Let me explain my thinking. In 1981, Topps lost their dominance in baseball cards with the appearance of the Donruss and Fleer companies. It was during this time that baseball cards began to be mass produced and everyone starting “protecting” their baseball cards instead of “using” their baseball cards. The result is a glut of baseball cards from the 1980’s on and as a result, a reduced value of these cards. Old age definitely makes a baseball card vintage, but scarcity and as a result, value also make a baseball card vintage. So yes there are some cards produced after 1981 that are considered as vintage baseball cards.

One thing to keep in mind with old vintage baseball cards is that the older cardboard needs to be protected even more than the more modern cards. Additionally, for older vintage cards you should get them graded. Getting your baseball cards graded provides you the ability to determine their value, but you also get the added benefit of a protected case.

A PSA Gem Mint 10 card is a virtually perfect card. Attributes include four perfectly sharp corners, sharp focus and full original gloss. A PSA Gem Mint 10 card must be free of staining of any kind, but an allowance may be made for a slight printing imperfection, if it doesn’t impair the overall appeal of the card. The image must be centered on the card within a tolerance not to exceed approximately 55/45 to 60/40 percent on the front, and 75/25 percent on the reverse.

MINT 9: Mint.

A PSA Mint 9 is a superb condition card that exhibits only one of the following minor flaws: a very slight wax stain on reverse, a minor printing imperfection or slightly off-white borders. Centering must be approximately 60/40 to 65/35 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

NM-MT 8: Near Mint-Mint.

A PSA NM-MT 8 is a super high-end card that appears Mint 9 at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the card can exhibit the following: a very slight wax stain on reverse, slightest fraying at one or two corners, a minor printing imperfection, and/or slightly off-white borders. Centering must be approximately 65/35 to 70/30 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

NM 7: Near Mint.

A PSA NM 7 is a card with just a slight surface wear visible upon close inspection. There may be slight fraying on some corners. Picture focus may be slightly out-of-register. A minor printing blemish is acceptable. Slight wax staining is acceptable on the back of the card only. Most of the original gloss is retained. Centering must be approximately 70/30 to 75/25 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the back.

EX-MT 6: Excellent-Mint.

A PSA EX-MT 6 card may have visible surface wear or a printing defect which does not detract from its overall appeal. A very light scratch may be detected only upon close inspection. Corners may have slightly graduated fraying. Picture focus may be slightly out-of-register. Card may show some loss of original gloss, may have minor wax stain on reverse, may exhibit very slight notching on edges and may also show some off-whiteness on borders. Centering must be 80/20 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

EX 5: Excellent.

Excellent On PSA EX-5 cards, very minor rounding of the corners is becoming evident. Surface wear or printing defects are more visible. There may be minor chipping on edges. Loss of original gloss will be more apparent. Focus of picture may be slightly out-of-register. Several light scratches may be visible upon close inspection, but do not detract from the appeal of the card. Card may show some off-whiteness of borders. Centering must be 85/15 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the back.

VG-EX 4: Very Good-Excellent.

A PSA VG-EX 4 card’s corners may be slightly rounded. Surface wear is noticeable but modest. The card may have light scuffing or light scratches. Some original gloss will be retained. Borders may be slightly off-white. A light crease may be visible. Centering must be 85/15 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the back.

VG 3: Very Good.

A PSA VG 3 card reveals some rounding of the corners, though not extreme. Some surface wear will be apparent, along with possible light scuffing or light scratches. Focus may be somewhat off-register and edges may exhibit noticeable wear. Much, but not all, of the card’s original gloss will be lost. Borders may be somewhat yellowed and/or discolored. A crease may be visible. Printing defects are possible. Slight stain may show on obverse and wax staining on reverse may be more prominent. Centering must be 90/10 or better on the front and back.

GOOD 2: Good.

A PSA Good 2 card’s corners show accelerated rounding and surface wear is starting to become obvious. A good card may have scratching, scuffing, light staining, or chipping of enamel on obverse. There may be several creases. Original gloss may be completely absent. Card may show considerable discoloration. Centering must be 90/10 or better on the front and back.

FR 1.5: Fair.

A PSA Fair 1.5 card’s corners will show extreme wear, possibly affecting framing of the picture. The surface of the card will show advanced stages of wear, including scuffing, scratching, pitting, chipping and staining. The picture will possibly be quite out-of-register and the borders may have become brown and dirty. The card may have one or more heavy creases. In order to achieve a Fair grade, a card must be fully intact. Even though the card may be heavily worn, it cannot achieve this grade if it is missing solid pieces of the card as a result of a major tear, etc. This would include damage such as the removal of the back layer of the card or an entire corner. The centering must be approximately 90/10 or better on the front and back.

PR 1: Poor.

A PSA Poor 1 will exhibit many of the same qualities of a PSA Fair 1.5 but the defects may have advanced to such a serious stage that the eye-appeal of the card has nearly vanished in its entirety. A Poor card may be missing one or two small pieces, exhibit major creasing that nearly breaks through all the layers of cardboard or it may contain extreme discoloration or dirtiness throughout that may make it difficult to identify the issue or content of the card on either the front or back. A card of this nature may also show noticeable warping or another type of destructive defect.

The thought of baseball cards being used as an investment dominated the hobby in the 80’s and 90’s. Instead of playing with their cards, kids were pushed to put them in protective cases and binders. Look but don’t touch seemed to become the mantra. Before this time, a lot of kids used to take the cards that they got and stuck them into the spokes of their bikes because it made a neat sound. They stuffed them in their pockets to trade with their friends; in other words, they played with them. Cards were damaged… cards were destroyed… cards were lost …

At the same time, manufacturers were making more and more cards. The end result was a glut of cards that really did not have much value. Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly many cards from the 80’s and 90’s that have real value, the problem is that there are just so many cards out there that don’t.

So what does one do with these junk baseball cards? Well, card shops won’t buy them, and if they do, they certainly will not pay much. You could try to sell them online, but again, anyone that searching for baseball cards online probably also knows that they are junk cards. I would suggest the great American garage sale. Package them up in bundles and put a reasonable price on them. Maybe someone who buys them will get the itch to begin collecting and trading baseball cards.

Better yet, just give them to a youngster and let them enjoy baseball cards the way they used to be used, just for fun.

Topps is based in New York City. The company was established in 1939 and originally manufactured gum and tobacco. They produced their first baseball cards in 1951. In 1952, they began including player statistics. For nearly 4 decades they had a monopoly baseball card manufacturing.

Upper Deck was established in 1988, by Paul Sumner, who used his college background of holograms to create the unique upper deck logo on their brand of baseball cards. The glossy finish on their line of baseball cards revolutionized the baseball card industry. Today, they produce baseball cards, as well as cards for international sports teams.

Panini America (formerly known as Donruss) originally produced entertainment cards for Television shows such as “Dallas”, and “Dukes of Hazzard”. The company was founded in 1954. In 1981 The company (then called Donruss) produced their first line of baseball cards. They released their highly acclaimed “Diamond Kings” set in 1982, which became one of their best sellers. They ceased producing baseball cards in 2005.

Fleer was established in 1885. In 1959, they began producing baseball cards. Their first set was released in 1959. The set was elusively of Ted Williams. Fleer was also the only baseball company to produce a Roger Clemens, and Kirby Puckett card back in 1984. Fleer discontinued producing baseball cards in 2007.

These baseball card companies have truly changed the way we connect with athletes forever.

Peck & Snyder were the first company to mass-produce these cards. As a sporting goods retailer, they saw the cards as a way to advertise their merchandise. They used a 3-1/4” by 4- ½” piece of cardboard. On the front, they pasted a sepia-toned picture of the entire 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings team. On the back of the card, they printed advertisements for their company. These cards were handed out free of charge to their prospective customers. Early baseball fans used to paste the cards that they collected onto the pages of their scrapbooks. Other companies saw the success that Peck & Snyder were having and rapidly followed suit.

Tobacco companies entered the baseball card business in the mid 1880’s. The cards served a duel purpose. They advertised the tobacco companies and the stiff pieces of cardboard provided support for the delicate tobacco products. Goodwin and Company is considered to be the first tobacco company to distribute these cards on a national level. The cards advertised Goodwin and Company’s Old Judge and Gypsy Queen brands. These cards were smaller than the ones that Peck & Snyder produced. They were 1-1/2” by 2- ½”. The poses on these cards were staged. Baseball players would stand in front of an artificial backdrop with props and have their picture taken.

You might want to keep that in mind as you collect your cards because you never know where this glorious hobby of collecting baseball cards will take you.

But for now, just sit back and enjoy because there are a lot of nice cards to see …

Of course, that access to a “whole new level” of baseball cards also comes with a new set of risks. The internet provides the ability for fast, virtually nameless, transactions. Unfortunately there are people out there that want to take advantage of this, so be aware. To help you be aware, below are a few helpful hints on purchasing baseball cards via the internet:

1. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is …
2. If you can, purchase or trade cards that have been graded by the premier grading companies like PSA, Beckett, and SCG. If you do not recognize the grading company, contact the company and find out its guarantee policy.
3. Build up a relationship with a reputable seller, maybe via baseball cards shows, and interact with them via the internet the rest of the year.
4. Ask others that you trust, maybe a local baseball card dealer, their opinion on the card and the seller.
5. Most importantly, ask the seller lots of questions on the history of the card and its condition.  Keep in mind that the pictures on the internet could have been doctored and hide the true condition and state of the card.

Even professional collectors have been fooled by items sold on the internet so keep that in mind.  The internet provides access to more information on baseball cards, baseball card collections, and baseball card collectors than ever was previously available.  So take advantage of this information and make your enjoyment of collecting baseball cards even better, but make sure before you buy anything via the web that you have the proper knowledge, comfort with whom you are dealing, and all of your questions answered.

Baseball cards have value for different reasons to different people. When it comes to the value of a baseball card, it is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. With this in mind, you should next visit auction sites to see for how much your card is actually selling. Now one interesting thing you will see is that baseball cards often sell on the auction sites for much less than even the low end book value listed in price guides.

Again, keep in mind, from a monetary perspective a baseball card is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, i.e. why a baseball card may sell for less on an auction site than what the price guide lists. Of course one way to maintain and/or increase the monetary value of your baseball cards is to have them graded.

Keep in mind that the monetary value of a baseball card can be significantly different from its trading value. Where price guides tend to be particularly helpful is in doing trades. This is because collectors tend to rely more on what the price guides says for an equitable trade.

Or, you can judge what condition your cards are in by yourself. Be honest and as accurate as possible and you just might be able sell more cards to the same person. If a card has soft corners or is faded, you can’t price your card as if it were in mint condition. Word does get around in the baseball card collector’s community about good and bad sellers.

After you have checked your cards over real closely, then you’ll want to get a price guide. This guide tells you approximate values of cards in certain condition. A great majority of baseball card collectors own these guides, so when pricing your cards, be ready to get a variety of offers for cards you want to sell.

You’ll want to do some research when pricing your cards. Find out what the same card has been selling for in a number of different places. Then you can adjust your price by whether your card is in better or worse shape. Price cards according to the market.

You may make more money on cards of players who just reached certain milestones in their career, such as their 300th win or 500th homerun. Prices of cards in really good shape definitely go up when milestones are reached.

The best way to start is to find a local shop that sells new packs, sets and individual cards. You can buy a box set from a certain year that’s never been opened. If it’s not opened it’s worth more money. Or you can buy individual cards of some of your favorite players. Of you could start out with rookie cards. Depending on the player, these can be very expensive. Or if you just want to buy some new packs and see what cards you get, that is fun too.

When you figure out what you want to collect, then you can go to trade shows or even online auctions. Be careful with the online auctions though, some people like to scam you. Make sure that whoever is running the site has a good policy to help you if you get ripped off.

This is very important. You have to store your cards. Don’t wrap them in rubber bands or just throw them in an old shoe box. You can get plastic sheets that hold nine cards and the sheets fit into a binder. If you have some real valuable cards, keep them in a fire proof safe or in a safe deposit box.