The tech boom has created a lot of new wealth over the past 10-15 years and some of that money is being spent on iconic baseball cards.
That’s according to Ken Kendrick, who owns one of the top collections of high-end baseball cards. The owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks is an avid collector who has been watching more money come into the market in recent years than perhaps any other time in hobby history.
Kendrick and Brent Huigens, owner of PWCC, which runs its auctions on eBay, discussed the growth of the vintage card market with Mike Rogoway of The Oregonian (there’s a pretty awesome photo gallery in the story, too).
Here’s another reminder that if you’re going to sell items associated with pro or college sports teams, make sure they’re licensed.

The Dover, DE Police Department Drugs, Vice, and Organized Crime Unit executed search warrants on two businesses inside of the Dover Mall for selling hundreds of counterfeit sports jerseys and unlicensed photos last week. Sports Fever and Christmas Treasures were both involved in the sale of counterfeit items, according to investigators. Both stores are owned by 42-year-old Sal Argo, of Mountaintop, Pennsylvania.
Some of the items carried autographs, but police aren’t saying if those were also counterfeit or even if that’s part of their investigation.
The story received coverage from media outlets in the area. You can read more about the seizure here.
A couple of years ago, we wrote about collector Tim Virgilio and his Signatures for Soldiers project. He connects with current and former big leaguers and asks if they’ll sign baseball cards. Those cards are then offered for sale at modest prices with all proceeds going to Military Missions in Action, which helps disabled military veterans and their families with home building, repair and remodeling projects.
Tim reports he’s raised nearly $24,000 in three years—mostly just a few dollars at a time. You can learn more about Signatures for Soldiers on their Facebook page.
If you watched the movie ‘A Christmas Story’ anytime in the last couple of days, you can spot baseball cards on the back of Ralphie’s headboard. Who are they? Here you go. The movie takes place in 1940 but it seems Ralphie was really into older cards.