HOW TO IDENTIFY VINTAGE CARDS 

Ok... What the heck card do I have here???

You bought an antique dresser and when pulling out a drawer you found this card stuck in the back. Well, you might assume that it is a baseball card, and you would be right! The card measures 2-1/2" (width) x 3-1/2" (height). Looking at the card front it is quite colorful and it features a certain Yankees Outfielder ("OF") by the name of "Mickey MANTLE." There is a large portrait and a smaller circular photo of the player as well. So, we know the card is MICKEY MANTLE (hopefully you have heard of him, but if not, you have found a cardboard treasure!). That is your PLAYER (or SUBJECT) which you need to identify the card. 

Who issued the card? This will be your MANUFACTURER. Flip the card over and look at the back. In the top left corner you will see "TOPPS" above a number (this is the card NUMBER. The card is #200). There is also a copyright "T.C.G. Printed In U.S.A." in bottom right corner. "T.C.G." stands for TOPPS CHEWING GUM, so you definitely have a TOPPS gum card. So we now know we have a PLAYER (Mickey Mantle), MANUFACTURER/COMPANY (TOPPS) and CARD# (200).  The card is a TOPPS #200 MICKEY MANTLE. Now all we need is the YEAR the card was issued.

The YEAR the card was issued is not obvious so you have to look at the latest year of stats. Topps and most other card manufacturers issued baseball cards at the beginning of the baseball season, so the statistics will be from the PREVIOUS year. Looking at the back of the card we see that the latest statistics are from the year 1962. So this card was issued in 1963 (YEAR of issue). Now we have all we need to identify this card. We have a 1963 TOPPS #200 MICKEY MANTLE baseball card! 

Is there a way to be sure? Yes! The ONLINE method: Type your card (1963 TOPPS #200 MICKEY MANTLE) in your SEARCH ENGINE. Immediately you will see quite a few cards exactly like yours. You can click on "IMAGES" and sure enough this is a 1963 TOPPS #200 MICKEY MANTLE. You can also go to a site like psacard.com (Professional Sports Authenticator) using their "CARD FACTS" feature (Just type in "1963 TOPPS 2OO MICKEY MANTLE PSA" in your Search engine and you will see a link to PSA CARD FACTS. There are also websites such as the Trading Card Database (tcdb.com)  you can use to identify your cards. Type in their Search "Mickey Mantle" and then type in the year of the card. And bingo up comes a 1963 Topps #200 Mickey Mantle!

The "OLD SCHOOL" method (for old geezers (like yours truly): Using my well-used & dog-eared 2013 copy of SCD STANDARD CATALOG OF BASEBALL CARDS, I look up "TOPPS" in the "T" Section and find the Topps section starts at 1948 and goes all the way to 1980! It is the biggest section of the Catalog (like I said earlier, TOPPS is the largest producer of Baseball cards). So I go to the year 1963 and on page 485 I find "1963 TOPPS." There is a sample photo of a 1963 TOPPS baseball card (both front & back), description of the card, including number of cards in the set, measurements (standard 2-1/2" x 3-1/2") and other desriptions and highlights of the set. Below that, every card is listed in number order, from card #1 (N.L. Batting Leaders) to card #576 (Johnny Temple). I find card number 200 and indeed, card #200 is MICKEY MANTLE. Confirmed! Let's try to identify another card...

• In this case the solution would be to use either the online or "old school" method. Online: Type "TOPPS #75 SANDY AMOROS" in your Search engine. And lo and behold you will see images (if not, click the "Images" tab) of your card. It identifies it as a 1955 Topps #75 Sandy Amoros baseball card. All of the 1955 Topps baseball cards will be of the same format; slightly larger card size than standard 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" and in a horizontal card design. There is a team logo in one of the top corners, a large and smaller photo of the player, a facsimile autograph, and the player's name, position and team in the bottom panel. If you use the "old school" method, you can scroll through the Topps section ("Brooklyn Dodgers" narrows the card year to 1948 to 1957 for TOPPS cards). And there on page 462 is "1955 TOPPS" and there is a sample card of the great ROBERTO CLEMENTE (Rookie card). It doesn't have a picture of the card back, but the front is similar to our 1955 Topps card. If we check out card number 75 it shows that the player is Sandy Amoros, so yes, we have a 1955 TOPPS #75 SANDY AMOROS bubble gum card. 

Don't let the missing year discourage you- this is a very unusual case as Topps usually has the year shown next to the statistics. After a while of handling cards, you become so accustomed to TOPPS cards that you automatically now what year the card is. I can do this with every Topps regular issue from 1948 to 1993 because I have been in this hobby for quite a while, but after that I would have to check the last year of statistics to determine what year the card was issued. If you want to learn more about Topps cards just use your online sleuthing skills to identify cards. It is quite easy to identify TOPPS cards, and chances are pretty good that the cards you have are just that. It should be noted that Topps also issued most mainstream FOOTBALL cards from 1955 to the present day, BASKETBALL cards (in 1957, then 1969-1981, 1992 to present), HOCKEY cards 1950's to present), even a BOXING set called "Topps Ringside" in 1951! Not to mention the myriads of NON-SPORTS cards they issued from the 1950's to the present day. From Elvis to the Beatles, movies ("Alien," "Star Wars"), TV shows ("Happy Days," "Batman"), history ("Topps Civil War," "Green Berets," "Man on the Moon")... you name it, Topps has probably done trading cards of it! Let's do a non-baseball card this time. How 'bout some FOOTBALL!

• Front of card- Identifying Topps FOOTBALL cards is exactly like we did with Topps Baseball cards. This card measures typical standard size 2-1/2" x 3-1/2," which is the size of most cards from 1957 to the present day. This card has bright red borders with the player's name (JOE NAMATH) at the top of a color photo. There is a small cartoon figure of a Quarterback and in large yellow type is the team's name (JETS). Underneath is the player's position (Quarterback) and NFL League (either N.F.C. or A.F.C.). What we have is a football card featuring JOE NAMATH. Let's check the back to see if this is indeed a TOPPS card...

• Back of card-This time, there is a card number at the top left corner (250) but there is no "Topps" name on the card like we have seen previously. However, looking in the bottom right corner you can see copyright "T.C.G. PRTD. IN U.S.A." We now know we have a TOPPS #250 JOE NAMATH football card. But what year? Just like the baseball cards, check out the last year of statistics (1970). So we have a 1971 TOPPS #250 JOE NAMATH football card. Read the bio and it has highlights for the previous season (1970) so yes, this also confirms the card as being a 1971 Topps football card. This same method can be used on TOPPS Basketball & Hockey cards as well. 

So now that we have a little experience identifying TOPPS cards, let's try a different card manufacturer. Remember that while Topps is the largest producer of most trading cards, it is not the ONLY one. Going back to the late 1800s common brand names were Tobacco Companies like "OLD JUDGE," later Candy Companies like "Cracker Jacks" and "American Caramel," and then gum cards from companies like "Goudey," "Bowman," "Leaf," & "Fleer." Because Baseball was the National Pastime, plenty of companies used baseball cards to promote their products. "Hires Root Beer," "Red Man Chewing Tobacco," Kellogg's" & "Post" Cereals, "Jell-O," Hot Dogs ("Wilson Franks," "Armour"), Potato Chips ("Dan-Dee," "Bell Brand"), even Dog Food ("Red Heart")! so let's try a card that is not TOPPS...

Shall we try to I.D. a NON-SPORTS card???

Say you were at a Swap Meet and you came across this small colorful "cowboy's & Indians" looking card. The proprietor wants 5 bucks for it. Personally, I find the card pretty cool and can tell by reading the card back that it is a vintage card. For starters it talks about "hardy pioneers" (a nice term for the "good guys," the white man) fighting desperately for their lives and often escaping the "torture and death that had been planned for them." By the unspoken "bad guys," the Indians. Also, the card says it is "one of a series of cards illustrating Indian and Pioneer ROMANTIC DAYS." I don't know how "romantic" the native Indians thought of that time. But let's try and determine what this card is.

The card appears smaller than typical card size (remember 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" is the standard size of most cards now). It actually measures 2-1/2" x 2-7/8," almost "square" in appearance. The artist's depiction shows and violent encounter between an Indian and it looks like a Calvary or soldier. It is quite colorful and has "UNHORSED" in the bottom left corner. Below that, in a red panel, it says "INDIAN CHEWING GUM." Ok that is a clue. We turn the card over. It says at the top "- No. 90 - (this is the card number) and beneath that in large black type "UNHORSED" (this is the title of the card). Then there is the brief description we touched on already. Below that, in large bold type it says "INDIAN GUM." DId Indians make this gum? No silly, but it is the title of the card "series," or subject. At the bottom it plainly says the manufacturer, "THE GOUDEY GUM CO." of Boston, Mass., U.S.A. While it goes on to say by the "Makers of OH BOY Gums," the name GOUDEY alone is very important in the hobby. A little background:

Goudey Gum (of Boston MA) created probably the most popular set of colorful baseball cards in 1933 and 1934. The cards contained all the major stars of the day like Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. These are probably the most coveted cards of the 1930's. The 1933 (& 1934) Goudey baseball series was called "BIG LEAGUE CHEWING GUM." The card above looks very similar to the baseball issue, even the artwork looks similar. The backs are also similar. Here is a high-grade example of a 1933 GOUDEY 181 BABE RUTH. Notice the back of the card also says "GOUDEY GUM CO BOSTON" but also "Made by the originators of INDIAN GUM." See that? The same company, GOUDEY, produced both series of cards. But let's assume we DO NOT KNOW anything about cards and go back to our INDIAN GUM example.

So far,  we know we have is is a GOUDEY INDIAN GUM #90 UNHORSED card. But what YEAR was it issued? There is nothing on the card front or back to help us. This is where we have to do a little research. The first thing I would do is go to eBay. In their search box simply type "Goudey Indian Gum 90" and see what comes up. Immediately I see a listing for our card- 1947 Goudey Indian Gum #90 Unhorsed. But the very next listing underneath shows a "1933 Goudey Indian Gum #90 Yellowstone Kelly!? Whaaat??? So I check out both listings and examine the photos front AND back. Guess what- it seems that there are TWO Goudey Indian Gum #90 cards- but TWO different years: 1933 ("Yellowstone Kelly") and 1947 (our card, "UNHORSED"). So I know I have a 1947 Goudey Indian Gum card. Note the differences on the backs of the 2 cards. The 1933 Indian Gum card as text printed in green ink. The 1947 text is black. The backs are not similar at all. So what we have here are 2 different years of issue. If you go back to searching about Goudey Indian Gum cards you will find out that the original Goudey Indian Gum cards were issued in 1933. However in 1947 Goudey re-issued the set as well. With noticeable differences on the card backs. To make it simple (because most of the card fronts are identical), if the card has black text on back it is the 1947 re-issue. If the text is green the card is from 1933. So there you have it. We have a 1947 Goudey Indian Gum 90 Unhorsed. It was not issued in the original 1933 set but replaced the #90 Yellowstone Kelly card (for whatever reason). There is no 1933 Goudey Indian Gum 90 "Unhorsed." It is Yellowstoe Kelly. But there IS a 1947 Indian Gum 90 Unhorsed card and that is what we have. Would you pay $5 for it? Well that is up to you but it seems fair to me for a vintage 1940's bubble gum card with a cool picture. It may be "worth " more,or it could be worth less. It's really up to YOU. Remember, a card is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it at that particular time. In 1970 you could have paid .10 cents for the card. That being said, if the card is  a 1933 GOUDEY INDIAN GUM 181 BABE RUTH, like our example above, then the price is NOT going to be five bucks or even close to it! The above example that is graded PSA NM-MT has an asking price of $350,000! No kidding. That can buy you a nice house in some states (but not here in Los Angeles, I can tell you that). But it can get you a cool high grade Babe Ruth bubble gum card! What a world!

Topps Baseball Card Gallery 1952-1959

To help you identify regular TOPPS baseball cards here is a sample from each year, 1952-1959. These are the "regular" cards issued in a wax wrapper and a stick of bubble gum. Topps also produced specialty issues like "Team Cards, "Double Headers," Pins, & more during the decade (and many beyond!).  Don't worry about those; they are more for "advance" collectors who usually specialize in scarcer, "other than mainstream" issues.  I will also be posting 1960-1969, and 1970-1980 shortly.

• NOTES - In 1981 a lawsuit by rival card manufacturers Donruss and Fleer opened the doors for companies other than Topps to begin issuing mainstream sets. The result was just too many card companies and too many cards! The supply far exceeded the demand and most of these cards were really "junk" to begin with. Too many ugly and uninspired baseball cards. Some downright embarrassing. Most of these cards are found in bargain bins, thrift stores, yard sales etc. You practically can't give them away! Hence, I am just concentrating on vintage Topps cards before things got way "out of hand." So, these are the typical Topps cards you find from their first mainstream set in 1952 to 1980. Note that some of these cards have a major Hall of Fame player or were popular players. They still are! Some of these cards are quite valuable, especially names like MICKEY MANTLE, TED WILLIAMS, JACKIE ROBINSON etc. So, if you come across these you have really found some cardboard treasures!

• NOTES - Topps baseball cards from 1952-1955 are all going to be slightly oversized than the Topps issues 1957-1980 (& up to the present day). Beginning in 1957 Topps begain producing the now standard size 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" cards. Also note the 1955 & 1956 Topps regular issue cards have a horizontal card format. 

• There are actually not one, but two different TED WILLIAMS cards in the 1954 Topps set! What happened is Topps had signed Williams to an exclusive card contract. They were so happy they issued a Williams card to lead of the set, number 1, and card 250 to finish the set. The cards are entirely different; card #250 has completely different photos, a bright yellow background, and instead of statistics, the back is nearly all a cartoon "biography" of Williams' career. 

• NOTES - In 1957, Topps not only went to a now standard 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" card size, but they also began using actual photographs instead of "colorized" black and white photos. Bowman Gum had started this trend with their classic 1953 Bowman cards. 

• Also note on the back of the 1956 Topps 235 Don Newcombe card there is some slight staining. This is fairly common- those are wax stains from being the last card in the wax wrapper. This card would have been the first card you saw opening the wrapper. Sometimes you come across cards that have gum stains as well. To some this is bothersome, but to me it just adds to the cards' authenticity!

• NOTES - Beginning in 1959 Topps began including Complete Batting Statistics, not just the previous season. This included batting records in the Minor Leagues as well. Topps created more room by doing away with the Fielding stats and making the cartoons smaller as well. 

• Background colors. I just noticed many of the cards I posted have yellow backgrounds. This does not mean the cards that particular year all had yellow backgrounds. Topps cards are usually quite colorful (with the exception of 1962 with brown "wood grain" borders and 1970 with dull gray borders) using bold green, pink, blue, red, orange, etc. They are quite striking! The card designs are what we want to concentrate on for identification purposes. For instance, 1959 Topp baseball cards have a large, circled photograph, with brightly colored backgrounds. The player's name is in large lowercase letters above the photograph. The photo also has a facsimile autograph. The card backs have a single cartoon with Complete Major & Minor League Batting Record. The card number is very easy to see in large type.

Topps Baseball Card Gallery 1960-1969

• In the 1960's Topps cards began to get better and better. The photography got better and there were some really great card designs by Topps. The 1960's Topps basball set is perhaps the most colorful sets they ever produced during this time. They are easy to identify. Not only are they colorful, they have a horizontal format, last used in 1956. The card back doesn't have your typical player biography, but included "Season's Highlights" instead. Fun cards! This 1960 Topps 10 Ernie Banks cards is one of my favorites; large color photo with Banks and the famous Wrigley Field bleachers and Scoreboard in background. Topps even added a second photo of "Mr. Cub." "Let's play two!"

• All the Topps cards are going to have similar card designs on front and back. For example the 1962 Topps baseball cards have "wood-grain" borders so they are easy to identify from other 1960's Topps cards. Also notice the 1964 Topps card below. They are easily identifiable by the orange card backs and "scratch-off" cartoons (you rub a coin on blank box and the trivia question answer "magically" appears; pretty cool innovation which also sharpened your baseball "smarts").

• Note the yellow "1961 Rookie" Star on the 1961 Topps 506 Willie Davis card. Most of the rookies had this yellow star for 1961 & 1962. In 1963 Topps begain using a "Topps All-Star Rookie" trophy. You will see this trophy on the 1965 Topps 55 Tony Conigliaro and 1969 Topps 95 Johnny Bench cards pictured below. Topps continues to add a gold "All-Star Rookie" cup on newer Topps cards even today! Usually they are 2nd year cards of the player. For instance the 1965 Topps 55 Tony Conigliaro card is his second card; his first (or "Rookie card") was 1964 Topps 287 Red Sox Rookie Stars with Bill Spanswick. We will talk about "Rookie cards" in another chapter. Today most card manufacturers use a common "RC" designation on a player's rookie card.

• The 1967 Topps baseball cards are considered one of Topps finest ever. Sharp color photos take up nearly the entire card, team names are color coded (for example all Pirates cards have "PIRATES" in purple. The '67 Topps card backs are green with 2 cartoons. The 1968 Topps cards are also easy to distinguish with the brownish "burlap" borders and yellow card backs. The 1969 Topps regular issue baseball cards all have a "coral" color back. After going through the many pictures of cards on this site you should become familiar with the different years of Topps cards from 1952-1980 as well as other types of cards. We will have cards ranging from early Tobacco cards to popular gum cards like Goudey, Play Ball, Leaf, Bowman, Fleer and more! So stay tuned!