1965 Topps FB #104 Bobby Hunt (Kansas City Chiefs)

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

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.

In 1958 Topps started a continuing feature with their first "All-Star" subset. A part of the All-Star subset, the Mickey Mantle 1958 All-Star card is famous for being in the back pocket of famous sportscaster Bob Costas.

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

Baseball card collecting terms (part D-F)

Die-Cut A special card that differs from a basic card by "Die-Cutting", cutting away portions of the card to create a special design. Most are serially numbered & limited.

Error Card Baseball card history is filled with error cards, many of them very interesting. Hank Aaron is on 2 of my favorite error cards. Aaron's 1956 Topps card action photo shows Aaron sliding home but it is actually Willie Mays not Aaron. Topps again goofed on Aaron's 1957 "reversed negative" card showing Aaron batting left-handed.

"Error Cards" are usually found early in print runs and often corrected. When this correction happens a VARIATION is created. Some variations are extremely interesting and very expensive while others are totally boring and you wonder why they were even made.

Extended Set Also frequently called Update Set or Traded Set.
They are sets issued after the original release to update the regular set with new and traded players.

Facsimile Autograph is an autograph printed on a card to show what the player's actual signature looks like. They are not "real" autographs.

Factory Set are complete sets usually in special boxes produced by the manufacturer. "Hand-Collated Sets" are sets collectors have put together card by card from packs.

1965 Topps FB #104 Bobby Hunt (Kansas City Chiefs)

Team Autographed / Signed Baseballs

1958 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values

Vintage Topps 1956 Baseball Cards
Checklist & Prices

1965 Topps FB #104 Bobby Hunt (Kansas City Chiefs)

Team Autographed / Signed Baseballs

1958 Topps Baseball Cards Checklist & Values

Vintage Topps 1956 Baseball Cards Checklist & Prices

1958 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values

Vintage Topps 1956 Baseball Cards
Checklist & Prices