Saturday, May 14, 2016

Jackie Robinson Still 'Topps' for Baseball Card Collectors in 2016

Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier on April 15, 1947, when he took the field on Opening Day for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Now, 69 years later, Major League Baseball continues to celebrate the Hall of Famer’s historic achievements.

On Friday, April 15, 2016, all players and on-field personnel will wear Number 42, and all MLB clubs will host pre-game ceremonies, including the Los Angeles Dodgers who will host Rachel and Sharon Robinson, the wife and daughter of Jackie Robinson.

The Jackie Robinson 1952 Topps Baseball Card in MINT condition sells for over $50k in the current market. 


1952 topps jackie robinson PSA 9
The rare card is among 407 cards in the widely collected and highly desirable 1952 Topps baseball card set released as part of a plan to draw market share from Bowman Baseball Card Company.
Topps did two things in 1952 in route to putting Bowman out of business.   They designed a set with more cards and larger-sized cards.
Values of near perfect condition baseball cards from the 1952 Topps set continue to increase with many investors seeing cards as an asset class.
Additionally, baby boomers who purchased these cards during their youth are now trying to buy back their childhood memories. These people, who are at retirement age and have disposable income, are targeting key hall of famers such as Mickey Mantle, Eddie Mathews and Jackie Robinson. 
It’s difficult if not impossible to find a mint version of 1952 Topps Jackie Robinson for several reasons.
  1. Kids played with their cards in the ’50s and ’60s.  No one thought about preserving these cards as investments. In fact, most kids inserted the cards into their bicycle spokes, which then made a noise as they rode down the street.
  1. The technology of the printing press was very different in the 1952. Unlike today, every card was not centered top to bottom and left to right in 1952.
  2. The 407 cards in the 1952 set were printed and distributed at different times throughout baseball season. Card #311 (Mickey Mantle’s rookie card) and Card #407 (Eddie Mathews’ rookie card) were distributed at the end of the season when many kids had already spent their allowances or moved on to football season, which was already underway. As a result, many of the last cards in the series were never sold.
This is a very fun set to collect. Good luck!

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