Baseball Batting Lineup Card - Trading Cards

As one of the most popular collectible items in modern history, trading cards are produced in sets of related content and are often traded, bought, and sold in transactions with other collectors. 

The most common and well-known type of trading cards are sports cards, which feature pictures and statistics of players in professional sports such as baseball, football, basketball, and other sports. Non-sports trading cards typically feature images from pop culture icons, including television, movies, music, and cartoon series.

History of Trading Cards

Baseball cards are usually credited as being the first type of trading card produced. The first printed baseball card was manufactured in 1887 as baseball continued to build its popularity in America. The earliest cards were handmade, and frequently made from cloth and similar soft materials. By 1902, baseball cards began being commercially printed, and over the course of the next several decades would begin being packaged with bubble gum, tobacco products, and in Cracker Jacks boxes.

As baseball cards became more popular in the mid to late 20th century, other sports leagues and companies took notice. During the 1980s, baseball card collecting gained new interest from new generations. The value of many cards peaked during that era before once again falling in the mid-1990s. While baseball cards have maintained value better than most other series, trading cards have featured everything from Olympic athletes to the aptly named Garbage Pail Kids throughout their history.

Trading card collecting is an iconic activity often attributed to childhood. Young children and their parents often start collections together, providing them with a shared hobby and interest in which to engage together. While children traditionally collect the cards for personal enjoyment, it is their parents who urge care with the collection in order to preserve the best possible value for the trading card collection.

Popular Trading Card Collections

Sports cards have remained the most popular trading card collections over the course of time. However, many pop culture phenomena have created trading card series. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, many non-sports series were created and sustained, including Magic: The Gathering, Digimon, World of Warcraft, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, Marvel Universe Cards, and many others.

Movies and television shows have also attempted marketing campaigns that include trading card series. Television shows that enjoy strong cult followings frequently enjoy success with their trading card series, including The X Files, Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, South Park, Lost, and many others. Popular movies that have spawned trading card sets include The Wizard of Oz, Ace Ventura, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Independence Day, and more.

Common Trading Card Companies

Although many different companies have produced and printed trading cards, there are some industry leaders that are notable to mention. Although these companies primarily issue sports card collections, they have also printed non-sports trading card series. Topps, Fleer, Upper Deck, Leaf Candy Company, and Donruss are among some of the most common and well-known trading card manufacturers.

Rating the Condition of a Trading Card

Like most collectibles, the value of trading cards is greatly impacted by the condition and quality of the card. Mint or Near Mint condition cards are those cards with virtually no flaws. These cards have no creases, have crisp edges and corners, and are without any damage. Factors that decrease the condition of a card include writing on the card, off-centered prints, “soft” corners, tears, creases, and other imperfections. On the lower end of the scale, Poor cards are those that feature serious damage, most likely tears, significant creases, and/or worn corners.

There are plenty of storage and protective items available to help maintain the best condition possible for cards. Plastic sleeves and soft covers do an adequate job of protecting cards from minor damage, although the potential for creases and bends is still quite significant. Cards of high value should be carefully placed in hard cases, which virtually ensure that the card cannot be bent, creased, scratched, or otherwise harmed.

Card value guides are available for most common collectible series. Beckett price guides generally follow industry standards of popular card collections, including sports trading cards. The guides are published periodically, and denote whether or not specific cards have increased in value, decreased in value, or stayed the same.

Resources for Trading Card Collectors

Because trading cards are such a popular collecting hobby in the United States, there is a wealth of information and resources available to card collectors. Online communities and price guides help collectors determine the value of their card, and to discuss their shared hobbies. Card shows are also scheduled in cities across the country, and allow large numbers of buyers and sellers to meet together for a card exchange. Additionally, eBay has played a significant role in the advancement of trading card collecting into the new millennium.