WIREPHOTO: Hank Aaron - [08/01/82] 'New Members' (Braves)

Book = $ *BOOK*
Price = $ 14.95

Price = $ 14.95

Below are short bits & pieces on sportscard & baseball trading card collecting.
Please wander around the website for more info, prices, values & images
on vintage baseball, football, basketball, hockey, sport and non-sports cards.

Auction's Rarest Vintage Baseball Cards

Rare baseball cards and auctions were made for each other !

Click for more info on my Weekly Vintage SPORTS CARD AUCTIONS

1971 Kellogg's
1971, Kellogg's second and by far scarcest and most valuable set, contained 75 different players on 2 �� by 3 �� cards. The cards were plastic coated giving them a 3-D look !!! The plastic coating also made high grade cards nearly impossible find. Over time and the elements, most cards would curl making light and heavy cracks very common.
As opposed to Kellogg's other issues which were available from the company as complete sets, 1971 Kellogg's cards were ONLY available one in each specially marked box of Kellogg's cereal. The only way to complete your 1971 Kellogg's set was to pester mom to buy, buy, buy more boxes of cereal.
In addition to the 75 different players, numerous scarcer variations exist with minor differences in the stats on back. In addition, all 75 cards and some variations are found with 2 different forms of copyright on the back:
XOGRAPH ( 80 total cards)
@1970 XOGRAPH (121 total cards)
The numbers above may not be 100% accurate.

The "toughest" cards appear to be: # 7 Alou (1970 Oakland NL) # 28 Wright (Angles Crest Logo) # 54 Johnson (Angles Crest Logo) # 64 Fregosi (Angles Crest Logo) # 70 Osteen (No Number on back) # 2 Seaver (ERA 2.81) # 41 Gaston (113 Runs) # 65 Rose (RBI 485)

Topps Vault & Proofs

Auctioneer Guernsey's went thru Topps offices gathering over 3,000 items for the auction. Topps spokesman reported auction sales of OVER $1.5 million !!! Additional sales were made from a mail-only auction. Collector Keith Olbermann, at the auction, described it as an archaeological dig.
Topps archive material continued to accumulate after the auction ending up with another treasure of over 250,000 transparencies, uncut sheets, color separations, art, photos, slides, proof sheets & wrappers, canceled checks, contracts and one-of-a-kind items to sell.

Click for complete Topps Vault, Proofs & Blank-Backs
Note: You may be on that page right now.

How long have sports cards been around ? (part 1)

The first baseball trading cards date back to 1869. For many years, baseball cards were packaged in packs of tobacco as a way to increase sales the same way that today prizes are packaged in boxes of cereal. In the 1920's and 1930's, candy and gum companies started packaging baseball cards in their products as well.

Baseball card production was virtually halted in the early 1940's due to paper shortages created by World War II. The "Modern Era" of baseball cards began in 1948 when Bowman Gum Inc. offered one card and one piece of gum in a pack for a penny.

The first important football set was the Mayo set featuring college players in 1984. Other than the 1935 National Chicle set no other key football set was issued until 1948 when noth Bowman and Leaf produced sets.