Friday, August 30, 2013

Baseball Card Scans Eliminate Surprises: Dean’s Cards Baseball Card News

by Dean Hanley
Founder and Owner, Dean's Cards

As a long-time baseball card collector, I know how disappointing it can be to buy a baseball card or baseball card set expecting it to be at a certain grade – and then be disappointed when the actual card or set arrives and it is a far lower grade than you expected.

At Dean’s Cards, we try to eliminate surprises by providing scans of the ACTUAL CARDS we sell throughout our site. The policy I put in place is pretty easy to understand – “What you see is what you get!” The high quality scans show any imperfections on the front and back of each baseball card. All vintage cards in our inventory are sleeved and identified with a serial number so we can make sure we send you the actual card you have reviewed and then purchased online.

Our in-house grading team reviews all cards and follows the same standards as PSA as we custom-build Complete Sets, Near Complete Sets, Starter Sets, and Team Sets by hand. But we go one step further by considering the “eye appeal” of a card into the grade we assign. The video below shows an in-house grading  training session to give you a feel for how meticulous our grading process is.

But we also have gone one step further to add value to your baseball card purchases from Dean’s Cards. You can access ACTUAL IMAGES of any vintage card you purchase from Dean’s Cards by scanning the "QR Code" on the sleeve of your baseball card with a smart phone or tablet.

The QR Code is our first step in developing proprietary card collecting software, so you can organize your collections, and view images and vital statistics of the cards in your collection. Our goal is to bring all the advantages of technology to you to help easily share your cards with others and view your cards easily on your smart device.

Bringing Baseball Card Collecting into the 21st Century

Before we introduced QR code tracking, we only had the stock images for the vintage baseball cards listed online, but now each and every vintage baseball card has been professionally graded and is accompanied by a full front and back scan. And for your high end baseball cards, you can use the scans to help insure your collection.
Front and back scans show imperfections so "What you see is what you get!"
As we continue to add more features to the QR scan technology, we will share the news through our website, this blog, email newsletter, Google+Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Our goal at Dean's Cards is to provide you with a simple, cost effective and enjoyable way to build your collections. We’re excited about the technological advancements we have made for you and look forward to continue adding value to your purchases from Dean’s Cards.

How to View Baseball Card Images on DeansCards.com

As you search for cards on our site, you will see actual images of the cards in our inventory. When you click on the images, you will see enlarged scans of the front and back of each card. This feature allows you to inspect and compare the condition of each card before you make your purchase.

Dean's Cards has made this investment in advanced technology because we want to take the guesswork out of your baseball card purchase. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve our products and our service to you, please contact Dean’s Cards here.

Dean Hanley, founder and owner of DeansCards.com, is considered one of the foremost experts on the subject of vintage baseball cards, other sports and non-sports cards and has a regular column in the Sports Collectors Digest and publishes articles on his blog. Dean has also written two books on vintage sports cards: The Bubble Gum Card War: The Great Bowman & Topps Sets from 1948 to 1955 and Before There Was Bubble Gum: Our Favorite Pre-World War I Baseball Cards.

Friday, August 23, 2013

1957 Topps Baseball Cards Rare Near Mint (7.5) PSA Graded Complete Set Available: Dean's Cards

by Dean Hanley
Founder and Owner, Dean's Cards
All cards in this rare 1957 Topps set are graded by PSA, SGC, and GAI.
A high quality, fully graded set like this doesn’t come along every day…

Dean's Cards just added a set you rarely see -- a complete PSA graded Near Mint (NM+ - 7.5) 1957 Topps Baseball Complete Set.

This is easily the finest 1957 Topps Baseball Complete Set that has ever been our pleasure to offer to the public. Most sets of this quality never reach the open market. All of the cards are graded and none of the cards in this set grade below 7 - Near Mint.

Although the set has a weighted average grade of 7.40, many of the cards could actually grade higher.  We saw only a couple of cards that could possibly grade lower.  Of the 407 cards in the set, 381 were graded by PSA, 10 by SGC, and 16 by GAI. The only star card, that was not graded by PSA is Roy Campanella.

The 1957 Topps set contains 407 cards, each measuring 2 ½" by 3 ½" -- and 1957 was the first year for this measurement which is what we know today as the standard card size. The front of the card features a large vertical color photo of the player, with the player's name, team and position at the bottom of the card. The back of each card features the player's biographical information and statistical history.

The 1957 set includes the first star combination cards featuring major players from the 1956 World Series - #400 Dodgers Sluggers and #407 Yankees' Power Hitters. Due to an extremely expensive 4th series (265-352) a complete 1957 Topps baseball set is difficult to find in any condition.

The 1957 Topps set includes six Hall of Fame rookie cards.
The 1957 set includes rookie cards for six Hall of Famers:
#338 Jim Bunning
#18 Don Drysdale
#29 Whitey Herzog
#24 Bill Mazeroski
#328 Brooks Robinson
#35 Frank Robinson.

The 1957 Topps set is loaded with 33 Hall of Fame players, including: Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, Luis Aparicio, Willie Mays, Robin Roberts, Don Drysdale, Hank Aaron, Bill Mazeroski, Whitey Ford, Whitey Herzog, Pee Wee Reese, Frank Robinson, Nellie Fox, Early Wynn, Ernie Banks, Dick Williams, Richie Ashburn, Roberto Clemente, Larry Doby, Warren Spahn, Mickey Mantle, Will Harridge, Bob Lemon, Al Kaline, Red Schoendienst, Duke Snider, Hoyt Wilhelm, Roy Campanella, Enos Slaughter, George Kell, Eddie Mathews, Sandy Koufax, Brooks Robinson, and Jim Bunning.
The 1957 Topps set features 33 Hall of Fame players.
If you purchased these cards individually in the Dean's Cards Web Store, the cost would be $42,529.94 -- but we are offering this rare complete set for $19,499.99.

Dean's Cards has recently dropped prices throughout our site by up to 30 percent. You can click here to see all of the Complete Sets we offer.

And you can search through our collection of more than 1.5 million baseball cards here.

Dean Hanley, founder and owner of DeansCards.com, is considered one of the foremost experts on the subject of vintage baseball cards, other sports and non-sports cards and has a regular column in the Sports Collectors Digest and publishes articles on his blog. Dean has also written two books on vintage sports cards: The Bubble Gum Card War: The Great Bowman & Topps Sets from 1948 to 1955 and Before There Was Bubble Gum: Our Favorite Pre-World War I Baseball Cards.