1955 Topps #172 Frank Baumholtz HIGH NUMBER (Cubs)

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1959 Topps displays vintage 1959 Topps Baseball sports cards.
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Official authentic vintage UPI/AP Wirephotos/Laserphotos are very limited, normally only 1 sent to subscribing newspapers. Photos were black & white printed on electro-static printers, usually sent in 3 stages, Cyan, Magenta & Yellow, then combined into a color photograph. Photos are work products and VG to NEAR MINT. As a bonus, some have editor's blue-line cropping marks.

Scarce, interesting and snapshots of history, wire photos of major subjects and moments make for great collectibles. Wirephotos and laserphotos are no longer transmitted in this manner (stopping around the early 90's). Images are now transmitted from computer to computer with no need for hardcopies.
old UPI wirephotos old AP wirephotos Wirephotos images taken with low res camera so images do not do then justice. The wirephotos are nicer than in the image. Most wirephotos from San Diego Union Tribune archives and make nice additions to your collection.

Following autographs have auction house LOA's (Letter of Authenticity) from hobby's top vintage card authenticators for auction houses PSA/DNA & James Spence !!!

The 1961 Topps baseball card set (#1-#598) only had 587 cards because of missing numbers. Also there are 2 cards #463 (#463 Braves Team card was to be card #426).

Ugh !!! The 1961 Topps capless players !!! Picture your grand-dad. Without a cap. Life was obviously much tougher back then. Baseball expansion created the problem. Los Angeles Angels added, Washington Senators became Minnesota Twins, and Washington got a new Senators franchise. The autographs actually make the "capless" cards more attractive !!!

Baseball card collecting terms (part C)

Cabinet Card Were oversized trading cards featuring paintings issued mostly 1910-1915.

Card Show is a gathering of dealers & collectors looking to buy/sell/trade sports cards and memorabilia.

Card Stock is the material a card is printed on. Usually paper-based, today companies play with the card stock and sometimes it appears to be wood or leather or see-thru acrylic ...

Cello Pack is a card pack whose wrapper is see-thru plastic. Usually the top & bottom cards are seen. Unopened cello packs showing major stars and rookies sell for heavy premiums.

Centering is the balance of the borders: top/bottom & left/right. On perfectly-centered cards, top/bottom borders match as do the left/right borders. Centering is presented as a set of numbers & directions and often included with the grade. Perfectly-centered is "50/50 t/b" AND "50/50 l/r". As centering gets worse, one number increases and the other decreases. For example: 90/10 t/b is considered extremely off-center top to bottom. The numbers add up to 100 (50/50, 60/40, 90/10 ...).

Certificate Of Authenticity (COA) A document used to verify legitimacy of a collectible. NOTE: Keep in mind that COA's are easier to fake then autographs.

Common A card of a non-star player is considered a "Common" as opposed to cards of a star players or specialty/subset cards such as league leaders, teams cards, World Series cards...

Condition (Grade) Centering, corner wear, photo clarity, edges, creases, print flaws ... all combine to determine a card's condition or grade. Along with rarity/scarcity it is the major factor in a card's value.

Crease Defect usually caused by bending the card. Hard to see, or not, a crease lowers the card's grade (VG or lower) and greatly diminishes it's value.

1955 Topps #172 Frank Baumholtz HIGH NUMBER (Cubs)

Vintage Baseball Wire Photos

UPI/AP Wirephotos

Autographed 1961 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values

1955 Topps #172 Frank Baumholtz HIGH NUMBER (Cubs)

Vintage Baseball Wire Photos

UPI/AP Wirephotos

Autographed 1961 Topps Baseball Cards Checklist & Values

Autographed 1961 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values