Types of Baseball Cards

Baseball cards have existed for well over a hundred years, starting with the tobacco cards in the 1870s. Today, there are many different kinds of cards produced by different card companies.

  1. Sets

    • Modern cards are generally numbered and make up sets. Regular sets can contain several hundred cards, while smaller (and rarer) sub-sets may contain just a few.

    Commons

    • Cards that depict an average player or generate little market demand are referred to as commons.

    Inserts

    • Inserts are cards from a sub-set that can randomly be found included with packages containing cards from the parent set.

    Tobacco Cards

    • In the late 19th century, tobacco companies inserted cards into cigarette packages. Tobacco cards depicting baseball players are highly sought after.

    Brands

    • Upper Deck and Topps are the two leading baseball card companies. Fleer, Donruss and Score, popular in the 1980s and 1990s, no longer produce baseball cards.