While Goudey was the undisputed king of 1930s baseball gum cards, numerous other sets popped up throughout the decade. One of those was the 1933 George C. Miller Candy set and the set contains a rarity that is not known to all collectors. The player in question was Paul 'Ivy' Andrews and one variation of the card in particular is a difficult find. Let's take a closer look at … [Read more...]
Behind the Exhibits: The Later Years (Part III)
Exhibit cards are among the more affordable pre-war cards that can be had. While it's true that there are some expensive ones, by comparison, they can often be nice ways to score some bargains of big name players. Here's a three-part series focusing on these unique cards. We've already looked at the earliest Exhibit cards from the 1920s as well as the 4-on-1 series that … [Read more...]
Behind the Exhibits: The Multi-Player Cards (Part II)
Exhibit cards are among the more affordable pre-war cards that can be had. While it's true that there are some expensive ones, by comparison, they can often be nice ways to score some bargains of big name players. In the first part of a three-part series, we took a look at the earliest Exhibit cards that were issued. Next up, we'll review the popular 4-on-1 Exhibits. The … [Read more...]
Behind the Exhibits: The Early Cards (Part I)
Exhibit cards are among the more affordable pre-war cards that can be had. While it's true that some can be expensive, by comparison, they can often be a good way to score some bargain-priced cards of big name players. Here's the first in a three-part series focusing on these vintage issues. First, we'll take a look at the earliest Exhibit cards. The First Exhibit Baseball … [Read more...]
Key Cards From Baseball’s Second Class of Hall of Famers
Baseball's first Hall of Fame class from 1936 remains its most legendary. Consisting of five true greats of the game in Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, and Ty Cobb, it can never be equaled. But the follow-up class that was inducted in 1937 included some special players, too. The Wagner T206 card, Ruth's M101-4/5 rookie cards, Ty Cobb's … [Read more...]
Rare 1940s Pacific Coast Baseball News Premium Featured Babe Ruth
The legendary Babe Ruth has a slew of great post-war vintage cards that were issued after his playing career. One of the lesser known ones is a special card from the 1940s that was a premium for a publication. Here's a closer look at this rare card that is not discussed all that often. About the Babe Ruth Pacific Coast Baseball News Card This black and white card was offered … [Read more...]
Diving Into the Rarity of the 19th Century ‘Champions’ Sets
In addition to the N172 Old Judge set, the Champions tobacco card sets produced by Allen and Ginter (N28 and N29), Goodwin (N162), and Kimball (N184) are among the most popular cards of the 19th century. Those multi-sport sets were a stark change from the earlier Old Judge cards since they boasted colorful, strong lithography that paved the way for the tobacco and caramel cards … [Read more...]
The Wayback Collector: Early Old Judge Trade Card Advertised N173 Baseball Cabinets
In the 1880s, Goodwin created a massive set of baseball cards for distribution in its Old Judge cigarette packages. The cards are among the more popular pre-war issues and comprised one of the very first baseball card sets in collecting history. The company also issued a larger, lesser known but more attractive set of baseball cabinet photographs. These photographs featured … [Read more...]
1893 Arbuckle Coffee Card Set Mixes Early Sports and Legendary Artwork
Trade cards, a form of early advertising, were prevalent in the 1880s and 1890s. These cards advertised businesses and products while generally including some sort of artwork. The majority of these types of 19th century cards featured non-sports subjects. But there are plenty of sports issues to be found and one of the most beautiful sets is arguably the 1893 Arbuckle Coffee … [Read more...]
Babe Ruth, Bobby Jones Headline the 1932 Abdulla Sports Records Set
There were a multitude of international sports card tobacco sets issued in the pre-War era. Many of those sets are multi-sport releases featuring all sorts of athletes from around the globe. One of the tougher such issues is the 1932 Abdulla Sport Records set. About the 1932 Abdulla Sport Records Set This German tobacco card issue was released in 1932 by … [Read more...]