Card Collecting 101 – Lesson 1, Basics: Who are producing the cards?

Many of us at FTC have been collecting for decades and have made many mistakes. These mistakes were costly and could have been a reason for us to stop partaking in the hobby. Due to these experiences, we wanted to help you from making the same mistakes we made early on. We decided to start this blog in hopes that we can explain the “ins” and “outs” of the hobby. With this new found knowledge, you will hopefully make good decisions that will ensure you continue collecting for years to come. Let’s start with who produces sports cards.

Unfortunately there are many companies involved in producing cards. If you are buying football or basketball cards, the main company that currently can produce NFL/NBA licensed cards is Panini, however; Fanatics will be taking over the license in the next year or so. Topps, Leaf, Wild Card, ProSet, etc… also make football and basketball cards, but they do not have a license. When you buy these cards you will notice they will not have team names, logos, or anything NFL/NBA related on their cards. Keep in mind, there are many collectors that do not like unlicensed products, so be aware you may have a harder time selling these items if you are doing it as an investment.

Panini offers many sets that go from high-end all the way down to low end. Flawless, and National Treasures are considered the cream of the crop, but you have other popular sets such as Prizm, Optic, Select, One, etc…. The lower end stuff such as Chronicles, and Prizm/Select draft picks are for the people that don’t want to spend a lot of money, but are interested in building sets or determining if they want to collect. Remember, you get what you pay for with these sets. If you are looking to get a card worth hundreds of dollars, it is really difficult because they produce a lot of this stuff. The higher you go up on the sets (Flawless, National Treasures) the better chance of getting cards that will maintain their long term value.

If you are looking to collect baseball cards, you will notice that Topps (Fanatics owned) is the sole licensed company to produce these cards. They have many sets similar to Panini. The higher end stuff such as Dynasty, Definitive, Sterling, etc… are on the high-end. Again, these are really expensive but the cards are the best in the hobby. In addition to these high-end sets, they also produce mid-level cards such as Topps Chrome Sapphire, Topps Chrome, Tribute, and Inception. If you are looking for the cheapest option, you can purchase the Topps Flagship cards, Topps Heritage, or Big League Baseball. You have the option to buy Panini or other brands for your baseball cards, but again they are not licensed and will not have everything on the card.

In addition to Topps, you will also see the Bowman line. Bowman is owned by Topps and provide you a different option when it comes to buying baseball cards. Bowman also has their sets that go from high to low end cards, but the main difference between Topps and Bowman is that Bowman will provide you cards with players (prospects) that are currently playing in the minor leagues. Collectors usually buy Bowman because they are looking for the Bowman 1st versions for a particular prospect. Bowman 1sts are considered the first card ever produced for those players and are highly sought after if the player does well in the MLB.

If you want Hockey cards, then you will buy Upper Deck products. Upper Deck has the sole license for hockey cards. They have many sets that range from high end to low end. Sets such as Upper Deck Premier, Ultimate Collection, and the Cup are the best. If you are looking for mid-end, you can look to buy Upper Deck Hockey Series 1, Ice, and Artifacts. The lower end sets, O-Pee-Chee, MVP, and Parkhurst are also available, but similar to the other sports these cards have a lower value than other sets. There isn’t many other companies that make hockey cards, but always make sure if you buy those, they are from a reputable company.

These are the major sports, however; there are many other cards available out there. Whatever sport you like, you will find cards for those too. Wrestling and UFC are really popular at the moment, and guess what? You can get these cards from Panini and Topps. Essentially, with these; the look of the card could be the sole determining factor on which company you chose to buy from. The best part of the hobby is, you can collect whatever sport you like. Just remember there are many options and sports available to you and again always make sure you purchase from a legitimate business.

In closing, the hobby has exploded and knowing the different companies that make cards is important. If you want to buy only licensed products, then you will need to know that Panini, Topps and Upper Deck are the only companies that have a license for their particular sports. Panini makes Football and Basketball, Topps makes Baseball and Upper Deck does Hockey. Again, other companies will make the different sports out there, but they cannot use team names, logos or anything that is associated with the professional teams. So be careful when choosing which cards you want to buy, because it will affect the overall value of the card you receive.

We hope this information was informative and will help you with understanding the hobby. Look out for our next blog, where we will discuss the ways you can obtain cards (ripping wax, buying singles, breaks, chaser packs, etc…). We look forward to continuing these blogs and hope that you will routinely visit our site to learn more. Please remember to join our Family page, where you will receive discounts, hear about promotions and get benefits that are only exclusive to members of our fam.

If you have any questions regarding this blog or pertaining to collecting, you can email us at FTCCardscollectibles@gmail.com. We are always willing to help our fellow collectors.