The Six Best Baseball Trading Card Sets to Collect

B aseball cards have long been a part of American history and collectibles. No other sport has been called “America’s Pastime” for nearly 200 years.

In 1860, just before the start of the Civil War, the first recognized baseball team card was released. Produced by Farach & Lalumia Studio in Brooklyn, NY, and measuring 2-3/8 by 3-7/8 inches, the card features several players known to be members of the Brooklyn Atlantics, one of the first teams to be part of the National Association of Base Ball Players. At the time of writing, only two copies have sold publicly. More than 150 years later, the excitement surrounding card collecting has reached new heights.

Let’s take a look at the six best baseball trading card sets ever produced.

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Sneakers, Sports Memorabilia & Modern Collectibles

Produced by the American Tobacco Company between 1909 and 1911, the T206 524-card set depicts a subject on the front with white borders. On the back, one of 16 different cigarette-company advertisements appears, varying in degrees of rarity. The cards are small, measuring 1-7/16 by 2-5/8 inches, and were included in various cigarette tobacco products to boost sales and add promotional value.

Affectionately known as “The Monster” by some collectors (between different subjects and advertisements on the back there are thought to be over 6,000 possible variations), the set is extremely sought after and highly collectible for several reasons: rare backs, error cards, scarcity of specific cards and a lack of high grades due to production inefficiencies.

Most importantly, they included a long list of future Baseball Hall of Fame inductees such as Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson. However, none are as elusive and desired as the T206 Honus Wagner, which to date have only been found with Piedmont 150/Factory 25, Sweet Caporal 150/Factory 25 and Sweet Caporal Factory 30 backs. While the Honus Wagner card is the most iconic in the T206 set, a true collection isn't complete without Eddie Plank and Sherry Magie (Magee). Both are notoriously difficult to find and rarely appear at public auctions.

The 1933 Goudey Gum card set is among the most celebrated vintage card sets in existence. The first baseball card set produced by Goudey Gum Company, much of the praise for the product comes from the vibrant coloration, the checklist packed with Hall of Famers, as well as the fact that 1933 Goudey was a pioneer in the chewing gum card tradition. Instead of including cigarettes, as was previously common, Goudey included a stick of bubble gum – a trend later adopted by Topps and lasting until 2010.

Four different Babe Ruth cards can be found, including #54 with a yellow background, #144 featuring a full-body shot, #149 with a red background and #181 with a green background. Another Yankees legend, Lou Gehrig, appears on two cards: #92 and #160. Although both feature the same image, they are highly sought after as they represent his true rookie cards.

The rarest card in the set belongs to Hall of Famer Napoleon Lajoie. Although listed as card #106 on the checklist, it was never distributed in packs. Frustrated collectors working to complete the set reached out to Goudey, and the company eventually released the card in 1934 as part of a mail redemption program. To this day, the card remains extremely scarce, with fewer than 100 copies graded by PSA.

Trading Cards

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Bowman hit the ground running in its inaugural year of sports-card production in 1948, releasing the first major post-war baseball card set. Despite a limited checklist of only 48 cards, nine feature Hall of Famers, including rookie cards of Ralph Kiner (#3), Yogi Berra (#6), Warren Spahn (#18) and Stan Musial (#36). The set also includes 12 short prints, including the rookie card of Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto (#8), who spent his entire 13-year career with the Bronx Bombers.

Each card measures 2-1/16 by 2-1/2 inches – slightly smaller than the standard trading card size today. The front of each card showcases black-and-white photography, mostly portraits of the players. The back displays the card number, player name, biographical information and a small ad for Blony bubble gum.

This release helped shape the future of trading cards, and to this day Bowman baseball cards remain incredibly popular. Resurrected as a standalone brand in 1989 by Topps, each year they have continued the tradition with separate releases of Bowman and then introducing Bowman Chrome, Bowman Platinum, Bowman Inception, Bowman Sterling and Bowman Draft, highlighting the best up-and-coming prospects across baseball as well as the stars and future Hall of Famers.

The 1952 Topps baseball card set is widely known and recognized as one of the most popular and important sports trading card products ever produced. The set was issued in six series, with numerous variations, most notably in the card backs, which came in black, red or gray. In the set, each card measures at 2-5/8 by 3-3/4 inches.

The front of each card boasts stunning, full-color portrait illustrations accompanied with team logos and facsimile signatures that lay beneath the depicted player’s name. Turning the card over would show, for the first time, complete player statistics as well as additional biographical information specific to the player.

A truly historic and trend-setting release at the time, its checklist ran up to 407 individual cards, which earned it the distinction of being the largest set released to date. The set boasts 27 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame including the rookie debuts of Hoyt Wilhelm (#392) and Eddie Mathews (#407). While both cards hold immense value, nothing stands close to the #311 Mickey Mantle.

Sneakers, Sports Memorabilia & Modern Collectibles

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The 1955 Topps set was both innovative and relatively small. Similar to previous years, Topps competed with Bowman for player rights, which explains why some star players appear in 1955 Bowman but not 1955 Topps. At just 210 cards – making it the smallest Topps baseball checklist aside from 1951 Topps – this was also the first Topps set to feature all horizontal cards.

While 210 cards are listed on the checklist, four were never produced (#175, #186, #203 and #209). The set was released in two series: low series (#1–160) and high series (#161–210), with the high series being rarer due to limited production. Each card measures 2-5/8 by 3-3/4 inches and features a facsimile signature along with both a portrait and an action shot of the player on the front. The back provides player stats, biographical info and a trivia question.

With its eye-catching design, vibrant colors and lasting appeal, the 1955 set remains a favorite among collectors. It includes 18 Hall of Famers, along with the rookie cards of Sandy Koufax (#123), Harmon Killebrew (#124) and Roberto Clemente (#164).

Released on February 23, 1989, Upper Deck Baseball quickly became a fan favorite and played a pivotal role in shaping the future of modern card collecting. The set was the first ever released by Upper Deck in any sport, and includes a total of 800 cards, with the first 700 classified as the low series and cards #701-800 in the high series.

Within the checklist, collectors can find Rookie Stars (#1-26), Award Winners (#658-667) and Collector’s Choice art cards (#668-693). The front of each card features a design inspired by a baseball field, paired with color photography of the player and a team logo. The back displays standard biographical information and player statistics. Upper Deck also made history by including a security hologram on the back of each card designed to combat counterfeiting, becoming the first company to do so.

A few error cards exist in the set, including rookie cards of Gary Sheffield Jr. (#13) and Dale Murphy (#26). Rookie cards of Hall of Fame inductees John Smoltz (#17), Randy Johnson (#25) and Craig Biggio (#273) can also be found, but none are as recognizable and iconic as card #1, Ken Griffey Jr.