Trading Card Collecting

History

Trading cards were first used as marketing devices for products such as cigarettes and tea in the 1880s in the United States and Great Britain. These cards served dual purposes: they were advertisements for manufacturers of packaged products, and sturdy reinforcement for the packaging itself. While the physical dimensions of trading cards varied during their first several decades, today, the standard trading card size is 2½ inches by 3½ inches.

Despite their origins as advertisements, trading cards have been collectible ever since they were introduced to the market. Early subjects of collectible cards include illustrations or photographs of historic events, famous adventurers, wild animals and deadly insects, and, most famously, sports figures. Baseball cards—perhaps the most collected of all trading cards and important sports memorabilia—were originally available in tobacco packaging, but, because of their popularity among young children, were also manufactured by more "wholesome" entities such as candy companies; eventually, the tobacco card became a thing of the past.

Although they had always been popular among children and adolescents, trading cards didn't become widely available until the 1930s and 1940s, when several companies began creating them on a regular basis and in large numbers, usually in sets. Today, vintage trading card series created by Goudey, Bowman, Topps (whose 1952 set of baseball cards are highly prized among collectors) and others are prized by collectors. Common subjects of trading cards from this era include famous athletes, film stars, legendary Indian chiefs, and popular newspaper or radio serials, such as "Tarzan of the Apes." Little has changed in the past sixty years: trading cards marketed in 2006 include series featuring the "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" film franchises, NASCAR drivers and pop music stars, among many other subjects.

For most of the twentieth century, sports cards dominated the American trading card industry, but in the twenty-first century, a different sort of trading card has become quite popular—the collectible card game. Card games such as Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Pokemon have proved to be of enormous interest to collectors, and the majority of young people who get into card collecting do so through these games, rather than the traditional sports cards.

Today's trading card collector has a wealth of resources for collecting available online and in bookstores, as well as specialty shops and many trading card conventions that take place worldwide.

Things to Look For

Trading cards are graded according to a strict set of guidelines by people who are neither collectors nor dealers, a practice that is designed to protect both parties, since quality and standards can vary so widely. Within this system, a high grade might be 9.7 out of 10—this would be the grade for a card that is in "mint" condition and has flaws that are barely even visible to a non-expert. Packaged cards are not graded, since they have yet to be handled outside the factory setting.

Another common system involves terminology such as "mint" (for a very well-maintained card that appears brand new), "excellent" or "near-excellent" (for a card that contains only minor flaws), down to "fair" or "poor" (for cards that are ripped or have blunt edges or some other noticeable flaw).

A number of factors determine scarcity, including the amount of cards that were issued. Typically, more valuable cards have either been kept from market for long periods of time or were fewer in number to begin with, as in the case of "limited edition" sets. In the contemporary trading card market, scarcity is often manufactured; many companies have been guilty of flooding the market with limited edition sets that were, in fact, all too common, fooling many a collector into parting with hard-earned money for what was essentially a worthless "valuable."

Trends

The grading of trading cards is a recent trend. Prior to the grading system, collectors relied on the sole discretion of dealers regarding condition, and paid whatever was asked.

A very important trend since the early 1990s is the rise of the Internet as a way to find and purchase long-sought-after trading cards. Prior to the Internet, collectors hunted for trading cards by looking through auction lists, mail order catalogues, and newspaper and magazine ads, with the occasional trip to card conventions. With the creation of such websites as eBay, the trading card collector now has access to virtually every card imaginable. An auction site specifically for trading cards of all kinds, PWCC, was founded in 1998.

Other popular movements over the last few years include the inception of such gimmicks as holographic cards; the inclusion of signature cards; "heritage" cards (reproductions of vintage cards); collecting highly obscure cards, such as one-time editions of college football teams; and the use of authentication and grading services.

Collecting Trading Cards for Fun vs. Profit

The difference between collecting trading cards for fun or for profit can be a vast gulf. Trading for profit may mean deciding that the grade of a card is more important than its place in a collection, since in today's market a graded card may hold considerable sway over the value of one's collection. The blunt-edged or slightly ripped 1959 Topps card at the mall baseball card shop may look appealing, especially when it's priced at $10, but a larger investment will purchase a 9.2-graded card that will probably increase in value at a faster pace over the next few years. In addition, if profit is a motive, then one must be able to discriminate between what is "hot" and what is not: the trading cards issued during Operation Desert Storm may have been an effective way to show one's patriotic inclinations in 1991, but in 2006, they are nearly useless as an investment.

The decision of whether or not to collect for fun or profit may ultimately rest on one's own deal-making skills, an eye for value, and fortitude in holding onto things for what may turn out to be a long time. It's worth noting that many collectors become dealers over time, but also that many dealers view trading cards as mere commodities.

Learning More

Kaufeld, John and Jeremy Smith. Trading Card Games for Dummies. Indianapolis: For Dummies, 2006.

Payne, Mike. 300 Great Baseball Cards of the 20th Century: A Historical Tribute by the Hobby's Most Relied Upon Source. New York: Beckett Publications, 1999.

Sullivan, Paul. "Trading Cards: A Hobby That Became a Multimillion-Dollar Investment." The New York Times, 23 Mar. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/your-money/trading-cards-investment.html. Accessed 22 July 2019.