1959 Fleer Ted Williams #20 '1942 - On to Naval Training' (Red Sox)
Grade |
NM/MINT |
Book Value |
$ 15 |
Our Price |
$ 24.95
Add to cart
|
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.
Top Vintage Baseball Card Auction Companies
There are more auction companies/houses than you can shake a stick at.
Some offer inexpensive smaller groups and individual items while others
offer massive groups with the average auction ticket price into the thousands.
- www.Baseball-Cards.com (what, you thought I'd leave myself off my list?)
- Huggins and Scott Auction House
- Heritage Auctions
- Lelands Sports Memorabilia and Card Auctions
- Pristine Auctions
- Clean Sweep Auctions
- SCP Auctions
- Sotheby's Auctions
Click for more info on my Weekly Vintage Baseball & Football card auctions
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Vintage Topps 1956 Baseball Cards Checklist & Prices

1956 Topps were slightly larger (3-3/4" by 2 5/8") horizontal cards
similar to 1955 Topps cards, some even sharing portraits with 1954 and 1955
Topps cards. Team cards & checklists appeared for the first time in 1956.
With Bowman gone, after missing the last 3 years, Mickey Mantle was back !!!
A fun & simple set, 1956 Topps had no high numbers or expensive rookies
but for serious 1956 collectors, there are over 200 variations.
Most variations deal with card stock (gray or white back).
For #101-180 gray appears to outnumber white about 9-to-1.
Many team cards had 2 or 3 variations with team names
Left, Center or Right.
There are 2 great cards: #31 Hank Aaron which actually pictures Willie Mays
sliding home and #135 Mickey Mantle.
Mantle shown leaping high into the stands robbing a home run !
Artist did a great job showing Mantle making the catch !
BUT ... Mantle looked great leaping but the ball flew over his glove.
The 1956 Topps Pins used same portrait photos as the cards.
Click for complete
1956 Topps Pins Checklist and Prices
Click for more info and complete
1956 Topps Baseball card checklist, values and prices.
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1957 Topps Football Cards Checklist & Values
In 1957 Topps created the modern day card by reducing the size of
cards to current standard 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches. Topps also increased
the set to 154 players and dramatically changed card format to a horizontal
split-card. Player selection was awesome with (31) future Hall-of-Famers.
1957's top rookies were Bart Starr, Johnny Unitas & Paul Hornung.
The only variation is card #58 Willard Sherman.
Click for complete
1957 Topps Football card values and prices
Note: You may be on that page right now.
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Tobacco Cards
Starting approximately in 1886, sportscards, mostly baseball cards, were often
included with tobacco products, for promotional purposes and also because the
card reinforced the packaging and protected cigarettes from damage. These sports
cards are referred to as tobacco cards in the baseball card hobby. Over the next
few years many different companies produced baseball cards. Tobacco cards soon
started to disappear as the American Tobacco Company tried to develop a monopoly
by buying out other companies.
They were reintroduced in the 1900s, as American Tobacco came under pressure from
antitrust action and Turkish competition. The most famous and most expensive,
baseball card is the rare T206 Honus Wagner. The card exists in very limited
quantities compared to others of its type because Wagner forced the card to be
removed from printing. It is widely (and incorrectly) believed that Wagner did
so because he refused to promote tobacco, but the true explanation lies in a
dispute over compensation.
Soon other companies also began producing baseball and football cards. Sports magazines
such as The Sporting News were early entries to the market. Candy manufacturers
soon joined the fray and reflected a shift toward a younger target audience for cards.
Caramel companies were particularly active and baseball cards were one of the first
prizes to be included in Cracker Jacks. World War I soon suppressed baseball card
production.