1965 Topps #443 Checklist #6

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1959 Topps displays vintage 1959 Topps Baseball sports cards.
Bowman Mickey Mantle displays all Bowman Mickey Mantle sports cards.

Topps went all in in 1993 with their most premium baseball card set to date, the famous 1993 Topps Finest set with RARE parallel issue REFRACTORS. With only 199 cards, 7 per team, the 'Finest' set only had room for the 'Finest' players !

Rare REFRACTORS were randomly placed in some packs. REFRACTORS looked exactly like regular cards unless you knew where AND how to look. Tilting a REFRACTOR in sunshine released a rainbow of colors, "refracting light" Topps scientists liked to say.

Current info is only 241 REFRACTORS were issued of each card making this parallel issue one of the scarcest. Collecting a complete set is made even more difficult by the hoarding of certain cards by collectors AND even major league baseball players !

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.

1956 Topps Hank Aaron 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle
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. 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle Catch

The 1956 Topps Pins used same portrait photos as the cards.

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1956 Topps Pins Checklist and Prices

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.

1965 Topps #443 Checklist #6

1932,1933,1936 Chicago Cubs
Picture Pack Team Issue

1993 Topps Finest Refractors
Checklist & Values

Vintage Topps 1956 Baseball Cards
Checklist & Prices

1965 Topps #443 Checklist #6

1932,1933,1936 Chicago Cubs Picture Pack Team Issue

1993 Topps Finest Refractors Checklist & Values

Vintage Topps 1956 Baseball Cards Checklist & Prices

1932,1933,1936 Chicago Cubs
Picture Pack Team Issue

1993 Topps Finest Refractors
Checklist & Values

Vintage Topps 1956 Baseball Cards
Checklist & Prices