While Yankee fans loved Mickey and Giants fans thought Willie was the best, Duke Snider baseball cards are what Dodger fans wanted in the golden era of 1950s New York baseball. In Brooklyn, he was known simply as the Duke, or the Duke of Flatbush. Edwin Donald “Duke” Snider was a mainstay for the Dodgers, a power-hitting center fielder who helped the franchise win five … [Read more...]
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Vintage Set Break of the Week: 1964 Topps
The team names obviously stand out in 1964 Topps. There is just no way around it. This along with the lack of major rookie cards likely accounts for the lack of popularity with this Topps issue. What the set lacks in rookie power, it makes up for with regular star power. The set is headlined by Mickey Mantle who spent most of the year wracked with injuries. Pete Rose’s second … [Read more...]
Best Pete Rose Cards Through the Years
He was a staple inside packs for over 20 years. Loved by some; despised by others. Respected by most even now, at least for the way he played the game. Every collector has a different idea about what would be on the list of the best Pete Rose cards. For those growing up in the mid-1960s through the mid-80s, it was rare to find anyone who didn’t have at least a … [Read more...]
Baseball Cards of Golden Era Hall of Fame Nominees
When the ten nominees for what the Hall of Fame now calls the "Golden Age" were announced recently, many pundits compared their careers and then offered opinions about whether any of them were worthy of the Hall of Fame tag. A committee consisting of former players, baseball executives and veteran media members will decide but what’s interesting is that card collectors have … [Read more...]
Cornering the 1964 Topps Curt Flood Market
The mystery of the 1964 Topps Curt Flood card has been solved. You might recall Rich Klein's story last March in which he wondered why the card carried such a premium. It's not Flood's rookie card. It's not a scarce high number or short print (You can see eBay market here). He's an important player in baseball history but he's not a Hall of Famer. Yet we had heard that … [Read more...]
Massive ’70s Find Hasn’t Dulled Appeal of 1964 Topps Giant All-Stars Set
This is the 50th anniversary year for the 1964 Topps Giant Size All-Stars set which is the one of the most interesting sets of the modern era. Topps always tried to experiment with products of different types, some of which are now considered very rare “test sets’ such as 1961 Topps Dice Game and some of which ended up being produced in enough quantity so they gained permanent … [Read more...]
1964 Topps Curt Flood: What’s the Deal?
We sometimes talk about cards which have reached “mythical” status for how difficult they are to find online or at shows. Some of our favorite examples are some of the 1966 and 1967 Topps single print high numbers. However, there is a card for which one person is apparently driving the market upwards for reasons no one has yet been able to figure out. Unlike these two earlier … [Read more...]
eBay Card of the Day: Better Late Than Never: Niekro’s 1964 Topps Rookie
Seeing this is Topps’ 75th anniversary year, we started looking for people and events which occurred 75 years ago. Everyone remembers different aspects about players from the past but my first two thoughts of players born in 1939 were Hall of Famers Phil Niekro and Carl Yastrzemski. Niekro is interesting as a player as he really did not develop into a full-time major league … [Read more...]
Ramblings: Recalling Billy Ripken FF Card Mania
One of the enduring mysteries of the over-production era of the card collecting hobby is how did a card with an easily observable obscenity on the bat get past so many people who were supposed to ensure such language would not appear on a card. Unlike the 1964 Topps Ray Sadecki card in which the card was cropped in such a way the word “ass” appeared in the background, the early … [Read more...]
2013 Topps Heritage Baseball Preview
by Chris Harris To say that Topps’ once popular Heritage Baseball brand is in need of a facelift is a gross understatement. After years of issuing the same formulaic product (500 cards, with a “hit” in every box, Chrome parallels, and a series of unannounced “gimmicks”), collectors starting taking to their Twitter accounts and blogs (including some comments posted by Rich … [Read more...]
