Look at the back of Don Mattingly’s baseball cards and you’ll see his birthdate listed as 4/20/61. Well, on every baseball card except his 1987 Topps #500, that is. Collectors who opened packs that year even saw a line in Mattingly’s bio stating that Mattingly’s birth certificate actually indicated his birthday was in 1962, not ’61. The following year and … [Read more...] about ESPN on The Mystery of Mattingly’s 1987 Topps Birth Date
1987 Topps
Grading Companies Give Much Needed Boost to Junk Wax Era
Broadly defined as baseball cards produced from the late 1980s through the early 1990s, the "Junk Wax Era" is often cited as a primary reason for the crash of the industry felt in the late 1990s. The gist is that cards produced during that time were usually printed in far greater quantities than many collectors believed. As a result, supply became much greater than demand. That … [Read more...] about Grading Companies Give Much Needed Boost to Junk Wax Era
Is Barry Bonds Destined to be Sports Pariah?
On June 4, 1986, a tall and wiry rookie from Riverside California, stepped to the plate for the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. the Atlanta Braves. Batting leadoff, this 21-year-old outfield phenom planted a fifth inning offering by Craig McMurtry into the left field seats at old Fulton County Stadium. Barry Bonds’ solo home run that day was the first of his career. It was also part … [Read more...] about Is Barry Bonds Destined to be Sports Pariah?
2012 Topps Mini Baseball Box Break
by Rich Klein Each year I go to the National, something always really catches my eye at the Topps booth. Last year it was the Lineage product. I was enthralled immediately (of course I was one of the few) but one of the aspects of this issue was the tribute to the 1987 Topps mini set. For a few years in the 1980's Topps was producing all sorts of "side" sets to keep the … [Read more...] about 2012 Topps Mini Baseball Box Break