1951 Bowman #231 Luis Aloma (White Sox)
Aloma was one of the leagues earliest Cuban players.
Grade |
EX to EX/MINT |
Book Value |
$ 20 |
Our Price |
$ 9.95
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.
1970/1972/1973 Topps Candy Lids Checklist & Values

Topps has tried many crazy products, called "test issues".
Mostly distributed in limited areas, test issues were scarce.
"Candy Lids" were little tubs of candy with player's photos on
bottom of a 1-7/8" lid. 10 cents/tub, 24 tubs/box.
Topps first Candy Lids in 1970 and they are very, very hard to
find. They had small photos of Tom Seaver, Carl Yastrzemski & Frank Howard.
1970 Topps Candy Lids were called "Baseball Stars Bubble Gum",
had 24 players, the 1973 Topps Candy Lids had 55.
Topps planned 1972 Candy Lids but never released it, a few proofs do exist.
Topps 1973 Pinups & Comics share many of the same photos.
Click for complete
1973 Topps Candy Lids Checklist/Prices
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1969-1970 Topps Basketball Cards Checklist & Values
The 1969-1970 Topps Basketball set, (99) "Tall Boys" (a huge 2-1/2 x 4-11/16)
, sold in 10-card packs for 10 cents, was history making in card size
& players. WOW !!! Lew Alcindor's ROOKIE (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar),
John Havlicek, Dave Bing, Earl the Pearl Monroe,
Bill Bradley, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Elvin Hayes & more.
Brightly-colored "Rulers" were random inserts.
Delicate 2-1/2 x 9-7/8, printed on thin paper,
they featured a cartoon drawing and a ruler measuring
his height. Planned for 24, #5 Bill Russell was not issued.
Click for complete
1969-1970 Topps Basketball card values and prices
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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.
Click for complete
1952 Topps Baseball card checklist, values and prices.
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Baseball card collecting terms (part B)
Bazooka Bazooka Bubble Gum put baseball cards on the back of their
boxes from 1959 thru 1971. Complete boxes and panels can get extremely costly.
Most kids back then could not afford complete boxes of bubble gum at one
making Bazooka cards quite scarce. I actually don't recall ever obtaining
a Bazooka card directly from a box as a kid. Do you ???
Black Sox Scandal Name given to the the most famous scandal in
baseball history after the 1919 Chicago White Sox versus the Cincinatti Reds
World Series when 8 White Sox players were accused of throwing the series.
Details have remained somewhat unclear. The players were acquitted of
criminal charges but 8 players still received a lifetime ban from
professional baseball including the All-Time great "Shoeless" Joe Jackson.
Blank-Back a card in which nothing is printed on the back.
These cards are usually not in packs and are either "PROOF ISSUES" or
were removed from the factory in some way.
Blanket a term used for collectibles in the 1910's made of fabric .
Border is the part of the card that surrounds the photo or image.
Bowman was a card manufacturer in the 1940's and 1950's that was
bought out by Topps. In 1989 Topps started issuing cards using the Bowman
brand.
Break a term used to indicate the opening of a set, pack, box or case.
Break Value is the total book value of each card added up individually.
The break value of a set is usually way, way more than the value of the complete set.