Baseball Cards

Baseball Cards Fact: The most expensive baseball card is the T206 Honus Wagner. The T206 set (the "T" is for tobacco - these cards were included in tobacco sets) was produced from 1909 to 1911. The T206 Wagner has sold for as much as $2 million.

Topps - The biggest and, by many accounts, the best of the baseball card companies, with a history going back to the early 1950s. Also makes the Bowman and Stadium Club brands.

Upper Deck - Upper Deck changed the face of the industry with its slick debut set in the late 1980s. Very popular for its inserts.

Fleer/Skybox - Fleer has been in and out of baseball cards going back to the early '60s, but has been in with both feet since in the mid-1980s. Brands include Flair and E-X.

Donruss - Along with Fleer, broke Topps' monopoly in the early 1980s. Its Diamond King series was one of the first subsets to be collected independently of the larger set. Brands include Leaf.

Baseball Cards on eBay - Buy and sell cards in sets, in packs, singly; by decade, by rookie cards, by graded or ungraded; and in many other ways on eBay. A huge assortment of cards, and plenty of good (and bad) deals.

Yahoo! Auctions - Only about one-tenth the inventory of cards as is on eBay, but still a great place to browse in search of bargains.

Beckett Auctions - Beckett's Sports Collectibles Marketplace includes an Auctions section with a couple thousand baseball card auctions going at any one time.

SportsCollective.com - Another "sportscard marketplace" offers auctions of all types of cards, with a large selection of baseball auctions.

Professional Sports Authenticator - PSA as it is known throughout the hobby is the grandaddy of grading companies, the 800-pound-gorilla. Full-service site with submission center and status updates.

Beckett Grading Services - Beckett Grading, or BGS, has instant cachet with the Beckett name. Has reputation for tough grading.

Sportscard Guaranty - Sportscard Guaranty, or SGC, has earned a reputation for reliability among collectors of pre-war cards in particular.

CTA Grading Experts - CTA offers value prices and claims to be "the world's first grading company with a computer calculated grade."

Advanced Grading Specialists - The Advanced Grading Specialists, or AGS, site isn't fancy. You just get pricing and practices info and downloadable submission forms.

Beckett Price Guides - Beckett is the first name in baseball card price guides. The Beckett Web site offers ordering of price guide books, or you can purchase an online subscription for access to online price guides.

Sports Market Report - "Sports Market Report" is a magazine published by Collectors Universe. It includes articles on baseball cards and other trading cards, plus other sports collectibles, and monthly updates on the pricing of hot cards. Subscribers get online access, too.

The Collecting Channel - In beta form now, CollectingChannel.com offers a pricing search form. Want prices for "Lou Brock" cards? Search for "Lou Brock" and the results will be prices of Lou Brock cards from around the 'Net.

Tuff Stuff Magazine - "Tuff Stuff" is one of the larger national sports card collecting magazine. The Web site doesn't offer much for free. For the price guide information, you'll need to subscribe to the magazine or the Web content.

CollectSports' Price Guides Page - This page on the CollectSports.com Web site is a one-stop-shopping site for baseball card price guides. Find a price guide book you're interested in an place your order. Suggestion: Look for the most recently published guides.