1935-36 Diamond Matchbooks # 22 Irving Burns BLUE (St. Louis Browns)

Grade	EM to NM w/STRIKER!
Book Value	$ 20
Our Price	$ 16.95 Add to cart

1935-36 Diamond Matchbooks # 22 Irving Burns BLUE (St. Louis Browns) cards value

Below are short bits & pieces on sportscard & baseball trading card collecting.
Please wander around the website for more info, prices, values & images
on vintage baseball, football, basketball, hockey, sport and non-sports cards.

1969 Milton Bradley
Baseball Game & Cards

In 1969, Milton Bradley joined APBA and Strat-o-matic and issued their first baseball card board game, then again in 1970 and 1972.
The 1969 (and 1972) baseball games came with several perforated sheets containing a total of (296) unnumbered 2x3 inch cards. The cards were very plain, with a black & white player portrait on front and red and black game outcomes on back. Since the game wasn't sanctioned by Major League Baseball, team logos were removed making the set even duller. And if it wasn't boring enough, each team had a header card with no photo. Interestingly, a MLB Players logo is prominent on the game's scoreboard but they did not endorse the game ???
Luckily the set had it's share of star players like Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron & a REGGIE JACKSON ROOKIE !!!
1969 and 1972 Milton Bradley cards are almost exactly the same.
EXCEPT:
The 1969's red '1's do not have a base
The 1972's red '1's DO have a base.
The following cards did NOT have any red '1's but are 1969's: Agee, Alvis, Braves(Pinch Hitter), Orioles(2nd Base), Cepeda, Haller, Horton(Willie), Howard(Frank), Mazeroski, Mincher, Morton-was NOT in 1972 set, Pepitone, Perez, San Diego Padres(SS).
There are some dice roll differences between the 1969 and 1972 sets.

Click for complete
1969 Milton Bradley baseball game & cards (you may be on that page now)
Click for other game related card sets:
1964/1965 Challenge the Yankees Baseball Board Game
1970 Milton Bradley baseball game & cards
1972 Milton Bradley baseball game & cards
1968 Topps Game
1971 Topps Football Game inserts

1952 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values

1952 is often thought of as Topps 1st baseball card set, but it was not.
Topps issued the following baseball card sets prior to their huge 1952 set:
• 1948 Topps Magic Photos
• 1951 Topps Red Backs
• 1951 Topps Blue Backs
• 1951 Topps Connie Mack's All-Stars
• 1951 Topps Major League All-Stars

The 1951 Red & Blue Back issues (52 cards each) were similar to a deck of cards and could be used to play a baseball card game. The sets left out all the game's stars and were not fan favorites keeping Bowman far ahead in the baseball card market.
In response, Topps issued their "BIGGER is BETTER" 1952 Topps set they described as: "GIANT IN BOTH SIZE and NUMBER of CARDS" (407).
Series one cards (#1-80) can be found with black or red backs. The key card in the 1952 Topps set is card #311 MICKEY MANTLE. It is often called Mickey Mantle's Rookie card but it is not. The honor goes to his 1951 Bowman card. The 1952 Topps set also featured my favorite and THE greatest player of all-time, WILLIE MAYS !!! Again, this is sometimes called Willie Mays' Rookie card but it is not. That honor also goes to his 1951 Bowman card.
Another 1952 Topps card of note is card #1 Andy Pafko. Pafko, a fine player, is basically just a "Common card" and should be worth no more than any other "Common" in the 1952 Topps set - But SURPRIZE !!! It's worth TONS more because it's card #1 and absorbed much more damage than most cards from rubber bands and other damage, thus high grade cards are very, very tough to find accounting for the super high values.
BUT --- That should not account for the super high asking prices on lower grade copies. THose prices do not make sense (supply and demand).
The 6th (last) series, starts with #311 Mickey Mantle and ends with #407 Braves Hall-of-Famer Eddie Mathews. These "High Numbers" are significantly scarcer and can almost be called rare. In addition to Mickey Mantle, other star High Numbers included #312 Jackie Robinson and #314 Roy Campanella.
The most common explanation for their scarcity is as follows.
This HUGE set was released in series weeks apart. When it came to the last series the baseball season was winding down and football was starting. Most candy store owners had boxes of baseball cards leftover from earlier in the year so most eliminated their orders for the 6th series of 1952 Topps thus creating the scarcity.
To add interest to the story, it is often said that the unsold 6th series cards (including THOUSANDS of 1952 Topps MICKEY MANTLEs !!!) were disposed of by Topps, dumped offshore into the Atlantic Ocean like most of New York's trash in those days.

How long have sports cards been around ? (part 1)

The first baseball trading cards date back to 1869. For many years, baseball cards were packaged in packs of tobacco as a way to increase sales the same way that today prizes are packaged in boxes of cereal. In the 1920's and 1930's, candy and gum companies started packaging baseball cards in their products as well.

Baseball card production was virtually halted in the early 1940's due to paper shortages created by World War II. The "Modern Era" of baseball cards began in 1948 when Bowman Gum Inc. offered one card and one piece of gum in a pack for a penny.

The first important football set was the Mayo set featuring college players in 1984. Other than the 1935 National Chicle set no other key football set was issued until 1948 when noth Bowman and Leaf produced sets.

1935-36 Diamond Matchbooks # 22 Irving Burns BLUE (St. Louis Browns)

1969 Milton Bradley Baseball Game & Cards

1952 Topps Baseball Cards Checklist & Values

1969 Milton Bradley
Baseball Game & Cards

1952 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values