The 1954 Topps set is best known for one thing: rookies. Featuring key rookie cards of Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Al Kaline, Topps' third major set packs a ton of punch. Although it is missing the young phenom, Mickey Mantle, it is still stacked with Cooperstown elites: two Ted Williams cards bookend the set, with greats like Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays ranking … [Read more...]
Top 10 Ted Williams Cards Span 4 Decades
Perhaps the best hitter of all-time, Ted Williams was also a United States marine who served his country in two wars and was quite the ladies’ man back in the day. He lived a colorful, long life and left quite a legacy on and off the field. “Best” lists are always subjective, but below are arguably the top ten Ted Williams cards from his playing career. A first ballot Hall … [Read more...]
Say Hey: The Best Willie Mays Cards to Own
Any debate about the greatest baseball players of all time will eventually lead to a kid who grew up in the segregated south, dreaming of a big league career but knowing as a youngster it might never happen. Eventually he got his chance. Willie Mays could do it all and look great doing it. He played in three decades, was an All Star 20 times, Gold Glove winner 12 times and … [Read more...]
Vintage Set Break of the Month Returns With 1940s Classic
DiMaggio and Williams in their most historic seasons. Pee Wee’s rookie card. Foxx. Hubbell. Ott. Gomez. The 1941 Play Ball set is one that has been popular with collectors for decades. This month, one set is being broken up and offered as the Burls Sports Vintage Set Break of the Month. A total of 72 slots—one for each card—are now available at BurlsSports.com. The … [Read more...]
Burls Sports Vintage Set Break of the Month: 1954 Topps
You’ve probably heard of case breaks and box breaks for newer products. Maybe you like the concept but only collect older cards or you’ve always wanted to participate but the slots seem a little expensive. Vintage set breaks might be the answer. Rich Klein has written about them here before but if you missed it, the idea is simple. A vintage set is made available by a … [Read more...]
Woof! 60 Years Later, Red Heart Baseball Card Set Still Barking
It seems like an odd combination. Baseball cards might be a natural to tie into the promotion of breakfast cereal, hot dogs and snack cakes. Dog food? Seems like you’d be barking up the wrong tree if you were the marketing guy who came up with that idea. Thankfully, someone at John Morrell Company decided it was a solid plan and 60 years after they became available, … [Read more...]
Vintage Set of the Week: 1954 Bowman Baseball
You can find it right in-between “bold reaction” and “last ditch effort.” The “it” is the 1954 Bowman Baseball card set. Much has been written about the battles between the upstart company Topps and the established baseball card manufacturers at Bowman in the early 1950s. The records clearly show that the Bowman Gum Co. had a significant loss of market share in 1952 and … [Read more...]
1970s Unopened Cases, Boxes Headliners at Collect Auctions
A mini time capsule of unopened cases and boxes from the 1970’s has entered the market, including an untouched vending case of 1976 Topps Baseball cards. Collect Auctions is once again feeding what’s been a very hungry market a treasure trove of sealed boxes and cases in its latest event, which opened Monday and closes August 7. There are 24 boxes in the case of 1976 … [Read more...]
1954 Topps Baseball Set Offers Ted x 2; Aaron’s Debut
Sixty years ago baseball was in the midst of its golden age with players such as Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays emerging as superstars, while legends like Ted Williams and Jackie Robinson continued to shine. 1954 was a season that saw the end of an unprecedented streak of Yankees World Series appearances, and saw Mays make what is widely regarded as the greatest catch in the … [Read more...]
Ted Williams and Desperation May Have Stacked Deck in Topps’ Favor 60 Years Ago
The 1954 and 1955 Topps sets are fascinating studies in how the winners can sometimes rewrite history. Today, we all believe the rookies who didn’t have a Bowman card were strokes of genius by Topps but the argument can be made that those cards were actually desperation moves that 60 years later worked out just fine for the then Brooklyn-based company. In fact, the 1954 Topps … [Read more...]