AUTOGRAPHS

Baseball cards collection

The first baseball cards were distributed in 1886 in packs of Old Judge and Gypsy Queen Cigarettes, both of which were manufactured by Goodwin and Company. Measuring 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches, these early black-and-white cards from the late 1880s depicted players posing in front of scenic backdrops set up in the Joseph Hall Studio of Brooklyn. Other cards were reproduced in color as portraits. In all, some 2,000 Old Judge cards featuring some 700 players from the National League and American Association were produced. In 1887, Old Judge smokers got an added bonus: cards featuring the previous year’s champions, the St. Louis Browns and the New York Mets.

Today, a lot of those cards are worth hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars, thus the cringe Tobacco companies used baseball cards to promote their products included Allen & Ginter, which packaged cards in packs of Virginia Bright cigarettes. D. Buchner Company offered its customers a card with each purchase of Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco, and Charles Gross & Co. published cards for two tobacco brands, Kalamazoo Bats and Mayo’s Cut Plug Tobacco the first baseball cards packed with bubble gum came along in 1933, when the Goudy Gum Company of Boston issued its Big League Gum series. George Herman Ruth, as he was named on the card, was part of that first series as was Lou Gehrig. Unfortunately, the company neglected to print a card for one of the stars of the day, Napoleon Lajoie. A small number of 1933 Lajoie cards were printed in 1934, making these among the rarest cards in baseball.

Three other Topps cards from the 1960s deserve special mention. First up, Pete Rose’s rookie card from 1963, which features the faces of Charlie Hustle and three other players on a card labeled “1963 Rookie Stars.” Then there’s the 1967 Roger Maris New York Yankees card. Maris was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals before the start of the season, but some cards managed to find their way into the hands of a few dealers. Topps made a Maris Cardinals card right away, but the ones of the slugger in a Yankees uniform are worth about 500 times as much.

Finally, in 1968, Topps decided to shake up the staid look of its cards by producing a 3-D series. Only a dozen cards were in the set, and the cost of producing them was high, so very few sets were printed. Players in the set included Curt Flood and Boog Powell, as well as Mel Stottlemyre, Tony Perez, and Rusty Staub. But the crown jewel of the set was, and is, the Roberto Clemente card, which routinely sells at auction for tens of thousands of dollars.

By looking at them, you can tell a lot, especially from the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s. You could tell they’re all different, especially the 1860s and earlier, because the stitching was very different. It wasn’t the figure 8 seam that we’re familiar with today. They tend to be darker-looking, mostly due to wear, although they didn’t have the bright white and red stitching that we have today. Baseball card collection is a great hobby in these days.

About the Author

Peter Benders, a freelance journalist online. Love to photo shoot, trekking and scuba diving. Writes on various aspects of life like collectibles, RV camping, baby safety, mountain biking and music.

Ryan’s 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball Hobby Box Break

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