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.
1970 Chemtoy Superballs
Checklist & Prices
Chemtoy & MLB teamed up to offer a set of major league baseball
player "Superballs" or "High Bouncing Balls".
One of the more interesting collectibles from late 1960's, early 1970's
and sought after by Team & Player collectors.
The 285 player set with 12 per team except Twins, White Sox and A's with 11.
Each "Superball" has the player's photo inside with name,
team, position and Chemtoy inventory number on back.
1970 Chemtoy Baseball SuperBalls checklist & prices
For an interesting similar issue see:
1966-1968 Baseball Marbles
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1955 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values
1955 Topps was the first of 2 years of horizontal card designs.
As with 1952, 1953 & 1954, cards were again a tad larger than today's
standard. A nice feature, facsimile autographs, again appeared on the cards.
The set came in 2 series, #1-160 and scarcer "High Numbers" #161-210.
Due to the contract battles between Topps & Bowman, Cards #175,186,203 & 209
were never issued. Topps eventually won the war, buying Bowman making 1955
the last year for Bowman cards. But the damage was done as Topps had to
leave out many stars including Mickey Mantle & Stan Musial.
There were a total of (15) Hall of Famers in the 1955 set !!!
Top ROOKIEs: Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax & Harmon Killebrew
Top Stars: Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Al Kaline, Ernie Banks, Warren Spahn,
Jackie Robinson, Eddie Mathews, Willie Mays, Yogi Berra & Duke Snider.
"The Golden Greek" Harry Agganis, a popular 1955 Topps card, is a tragic
story, Agganis, a rising young star, died after his first card was issued.
A football star at Boston U., he turned down an offer from the Cleveland
Browns and became the starting first baseman. Shortly after he came down
with pneumonia and died of a Pulmonary Embolism.
Note: You may be on that page right now.
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Team Autographed / Signed Baseballs
Team signed baseballs were the thing well before single-signed
balls exploded on the market.
What is a "Team Signed Baseball" ???
Simple answer: A ball with XXX signatures of a certain team
for a certain year. What is difficult is the XXX.
Baseball tons of roster moves make it nearly impossible to
"Get Them All".
Generally, team signed baseballs from early 1900's had 10 to 15
signatures, the 1940's that jumped to 18 to 25.
Joyce Sports Research Collection (Notre Dame) says "signatures must
include only members of a specific team from a specific year, and there
must be some approximation of completeness."
Not concrete but to me a "team ball" MUST have ALL the team's
STARS (unless a rookie or in season trade) and in today's market
at least 20, preferably more, and the manager.
Determining Age of Team Signed Balls
"Official" league balls have stamped signatures of current league
presidents on the "sweet spot".
Starting 1934/1935 balls were produced by Spalding (NL)
and Reach (AL). Rawlings took over in 1977/78.
Have a possible team roster at hand, ESPN & baseball-reference.com
have great sites), decipher a few signatures then solve the puzzle.
Team Signed Baseballs Values
Pricing team signed baseballs is difficult due to subjectivity and
factors involved suce as: Signatures placement, quality, strength,
number of autographs, stars, age, team significance, and
eye appeal considering fading, whiteness,
scuffs, shellacking, staining, overall wear...
Team autographed baseballs on official league balls get higher values.
They are "official", made better, preserve better and even help in
dating especially with balls signed at "Reunion" baseball card shows
which brought together great teams of the past.
Facsimile Autographed Balls
1960's/1970's machine-printed "autographed" team baseballs were sold
at stadium gift shops for around $1.95. Easy to identify as
all signatures were uniform in ink, color, size and look.
"Facsimile" signatures are also often found on baseball cards.
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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.
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![1959 Topps #563 Willie Mays All-Star SCARCE HIGH # [#] (Giants) Baseball cards value](/jpgs/5/1959-563s.jpg)