As Americans said their good-riddances to the 1940s, a decade that shredded our hearts and families with war and decimated the National Pastime, sports fans were ready to finally enjoy their games with a full roster of superstars once again. When the first spring of the new decade dawned, the 1950 Bowman baseball set was ready and waiting to greet collectors who had waited all … [Read more...] about 1950 Bowman Baseball a Trend Setter
Old Baseball Card Sets
1948 Bowman Baseball Set Launched Post-War Card Market
After a flurry of colorful and interesting issues released just as the Great Depression began to lift in the late 1930s, baseball cards disappeared from the American landscape after 1941 thanks to the ravages and rations of World War II. Seven long years later, and nearly three full years after our troops came home, the 1948 Bowman baseball set gave the hobby a tentative … [Read more...] about 1948 Bowman Baseball Set Launched Post-War Card Market
Collecting Challenge the Yankees Game Cards
When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn during the mid-1960s, the New York Yankees ruled baseball. Sure, the Mets were lovable, but from 1960 to 1964, the Yankees rang up five pennants and two World Series titles. Who would have imagined that this Yankees dynasty would crumble in 1965, and then crash and burn with a last-place finish in 1966? And not sniff the World Series … [Read more...] about Collecting Challenge the Yankees Game Cards
1955 Bowman Baseball Set Marked Company’s Farewell
Imagine for a moment that it's late 1954 and your boss calls you into his office with exciting, yet terrifying, news: he's putting YOU in charge of saving a crumbling bubble gum card empire that not too long ago virtually created the entire hobby. How would you go about designing the 1955 Bowman baseball set to pique collector interest and stave off extinction for another … [Read more...] about 1955 Bowman Baseball Set Marked Company’s Farewell
Vintage Set of the Week: 1974 Topps Baseball
In February of 1974, baseball fans climbed out of their winter cocoons to find history waiting on their icy doorsteps, courtesy of Hank Aaron and his impending assault on Babe Ruth's all-time home run record. Whether they realized it or not, collectors were on the verge of a different sort of history because, by the time Al Downing delivered his fateful high fastball to … [Read more...] about Vintage Set of the Week: 1974 Topps Baseball
1965 Topps Baseball Set Has Solid Rookie Class
When spring training gave way to cold early-season games in April of 1965, veteran baseball fans probably figured they were in for some changes in the new season. The vaunted New York Yankees had made it to the World Series the year before, but their foundation was cracked and aging. On the other side of the continent, the Los Angeles Dodgers had somehow slid to seventh place … [Read more...] about 1965 Topps Baseball Set Has Solid Rookie Class
Vintage Set of the Week: 1961 Topps Baseball
In the years that followed their buyout of the rival Bowman Gum Company in 1956, Topps treated collectors to a gaudy variety of designs as they tried to settle on "the" standard that they hoped would keep them on top of the hobby for decades. When Little Leaguers tore open their first packs of 1961 Topps baseball, they may have been disappointed at first by the subdued cards … [Read more...] about Vintage Set of the Week: 1961 Topps Baseball
1959 Topps Baseball Set Took Collectors Through the Porthole
Though every year witnesses events that change the world and make us gape in awe, some are more dramatic than others. By the time 1959 faded into a new decade, America had gained two new states, Fidel Castro had brought red power to Cuba, and the New York Yankees had slid all the way to third place in the American League. Along the way, the 1959 Topps baseball … [Read more...] about 1959 Topps Baseball Set Took Collectors Through the Porthole
Vintage Set of the Week: 1979 Topps Baseball
In July of 1979, adults around the world kept one eye on the heavens as they strapped on their Skylab helmets, waiting for America's first space station to crash back to earth after six years in orbit. While collectors may have had an easier time focusing on more grounded events, courtesy of another compelling Major League Baseball season, the 1979 Topps baseball cards they … [Read more...] about Vintage Set of the Week: 1979 Topps Baseball
1964 Topps Baseball Might Rub Off on You
The so-called "British Invasion" began in earnest when The Beatles made their first U.S. television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964, just weeks before pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training. By the time kids popped open their first packs of 1964 Topps baseball cards that spring to background strains of "She Loves You" and "I … [Read more...] about 1964 Topps Baseball Might Rub Off on You













