The Complete Book Of Collectible Baseball Cards

Reflections on collecting baseball cards in childhood accompany remarks on the skills and achievements of players whose pictures were found in bubble gum packages

Furnishes details on baseball-card manufacturing and collecting together with photographs and descriptions of valued cards

A collection of baseball cards organized by year with player statistics and information on teams. Includes quizzes on the sport and the cards.

“An entertaining history of baseball cards . . . An engaging book on a narrow but fascinating topic.” —The Washington Post When award-winning journalist Dave Jamieson’s parents sold his childhood home a few years ago, he rediscovered a prized boyhood possession: his baseball card collection. Now was the time to cash in on the “investments” of his youth. But all the card shops had closed, and cards were selling for next to nothing online. What had happened? In Mint Condition, his fascinating, eye-opening, endlessly entertaining book, Jamieson finds the answer by tracing the complete story of this beloved piece of American childhood. Picture cards had long been used for advertising, but after the Civil War, tobacco companies started slipping them into cigarette packs as collector’s items. Before long, the cards were wagging the cigarettes. In the 1930s, cards helped gum and candy makers survive the Great Depression. In the 1960s, royalties from cards helped transform the baseball players association into one of the country’s most powerful unions, dramatically altering the game. In the eighties and nineties, cards went through a spectacular bubble, becoming a billion-dollar-a-year industry before all but disappearing, surviving today as the rarified preserve of adult collectors. Mint Condition is charming, original history brimming with colorful characters, sure to delight baseball fans and collectors. “Jamieson explores the history of card collecting through an entertaining cast of characters . . . For anyone who can recall being excited to rip open their newest pack of cards, Mint Condition is a treat.” —Forbes

The MVP for identification, photos and values on vintage baseball cards! Step up to the plate and grab the No. 1 source available regarding vintage baseball cards: The Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards, 4th Edition. This book has been the leading source for information on baseball card sets produced from 1863-1980 for nearly 25 years. The Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards is the top reference book used by baseball fans, collectors, dealers, auction houses and third-party authenticators and grading companies. The book lists thousands of sets, complete with checklists, photos and values, resulting in hundreds of thousands of listings and prices. Take a look inside the Standard Catalog and find the following: Vintage sets listed alphabetically and by year, with a corresponding index for easy-to-find search Values for three condition grades for all cards Updated checklists for cards dating back 150 years Information on tobacco, bubble gum, regional, specialty issue and promotional baseball cards, along with vintage Minor League baseball cards

Provides standards for grading the condition of cards, descriptions of rare cards, tips for cyber-collecting, and hints for hobby shows.