1951 Bowman #114 Sam Zoldak (Philadelphia A's)

Grade	EX/MINT
Book Value	$ 20
Our Price	$ 15.95 Add to cart

1951 Bowman #114 Sam Zoldak (Philadelphia A's) cards value

Below are short bits & pieces on sportscard & baseball trading card collecting.
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on vintage baseball, football, basketball, hockey, sport and non-sports cards.

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.
The buzz word at Topps back then 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, released weeks apart. By the last series, baseball was over and football starting.
??? Perhaps the set was too huge ???
Shops had cards left from earlier in the year so many orders were cancelled, thus the scarcity.
Adding interest is how Topps got rid of the now useless cards, including THOUSANDS of MICKEY MANTLE's. They dumped them into the Ocean !!!

Click for complete 1952 Topps Baseball card checklist, values and prices.

1959 Fleer Ted Williams baseball cards

This special 80-card set from the Frank H. Fleer Company honors Ted Williams, "The Splendid Splinter." While other companies vied for Topps' exclusive player rights, Fleer successfully secured Ted Williams, who, nearing the end of his career, remained one of the best and most popular players.
"Teddy Ballgame" had a remarkable career, and the set captures many of his highlights, including his two Triple Crowns. He is still the last hitter to reach the .400 mark! Several popular cards feature Ted with other stars, including Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, football star Jim Thorpe, and golfer Sam Snead.
Of particular note is Card #68, "Ted Signs for 1959," which pictures him signing his contract. The photo also included Red Sox GM Bucky Harris, who was under one of those exclusive deals with Topps at the time. This led to the card being pulled, making it extremely scarce. Unfortunately, reprints of the card surfaced in the 1970s. This is widely considered the first baseball card to be reprinted/counterfeited. Interestingly, the counterfeits were allowed to remain on the market, so caution is advised when dealing with this card.
Cards were sold in both six-card and eight-card wax packs. For some reason, the scarcer 8-card packs contained no gum.

Click for complete 1959 Fleer Ted Williams baseball card set
Note: You may be on that page right now.
Other baseball issues from Fleer:
1960 Fleer Baseball Greats
1961 Fleer Baseball Greats
1963 Fleer Baseball

1960 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values

The top rookie was Hall-of-Famer and Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski. Other rookies included Hall-of-Famer Jim Kaat. Check him out on Wiki and you'll see why he gets my vote as the greatest golfer of all-time. The there was that Giants Hall-of-Famer Willie McCovey and then that GIANT of a man, Frank Howard. SUch a great crop that future .363 hitting Batting Champ Tommy Davis barely makes this list.

Click for complete 1960 Topps Baseball card checklist, values and prices.
Note: You may be on that page right now.

Baseball card collecting terms (part G)

Grade/Condition 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.

Graded Card As values increased the condition of cards and the determination of fakes and alterations became increasingly more important. Various companies became "graders" of your cards. For a fee they would grade your card (usually on a 1 to 10 scale) and then placed in a sealed plastic holder with labelling of the vital information.

From past experiences, most people are NOT HAPPY with the grades they receive. To keep values up, graders can be extremely picky. Things you don't see, they do so don't be surprized when the NEAR MINT card you send in ends up with an EX or EX/MINT grade.

There are TOO many grading companies - if you do, do choose carefully. PSA / SGC / GAI / BGS are some of the many companies. It is good to know that getting a card graded by a company that people do not recognize or respect will usually just cost you time and money and not help you in any way.

1951 Bowman #114 Sam Zoldak (Philadelphia A's)

1952 Topps Baseball Cards Checklist & Values

1959 Fleer Ted Williams baseball cards

1960 Topps Baseball Cards Checklist & Values

1952 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values

1960 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values