Baseball Card Prices

Baseball card prices can vary, depending upon the market that you are dealing in. Vintage baseball card collectors may have cards worth hundreds of dollars, whereas those collecting new cards may pay considerably less. Which market do you collect in?

Contents 1 Trading Cards Markets 1.1 Topps Trading Cards 1.2 Fleer Trading Cards 2 International Markets 3 Current Baseball Card Prices 4 Conclusion

Trading Cards Markets

Topps Trading Cards

Most card collectors of today started their baseball card collection with the Topps cards. These trading cards used to come in a small plastic package with the familiar bright pink stick of gum. This practice was dropped in 1992 due to staining of the cards by the gum. Baseball collectors may be surprised at the humble beginnings of the now internally famous company.

Topps was a company that could trace its roots back to the American Leaf Tobacco Company. After difficulties in obtaining tobacco during WWI, the company's owner decided to try another product. The company was named Topps to reflect the vision of a company that was "tops" in its market. The decision to make novelty items, namely gum, was made and Bazooka bubblegum was launched. To help increase sales, the gum was packaged with trading cards and the wrapper featured a cartoon character, Bazooka Joe. The first trading cards Topps introduced featured Hopalong Cassidy, a famous star from the popular Western movies.

In 1951 Topps launched two sets of baseball cards for collectors. The two sets were known as the Red Back series and the Blue Back series. Each of these sets had 52 cards and collectors could play a game that simulated a baseball game. Each card had an event listed on the face, such as a "single" or a "triple."

In 1952 Topps launched another set of cards, 407 different cards in all. These were to become the standard for baseball cards today. These cards had photos of players on one side, and statistical data on the player on the reverse side.

Serious collectors know that one of the most valuable Topps card is the 1952 Mickey Mantle card (card number 311). This is not Mickey Mantle's rookie card, however. The 1951 Bowman card is Mickey Mantle's rookie card. The baseball card price for the rare Bowman card is around $3,000 and the 1952 Topps baseball card prices can range from $10,000 and up.

Fleer Trading Cards

Fleer was unable to achieve the same success of the Topps company. The reason being that many baseball players were contractually obligated to Topps and therefore couldn't lend their name or likeness to another trading card company. Fleer countered this by issuing cards that featured retired players and greats from baseball.

In the 1980's, Fleer and another similar company, Donruss, issued their own sets of baseball cards along with puzzle pieces and collectible stickers instead of gum. At this time, Dr. James Beckett began issuing his now famous Baseball Card Price Guide. Unfortunately, in 2005 Fleer went bankrupt and was purchased by Donruss. Eventually, Upper Deck purchased Donruss. Today, Upper Deck still produces products with the Fleer name.

International Markets

Many baseball card collectors concentrate their efforts on cards that feature MLB stars. The major trading card companies, Topps and Upper Deck, focus their attention on production within the United States. However, Topps licenses the O-Pee-Chee trading cards in Canada and Upper Deck licensed the Leaf trading cards in Canada.

Current Baseball Card Prices

The value of baseball cards varies depending on the market and the rarity of the cards being traded. A brand new pack of baseball cards usually runs around $3, but the return on the investment forty years down the line can be enormous. Many collectors hoard packages of the cards in the hopes that the next Mickey Mantle will come along and prove just as valuable.

While the 1952 Mickey Mantle card is best known as being valuable, it is not the highest selling card of all time. The Honus Wagner card (T206) was sold for a record $2.35 million.

Conclusion

Collecting baseball cards is a fun and inexpensive hobby for most individuals. Of course, paying big bucks for a rare card will increase the amount of money you will spend on it. Since this hobby is speculative, young collectors should have fun trading these cards. If the goal is to preserve the cards for the future, they should be stored in appropriate containers away from direct sunlight and humidity. Items that could ruin the cards in storage, such as gum and stickers, should be removed before storage.