How Much Would You Pay

Many of you are probably starting to figure your card budget as the release date for Topps 2009 Series 1 approaches. Well, I was digging around the archives of the Sporting News to see what a complete set of Topps would have cost you over the years.

Let's start by going back 50 years to 1959. This ad for The Card Collectors Company is from the July 8 edition of the Sporting News. Each series is $2.25 or you can get all seven for $12.00. You want to pick up some singles? They will set you back 3¢ each. And you don't have to pay any overpriced shipping charges!



Ten years later the Card Collectors Company is still around. Here is their ad from March 29, 1969. The price of a complete set went up to $13.95, an increase of only $1.95. But now you also have to include 95¢ for postage. Singles are up to 4¢ each. But they will throw in a baseball card checklist for the past 40 years for free. Who needs Beckett??!! But you could pay in installments if the $13.95 was too much for your budget.



We fast forward another ten years to March 24, 1979 and this ad from G.S. Gallery. I bought my first complete set from them in 1978. I had gotten braces and the ortho said no gum. I figured I might as well buy the complete set since I couldn't use the gum from the wax packs. The G.S. Gallery price for a complete set was $13.99 plus $1.50 for shipping. That was hardly any increase at all over the 1969 price. Who says inflation was out of control in the '70's! And plastic sheets were now available, for 20¢ each. That is one item that you can for less today.



By 1989, the hobby started getting crowded. Topps is no longer the only player in the game. This ad from July 10 for Champion Sports lists prices for Topps, Fleer, Donruss, Score, and a brand new entry, Upper Deck. And prices were going up too! It would set you back $22.95 for the Topps set. That's a pretty big jump from 1979.




By 1999, things were looking more familiar. This November 15 ad for The Strictly Mint Card Company lists a price of $59 for a Topps factory set, more than double the price ten year earlier. Notice too that the ad lists a web site and email address. The internet takeover has begun!



I paid less than $59 for my 2008 complete set, so its good to see that the factory set prices have gone down over the last ten years and there are more cards in the 2008 set than in 1999.

What will the 2009 set cost me this year? Actually, it doesn't matter because I'm going to buy it no matter what the price!