How the baseball card game is played

Team logos, names, and statistics are added. The cards are grouped and printed out on large sheets. Proofreaders carefully scan each card for mistakes. Everything from an out-of-date team logo to a photo that does not match a player's name is corrected.

On rare occasions, Luraschi says, an error slips by, and the card goes to print. In the past, the error would be corrected and new cards printed after a number of faulty cards had gone to market. The rare "error" cards were valuable. This is much less common now because reprints are expensive. Often, the company won't correct an error until the next series, Luraschi says.

The corrected proofs are turned into color-separated "match prints" that go to make the printing plates. The cards emerge from the press on poster-size sheets with 100 cards on each. They are laser-cut and inserted into packs. Some packs may be "seeded" with autographed cards, relic cards, or other promotional material. Topps has put $100 bills randomly in some sets it makes.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, trading sports cards was a good business, Fleer's Pawlak says. Today the market is flooded with new products, and there's a glut. But opportunities still exist to have fun - and even make money.

Vinogradov, the longtime card collector who works part time at his father's Manhattan sports card shop, advises his friends to buy the Topps Complete Set each year. It has 700 cards and costs about $50. Unopened sets gain value rapidly. The 2002 set now sells for about $100. And the best single cards to collect? The players sure to end up in Baseball's Hall of Fame.

Baseball cards date back to the late 1800s. The first mass produced ones were distributed by tobacco companies, which inserted the cards into packs of cigarettes to boost sales.

From 1909 to 1911, the so-called T206 White Borders cards were made. One of them, featuring Honus Wagner, is the "Mona Lisa of baseball cards." Only 50 are thought to exist.

After World War I, candy companies were the primary producers of baseball cards. Some of the most notable ones were produced by Goudey Gum of Boston. Those from the 1930s that featured Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and others were especially popular.

Candy company Topps began making baseball cards in 1952. It dominated the market for nearly 30 years. A court order in 1980 broke their monopoly, and other cardmakers joined in.

Today, the Internet has replaced the hobby shop as the place where baseball cards are traded and sold. Many, many choices are available.

"It's like anything else now," says Rich Klein, price-guide analyst at Beckett Media. "It's a wonderful opportunity because you can pick and choose what you want to do."

Top 10 most valuable cards:

1. 1909 (T206 366) Honus Wagner $400,000

2. 1933 (Goudey 106) Nap Lajoie $25,000

3. 1952 (Topps 311) Mickey Mantle $20,000

4. 1949 (Leaf 8) Satchel Paige $12,000

5. 1914 (E145-1 Cracker Jack 103) 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson $8,000

6. 1914 (E145-1 Cracker Jack 30) Ty Cobb $6,000

7. 1933 (Goudey 181) Babe Ruth $4,000

8. 1938 (Goudey Heads Up 274) Joe DiMaggio $3,500

9. 1954 (Bowman 66A) Ted Williams $3,500

10. 1951 (Bowman 305) Willie Mays $2,500

Source: Rich Klein, Beckett Baseball Card Plus magazine, May/June 2005

Page: 1 | 2