In the 19th century pitchers posting a 30-win season was commonplace, with many winning 40, and a select few even won 50 games in a season. In the Deadball Era the game changed and fewer pitchers reached 30 wins, but it still happened. Since 1917 only five pitchers have won 30 games in a season, and no one has done so since 1968. It is a milestone that is likely not to be … [Read more...]
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1960 Topps Tattoos Among Company’s Quirkier Sets
When most collectors think of Topps, their mind generally goes to baseball cards. But the company produced a wide variety of non-card issues and the 1960 Topps Tattoos release was a unique collectible. Tattoos? Yup...well, sort of. There was no artist needed, no painful procedures--and any regrets could be quickly washed away. Here's a bit more on this oddball … [Read more...]
2016-17 Upper Deck Black Hockey Returns With One Less Hit at Lower Price
2016-17 Upper Deck Black Hockey will have a slightly different configuration when it arrives later this month. This year the product will feature five cards per pack - down from six cards in 2015-16 - At a lower price point. At least two of the five cards will feature an on-card autograph, with an additional two being either an autograph or a memorabilia card, … [Read more...]
T216 Peoples Tobacco Cards Featured Three Advertisers
The T216 Peoples Tobacco issue is a rare one that is easily recognized by its three distinctive advertising back sponsors in Kotton, Mino, and Virginia Extra. Here's a closer look at the issue. T216 Peoples Tobacco Basics The T216 Peoples Tobacco cards look similar to other tobacco and candy issues of the era. Each one features a color lithograph of a player on the front … [Read more...]
Rare T206 Ty Cobb with Uzit Back Set for Auction
Between 1909 and 1911 the American Tobacco Co. produced the most legendary set in the annals of baseball card collecting: T206. The company manufactured many brands of cigarettes that included trading cards and each had their own brand specific advertising on the back of the card. The set was produced in three series featuring 524 different front possibilities with 38 different … [Read more...]
2016-17 Panini Flawless Basketball Preview
Set for release just prior to the start of a new season, 2016-17 Panini Flawless basketball is caboose on the previous season’s release calendar but also the one that gets much of the attention from collectors and case breakers. 2016-17 Flawless will offer ten cards per box (or briefcase, whatever you prefer), at least seven of which will be autographs and every signature in … [Read more...]
1961 Fleer Football Set Topped Topps in Size
In 1961, professional football was split between two leagues, the decades old National Football League (NFL) and the newly formed American Football League (AFL). It would be five years before the two leagues would announce a planned merger and six before the first Super Bowl. The football card industry was also divided that year as both Topps and Fleer produced large … [Read more...]
Sports Card Releases: September 15-28
Courtesy of Maine Sports Cards, here's a look at some of the upcoming sports card products being released over the next couple of weeks. National Treasures Collegiate Football (9/15) Panini's latest college-oriented product from the National Treasures line is in its third year, with seven card packs offering six autographs or memorabilia cards and one base or parallel. … [Read more...]
Prescott Signs 2016 Prizm Card Replacements
We still don’t really know exactly how or why Dak Prescott delivered autopen signatures instead of the real deal when his 2016 Prizm football cards were returned to Panini America earlier this year, but the Dallas Cowboys quarterback has now put his genuine John Hancock on some fresh copies. The incident caused a national stir in July when collectors who received what were … [Read more...]
Mike Kelly is King of Nineteenth Century Baseball Cards
No film exists of professional baseball in the nineteenth century. Without moving pictures we are left with colorful, often embellished, words to describe the early greats of the game. In those early days in the league's formative years no player's exploits jump off the page more-so than Mike 'King' Kelly. While we can't hear him speak in his thick Irish brogue, we can … [Read more...]
