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Hobby history: The hobby in 1979
I was looking through some old issues of Baseball Hobby News, and I found this editorial in the December 1979 issue by editor Frank Barning. In it, Barning looks back at 1979, "the greatest year in the history of our hobby". In addition to BHN starting up that March (it would cease publication in 1993 after a good run), the Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide had been published that spring, the first price guide to give prices for each individual card, in three different conditions. I was 13 at the time and deep into the hobby, and I remember how revolutionary that was. That was also the year that superstar cards, led by the 1952 Topps Mantle, really began to explode in price, as Barning notes. Of course, they would continue to explode even more in the following decade, but 1979 was the year it really started. It's also interesting to read Barning's speculations about what 1980 might bring. People were seriously wondering whether Dave Kingman might beat Roger Maris's single-season home run record, after he hit 48 in 1979.
I've kept some of the ads surrounding the column, because they're fun to look at too. |
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Here's a slightly bigger version that may be a little easier to read (except in the middle where the crease of the paper is):
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I will also point out, in addition to the yearly Beckett guide, Mark Lewis and Warren Karp created Card Price Update that year.
That was the first monthly baseball card pricing magazine (although printed on newsprint) and the impact of monthly pricing was huge during the 1979-80 boom. Led by the 1952 Mantle as noted, there was an amazing price uptick to match the gold/silver explosion of that time. Now there were issues with CPU, but the success did lead many years later to Dr. Beckett creating his own monthly magazine and you all know where Beckett went from there. (That's a book in itself done correctly) Rich
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Cooooool! I was 10 years old....and I was a big collector back then!!!! Cool to see the ad for burger king yankees cards...I had hundreds of them but no pinella!!!
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Wow i love this read.
In 1979 i was -2 years old loll |
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I remember seeing that 52 Mantle they mention Halls buying. They were my local card shop, and I spent a good deal of time hanging out and learning about cards.
It was a pretty nice one. Not fantastic, but nice, probably a 6 or 7 today, but I'm thinking closer to 6. Personally, I think 78 was better, at least for me. Steve B |
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Quote:
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