Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Remember When You Collected Baseball Cards?

By Joey Vennili


Baseball Cards are a type of trading card that relates to baseball. They are usually printed on card or paper stock. The cards usually feature a baseball player or a baseball team. The cards are primarily used for marketing purposes. Cards are mostly found in the United States, but are also popular in Canada, Japan, and Cuba. The top Baseball Card companies are Upper Deck, Topps, and Fleer.

Cards are very popular in the U.S. They can also be found in Japan, Canada, or Cuba, but the United States are where they are the most popular. Baseball is the Great American Past time. Baseball cards are a great marketing tool with the main companies producing the cards being Topps, Upper Deck, and Fleer. They have been around for so many years, so they are highly collectible.

The popularity of the sport and the use of photography helped make this possible during the early years of babseball. During the 1880's cards were included in cigarette packs. Not only did they advertise the tobacco company, but kept the cigarettes protected while in the packaging. Confectionery companies joined in by including gum in their card packs, which appealed to the youngsters.

The once known childhood hobby of collecting your favorite player's card has become a multi-billion dollar industry. The scaling of cards (flipping the cards to win them in playgrounds) is an old way to win baseball cards, but not done as much today as it has become a business. Today the cards are highly collectible and pricey. Cards can be classified using two main sources. The American Card Catalog or The Beckett Guide.

The most expensive cards are the rare and limited editions. These cards are very expensive and difficult to find and or purchase. Even a card in poor condition can auction for a high price if it is an extremely rare one, of course in mint condition would really be worth its weight in gold.

The main focus of collectors and historians are the rare vintage cards. Huge sums of money will be paid for a collector to obtain one of these cards. These treasures can be purchased at card shows or online. Every year card shows are held throughout the country and many people, from the avid collector to the fan show up for these and thousands of dollars are spent.

During the 1950's cards sold for a nickle per pack, which usually included five or six cards. They also offered one card penny packs. In the 1970's a pack sold for about twenty-five cents. During the 1980's, card packs sold for about ninety-nine cents a pack. It's not surprising to discover some of the high prices cards go for in the 1.5 billion dollar industry known as Baseball Cards. The scarest cards fetch the highest prices. The 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth card was worth $500,000 and in today's market could go for $3 million to $5 million.

In the 1950's card packs went for twenty-five cents and in the 1980's they were going for ninety-nine cents. The most esclusive cards can go for six figures. A 1909 Honus Wagner could auction for about $3 million dollars. The Babe Ruth 1914 Baltimore News card would probably fetch $3 million to $5 million at auction. America's love for baseball has turned a childhood hobby into a multi-billion dollar industry.




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