After boosting its set to 720 cards in 1970, Topps went even bigger the following year. Their 1971 baseball set grew to 752 cards (they'd top it again in '72 with a whopping 787). This week's edition of Vintage Pack Facts courtesy of VintageBreaks.com takes a look at the products released by Topps during that 1971 season, one that ended with Roberto … [Read more...]
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The Wayback Collector: Rare Fans Cigarettes Package Rediscovered
The 1922 Fans Cigarettes set (T231) is one of the rarest tobacco card issues around. The set is so rare that only a few cards are known. That's particularly noteworthy as at least 85 are believed to be included in the set. To date, a grand total of three Fans Cigarettes cards have been discovered. Categorized as T231 in the American Card Catalog, it is somewhat surprising … [Read more...]
Analyzing the Population of High-Grade Sandy Koufax Cards
His mainstream cards are easy to track and the checklist isn't a long one. The lingering, painful arm injury that ended his career also kept his cardboard to a minimum but he remains one of the most popular post-War Hall of Famers. You know his rookie cards can be pricey but how about the career run of Sandy Koufax cards? Which of the primary cards from his … [Read more...]
Vintage Pack Facts: 1972 Topps 3rd Series Football
Collectors--and in the 1972 that was mostly young folks--had gotten used to two series of Topps football cards since the company resumed its place as the NFL's official partner in 1968. However, after four years, the company turned things upside down. Football was exploding in popularity, thanks in part to the new ABC-TV smash hit, Monday Night … [Read more...]
Blue Chip Players Featured in 1952 Indians Num Num Set
It’s a perfect name for a snack — Num Num. And in 1952, a Cleveland-based potato chip gave collectors a tasty regional set. “To eat them is to like them,” a newspaper ad touting Num Nums trumpeted in late 1942. In January 1943, ads proclaimed they were “Good to the last chip.” The Indians were pretty good, too. They won the World Series in 1948, and from 1951 to 1956 … [Read more...]
Five 1930s Diamond Matchbooks Bargains
The 1930s Diamond Matchbooks are an excellent way to find pre-war collectibles at a low price. If you're unfamiliar with them, these unique items feature players printed onto matchbook covers. Matchbooks complete with the original matches still inside will be more expensive. However, the majority are found without the matches and those are the real bargains. Classified as U1-U4 … [Read more...]
The Wayback Collector: Fresh Finds Fuel Thoughts on 1933 Goudey Set
The Wayback Collector is a weekly look at important news in the hobby as it relates to pre-war and vintage collectibles. This week’s topic takes a brief look at the 1933 Goudey set's popularity in the wake of two significant finds. At some point, the baseball collecting world decided that the Big 3 in terms of collectible sets were T206, 1952 Topps, and 1933 Goudey. As far … [Read more...]
High Grade Mickey Mantle Cards: How They Stack Up
He remains the gold standard when it comes to collector (and investor) popularity. For those who buy and sell the best of the best, the market for Mickey Mantle cards continues to sizzle. Armed with a list of Mantle's base cards from 1951-1969 and our calculating friend Alexa (a highly underrated device in her own right), we crunched the numbers to make some … [Read more...]
Vintage Pack Facts: 1970 Topps Cello Baseball
This is the fifth installment of Vintage Pack Facts, a weekly feature highlighting unopened packs from the past. This series hopes to shed some light on one individual release each week in terms of the variety of packaging methods used, prices at the time, a little about the set itself and more. VintageBreaks.com will often open the packs we’re … [Read more...]
Lefty “Groves” and Jack Dunn: 1921 White’s Tip Top Orioles Remain a Rarity
Bakery cards are generally among the more difficult types of pre-war cards to find. Often, these were regional issues limited to a small area. As such, they sometimes focused on only specific teams. One of these is the 1921 White's Tip Top Baltimore Orioles set. 1921 White's Tip Top Baltimore Orioles Cards The Tip Top name will be known by many pre-war collectors for … [Read more...]
