Third party grading companies are backed up and it’s likely not ending anytime soon Back in October, I sent a package of about 20 cards off to SGC for grading. SGC has generally been my grader of choice and the service I’ve received to date has been pretty good. This time, though, there has been a small delay. My cards
SGC Announces it will Professionally Cut and Grade Cards from Uncut Sheets So, I was minding my own business today, doing some work on my newly-established Dwight Gooden card collection when I received an interesting email. Said email was from SGC and I typically get messages from every month for the monthly specials. But a closer look revealed something else
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Skip the price guides – pricing pre-war cards is an inexact science Todd Lichti was not a good basketball player. Well, okay, he was pretty good because he made it to the NBA, and anyone in the NBA is amazing. But comparatively to other NBA players, he was not great. He was a first-round pick but lasted only a few
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The National announced its hosting sites through 2023 The National Sports Collectors Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio this year. If you didn’t get to go, you can (sort of) relive the madness through me here, here, and here. The biggest event for baseball cards has recently had a very much Midwestern feel to it. That, for the most part,
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A rare candy set has two different types, causing confusion among collectors The 1930s Cloetta Ross cards are an interesting series. This was a large multi-sport candy set believed to be produced out of Sweden. The exact year of distribution is a bit muddied but they are typically called either a 1930 set or a 1930s issue. Many big names
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Strip Cards Receive Numerical Grades … But Is That Correct? One of more interesting discussions when it comes to graded cards centers around strip issues. Strip cards, in general, are those cut from uncut strips or sheets. They’re generally more affordable than tobacco or caramel cards and the real benefit to them is they are without a doubt, legitimate early
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Jefferson Burdick is known for creating the American Card Catalog (ACC), the standard book in the hobby that helps us to categorize early trading cards. But while that is his claim to fame to most, Burdick himself was an avid collector. His massive collection, in fact, is on display at the Met in New York. But while Burdick collected cards, he
Read more‘It’s In The Details’ Title C.W.S. British Sport Series Year 1904 Size 1 1/2″ x 2 3/4″ Images Color Type Miscellaneous Number in Set 50 1904 C.W.S. British Sport Series Overview This rare set is one of the numerous multi-sport issues that was produced internationally. The set is probably best classified as a miscellaneous type as advertisers on the back
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Rookie cards are among the most sought after cards by collectors. When the rookie craze began exactly, I couldn’t tell you. But I know but the time I was collecting, it had already started. I jumped into collecting during the late 1980s and that time, folks were spending their hard-earned money on guys named Gregg Jefferies and Ben McDonald. Didn’t
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When trade cards became popular in the 1800s, few could have imagined their future importance. But those issues coupled with the emergence of American sports came together to provide the earliest sports cards and give the card collecting hobby its origins. What are Trade Cards? Trade cards, quite simply, were a mode of advertising for businesses, products, events, and all
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A Few Tips to Collecting Sets in the Pre-War Era There are all sorts of collectors out there. Some focus on individual players or teams. Some have a regional focus. Others are into type collecting, the art of trying to find a card from as many different types as possible (or some variation of that). But since I got into
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A rare overprint in a pre-war hockey card set is not well known The V145 hockey cards are among the more popular pre-war Canadian candy card issues. But while many collectors have heard of it, few could tell you about a rarely seen overprint on the cards. Before we get into the specific overprint, here’s some information on the V145
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