1972 Topps #474 Johnny Oates ROOKIE ('Orioles ROOKIE Stars')

Also with Don Baylor & Roric Harrison.

Grade	NM/MINT
Book Value	$ 15
Our Price	$ 23.95 Add to cart

1972 Topps #474 Johnny Oates ROOKIE ('Orioles ROOKIE Stars') 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.

1971 O-Pee-Chee Baseball

Also referred to as OPC or Topps Canada, most vintage OPC sets were near replicas of the Topps cards from that year. Exactly same in design they usually only differed with the addition of French to the backs and some fronts.
To the benefit of collector's OPC made several changes in their 1971 set. The most obvious and useful was a complete redesign of the card backs and the addition of another player photo ! Additionly, over 20 cards were changed including the inclusion of what could be considered the first "Traded" cards. Another difference: Topps cards #202 and #289 were changed to allow the addition of 2 more Expos to the set.
The 1971 OPC set is legendary for its short print run, estimated at perhaps just 5% of Topps� Production. This issue is considered quite elusive, even in Canada.
TOP ROOKIE: Steve Garvey
TOP STARS: Nolan Ryan, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Pete Rose, Ted Williams, Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson, Don Baylor/Dusty Baker RC & MORE !!!

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1958 Hires Root Beer
Hires Root Beer issued this 66 card set back in 1958. The cards came with an attached advertising tab. Cards with their tab intact are extremely difficult to find and thus are quite expensive. The actual card size varies from 2-3/8 in. to 2-5/8 in. wide and 3-3/8 in. to 3-5/8 in. high without the tab. Cards are numbered from #10 thru #76 with #69 not issued.

The card design - a wood grain "knot hole" through which the player is viewed - is a collector's favorite and was brought back by Bowman for their 2003 Bowman Heritage product. Although small at only 66 cards, the set did contain it's share of cards of Hall-of-Famers and Superstars such as Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Pee Wee Reese, Don Drysdale, Richie Ashburn, Bill Mazeroski, Duke Snider, Larry Doby, Don Newcombe and others...

1960 Fleer Baseball Cards

The 1960 Fleer baseball set contained 79 regular-sized cards honoring the careers of Hall-of-Famers like Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, Lou Gehrig, Honus Wagner, Ted Williams and more !!!
Fleer was prevented from using current players by Topps' exclusive rights, so they issued their Baseball Greats set using retired players, managers, executives and the two league commissioners. Luckily Fleer had their own exclusive rights deal with Ted Williams, who quickly became the most in demand card in the set. Unfortunately the weak card design and retired players made it a giant dud with kids and the product was not well received.
There are very scarce variations with Joe Tinker,Eddie Collins & Lefty Grove fronts, all with #80 Pepper Martin backs. They are usually found cancelled or hand-cut from sheets. Likely Pepper Martin's card was pulled due to contract issues. The variations are not considered part of the complete set.

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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.