Sports Then and Now

Memorabilia has become a cornerstone of modern sports. It takes but a minute of entering a stadium to be inundated with concession stands and vendors hawking the latest merchandise. Fans collect, display, and sell these in an ever-growing marketplace. But things were not always this way.

Sports collectibles were an afterthought in the past. These throwaway items were given out in a box of cereal or a pack of cigarettes. As people discarded these items that ended up stored in attics with other junk, their scarcity created higher prices. Below are some of the rarest and most sought-after collectibles in sports.

Honus Wagner Baseball Card

Ask any baseball card collector what the industry’s crown jewel is, and they’ll immediately zero in on the infamous T206 Honus Wagner. This card was produced by the American Tobacco Company back in 1909 and had a limited release. A recent sale of this card in 2016 went for over $3 million.

What makes this card so unique is its rarity. While the company produced thousands of cards, very few Honus Wagner ones went into circulation due to a rumored financial dispute. Even fewer are in existence today.

For fans of the card, Topps did reissue it in 2002 and 2020. But don’t expect to fetch the same price.

Now, who doesn’t know Barry bonds? He’s one of the most celebrated and cherished baseball players in the world. And like him, Barry Bonds rookie card are widely popular too. His cards are a worthy addition to any baseball lover’s card collection. Regardless of all the scandals linked to him, his rookie cards remain very popular amongst the fans especially those cards that were printed in a limited quantity. Therefore, in this article, we have compiled the most valued and cherished Barry bonds rookie and autographed card.

5. 1987 Fleer Baseball’s Hottest Stars Barry Bonds no. 5: One of the most unpopular bonds rookie card was founded by a pharmacy chain named Revco. It had a white, blue, and red border all around the card. It was made in 1987 and was sold as a set in a small box of paper, whoever bought this set also received a set of 6 stickers along with it.

4. 1987 Fleer Glossy Barry Bonds RC no.604: This Barry bonds rookie card was the first premium set produced by the fleers. It was glossy material and it’s rapidly become a fleer collection as it was printed in a very limited quantity. The lesser the cards were printed the better the quality of the product was. It is said that around 100,000 glossy cards were printed and sold.

It’s considered the most iconic post-War baseball card in the hobby yet it’s also commonly mistaken as his rookie card.

That’s right, the 1952 Topps #311 card is actually not Mickey Mantle’s rookie card.

That distinction would belong to the 1951 Bowman #253 card.

But even though that one is Mickey Mantle’s true rookie card, it’s actually his 1952 Topps #311 that is the more valuable of the two.

And as you might often expect, Mantle is a rare case where a player’s rookie card isn’t his most valuable.

So, why is that?

Well, the story is actually quite fascinating.

Topps has been the biggest name in sports cards since 1952 when they released their first official baseball card set.

And that’s the first of several factors that make’s Mantle’s 1952 Topps card so valuable: he was the most popular player in the industry juggernaut’s first set.  This immediately sends the card’s historical value through the roof. Even common cards of this set can fetch hundreds of dollars in top condition.

The second reason for its high value is because it’s way scarcer that you might expect.

To understand how scarce it is, you’ve got to remember that Topps and other manufacturers released baseball cards in multiple series. At the beginning of the 1952 baseball season, kids were chasing cards in Series 1, tearing through the 5 cent packs in search of their heroes. But Mantle was nowhere to be found. Series 1 only included cards #1-310, and Topps had earmarked Mantle to be card #311.

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