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.
1934,1935,1936 Diamond Matchbooks
During much of the Great Depression, matchbook collecting swept the country !
Sports matchbooks started appearing in the 1930s, most issued by Diamond Match Company
of New York. Over the next few years, several series were issued with
similar designs; b/w photo of the player on front with short write-up
and stats on back. The player's name and team was also printed on the 'saddle'.
Please consider the following info as approximate.
1934's first baseball release featured 200 players, in 4 different background
colors (red,blue,green and orange) for a total of 800 different covers.
The set features plenty of Hall-of-Fame greats like Dizzy Dean and Mel Ott.
1935's issue was tiny with only 24 total covers (8 red,8 blue,8 green).
A third series was later released with 200 or more different covers (players/colors).
1930's matchbook covers appear to be huge bargains for collectors as their current values
are fractions of the value of Goudey and other baseball cards from the same era.
Click for complete
1935-1936 Diamond Matchbook Checklist and Prices
Note: You may be on that page right now.
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1981-1989 Hall of Fame Metallic Plaque cards
This special set of (204) Metallic Plaque cards included every player, executive,
manager and umpire who was a member of the Hall of Fame thru 1989.
Each 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" gold anodized aluminum card bears an exact replica of the
player's official Hall of Fame plaque.
The sets, produced in very small quantities and LIMITED TO ONLY 1,000 MADE,
were sold by the Baseball Hall of Fame thru it's gift shops between 1981 and 1989
and came in a special "faux-leather" embossed 3-Ring Binder.
It has been reported that many cards were damaged in production/distribution
so the number actually available of any one card is likely under 1,000.
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1952 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values
1952 is often thought of as Topps 1st baseball card set, but it was not.
Topps issued several smaller baseball card sets prior to their huge 1952 set.
Topps buzz word was "BIGGER is BETTER" for their 1952 Topps set which
Topps described as: "GIANT IN BOTH SIZE and NUMBER of CARDS" (407).
Key card in the 1952 Topps set is #311 MICKEY MANTLE.
Often called Mickey Mantle's Rookie card - BUT IT IS NOT. That honor
goes to his 1951 Bowman.
1952 Topps "High Numbers" (#311-#407), are very, very scarce with an
interesting story:
This HUGE set was released in series weeks apart. By the last (6th)
series, baseball season was over and football starting.
Candy shops had plenty of baseball cards from earlier series
so most cancelled their orders for the last series creating the scarcity.
Adding interest is how Topps disposed of the now un-needed cards including
THOUSANDS of 1952 Topps MICKEY MANTLE's. They dumped them into the Atlantic
Ocean like most of New York's trash in those days.
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Protecting and Storing your Card Collection
There are many different ways to protect, organize and store your sports cards.
Soft Sleeves
also called "penny sleeves" are the most basic protection for your cards.
Made of thin plastic, they come in packs of 100 and are very inexpensive.
Top Loads
are rigid plastic holders and a step up in protection over "soft sleeves".
Called top-loads because you place the card thru a thin opening at the top.
They come in many sizes for regular cards upto 8-1/2 x 11 for magazines and
even larger.
Screw-Down Acrylic Holders
These are sometimes used for better, more expensive cards. Small screws hold
two pieces of clear acrylic together. In a variety of sizes and thickness
that not only protect the card but can funciton as a paper weight or display
item.
There are also Single-Screw Screw-Downs that use only 1 screw to seal the holder.
They are easier to use and provide the same type of protectionas regular screwdowns
and they are also much less expensive costing as little as .30 in quantity
while 1 inch or 2 inch acrylic screw-downs can cost upto several dollars.
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