1955 Bowman # 2 Al Dark (New York Giants)

Grade	NEAR MINT
Book Value	$ 15
Our Price	$ 14.95 Add to cart

1955 Bowman # 2 Al Dark (New York Giants) cards value

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.

1934,1935,1936 Diamond Matchbooks
During much of the Great Depression, matchbook collecting swept the country ! Sports matchbooks started appearing in the 1930s, most issued by Diamond Match Company of New York. Over the next few years, several series were issued with similar designs; b/w photo of the player on front with short write-up and stats on back. The player's name and team was also printed on the 'saddle'.
Please consider the following info as approximate.
1934's first baseball release featured 200 players, in 4 different background colors (red,blue,green and orange) for a total of 800 different covers. The set features plenty of Hall-of-Fame greats like Dizzy Dean and Mel Ott.
1935's issue was tiny with only 24 total covers (8 red,8 blue,8 green).
A third series was later released with 200 or more different covers (players/colors).
1930's matchbook covers appear to be huge bargains for collectors as their current values are fractions of the value of Goudey and other baseball cards from the same era.

Click for complete 1935-1936 Diamond Matchbook Checklist and Prices
Note: You may be on that page right now.

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.

1966 Topps Rub-Offs

Click above image for complete image.

1966 Topps Rub-Offs COMPLETE MASTER STRIP
20 different Rub-Offs with Sandy Koufax and 4 other Hall-of-Famers !

From the days when inserts were neat !!! 1966 Topps Rub-Offs have colorful, attractive pictures, which by rubbing the reverse side with a coin (quarters worked best), could be applied to surfaces like desks, books or walls. YEAH - A great item for kids - a HUGE nightmare for parents and teachers !!!

In 1961 Topps issued a similar item called "Magic Rub-Offs". There were 36 different in that set. Topps went way further with their 1966 issue of (120) rub-offs (100 players & 20 pennants). The rub-offs were inserts, one per 1966 Topps wax pack. The 2-1/6 inch by 3 inch rub-offs were printed in rolls of 20 different.

Apparently some kids placed rub-offs of certain players on their bats to help them hit like the player. I wish I would have known ... I could have used the help.

COMPLETE STRIP DETAILS:
(5) Hall-of-Famers: Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal, Joe Morgan, Frank Robinson & Ron Santo
(3) Team pennants: Astros, Cubs, Giants
Also:John O'Donoghue,Mickey Lolich,Pete Ward,Ed Kranepool, Cookie Rojas,Sam McDowell,Denis Menke,Tim McCarver, Mel Stottlemyre,Tony Oliva,Pete Richert & Bobby Knoop

Grades EX/MINT to NEAR MINT with just a little aging on the edges.
$34.95 for complete (20) Rub-Offs Master Strip w/Sandy Koufax Koufax
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Are sports cards valuable ?

Like all collectibles, over time some sports cards go down in value, others go up and some can even become very valuable. Card values are based on many factors: player popularity, scarcity, condition & collector interest. A card can be scarce but without demand value may not be great.

Q: What are some ways to collect cards ? * Complete sets by year & issue
* Cards of your favorite player
* Cards of your favorite team "TEAM SETS"
* Rookie cards
* Hall-of-Famer cards
* I even had a girlfriend that collected Don Mossi (checkout his ears), players whose last name start with "Z", and the Brett brothers George & Ken (she had a crush on George).
* "TYPE COLLECTING" (everyone should at least do a little of this !)

"Type Collecting"
is collecting at least one of each different "type" of issue. On scarcer issues you can add a less expensive common while on others you can select your favorite player or team.

1955 Bowman # 2 Al Dark (New York Giants)

1934,1935,1936 Diamond Matchbooks

1952 Topps Baseball Cards Checklist & Values

1966 Topps Rub-Offs

1952 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values