COLLECTING SPORTS CARDS CARDBOARD CLASSICS

A Look Insidethe Top 250 Sportscards in the Hobby

In the following section, I have compiled a list of what many experts considerto be the 250 most important cards in the hobby. While the list is dominated bybaseball, it also contains dozens of cards from the worlds of basketball, football,hockey, boxing and golf. From Babe Ruth to Michael Jordan, from Jim Brown toWayne Gretzky, from Joe Louis to Tiger Woods, legends of the past and presentare brought to life through the cardboard classics bearing their image.The list begins with the top 20 sportscards of all time, ranked in order of im-portance. At the top is the Holy Grail of sportscard collecting – the 1909-11 T206Honus Wagner. After the conclusion of the top 20, the journey continues throughthe remaining 230 cards on the list. The rest are listed in chronological order, un-ranked, within each category or sport. I chose not to rank all 250 cards for a hostof reasons.First, ranking 20 cards was challenging enough, but ranking 250 of them seemedvirtually impossible. In my opinion, there was no question about including each ofthese great cards on the list, but assigning a numerical ranking to them was anotherstory. As I narrowed the list from 500 to 400 to 300 and eventually to 250 total cards,it became evident that comparing a card like a 1911 T9 Turkey Red Cabinets JackJohnson to a 1991 Topps Stadium Club Brett Favre card was difﬁcult. It seemedunfair to both cards. The important thing is the vast majority of hobbyists recognizethat each card has a place on this list based on a combination of attributes.Second, while creating this list, I felt it was crucial to maintain its integrity. I didnot want to be biased or misleading. For example, the trading card list is heavilyweighted towards vintage material. The list wasn’t weighted that way simply be-cause I like vintage-era trading cards more or dislike modern-era cards in any way;it was weighted in that manner because I felt it was an accurate reﬂection of howhobbyists feel about the importance of each card. The reality, due to a plethora ofreasons, is that more vintage-era trading cards are considered important by thepeople who collect.

By Joe Orlando

Cardboard Classics

Top 20 Cards.indd 184/23/2008 4:00:32 PM

CARDBOARD CLASSICS COLLECTING SPORTS CARDS

Much of that reasoning lies in the simple fact that, in comparison to vintagematerial, modern cards can be found in abundance most of the time. This is due,in part, to the volume of cards produced each year. More importantly, it is a resultof collectors taking the time to preserve their cards as a result of the evolutionof the hobby. During the 1980s, what was once a very miniscule hobby becamea phenomenon throughout America. Along with the boom in the industry cameawareness about how to better protect trading cards. Things like binders, protectivesleeves, nine-count sheets, Lucite holders and specially designed storage boxeswere all used to protect the cards that were once handled with great frequency justa decade earlier.That being said, there is no question that I tried to provide some diversity withinthe

Top 250

as well. In other words, it would be very easy to ﬁll any top card listwith every Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Ted Williams card evermanufactured. While there are many cards on this list that feature great players likethese legends, I did make a concerted effort to include some examples of cards thatoriginate from fascinating sets. Some of these are mainstream productions whileothers are regional or test issues. When it made sense to do so, I also incorporatedimportant modern-era cards that capture some of the most signiﬁcant athletes insports history.Finally, please keep in mind that there are so many wonderful cards to collect inthis great hobby of ours. This list is a mere sampling of the great cards available tothe collector. The hardest part about constructing this section was to limit it to only250 total cards. I am sure some readers will question why a particular card may ormay not have made this exclusive list, but that is part of what makes our hobby fun.So, let the debates begin! Furthermore and most importantly, I hope this section canhelp bring back memories of opening packs with your friends, watching the gameswith your dad or rooting for your favorite sports heroes.

Top 20 Cards.indd 194/23/2008 4:02:55 PM

THE TOP 250 SPORTSCARDS IN THE HOBBY COLLECTING SPORTS CARDS

in the Hobby

Ranking the 20 Most Important Cards

1909-11 T206 White Border Honus Wagner

This is the Holy Grail of all trading cards. This card, which resides inone of the most popular sets of all time, features one of baseball’s great-est players and it remains the symbol of trading card collecting. This cardis also one of the great rarities, though it is not the scarcest in the hobby.That said, this card has taken on a life of its own and no card has ever sold for anywhereclose to the sale of the finest example known, the famous PSA NM-MT 8. Once ownedby hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and Bruce McNall, that copy sold for an astonishing$2,800,000 in 2007, the only seven-figure price ever paid for a trading card as of thiswriting. Even low-grade copies have sold for well over $100,000.The reason behind the rarity has been debated for years. Was it a mere contractdispute? Was it a result of a stand taken by Wagner, not wanting to promote tobaccouse to children since the cards were packed with cigarettes? No one knows for sure, butdocumentation from the era has surfaced supporting the theory that Wagner may havehad his younger fans in mind. It is ironic since Wagner was an avid user of tobacco. Heis actually pictured on a 1948 Leaf card holding an enormous wad of chew. No matterwhat theory you believe, the card was pulled from production early, leaving approximately50 or so known copies in thehobby today. Keep in mindthat most of the survivingWagners have Sweet Capo-ral backs. Only a few exhibitPiedmont backs, which in-cludes the finest example ofthem all.

1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle

This is, perhaps, the most recognizable sportscard in the entire hobby and the an-chor of the most important post-war set in existence. Strangely enough, it is not MickeyMantle’s official rookie card, but there is no question that it is the slugger’s most importantcard. Despite a couple of major finds of 1952 Topps cards during the last 25 years, thiscard has remained difficult to obtain in NM-MT or better condition as many of those “find”examples exhibit poor centering. There are actually two different versions of this double-printed card. The line surrounding the Yankee logo is a solid black on one version, whilethe other version has a line that is only partially filled. There is also a slight variance incolor and focus between the two. Despite the minor difference in appearance, there is nodifference in market value. Most of the high-grade examples found today were a productof either the large 1952 Topps find from the New England area during the 1980s or a fewsmaller finds from Canada over the last two decades. After slugging .530 in 1952, Mantlewas well on his way to stardom. This would be the first of 16 All-Star selections for theYankee Slugger, a man who made the #7 famous.