books on sportscard collecting

mmoin

After reading the very interesting/informative thread on 1965 Topps, I was just curious if there are any sophisticated books on card collecting. So far, all the books I've seen regarding sportscards have fallen into two categories:

1) Excellent quality but not very in-depth: eg. 200 Most important cards in the hobby (great book, but a bit light on details, can't beat the price though)

2) Low quality- eg. the Mr. Mint books (which are pretty terrible, though the stories of his finds are interesting)

Are there any excellent detailed books on the hobby? I would think that this would be a great idea for PSA to consider, even if it were merely a collection of essays/articles by individual posters on this board.

Griffins

I've have just about every book out there I think. Here's the ones I enjoy most, in no particular order

1 Mastro Catalogs- some of the best collections in the hobby, with informative copy (even if it's a bit gushy and full of hyperbole at times) Available by contacting the Mastro office.
2. Standard Catalog of Baseball cards- the prices are way off, but what better checklist? My tip- cut the post '80 section off with an exacto and use it for fire kindling- thats what people will be doing with all those refractor cards in a few years anyway!
2. Classic Baseball Cards by Frank Slocum- a coffee table book with pictures of most major sets from 1887- 1955. Got mine on ebay for about $20.
3. Topps Baseball Cards- same publisher as above, shows every Topps card from '51 thru '87.
4. Sotheby's Copeland Collection Catalog- Jim Copeland went on a rampage, buying up cards like there was no tomorrow. Guess there wasn't, because he consigned them to Sotheby's in 1991. The catalog contains cards that may never see the light of day again. Thanks to this book at least we know they are out there, even if we can't buy them. There is someone on Ebay with the print run selling them for about $10-15.
5. Sotheby's Halper Collection- Ditto the above. Got mine in the remainder bin at Borders for $8. Some very cool stuff, especially if you like the Yankees.
5. Lew Lipset's Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards- A must for any vintage collector. Detailed listings of most pre WW2 cards. $40. from
www vcbc.com
6. Back issues of The Vintage and Classic Baseball Collector. The entire run of back issues is about 140. www.vcbc.com. Get a subscription while you are at it, but be aware it's issued whenever they damn well feel like it- a 12 issue subscription may well cover you until the second coming.
7. Hager's guide to Baseball Cards. Alan Hager invented the 1-10 system of grading cards, which I believe PSA is still paying a royalty on. He also was a little fast and loose with an exacto knife. Nevertheless the book has great info and pictures of every major set, along with his take on the long term investment prospects of each set. He missed on a few, was bang on a few others. My book was about $25. and came brand new sealed in plastic. I don't think it was trimmed. Do a search on ebay for Hager, the seller has tons of them.
8. The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book. Because cards are supposed to be fun!
9. The CU boards- separate the wheat from the chaff and you'll get some info. And it's free.
10 The Network 54 Board- ditto the above, try and dodge the venom and pop ups. This is where the most knowledgable collectors reside. And the most bitter and jaded too.
There is my top 10. Mr Mint's book is interesting, just because we all dream of that big find. But as my grandfather said, believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. Joe O's book is basically a puff piece for a few select cards, as is 300 Great baseball cards (which should be 100 great cards and a slug of shop at home rejects).

mmoin

Great suggestions, thanks much.

onegaucho

Read this post, has one pretty good book listed:

Link to Baseball Collectible book