1965 Topps #457 Bob Kennedy (Cubs)

Hartland Baseball Statues & Figurines

Hartland produced it's first baseball statue back in the early 60's. SCD calls the 1960's Mickey Mantle Hartland Statue the single most popular plastic sports statue ever produced ! In 1988 Hartland released 25th Anniversary Editions, nearly identical to the original.

Hartland later joined with Krause Publications, to create the SCD Authentic series - the original 18 in different poses. Hartland Figurines are amazingly beautiful and exquisitely detailed with painted pinstripes and wood grained bats.

Hartland Baseball Statues & Figurines checklist and prices

Vintage Topps 1956 Baseball Cards
Checklist & Prices

1956 Topps were slightly larger (3-3/4" by 2 5/8") horizontal cards similar to 1955 Topps cards, some even sharing portraits with 1954 and 1955 Topps cards. Team cards & checklists appeared for the first time in 1956.

With Bowman gone, after missing the last 3 years, Mickey Mantle was back !!! A fun & simple set, 1956 Topps had no high numbers or expensive rookies but for serious 1956 collectors, there are over 200 variations. Most variations deal with card stock (gray or white back). For #101-180 gray appears to outnumber white about 9-to-1. Many team cards had 2 or 3 variations with team names Left, Center or Right.

1956 Topps Hank Aaron 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle
There are 2 great cards: #31 Hank Aaron which actually pictures Willie Mays sliding home and #135 Mickey Mantle. Mantle shown leaping high into the stands robbing a home run ! Artist did a great job showing Mantle making the catch ! BUT ... Mantle looked great leaping but the ball flew over his glove. 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle Catch

The 1956 Topps Pins used same portrait photos as the cards.

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1956 Topps Pins Checklist and Prices

1956 Topps Baseball card checklist, values and prices.

Autographed 1961 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values

Following autographs have auction house LOA's (Letter of Authenticity) from hobby's top vintage card authenticators for auction houses PSA/DNA & James Spence !!!

The 1961 Topps baseball card set (#1-#598) only had 587 cards because of missing numbers. Also there are 2 cards #463 (#463 Braves Team card was to be card #426).

Ugh !!! The 1961 Topps capless players !!! Picture your grand-dad. Without a cap. Life was obviously much tougher back then. Baseball expansion created the problem. Los Angeles Angels added, Washington Senators became Minnesota Twins, and Washington got a new Senators franchise. The autographs actually make the "capless" cards more attractive !!!

Protecting and Storing your Card Collection

There are many different ways to protect, organize and store your sports cards.

Soft Sleeves also called "penny sleeves" are the most basic protection for your cards. Made of thin plastic, they come in packs of 100 and are very inexpensive.

Top Loads are rigid plastic holders and a step up in protection over "soft sleeves". Called top-loads because you place the card thru a thin opening at the top. They come in many sizes for regular cards upto 8-1/2 x 11 for magazines and even larger.

Screw-Down Acrylic Holders
These are sometimes used for better, more expensive cards. Small screws hold two pieces of clear acrylic together. In a variety of sizes and thickness that not only protect the card but can funciton as a paper weight or display item.

There are also Single-Screw Screw-Downs that use only 1 screw to seal the holder. They are easier to use and provide the same type of protectionas regular screwdowns and they are also much less expensive costing as little as .30 in quantity while 1 inch or 2 inch acrylic screw-downs can cost upto several dollars.

1965 Topps #457 Bob Kennedy (Cubs)

Hartland Baseball Statues & Figurines

Vintage Topps 1956 Baseball Cards Checklist & Prices

Autographed 1961 Topps Baseball Cards Checklist & Values

Vintage Topps 1956 Baseball Cards
Checklist & Prices

Autographed 1961 Topps Baseball Cards
Checklist & Values