Ted Williams is considered by many to be the greatest hitter in the history of baseball.  In the 1941 season, Ted finished with a batting average of .406 and is still the last person to hit over .400 in a season; his career batting average is .344.

There is an old video of a 1995 Discussion Table show on ESPN Classic that Ted did with Tony Gwynn, one of the game’s greatest hitters and the last player to retire with a career batting average of .300 or better.

During this interview, Ted was excitedly rambling on about the science behind hitting and all the variables at play, while Tony was nodding along with a perplexed expression, almost like he was wondering what the hell this old-timer was talking about.

Ted’s mind for hitting seemed to be on another level, which is probably why he’s one of the only players to play professional baseball in four different decades—1930s, 1940s, 1950s & 1960s.

He played from 1939 to 1960. He also has at least one baseball card released in every single decade he played in.  

Therefore, I have prepared a collection of what I think are the four best Ted Williams cards, where each card is from a different decade.  

Be sure to also check our piece discussing five of the most undervalued Ted Williams cards!

I love movies about baseball and there are three movies specifically where I can remember a cameo for three big-time vintage baseball cards. 

The movies: “Needful Things”, “The Sandlot”, and “The Lou Gehrig Story”.  

I know there are others but these are the ones that stand out vividly for me.  In fact, I wonder if anyone had the cards slabbed and maybe even identified as actually being on film;  because, if so,  I’m sure the cards would probably garner a big premium. 

Usually, the more things a card has going for it — grade, scarcity, popularity, career success, iconic stories — the more ways value may be seen in the market.  Even cards that have been a collection of popular figures have shown to sell for more at auction.

Let’s dig into the three movies.

And if you’ve spotted a vintage card in a movie, let us know in the comments at the end of this article!

While the bulk of my card collecting and writing on All Vintage Cards is focused on older cards, I admittedly have had the urge to buy some modern cards while shopping at Target or Walmart in the past.

However, when I went to Target recently to pick up some household items, I was disappointed to find the shelves that used to hold sports cards galore completely barren.  So I set out to find the truth.  

Can you still buy sports cards at Walmart or Target?

Unfortunately, it’s much harder today to find sports cards at Walmart or Target, as they both have suspended the selling of many sports and trading cards. They still sell some sports cards in-store and online, however, there is a huge variation in availability based on your specific location. 

The surge in modern card pricing and the resultant ‘rise of the flippers’ has led to some not so pretty situations in these stores.  And while there are rare cases where you might find some cards, the odds are quite slim.

Let’s take a look at some of the reasons for the supply disruptions and if you still might be able to score a find at your local Walmart or Target. 

Do you know of a location that is still selling cards?  Drop a note in the comments below to let us know!

The All Vintage Cards Small Cap Baseball Portfolio is a collection of ten vintage baseball cards that we think should have good long-term investment potential. 

As we discussed in our introduction piece, we are launching three portfolios for each major sport–Large Cap, Mid Cap, and Small Cap.

For those not familiar with the lexicon, this corresponds to mutual fund portfolios in the investment world.  Small-Cap within the investment space equates to a portfolio of the equity market’s smallest companies.

For this All Vintage Cards Small Cap Value Portfolio we have selected ten cards, each with a value of $1000 or less.

Note that these selections are based on what we perceive as ‘relative’ value in the marketplace, meaning that we think these cards offer a good value versus other comparative cards. 

I will also note that this information is not investment advice, nor are we making any promises in relation to future performance.  Please use your own judgment and budget when accounting for any acquisitions of cards in this portfolio. 

Please also see our All Vintage Cards Mid Cap Value and All Vintage Cards Large Cap Value portfolios. 

The All Vintage Cards Mid Cap Baseball Portfolio is a collection of ten ‘Mid-Cap’ (or mid-tier priced) cards that we think have solid long-term investment potential. 

As we discussed in our introduction piece, we are launching three portfolios for each major sport–Large Cap, Mid Cap, and Small Cap.

For those not familiar with the lexicon, this corresponds to mutual fund portfolios in the investment world.  Mid Cap within the investment space equates to a portfolio of the equity market’s companies that are smaller than the world’s largest companies, although bigger than smaller size or Small Cap companies. 

For this All Vintage Cards Mid Cap Value Portfolio we have selected ten cards, each with a value between $1000 to $3000.   

Note that these selections are based on what we perceive as ‘relative’ value in the marketplace, meaning that we think these cards offer a good value versus other comparative cards. 

I will also note that this information is not investment advice, nor are we making any promises in relation to future performance.  Please use your own judgment and budget when accounting for any acquisitions of cards in this portfolio. 

Please also see our All Vintage Cards Small Cap Value and All Vintage Cards Large Cap Value portfolios. 

The All Vintage Cards Large Cap Baseball Portfolio is derived from our initial work in building out our initial baseball card value portfolio. 

As we discussed in our introduction piece, we are launching three portfolios for each major sport–Large Cap, Mid Cap, and Small Cap.

For those not familiar with the lexicon, this corresponds to mutual fund portfolios in the investment world.  Large Cap within the investment space equates to a portfolio of the equity market’s largest companies by market value.  

For this All Vintage Cards Large Cap Value Portfolio we have selected ten cards, each with a value of $3000 or more.  Notably we have repeated a lot of our work already for this portfolio from our initial Value writeup.

Note that these selections are based on what we perceive as ‘relative’ value in the marketplace, meaning that we think these cards offer a good value versus other comparative cards. 

I will also note that this information is not investment advice, nor are we making any promises in relation to future performance.  Please use your own judgment and budget when accounting for any acquisitions of cards in this portfolio. 

Please also see our All Vintage Cards Small Cap Value and All Vintage Cards Mid Cap Value portfolios. 

The T206 Honus Wagner card is one of the most valuable cards in the hobby.

Most collectors equate Honus Wagner with his T206 card and aren’t aware of his playing day and later year cards that can fit into some collector budgets.

We highlighted two Wagner cards in our ‘All Vintage Value Portfolio’, however recent momentum in the market has carried those cards to the line of un-budget-friendly territory.  A few of his cards were also featured in a Caramel Cards investment piece.

So, let’s take a look at a few Wagner cards that budget-oriented collectors might be interested in.  I loosely used the word ‘Cheap’ in the title of this post, and my definition of ‘budget’ here’ is $1500 or less. 

Most people wouldn’t call $1500 cheap and neither would I, but it’s mostly relative to where Wagner’s other cards are valued.

In addition, in order to fit under that price range, in most instances, you need to consider a card in poorer condition.   Also, opt for a graded copy from SGC or BVG or even raw if you have the chops to identify a counterfeit and you should be able to save some money. 

One of the most common questions I get relates to figuring out the value of a collection and how it should be priced if selling it.  

This is typically a common concern for newer collectors, those that have inherited a collection, or those that are returning to the hobby after a long hiatus.

It can be quite complicated to figure out a card’s value, especially if you’ve never bought or sold a card before.

While we have provided info on valuing cards, I thought it might be helpful to take a ‘live’ look at a collection that was sent to me.  

Hopefully, this guide will help you determine accurate resale values for your cards, but if you’re still left scratching your head, feel free to shoot us an email at help@allvintagecards.com

Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige was one of baseball’s most legendary pitchers and a trailblazer in that he was the first black baseball player to play in the American League. 

He played for an amazing 21 years in the Negro Leagues and was ready to call it quits at the age of 41, but then joined the Cleveland Indians in 1948.

While most baseball fans are familiar with the legend of Jackie Robinson, many aren’t as familiar with the story of Satchel Paige. 

It feels like collectors are finally starting to give Paige’s cards a bit more respect, as all of his baseball cards have increased significantly in value.

In this piece, we examine the baseball cards of Satchel Paige and help collectors determine whether his cards are still a good investment.

If you’ve followed along here, you might know that our definition of a vintage card is ‘loosely defined as anything pre-1980; however, we certainly have made some exceptions in regards to some other early to mid 80’s sports cards.

Thus, the 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson rookie card certainly toes the official line of a vintage card, however, it is now basically the pinnacle and must-own card from the 1980s for vintage baseball card collectors. 

The 1980 Topps set, while still generously produced, didn’t quite have the same sort of massive overproduction as other later 80’s sets did.   And Henderson himself is still probably one of the more underrated players of his generation, one of the best five-tool players of all time. 

Thus, it seemed like a good time to review Henderson’s 1980 Topps rookie card, which has experienced a bit of a renaissance of late; a recent Gem Mint (PSA 10) copy of the card sold for $180K at auction. 

As follows, we’ll examine the population reports for Henderson’s rookie card, current values, and take a look at his career, while providing thoughts on the future investment value for the card.