More people collect baseball cards than collect any other type of sports cards. It's only natural that more people would collect baseball cards since baseball cards have been produced longer than all of the other major sports. Baseball card collecting is rich in tradition and history. Many baseball card collectors also collect other types of sports cards and memorabilia and are the most avid of the autograph collectors. Most enjoy the thrill of opening packs and boxes of baseball card packs. Baseball card collectors tend to love the hunt for the special insert cards like the memorabilia cards that are randomly inserted into the baseball packs and most also love to collect rookie cards. While there is no right or wrong way to collect baseball cards many collectors enjoy collecting cards of their favorite team, either by collecting baseball card team sets or by collecting single baseball cards of their team. THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL CARDS Nobody is one hundred percent sure which was the very first baseball card produced, however the hobby of collecting baseball cards dates from the second half of the 19th century, well over one hundred years ago. Goodwin & Co., maker of Old Judge and Gypsy Queen cigarette brands is believed by many to be the first company to produce baseball cards and other sports cards. The first baseball cards were small by today’s standards, 1-1/2 inches by 2-1/2 inches, and printed on thick cardboard. The Old Judge picture cards were issued from 1886 to 1890 and more than 2000 different baseball cards from that set have been cataloged, not to mention the many cards made for other sports and non sports. Goodwin & Co. success in marketing baseball cards and other picture cards with their cigarettes lead other tobacco companies to issue sets of their own, and by 1909 to 1911 the American Tobacco Company made the T-206 set with the famous Honus Wagner card. In turn companies in other industries including candy, caramel, and gum makers used baseball cards as premiums to sell their products. The Topps Company dominated the chewing gum/baseball card industry for years until it lost an anti-monopoly lawsuit in 1980, and in 1981 Fleer and Donruss made major sets of baseball cards. Not long after that the baseball cards became more important than the gum and baseball cards became an industry of it’s own. New companies like Score, Upper Deck, and Pacific started making cards and the competition led to the high-tech sports cards we have today. Copyright © 1999-2009 Collecting Sports Cards / The Baseball Card Shop / The Baseball Card Shop Online Store Copyright © 1999-2023 Collecting Sports Cards / The Baseball Card Shop / The Baseball Card Shop Online Store