What's your favorite book on our hobby?

jrdolan

I've run across three worthwhile books about baseball cards that are not price guides or checklists. I hope there are more.

** The Top 100 (Paul Green, Kit Kiefer, 1990) -- Rather dated. For example, Canseco, Mattingly and Strawberry cards are considered excellent investments. Professional grading was yet to become a factor. It does give an entertaining glimpse into the state of the hobby at the time. Kind of like watching "The Brady Bunch."

** The Top 200 Sportscards in the Hobby (Joe Orlando, 2002) -- The book we all got when we became paid members. I love this book and have learned a lot about card issues upon which I was previously ignorant. Condition sensitivity and series scarcity are well covered on each card. Has sections on other sports, too. Latest key card is the 1994 SP A-Rod, so it will need updating in a year or three. (Hey, what do we get to replace this value when we re-up our yearly memberships?)

** 300 Great Baseball Cards of the 20th Century (Mike Payne, 1999) -- I forgive the fact that it's a Beckett-produced book because it's so entertaining and has a forward by Mantle collector Chipper Jones. This is less about condition and rarity issues and more about fun little stories behind cards. For example, in the blurb on the 1940 Play Ball Ted Williams, you learn that Teddy actually pitched in a game that year to save the bullpen. Didn't do too badly, either.

If you know of other sportscard books of this type, in or out of print, please name them!

helionaut

The best baseball card book, by far, is The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading, and Bubble Gum Book, by Boyd & Harris. It is very funny, poignantly nostalgic, and dead-on in describing the various types of collectors. It was written in 1973 but is not dated at all. Though the latest edition has a note promising an updated version in the future, it never came about. Required reading.

Dhjacks

I agree with Helionaut. That was a great Flippin' book.

jrdolan

I forgot about the Flipping book! I haven't read that in ages. Now I have to go look for a used copy on Amazon. Unless somebody wants to sell me theirs.

BigKidAtHeart

Hooby books - I liked CARD SHARKS about how they guys started
Uper Deck card company.


As far as Baseball books in General,
The Koufax book has been a hot
pick on these boards before....

also, I have heard great things about The Teammates
which chronicles the life and friendship between Ted Williams, and his old Boston Red Sox teammates Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio and Bobby Doerr

AkbarClone

jrdolan: click here

jrdolan

Thanks, Akbar. I did see it, but at $4 with a week to go on that one, I accepted a CU member's offer to sell me one of his for $5 now.

AkbarClone

Glad you got one. That auction is also from another CU member, but $5 is still a good deal. Enjoy it when you get it!

goodriddance189

the Hardy Boys, i think the book is called The Baseball Card Conspiracy

koby

I know that Alan Hager is not the most trusted voice in this hobby, but I have always enjoyed his Comprehensive Price Guide to Rare Baseball Cards. The book had lots of nice color pictures and Hager's (usually inaccurate and always self-serving but sometimes interesting) assessment of the rarity of each issue. I wish someone more credible would try something like that.

schr1st

It's not really a book per se, but I still love flipping through the Barry Halper auction catalog from 1999. Card Sharks is an interesting book as well.

Griffins

I like Hagers book as well. The Slocum book Vintage Baseball Cards is a great coffee table book of a good selection of sets from N28 thru the 50's. You can get it for around 35. on ebay.
Halper and Copeland catalogs are really good, along with Mastro's. Lots of info and images. Plus it's a decent guage of how often things come up for sale.

Buccaneer

Thanks for the recommendation on The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum book. I just got a used hardcover one in the mail today and flipping (pun intended) through it, I would say this could be one of my favorite books of all time. Right up my alley - focusing on the fun of collecting and the years that I collect.

TheCARDKid

Card Sharks was fascinating.

Of course, we can't leave out our friend Mr Mint, now can we?

Mr Mint's "Insider's Guide to Investing in Baseball Cards" was very entertaining when I first read it as a teen.

greenmonstaaaah

i agree with everyone regarding the great american flipping book--i got my copy in the late 70's or very early 80's when i was either 11 or 12 and i still have it--i still look thru it every now and then and am amazed at how many of the cards pictured that i own--twenty five years ago, i couldve only dreamed about owning cards from the 50's & 60's--i think this book was partly responsible for my starting to collect the 58 topps set as a 12 year old in late 1980. the authors recollections of buying cards as a kid back in the 50's are particularly interesting, as is the interview with sy berger of topps. and i also love to look at my old sport americana/beckett baseball card price guides every now and then--still have the first edition circa 1979 that i bought fresh off the press--oh, if i only knew then what i know now--wouldn't have bought all those 90-10 o/c cards with the pinholes!

bowdowntome

To be honest, I've never seen a book on card collecting that I thought was particularly interesting. Some of the ones mentioned here, I've read and others I have not. Since I now only collect football cards, that kind of narrows it down even further. Try finding general books on just football cards! Actually there is one called "Collecting Football Cards", by MIke Bonner (1995). It's just sort of a history of the FB sets that have come out and a general history of collecting FB cards. It's OK, I guess.

My absolute favorite book though, if one ever comes out, will deal with specifics on grading, authenticating, etc...., with detailed descriptions on various printing techniques and how to detect them, how to determine types of card stock used, as well as age, how to detect every known type of alteration, and so on...