About Football Trading Cards

Collecting football trading cards exploded after World War II, as the popularity of the sport began its meteoric rise. With the advent of the Super Bowl as an American family tradition and football getting more television time, it's no wonder that trading football cards is still a growing popular hobby. There are nearly 20 different companies pressing football trading cards today. This article will explain some of the intricacies of the hobby and how the cards are valued.

The Mayo Cut Plug Tobacco Company sponsored the first football trading cards ever made. A 35-card set featuring college players from Harvard, Yale and Princeton appeared with their products in 1894. But the first football card ever made was in 1888, featuring Henry W. Beecher, captain of the Yale football team. The Harvard-Yale History of the game website claims that if these cards were sold today, they could fetch nearly $35,000 a piece.

The Beckett Media Company is regarded as the standard for valuing trading cards in all sports to include football trading cards. Beckett prices cards with a high and low range. Many collectors will refer to the "Beckett Value" or say they will give "Beckett low" value for a particular card, referring to the lowest price given.

The condition of the football card can have an impact on its value. Football trading cards are generally rated as either mint, near mint, very good, good, fair or poor condition. The worse condition the cards are in, the less percentage of full value they will be worth. In fact, many serious collectors won't consider any cards beyond very good condition unless they are extremely rare finds. The Professional Sports Authenticator website features a complete description of the grading system standard.

Rookie cards of good and popular players tend to generate the most trading traffic. The Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson has over a dozen collectible rookie cards among the main football trading-card publishers. As of March 2009, only two years after his NFL debut, Peterson's rookie cards can sell for nearly $20 a piece on the Football Card Shop website. But by comparison, his second-year card sells for an average $3 on the same site.

Another value-adder to cards is fame outside of the sport. Many football players who were good players but not stars on the field actually have more valuable trading cards because of their off-field exploits. The Sports Collectors Daily website reports that Marty Schottenheimer, the legendary football coach, actually only had one football trading card made when he was a player. It is a 1971 Topps card that's valued at $20. Archie Manning was a legendary player in his day, but the value of his cards has gone up because of his sons' current success on the field.