Introduction to Baseball Card Collecting
Collecting baseball cards is about making a connection with your favorite players, owning your favorite players’ cards and trading to get different players’ cards.
Baseball cards allow fans and collectors to learn more about Major League Baseball players — not only their statistics but you can read about highlights from their careers and where they grew up.
The true value of baseball cards lies in the experience they deliver. They dazzle your eyes with their amazing photos and innovative designs. The excitement of opening packs and finding out which players you got is something you will never forget.
 Chipper Jones Running Card |
Robin Yount Card |
How to Get Started in Baseball Card Collecting
To get your baseball card collection started, simply buy a few packs of cards, or an entire box. Remember there are numerous sets every year and there can be several cards issued for each player, so it may be impossible to collect them all.
The first thing a beginning collector must do is decide what kind of collection to build. 
Rookie Card-Ken Griffey JrHere are some ideas:
• Collect cards of your favorite player or players.
• Work on a team collection with a card for every player on the team during one season. Try to assemble a set of all of the players who start for your favorite team, and put their cards in order of the batting order when you watch a game.
• Start an unusual collection, such as cards with errors on them. Although most serious card collectors are adults, it’s often kids who spot the mistakes.
• Collect cards of players who share your first or last name, or cards of players who were born in your hometown or played at your local school.
• Collect rookie cards.
• Collect by the type of photograph. For example, you could collect cards that show “perfect swings.”
• Trade with your friends. This is a great way to complete your collection. It’s fun and it’s free. Get together with your friends to swap away your doubles.
One popular way to collect — and one of the most challenging ways of collecting baseball cards — is to put together a complete set. Every pack has a different mix of cards. Sooner or later you’ll get two or three of the same card. Trade these duplicates to your friends or to hobby stores for cards you need.
Later in the season you can buy complete sets, already put together. But you may prefer the fun, excitement and challenge of building your own set. Collectors are most proud of the sets they’ve put together themselves.
 Insert Eric Chavez Card With Uniform Piece |
 Dating Robin Yount 1983 Card |
How to Collect Rookie and Insert Cards
A rookie card is a “base” or regular card coming from card sets produced in the first year in which a player appears in the major leagues.
Insert Dave Winfield Card With Game Worn PatchBecause players can have only one base card in each set, they can have one rookie card (RC) in each set. To be more precise, rookie cards are base cards of players who are making their major-league, 25-man roster debut. You don’t have to understand all that because baseball cards clearly identify Rookie Cards with a special logo on the front of every RC. The rookie card is usually one of a player’s most valuable cards. That’s because a complete set of any player’s cards must start with the rookie card. Some collectors save rookie cards of all the best young players in case one of them becomes a superstar. Those RCs could become sought-after some day. But remember, the true value of your collection is measured by the time you spend and the fun you have with your baseball cards, so don’t worry about collecting them for value. What’s more fun is getting a rookie card from all of your favorite players? Insert cards are special cards that are included in some packs. The artwork on these cards may be done in a unique style. Stickers, stamps and even puzzle pieces have been offered as inserts. Cards with jersey pieces or autographs are popular inserts. Companies print fewer inserts than regular cards, which keeps them hard to find. Insert cards make collecting exciting, while giving you a chance at something special. Tips for Collecting At Card Shops and Shows Collecting can be confusing when you’re first getting started. When you know what you’re doing, it can be a blast. For those reasons and many others, it’s time to find your local card dealer. The more you know about cards, the better collecting choices you’ll make. The best thing to do is seek out the nearest sports card shop. These hobby shops sell individual cards, packs, boxes or complete sets. But best of all, they offer an ideal “card collector’s classroom.” And you don’t have to buy anything to learn. Just soak up the atmosphere. Ask questions. Listen and learn. Many store owners will be happy to offer advice and helpful suggestions. Finding What You Need If you think you’ll be able to find everything you need on the Internet or at a large department store, you’re probably wrong. If you need just one or two regular cards to complete a set, you probably won’t be able to find them online, at any price, because auction sellers don’t bother listing every card. You’ll also be able to buy just the right amount of supplies like card holders and sheets from your local dealer much easier than shopping online. And sometimes you may want an expert to help identify the newest products and coolest cards. Finding What You Like Most shops specialize in the local players and teams that you’re probably interested in. You can also easily compare products and determine what you like and don’t like, which is very difficult to do online. Interactions There are always other collectors and baseball fans in a hobby shop to share stories about their favorite cards, trade and play games like “Pack Wars.” Finding Your Local Dealer If you don’t see ads for a local shop in your phone book or area newspaper, there are Store Locator features on both the Upper Deck (www.upperdeck.com) and Topps (www.Topps.com) websites. 
2008 Topps Baseball Team Gift Box SetJust enter your zip code and a list of stores in your area will appear. Don’t Forget About Shows Card shows bring together a variety of dealers and collectors under one roof. You’ll often find great deals and a jaw-dropping selection of cards. These shows are advertised in newspapers and collector’s magazines such as Sports Collectors Digest and Tuff Stuff’s Sports Collectors Monthly. Go to the show with a shopping list of cards you need, and you’re likely to find what you’re seeking. IDENTIFICATION While most modern baseball cards are well identified on front, back or both, as to date and is- sue, such has not always been the case. In general, the back of the card is more useful in identifying the set of origin than the front. The is- suer or sponsor’s name will usually appear on the back since, after all, baseball cards were first produced as a promotional item to stimulate sales of other products. More often than not, that issuer’s name is the name by which the set is known to collectors and under which it will be found listed in this price guide. In some difficult cases, identifying a baseball card’s general age, if not specific year of issue, can usually be accomplished by studying the bio- logical or statistical information on the back of the card. The last year mentioned in either the biography or stats is usually the year which preceded the year of issue. \NUMBERING While many baseball card issues as far back as the 1880s have contained card numbers as- signed by the issuer to facilitate the collecting of a complete set, the practice has by no means been universal. Even today, not every set bears card numbers. DATING The dating of baseball cards by year of issue on the front or back of the card itself is a relatively new phenomenon. In most cases, to accurately determine a date of issue for an unidentified card, it must be studied for clues. As mentioned, the biography, career summary or statistics on the back of the card are the best way to pinpoint a year of issue. In most cases, the year of issue will be the year after the last season mentioned on the card. ERRORS/VARIATIONS It is often hard for the beginning collector to understand that an error on a baseball card, in and of itself, does not necessarily add premium value to that card. It is usually only when the correcting of an error in a subsequent printing creates a variation that premium value attaches to an error. Minor errors, such as wrong stats or personal data, misspellings, inconsistencies, etc. – usually affecting the back of the card – are very common, especially in recent years. Unless a corrected variation was also printed, these errors are not noted in the listings of this book because they are not generally perceived by collectors to have premium value. On the other hand, major effort has been expended to include the most complete listings ever for collectible variation cards. Many scarce and valuable variations are included in these listings because they are widely collected and often have significant premium value. In the boom years of the early 1990s, some card companies produced their basic sets at more than one printing facility. This frequently resulted in numerous minor variations in photo cropping and back data presentation.
 Numbering Topps 205 Barry Bonds |
 Reprints 2001 Archives Series Rich Gossage |
Combined with a general decline in quality control from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, which allowed unprecedented numbers of uncorrected error cards to be released, this caused a general softening of collector interest in errors and variations. Despite the fact most of these modern variations have no premium value, they are listed here as a matter of record. COUNTERFEITS/REPRINTS As the value of baseball cards has risen in the past 25+ years, certain cards and sets have become too expensive for the average collector to obtain. This, along with changes in the technology of color printing, has given rise to increasing numbers of counterfeit and reprint cards. While both terms describe essentially the same thing – a modern day copy that attempts to duplicate as closely as possible an original baseball card – there are differences that are important to the collector. Generally a counterfeit is made with the intention of deceiving somebody into believing it is genuine, and thus paying large amounts of money for it. The counterfeiter takes every pain to try to make their fakes look as authentic as possible. A reprint, on the other hand, while it may have been made to look as close as possible to an original card, is made with the intention of allowing collectors to buy them as substitutes for cards they may never be otherwise able to afford. The big difference is that a reprint is generally marked as such, usually on the back of the card. In other cases, like the Topps 1952 reprint set and later Archives issues, the replicas are printed in a size markedly different from the originals, or utilizing current technology that differs from that available in the past. Collectors should be aware, however, that unscrupulous persons will sometimes cut off or otherwise obliterate the distinguishing word – “Reprint,” “Copy,” – or modern copyright date on the back of a reprint card in an attempt to pass it as genuine. A collector’s best defense against reprints and counterfeits is to acquire a knowledge of the look and feel of genuine baseball cards of various eras and issues.
Baseball Card Grading
It is necessary that some sort of card grading standard be used so that buyer and seller (especially when dealing through the Internet or by mail) may reach an informed agreement on the value of a card.
Grading Pre-1981 Cards
Pre-1981 cards are generally priced in the three grades of preservation in which those cards are most commonly encountered in the daily buying and selling in the hobby marketplace.
They are listed in grades of Near Mint (NR MT), Excellent (EX) and Very Good (VG), reflecting the basic fact that few cards were able to survive for 25, 50 or even 100 years in close semblance to the condition of their issue.
The pricing of cards in these three conditions will allow readers to accurately price cards which fall in intermediate grades, such as EX-MT, or VG-EX.
Close approximations of low-grade card values may be figured on the following formula:
• Good condition cards are valued at about 50 percent of VG price
• Fair cards about 50 percent of Good.
• Cards in Poor condition have little or no market value except in the cases of the rarest and most expensive cards. In such cases, value has to be negotiated individually.
Grading 1981-Present Cards
Many modern (1981-date) issues have been preserved in top condition in considerable numbers.
The rise of independent grading services in the past decade and their use of the NM/M designation to describe the vast majority of new card specimens has influenced the marketplace to the extent that only a small percentage of cards, even fresh from the pack, can meet the strict standards for a true Mint example.
As with older cards, values for lower-grade cards from 1981- date may be generally figured by using a figure of 75 percent of the NM/M price for Near Mint specimens, and 40 percent of the Mint price for Excellent cards.
SCD Grading Guide
The grading guide originally formulated in 1981 by Baseball Cards magazine and Sports Collectors Digest has been continually refined since that time.
These grading definitions are by no means a universally-accepted grading standard. Ultimately, the collector must formulate his/her own personal grading standards in deciding whether cards available for purchase meet the needs of their collection. No collector is required to adhere to the grading standards presented herewith — nor to any other published grading standards.
PSA Mint Graded Rod Carew CardMint (MT): A perfect card. Well-centered, with parallel borders that appear equal to the naked eye. Four sharp, square corners. No creases, edge dents, surface scratches, paper flaws, loss of luster, yellowing or fading, regardless of age.
No imperfectly printed card — out of register, badly cut or ink flawed — or card stained by contact with gum, wax or other substances can be considered truly Mint, even if new out of the pack. Generally, to be considered in Mint condition, a card’s borders must exist in a ratio of no greater than 60/40 side to side and top to bottom.
Mint Near Mint Rod Carew Hank Allen CardNear Mint/Mint (NM/M): A nearly perfect card. Well-centered, with at least three sharp, square corners. No creases, edge dents, surface scratches, paper flaws, loss of luster, yellowing or fading, regardless of age. No imperfectly printed card — out of register, badly cut or ink flawed — or card stained by contact with gum, wax or other substances can be considered Near Mint/ Mint, even if new out of the pack.
Generally, to be considered in NM/M condition, a card’s borders must exist in a ratio of no greater than 65/35 side to side and top to bottom.
Near Mint Hank AaronNear Mint (NR MT): At first glance, a Near Mint card appears perfect; upon closer examination, however, a minor flaw will be discovered. On well-centered cards, at least two of the four corners must be perfectly sharp; the others showing a minor imperfection upon close inspection. A slightly off-center card with one or more borders being noticeably unequal — no worse than in a ratio of 70/30 S/S or T/B — would also fit this grade.
Near Mint Sandy Koufax CardExcellent (EX): Corners are still fairly sharp with only moderate wear. Card borders may be off-center as much as 80/20. No creases. May have very minor gum, wax or product stains, front or back. Surfaces may show slight loss of luster from rubbing across other cards.
Very Good (VG): Show obvious handling. Corners rounded and/ or perhaps showing minor creases. Other minor creases may be visible. Surfaces may exhibit loss of luster, but all printing is intact. May show major gum, wax or other packaging stains. No major creases, tape marks or extraneous markings or writing. All four borders visible, though the ratio may be as poor as 95/5. Exhibits honest wear.
Good (G): A well-worn card, but exhibits no intentional damage or abuse. May have major or multiple creases and/or corners rounded well beyond the border. A Good card will generally sell for about 50 percent the value of a card in Very Good condition.
Fair (F or Fr.): Shows excessive wear, along with damage or abuse. Will show all the wear characteristics of a Good card, along with such damage as thumb tack holes in or near margins, evidence of having been taped or pasted, perhaps small tears around the edges, or creases so heavy as to break the cardboard.
Backs may show minor added pen or pencil writing, or be missing small bits of paper. Still, basically a complete card. A Fair card will generally sell for 50 percent the value of a Good specimen.
Poor 1909 Honus Wagner CardPoor (P): A card that has been tortured to death. Corners or other areas may be torn off. Card may have been trimmed, show holes from a paper punch or have been used for BB gun practice. Front may have extraneous pen or pencil writing, or other defacement. Major portions of front or back design may be missing. Not a pretty sight.
In addition to these terms, collectors may encounter intermediate grades, such as VG-EX or EX-MT. These cards usually have characteristics of both the lower and higher grades, and are generally priced midway between those two values.
Third-Party Grading
Gem Mint Rocco Colavito CardSince the mid-1990s, the popularity of third-party authentication/grading services has been on the rise. Depending on the reputation of the certification firm, cards that have been graded and encased in plastic slabs may sell for a significant premium. This is especially true of high-grade specimens of vintage cards that in certified grades of Near Mint/Mint, Mint or Gem Mint may bring multiples of “catalog” value.
Even collector-grade vintage cards can command a premium when authenticated, graded and slabbed because potential buyers may feel more secure in such cards’ authenticity and freedom from tampering.
Baseball Card Collecting Timeline
Baseball cards have been around almost as long as baseball itself – more than 100 years. At first, they were slipped inside packs of cigarettes for adults. Since then, they have been sold with candy, cookies, cereal, bubble gum – even hot dogs.
This timeline will help you follow the most important events in the history of the hobby.
1887 Album Of Worlds Champions1887: The first baseball cards appear in the “Album of World’s Champions” set made by the Allen and Ginter Tobacco Co. of Richmond, Va., and were used to protect the cigarettes from being crushed. Other companies, such as Goodwin & Co., used baseball cards to attract customers.
1909: Twentieth Century Tobacco printed its T206 collection, with Hall of Famer Honus Wagner and Sam Crawford. This is today’s most valuable set of cards.
1933: Goudey, of Boston, became the first company to sell bubble gum and cards together with its Big League series.
1952 Mickey Mantle Rookie Card1952: The now- famous Mickey Mantle rookie card was among the 407 cards included in Topps’ first complete card set.
1953: Color photos appeared for the first time in a card set with Bowman’s Kodachrome collection.
1956: Topps bought the Bowman Co. to take control of the card business for the next 25 years.
1957: The 21/2-by-31/2 -inch size for baseball cards is born and becomes the standard size for the collecting industry.
1959: Fleer enters the market with a set of cards on the career of Red Sox star Ted Williams.
1981 Donruss Inaugural Set-Gaylord Perry Card1981: Donruss and Fleer release competing inaugural sets.
1988: Score joins the ranks of Topps, Fleer and Donruss by releasing its first set of cards.
1989 Upper Deck First Set-Ken Griffey Jr1989: Upper Deck produces its first set, which features Ken Griffey Jr.’s rookie card. Many of today’s major league players cite Griffey’s rookie card as their favorite card of all-time and the card they wanted most when they collected.
1991: Hockey star Wayne Gretzky and Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall purchase the 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner for $451,000 – the most ever paid for one card at the time.
1997: Jersey memorabilia cards arrive on the scene. The cards featured a piece of a game-used jersey that was glued to the card.
2001: Topps celebrates its 50th year in the baseball card business.
2006: A new landscape begins in the baseball card hobby with Topps and Upper Deck as the only baseball card licensees. In addition, a new rookie card system was developed by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association to simplify collecting and create excitement in collecting rookie cards. A new Rookie Card logo makes its debut.
2007 Honus Wagner Card Sells2007: That same 1909-11 T206 Wagner, which was bought by Gretzky and McNall in 1991, was sold again for a record price of $2.8 million.
Baseball Card Collecting FAQs
1898-99 John Wagner National
Copper Plate Co PortraitsQ: How many people collect baseball cards?
A: There are about 3 million collectors of all ages in the United States and Canada.
Q: When did people first start collecting baseball cards?
A: The first baseball cards came out in the late 1880s, about the time your great-great-grandfather was a boy. The first cards were packed as a prize in boxes of cigarettes. Later, baseball cards were put into packs of gum or candy.
By the 1980s, baseball cards had become so popular that people would rip open the pack of cards, throw the gum away and save the baseball cards. That’s when several card makers began selling baseball cards in packs by themselves. The “little extra prize” had become a collectible people were happy to pay for.
Q: What are some of the more unique mistakes ever printed on baseball cards?
A: In 1957, Topps pictured Hank Aaron batting left-handed, but Aaron was a right-handed hitter.
In 1969, the bat boy for the California Angels tricked the Topps photographer and appeared on Topps card No. 653 instead of third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez.
1914 Cracker Jack Baseball CardsQ: Who has the largest collection of baseball cards?
A: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is the home of the biggest collection that is open for everyone to see. This collection of thousands of cards was given to the museum by a card collector named Jefferson Burdick. It went on display in the 1960s.
Q: Whose cards are most popular — hitters, pitchers or rookies?
A: The best players tend to have the most popular cards, regardless of what position they play. Rookie cards are popular because once a player becomes a star, many collectors try to go back and get all of his early cards. Thus, a collection of any player’s cards begins with their rookie card.
Baseball Card Collectors
Major League Baseball
www.MLB.com
Major League Baseball Cards
www.MLB.com/cards
MLB Players.Com Baseball Cards
www.baseballcardclubhouse.com
MLB Players
www.MLBplayers.com
Sports Collectors Digest
http://www.sportscollectorsdigest.com/
Sports Collectors Digest logo
Sports Memorabilia Industry Resources
http://www.sportscollectorsdigest.com/industryresources/
Topps
www.Topps.com
Tuff Stuff Monthly Magazine
http://www.tuffstuff.com
Tuff Stuff Logo
Upper Deck
www.UpperDeck.com
Upper Deck Kids
www.UpperDeckKids.com
Baseball Card Glossary
Base Card — The cards that make up the main portion of a card set. Base cards are regular-numbered cards that you can collect.
Brick — A set of cards featuring the same year, team or superstars.
Card Stock — The stiffness of the paper that baseball cards are printed on.
Cello Pack — Cards wrapped in see-through cellophane packaging.
Chase Card — A limited-edition card randomly placed in packs. Chase cards are another name for insert cards.
Collator — The machine used to pack cards randomly in sets.
Combination 1964 Richie Allen John HerrnsteinCombination — A card featuring more than one player. These are also known as “combo” or “multi-player” cards.
Cut Signature Card JD DrewCut-Signatures — Cards featuring autographs that have been cut from a letter or other document and attached to the card.
Die-Cut — A card that has portions cut away so that it forms a different shape instead of the usual rectangle.
Graded Card
Graded And Slabbed Ernie Banks CardGraded Cards (also called Certified Cards) — Cards that have been assigned a grade by a third-party service based on the condition of the card. Graded cards are “slabbed” in a hard-plastic holder and labeled with the grade.
Insert — An insert card is numbered differently, printed in smaller quantities, and not considered part of a regular set.
Memorabilia Card Dave Winfield Card With Game Worn PatchMemorabilia Card — A card that has a small piece of authentic game-used baseball equipment (such as a jersey, bat, base, shoe, etc.).
Miscut — Cards that are trimmed incorrectly, so that their pictures are crooked or off-center.
Parallel Cards — A card that has the same photo as a base card, but features a slightly different design element (such as a different color foil treatment) and is printed in smaller quantities.
Plastics — The plastic sheets used to store card collections.
Rated Rookie Card Roberto AlomarRookie Card — A Rookie Card commemorates the first appearance by a player in a nationally distributed, licensed card set in the year in which the player makes his Major League debut.
Rookie Card Henry AaronRookie Card Logo — The Rookie Card Logo adorns all Rookie Cards so it is easier for fans to find these cards. Rookie cards are commonly the most sought-after by collectors.
Series — A group of cards in a set printed at the same time; e.g., the first series of the 1957 Topps issue (Card Nos. 1-88).
Set — One of each card of the same type produced by a particular manufacturer during a single year, not including inserts. A Master Set would include all the companion insert cards that were also produced.
Short-Printed Cards — A card that was printed in lesser quantity compared to the other cards in the same series.
Subset — A set of cards that features a special subject, such as brothers, fathers and sons, top prospects or stat leaders.
Wrongback — A baseball card that’s been misprinted so the stats of one player are on the back of another player’s picture.