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Valuing Nostalgia: The Case of the Topps 1957 Baseball Cards

2011; De Gruyter; Volume: 7; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2202/1559-0410.1345

2194-6388

Thomas H. Thompson, Kabir C. Sen,

Gambling Behavior and Treatments

Before the space race and computer games, 1957 was a simpler time. Baseball card collectors, mostly young boys, had few distractions to advance their hobby. In 1957, there were 16 major league baseball teams. The Kansas City Athletics, moved from Philadelphia in 1955, was the farthest west team. For others west of Saint Louis, baseball appetites were fed with the TV Game of the Week with Dizzy Dean, KMOX—the St Louis radio station, the Sporting News, baseball cards, or some combination. The young baseball fans of the period were the “baby boomers” who most likely were the major collectors in 1957. We examine several factors that influence the values of the Topps 1957 baseball card issue through the years and show how this baseball card set avoided the price collapse of the post-1980 baseball card issues.