Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Inventory In-Depth: Best Multi-player Cards of the '50's

Modern cards, especially those released in the past ten years to the present, are full of multi-player combinations. That includes modern players with past players, teammates, non-teammates, and every combination in between. However, multi-player cards weren't part of a normal set until the mid-1950's.

Some of the first multi-player cards come from the attractive 1953 Bowman color set. Although Bowman released a small set that year, they did include several multi-player cards. One of the most popular is #44 Mickey Mantle/Hank Bauer/Yogi Berra. The Bowman Gum Company picked a great team for both of the multi-player cards that year (the other was #93 Billy Martin & Phil Rizzuto). The Yankees would win the World Series every year from 1949 to 1953.

Topps issued its first multi-player card in 1954. Card #139 features brothers John and Ed O’Brien, the shortstop and second baseman for the Pirates. Unfortunately for the O'Brien brothers, the Pirates finished last in the NL with a dismal record of 50-104. The O'Brien brothers would both be out of baseball by 1959, but they will always be remembered as the first Topps multi-player card.

In 1957, Topps really got the hang of multi-player cards and one of their best was the #400 Dodgers' Sluggers card, featuring Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Roy Campanella, and Duke Snider. In the two years prior to the release of the 1957 Topps set, the Brooklyn Dodgers had made two World Series appearances, winning one in 1956. Although the Dodgers would be best remembered as a team with outstanding pitching, this unique multi-player card accounted for a total of 116 home runs in 1956.

Please click here to view all of our 1950's singles cards.

Friday, May 27, 2011

1941 Yankees & 1956 Reds Scorebooks

We just got a collection in that had a ton of rare scorebooks and programs from the 1940's to the 1960's and featured many different teams from both the minor and major leagues. Although many of the different programs and scorebooks were very interesting, we found two that were unique.


The first one is a 1941 Yankees scorebook from a game played July 6, 1941 against the Philadelphia Athletics in Yankee Stadium. The scorekeeper apparently attended or kept score for only the first half of the double-header that day. This game was significant because it was game #47 in Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. The scorekeeper correctly noted that DiMaggio was 4-for-5, with the final score 8-4 Yankees, in the game.

The other scorebook that we enjoyed is from the 1956 Redlegs season. The scorecard is dated August 18, 1956 against the Milwaukee Braves. In this game, the scorekeeper recorded only the final box scores and inning totals. The Reds won, blowing out the Milwaukee Braves 13-4 at Crosley field. The lineups for each team are probably the most impressive part of this scorebook. The Braves have Hank Aaron starting in right field and Eddie Mathews at third, while the Reds have Ted Kluszewksi and his biceps at first and rookie Frank Robinson in center field. One of the most interesting aspects of the scorebook itself is actually on the bottom banner ads on the front cover. The Schott- Lippert Buick dealership was partially owned by Charles Schott, who was married to future Reds owner Marge Schott. Marge was a Reds fan her entire life, but would not buy even minority interest in the team for another 25 years.

Please click here to view our entire inventory of MLB team publications.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Inventory In-Depth: Best & Worst Autographed Card

Here at DeansCards.com, we have hundreds of autographed cards and even a few baseballs. Unlike regular baseball cards, autographed cards have a human element to them that can make them more difficult, but also more fun, to collect. There is a wide array of autographed cards that range from high-quality penmanship to scribbles.

One of our least favorite autographed cards came from the 1969 Topps baseball autographed set.  Dean has been hard at work getting as much of this set autographed, but the vast majority of cards came already autographed from a private collectors.  In this case, Reggie Jackson signed over his own face on his rookie card.  This card has been PSA/DNA certified, but it is still incredibly entertaining to see a signature directly on the most important part of a baseball card.

The office favorite is probably this 1967 Topps #423 Fence Busters card featuring Willie Mays and Willie McCovey. At the time this card was issued, Mays had been playing for 16 years, while McCovey had been in the league for about 8 years. In 1966, they hit almost an identical number of home runs (Mays had 37, McCovey had 36). Although Mays' signature is a bit smeared, it still has his easily distinctive signature. We are definitely glad someone took a trip to Candlestick Park and got these two sluggers' signatures.

Please click here to view our entire selection of autographed cards.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

1952 Topps #312 Jackie Robinson


Although we've discussed the 1952 Topps baseball card set many times, both on our blog and in our YouTube videos, we've never had one specific card in stock before: the 1952 Topps #312 Jackie Robinson card. We finally bought one from a collection of about 40 1952 Topps PSA-graded cards. The collector had started the set several years ago, but found that was unable to fund the purchase of additional cards, particularly from the expensive high number series that ranges from cards #311 to 407.

Fortunately for collectors, both the #311 Mickey Mantle and the #312 Jackie Robinson were double printed. Otherwise, both cards would be extremely difficult (and expensive) to find. Coming of his impressive 1951 season in which he batted .338 and led the Dodgers to a second place finish in the National League. In 1952, Robinson would lead the league in on-base percentage and finish in the top 10 for MVP voting for the fourth time (he would win the award once in 1949). According to PSA, this card is one of only 96 that grade PSA 6 EX-MT.

Please click here to view all of our Jackie Robinson baseball cards.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

MLB Team Yearbooks

This week, one of our hottest selling products has been MLB yearbooks. Yearbooks date all the way back to the thirties. The earliest that we can locate belong to the Chicago Cubs and Tigers from 1934. Many teams would be regularly printing yearbooks by 1947. Yearbooks are popular because they feature not only players, coaches, and front office staff from that year, but also some great advertisements and cover art.

One office favorite comes from the 1953 Senators team. At the time this yearbook was published, the Washington Senators were coming off of a very average year in which they 2 games over .500 and 5th in the AL. The team did not have many players that stood out as above-average, as demonstrated by the fact that none of their starters batted over .290 and their pitchers had a pedestrian 3.37 ERA as a team. However, their 1953 yearbook features some of our favorite cover art. It shows the U.S. Capitol Building blasting through a baseball and bat. Although the 1953 Senators team wouldn't accomplish much, their yearbook was definitely great.

One of the most expensive yearbooks from the 1960's is the 1961 Yankees yearbook. As most baseball fans know, 1961 was an outstanding year for both Yankees sluggers Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris as well as the team. The Yankees would go on to finish first in the AL and then win the World Series, beating the Reds in 5 games. The yearbook itself is fairly simple, featuring Yankee stadium with red, white, and blue colors overlaid.

With our office located in Cincinnati, we are partial to all Reds memorabilia, particularly those from the era of the Big Red Machine. The 1977 Reds yearbook features some of the key players on the Big Red Machine, including George Foster, Joe Morgan, and Johnny Bench. At the start of the 1977 season, Reds fans were enjoying back-to-back World Series wins as well as back-to-back MVP awards for Joe Morgan.

Please click here to view all of our MLB team yearbooks and media guides.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Kahn's Baseball Cards



From 1955 until 1969, the Kahn's company issued fifteen baseball sets, in addition to nine basketball sets. Kahn's was headquartered in Cincinnati until it was purchased by Consolidated Foods in 1966. The 1955 and 1956 Kahn's sets feature only the hometown Reds. The Pirates were included starting in 1957 and the Phillies in 1958. The Indians were added in 1959, followed by both the Chicago Cubs and White Sox in 1960. The 1961 Kahn's set dropped the number of teams to the Reds, Indians, and Pirates. In 1962, Kahn's added the Minnesota Twins to the set. The 1963 set was unusual, as it included the Reds, Indians, Pirates, and, for the first time, the Yankees and the Cardinals. The 1964 set was the first to introduce color and featured only Reds, Pirates, and Indians players. The 1965 and 1966 set added the Milwaukee Braves before they moved to Atlanta at the end of the 1965 season. The 1967 set had numerous variations and included the Braves, Reds, Indians, Mets, and Pirates. The 1968 set added the Tigers and both Chicago teams to the previous year's set. And the final year of vintage Kahn's cards featured the Braves, Cubs, White Sox, Reds, Indians, Pirates, and Cardinals.

All Kahn's cards are somewhat hard to find because they were packaged with hot dogs, so many of the cards have stains from the grease and water that were in the packaging. Some of the first few years have a waxy coating that protected them from the juice, but most cards that have survived are low-grade. If you are interested in selling any Kahn's cards, please click here.

Friday, May 20, 2011

2011 Topps Factory Set Preview

The 2011 Topps Factory Sets are scheduled to released July 20th, making it one of the latest of the major Topps products to be released in 2011. The key addition to the factory will be the five red numbered parallel cards that will feature Albert Pujols, Ichiro, Buster Posey, Alex Rodriguez, and Josh Hamilton.

The factory set will have the base set of 660 cards (series 1 and 2) in addition to the red numbered parallel cards. The factory set is scheduled to be released following the 2011 All Star game in Phoenix.

Please click here to view our 2011 Topps Series 1 & 2!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Dean Hosts Bronson Arroyo at the Green Diamond Gallery


Last Thursday, Dean got the chance to sponsor another Green Diamond Gallery event, this time featuring Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo. Dean got to introduce Bronson, who has been with the Reds for the past six seasons and won at least nine games each year. Bronson got to talk about his time playing for the Boston Red Sox and winning the 2004 World Series. He also showed the audience how to throw one of his famous curve balls and even got to sing and play guitar. Dean said he thoroughly enjoyed the stories about the current Reds team and pitching staff.

The next day, Bronson started the game against the St. Louis Cardinals, and, although he didn't get the W, the Reds won in extra innings.  Please click here to view our entire selection of Bronson Arroyo baseball cards.  Click here to read about Dean's previous Green Diamond Event experience hosting Dave Parker.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Harmon Killebrew Baseball Cards

In honor of the late great Harmon Killebrew, we thought we would look back at some of Killer's best of his cards from his 22-year career.

The best place to start for Killebrew's cards would have to be his rookie card (#124) in the 1955 Topps set. At the time this card was printed, Killebrew was playing third base for the Washington Senators. He would spend most of his career as a first baseman for the Twins franchise, which was moved from Washington D.C. to Minnesota in 1960. Killebrew played left field, center field, right field, second base, and even DH for the Royals at the end of his career. Many casual baseball fans are surprised to learn that Killebrew's career took several years to really blossom and he was not named an All-Star until 5 years after his rookie season.

One of Killebrew's most attractive and expensive cards is his 1963 Topps #500 short-printed card. 1963 was another great offensive year for Killebrew. He lead the league in slugging percentage (.555) and home runs (45). Looking at the Twins' offensive statistics for 1963, it is hard to understand why this team didn't achieve more in the postseason. However, the 1963 Yankees' offense and the pitching of the 1963 Dodgers was just too much for the Twins.

Killebrew's #375 1969 Topps card is one of the most important of his entire career. Killebrew would win the AL MVP Award after helping lead the Twins to the ALCS, which they would lose to the Baltimore Orioles in three games. Killebrew would lead the league in both home runs (49) and RBI (140). Although the Twins would lose the only World Series that they went to with Killebrew on the roster in 1965, he will always be remember for his great postseason performances.

Please click here to view our entire inventory of Harmon Killebrew cards.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

1933 U.S. Caramel Baseball Cards


One of the rarest sets from the 1930's is the 1933 U.S. Caramel (R328) card sets. Nearly impossible to complete due to the #16 Charles Lindstrom card, there are 32 cards in the set, which includes boxers, baseball players, and golfers. Some of the most notable athletes in this set are Roger Hornsby, Ty Cobb, Jack Dempsey, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth.

The U.S. Caramel Company was located in Boston and was one of the last companies to produce a caramel card set. Bubble gum was quickly becoming more popular and the success of the Goudey gum cards released that same year would quickly overtake caramel and tobacco cards.

The cards feature a distinctive red background on the front and, on the back, a short athlete biography, including stats, and a short redemption offer. These cards can be easily identified by the phrase "United States Caramel Co., East Boston, Mass."

Currently, we have a #23 Jimmie Foxx in stock. Please click here to view our entire selection of 1933 U.S. Caramel Cards.

Monday, May 16, 2011

2011 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball Cards Preview

One of the most popular retro-themed modern sets is the Topps Allen & Ginter. The card are designed after the N28 and N29 cards that featured everything from baseball players to swimmers, runners, and wrestlers.  The 2011 Allen & Ginter set is scheduled to be released July 15.

The 2011 Allen & Ginter cards have several new insert cards. The inserts are all new, including Animal in Peril, Portraits in Penultimacy, World's Most Mysterious Figures, Flora of the World, Step Right Up, Uninvited Guests, Floating Fortresses, The Minds That Made the Future, The Ascent of Man, and Hometown Heroes. There are also new over-sized relic cabinet cards that have been die-cut into the shape of states that can be pieced together to form a map of the United States. And, of course, there are Topps 60th Anniversary cards that have the signature of the 60 players, both past and present, wishing Topps a Happy Birthday.

The usual Allen & Ginter cards make up the base set: 270 veterans, 30 rookies, 15 historical figures, and 35 non-baseball athletes. Parallel cards include Woody Hobby, Cloth Hobby, Bazooka, Un-numbered, Black Border, Replica Back, and Mini. Printing plates, relic cards, and DNA relic cards can all be found framed in hobby boxes.

Please click here to view our current selection of 2011 Topps baseball cards.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Just In: 1933 DeLong Gum Lou Gehrig

The 1933 DeLong Gum baseball card set was originally released in 1933 and featured 24 of the biggest stars of the time period. One of the most prominent players in the set was #7 Lou Gehrig. At the time, Gehrig was in the middle of his career. The Yankees had just won the 1932 World Series over the Chicago Cubs in a decisive four game sweep. For his part, Gehrig had batted .349 in the 1932 regular season.

The DeLong Gum series is the only one released by the DeLong Gum Company of Boston. Of the 24 cards in the series, an incredible 15 players are now in the Hall of Fame. The cards do not have a player biography on the back, but instead have baseball tips written by Austen Lake, the editor of the Boston Transcript, a daily afternoon Boston newspaper. The cards are occasionally mistaken for a Play Ball set because they have the phrase "Play Ball Gum is as pure and as fine quality as any made -- contains real chicle." The DeLong Gum Company had no affiliation with the Gum, Inc. Company, which was based in Philadelphia and would not released its first set until 1939.

Please click here to view the #7 Lou Gehrig DeLong Gum baseball card.  Please click here to view our DeLong Gum reprint cards.

1967 Topps Rookie Cards

Right now, we have more 1967 Topps baseball cards high number and rookie cards that we have ever had in stock. The 1967 Topps set is one of the most difficult to complete due to the high number seventh series, which consists of cards #534-609. The high number series was not released in all parts of the country, was short printed, and was released at a time when the football season was just starting. These three factors make it very difficult to find any seventh series cards.

The 1967 Topps star cards are mostly head-shots. Cards #150 Mickey Mantle, #200 Willie Mays, and #400 Roberto Clemente are all three tight head-shots. Card #45 Roger Maris is the first to show him as a St. Louis Cardinal. He would play for the Cardinals for another 2 years. Some of the most attractive cards are #250 Hank Aaron and #430 Pete Rose. Both Rose and Aaron are shown in their batting stances. Aaron looks like he may be taking batting practice, while Rose is standing with his back to the outfield of what could be spring training outfield.

The 1967 Topps baseball card set has several key rookie cards.  Card #569 Rod Carew and  #581 Tom Seaver are part of the high number series, so both can be very difficult to find.

Please click here to view our entire inventory of 1967 Topps baseball cards.


Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Hostess Baseball Cards

Some of our most popular vintage cards were originally found on food products. One of the best examples is the Post Cereal cards that were printed on the boxes of cereals. From 1975 to 1979 and then on-and-off in the 1980's and 1990's, Hostess Brands, Inc. printed baseball and hockey cards on the backs of some of their snacks. Cards could be found printed in panels of three on several different types of baked snack products.  Because the cards were usually cut out by children, it can be somewhat difficult to find an individual card in pristine condition.

The cards themselves have a very simple design - large picture on the front with a name, team, and position and stats on the back. The sets consist of 150 cards each and feature some of the most popular players from the 1970's. There are plenty of short prints in the sets, which can cost several times what the regular prints cost. The Twinkie cards are also especially popular and a set of Twinkie cards can cost up to $200 in nice condition.

Please click here to see our entire inventory of Hostess baseball cards.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

1959 Fleer Ted Williams Baseball Card Set

Card #80
Card #2
One of the most memorable Boston Red Sox players of all time, Ted Williams, was immortalized in the 1959 Fleer baseball card set. The set consists of 80 cards total. Each card commemorates an event or period of time in Williams' life.

After a 17-career that was interrupted twice by military service, Ted Williams was planning on retiring after the 1960 season, so the Fleer Gum Company issued its very first card set after signing a contract with Williams. Topps had signed most of the other players to their contracts at the time, so it was lucky for Fleer that Williams was willing to allow them to print his cards.

Card #68
The set itself has only a few cards that are difficult to find. The #1 card, which shows a young Williams with his friends, presumably in his childhood home of San Diego, can be hard to find in nice condition. Card #2 shows Williams meeting Babe Ruth. Although their playing careers never overlapped, Ruth was supportive of Williams and even declared him to the 1939 Rookie of the Year even though that award did not exist at the time. The #68 card is unusual because of the circumstances that make it rare. Williams is shown signing a contract with Red Sox GM Bucky Harris, who was under contract with Topps for 1959. This forced Fleer to pull the card mid-production and, therefore, very few exist. The final #80 card is also somewhat hard to find. It shows Williams looking at a painting of himself.

This is the first time we've ever had so many Near Mint and Near Mint/Mint 1959 Fleer cards in stock. To see our entire inventory of 1959 Fleer cards, please click here.

Monday, May 9, 2011

2011 Topps Series 2 Baseball Cards

Several months ago, we wrote a blog about the 2011 Topps Series 1, so we decided to preview Series 2, which is scheduled to be released on June 8th. Because it is the second series, there really aren't many surprises, but the set builds on themes established in the first series.

There are some new insert sets that are included in the Series 2. "Before There Was Topps" explores the world of baseball cards prior to Topps' first major set in 1952 (or '51, depending on your definition of "major"). "Diamond Stars", the name of set originally released in 1934-36 by the Goudey Gum Company, consists of 25 of the best players today. The "Hall of Fame Buybacks" cards are original Topps cards randomly inserted into packs. The "Dual Relics" insert consists of two players on one card with one relic piece each. Finally, there are also Platinum and Canary Diamond Anniversary Parallel cards that are parallels of both Series 1 and 2.

Collectors can also expect to see Kimball's Champions, 60th Anniversary Autograph cards, Diamond Duos, and Glove Leather cards. These cards are a continuation of the Series 1 inserts. Some notable players who have their base card in Series 2 are Jason Heyward, Brandon Phillips, Francisco Liriano, Evan Longoria, Jose Reyes, Joe Mauer, Prince Fielder, Josh Hamilton, and Tim Lincecum.

Please click here to see our entire 2011 Topps Series 1 inventory.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Willie Mays Baseball Cards

As Willie Mays celebrates his 80th birthday, the staff here at DeansCards.com decided to take a look at some of his best baseball cards over his 22-year-career for the Giants and the Mets. With the Giants, Mays won Rookie of the Year in 1951 and the NL MVP twice (1954 and 1965). Mays finished in the top 20 of the MVP voting 15, was named to the All-Star team 18 times, was given the Gold Glove Award 12 times, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979.

The logical place to start is with Mays' rookie card. Released in 1951 along with Mickey Mantle's rookie card, the 1951 Bowman is a horizontal card, which is somewhat unusual for the 1951 Bowman cards. It shows Mays about to swing, standing in front of some sort of cloth, perhaps for batting practice. Mays would be part of the first all African-American outfield in history. In 1952, Mays would be drafted by the U.S. Army and miss most of the 1952 and 1953 baseball season.

During the 1954 World Series, Mays made one of the most memorable catches of the decade and perhaps the entire century. Because there were no World Series recap cards like their would be in many 1960's sets, this catch would not be commemorate for several more years. One card that gives a great view of the over-the-shoulder catch is the #427 1961 Nu-Card Scoops. The Nu-Card Scoops set was intended to give a visual overview of some of the greatest plays in the past few decades of Major League Baseball.

Although Mays wold have cards all the way through the 1973 Topps set, one of our favorites is the simple #5 1958 Topps card. The 1958 Topps set is the first to feature cards from the San Francisco Giants team. The New York Giants franchise moved to San Francisco during the summer of 1957, leaving New York City with only one baseball team until the Mets arrived 1962. The 1958 Mays card is one of the few head-shots of the center fielder. Mays still looks the young, vibrant athlete that so many remember.

Please click here to see our full selection of Willie Mays baseball cards.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

1957 Topps Baseball Checklists

Bazooka checklist 3/4
The popular 1957 Topps baseball card set is one of the most attractive sets of the 1950's. Many collectors forget that even complete 1957 Topps sets are usually missing something - the checklists. 1957 was one of the last years to include unnumbered checklists separately. Although the 1958 Topps set did have unnumbered contests cards and felt emblems, they also had team checklists. PSA acknowledges that there are very few surviving 1957 Topps checklists, probably because, since they were unnumbered and looked like an advertisement for gum, would have been the first casualties of the 1957. Additionally, they were intended to be used as checklists, so young collectors would have been eager to start marking them up and taking inventory of their collection.

May 22 contest card
The checklists remind collectors of exactly what baseball cards were still selling in the 1950's - bubble gum. There are advertisements for several different brands of gum. There are two checklists with Blony gum and two for Bazooka, each with a different back. Topps also included three different contests cards that could be identified by the date listed as the deadline for the contest, as well as a lucky penny card that could be redeemed for a penny holder that came with a 1957 penny inside.


Right now, we have several different checklists and one of the contest cards in stock. Please click here to see the rest of our 1957 Topps baseball cards.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Inventory In-Depth: Best Basketball Cards

#75 Lew Alcindor

#61 Oscar Robertson
In honor of the 2011 NBA Playoffs, we though we would take a look at some of our favorite basketball cards that we have in stock. We are always trying to buy more basketball cards, but we have found that they can be very hard to find, especially from the 1950's and 1960's.

One of our hometown basketball heroes is Oscar Robertson, so of course we love his 1961-62 Fleer basketball card. Many basketball fans remember that the current Sacramento Kings franchise was located in Cincinnati for fifteen years (1957 to 1972). Cincinnatians had the opportunity to watch Oscar Robertson play to a 79-9 record during his three varsity seasons at University of Cincinnati and then average a triple-double for the Royals during the 1961-62 season.
#57 Michael Jordan RC

Another office favorite comes from the memorable 1970-71 Topps basketball card set, which consists of the tall-sized cards. The #75 Lew Alcindor card is the very last card to feature that name because Alcindor would go on to change is name to Kareem Abdul-Jabar after the Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Championship in 1971. Alcindor also won his first of six MVP Awards.

And, of course, we couldn't leave out our Michael Jordan rookie card from the 1986-87 Fleer set. Although Jordan made his rookie debut with the Chicago Bulls in 1984, this card is considered to be his rookie Fleer card because it was the first basketball set that Fleer released in the 1980's.

To check out these cards and many other basketball cards, please click here.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

1938 Goudey Heads-Up Baseball Cards

#274 Joe DiMaggio
We currently have the most 1938 Goudey Heads-Up cards that we have ever had in stock, including two #274 Joe DiMaggio cards. In 1938, the Goudey Gum Company was starting to wind down its production of cards. They would produce only one more set in 1941. The 1938 set had some of the most unusual artwork ever produced on a baseball card. A realistic looking head was placed on a cartoon body and then, for the second series only, some tiny cartoons and phrases were written in the background.
#264 Bob Feller

The Goudey Gum Company decided to release these cards as a secondary set to the popular 1933 set. They would release two cards for all 24 players and number the cards 241-288. This numbering system meant that there would be two rookie cards for several players, including Bob Feller. Other stars in this set include Joe DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg, and Jimmie Foxx. Please click here to see our entire collection of 1938 Goudey Heads-Up baseball cards.  To see the reprint cards, please click here.

Monday, May 2, 2011

1941 Goudey Baseball Cards

The 1941 Goudey baseball card set is the last Goudey card set that was ever released. Goudey had made some of the best gum cards in its eight years of operation, so this set was somewhat of a disappointment. The set itself appears to be small at first glance, as it includes only 33 total players. However, there are four possible solid background colors for each card. The cards can come in blue, red, green, or yellow. According to PSA, the red background is the most difficult to find, while the other three colors are all equally abundant.

The 1941 Goudey set, or R324 set, is not popular with collectors for several reasons. It can be very difficult to build a master set with all four colors, but once the set is built, there are only two stars (Mel Ott and Carl Hubbell). These cards are also the only Goudey issue to have blank cardboard backs. Finally, many of the cards have rough edges or are badly miscut.

This type of card would go out of style, leading the Play Ball cards, which featured much nicer photographs and backs. However, these cards represent the end of the Goudey era, which gave collectors many wonderful sets to enjoy. Please click here if you are interested in viewing our inventory of 1941 Goudey cards. Please click here to see our selection of 1941 Goudey reprint cards.