The Chase Continues: Exploring Upper Deck’s 1991 Autograph Heroes Series

Today, in the world of sports card collecting, few things generate as much excitement as the chase for rare cards from packs. Upper Deck, one of the industry’s most influential and innovative companies, knew this better than anyone. In 1990, they launched the “Find The Reggie” promotion, which featured an autographed card of baseball legend … Read more

Uncovering Topps’ X-Out Box Practices: A Look at a 1982 Cello Case with Original Purchase Receipt

In the world of vintage sports card collecting, Topps is THE brand. For decades, the company has produced some of the industry’s most iconic and sought-after cards. Among these treasures is the 1982 Topps Baseball set, which includes the rookie card for Cal Ripken Jr. And, recently, collectors have been buzzing about the sale of … Read more

Kit Young’s Advertisements for Stan-The-Man’s Official 1964 Rack-Um-Up Bat Rack

I always found it interesting that Stan Musial wasn’t signed with Topps or Bowman from 1954 through 1957. James N. Giglio wrote that Musial refused to sign due to “insufficient compensation.” I later learned that Musial had some other business partnerships (for example, with Rawlings) and was showcasing a bit of business acumen, but I … Read more

Topps File Sets Part 4: Exploring Individually Slabbed Vault Copies of Topps Baseball, Football, and Hockey Cards

Welcome to the fourth and final installment of the Topps File Set series. In the previous articles, I explored the history of Topps’ file sets, delved into notable resales of the albums, and shared some of the file copy binder pages that Topps authenticated and sold to collectors. Now, I’ll focus on individually graded Topps … Read more

Topps File Sets Part 1: The 1989 Guernsey’s Topps Auction

Topps files are a treasure trove for collectors and enthusiasts of baseball, hockey, basketball, and football cards. The files represent the sole collection of every series of cards that Topps preserved for its internal archives, usually with two card sets affixed to pages post-production to display the front and back of each card. In August … Read more

The 10 Items from the Topps Vault VIP Exclusive Auction Held at the 2011 National in Chicago

Back in 2011, at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago, IL, Topps held an auction exclusively for VIP ticket holders on Wednesday, August 3, at 2:30 PM. It featured “10 magnificent TOPPS items direct from the Vault!” In this article, I’ll share the paragraphs describing the lots exactly as Topps advertised them on the … Read more

Mr. Mint’s Insider’s Guide to Investing in Baseball Cards and Collectibles Still Rings True Over 30 Years Later

Alan Rosen was one of the hobby’s first and most famous sports card dealers; some say infamous. And in 1991, with the help of Doug Garr, he published a fantastic book called Mr. Mint’s Insiders Guide to investing in Baseball Cards and Collectibles. The subheading on the cover read How to buy, sell, and make … Read more

Cards and Collectibles Related to The Highest Grossing Baseball Movies

A few weeks ago, The Action Network posted a great image showing the ten highest-grossing baseball moves of all time. I thought it would be fun to show sports cards that came from, represent the inspiration for, or are related to those movies. A League of Their Own While Larry Fritsch Cards printed a 3-series … Read more

Highlights From the 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention

Attending the 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago just wasn’t possible for me. Luckily, growing hobby interest means folks constantly shared terrific images from the event on social media. While I’m sharing photos of many high-end items, you don’t need a $50k bankroll to enjoy The National. Plenty of my friends showed up with … Read more