/candy makers, fueling their enduring popularity today among collectors, researchers, and investors alike.

WHEN DO 2024 BASEBALL CARDS COME OUT

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The release of new MLB baseball cards happens on an annual cycle, with the cards for a given season usually coming out starting in late winter/early spring of the following year. So for example, the 2023 baseball cards started being released in February-March 2023 covering the 2023 MLB season. The same pattern will hold for the 2024 season cards.

Some key details on the expected release timeline and production process for the official 2024 MLB baseball cards:

Major card manufacturers like Topps, Panini, and Leaf/Score will start design and production of their 2024 sets throughout late 2023 once the 2023 MLB season wraps up. This allows them time to analyze stats, team changes, rookie players, etc from the prior season to design the new sets.

Early preview releases of some of the highly anticipated rookie cards for the 2024 season will potentially begin popping up at large hobby/card shows starting in late November/December 2023. These pre-productions help build hype in the run-up to the main releases.

The first official retail 2024 baseball card products from the top manufacturers are projected to hit hobby shop shelves, mass retailer shelves, and online retailers starting in late January-early February 2024. Timing may vary slightly between Topps, Panini, etc but this is the targeted launch window.

The initial 2024 offerings will focus on the base sets, flagship/traditional products, and value/discount packs to get cards into the hands of collectors ASAP at the start of the new year. Insert sets, parallels, autographs, and memorabilia cards for the key rookies may follow in subsequent 3-6 month release waves.

Additional manufacturers like Donruss, Bowman, Leaf, etc will also jump into the 2024 season card market during this January-March period. They’ll aim to debut their takes on the new rookie class and season shortly after the bigger names like Topps/Panini.

Specialty/high-end products exclusive to hobby shops wrapping parallels, patches, autographs of superstar veterans and top prospects may emerge a bit later in the Spring as the collecting season gets underway and demand ramps up.

Mass retailers who carry value baseball cards like Target, Walmart, Meijer will receive stock of 2024 packs, blasters, and boxes starting in late February or March once initial collector demand has been fulfilled at hobby shops/online.

The steady flow of 2024 releases will continue through July-August as the season progresses, with manufacturers issuing updated/extended/insert/specialty sets every few months over the course of the season all the way up to postseason/World Series time in Fall 2024.

So in summary – while not fully locked in until formal announcements, most indicators point to the first official mass-produced 2024 MLB baseball cards hitting the market starting in late January to early March 2024. This allows the companies to design and produce the new season’s offerings over the prior fall/winter months. Fans can expect a steady release stream throughout 2024 at various price points across hobby shops, mass retailers, and online sellers. Preview cards may emerge even earlier in late 2023. Let me know if any part of this timeline analysis needs further explanation or details!