Card Sharks: How Upper Deck Turned a Child's Hobby into a High-Stakes, Billion-Dollar Business [Hardcover]

Pete Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1995

Takes the reader from the birth of sports cards in the 1880s to the present day. The largest manufacturers of sports cards is "Upper Deck", with sales of several million each year. This is an investigative look at the running of this and similar companies, and the tactics they use to stay ahead.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan General Reference (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0026290618
• ISBN-13: 978-0026290616
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #888,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Antiques & Collectibles > Sports Cards

More About the Author

I write about fitness, business, and sports for several publications. I'm also passionate about endurance sports and training and host "The Fitness Buff" radio show on BlogTalk Radio. Its Web site is www.fitnessbuffshow.com. I'm also the creator of EnduranceSportsFlorida.com, which covers running, triathlon, stand-up paddle boarding and all tests of endurance in the Sunshine State.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baseball Cards, Autographs and the Shrewd Marketing of Pop Culture, August 3, 2008

By 

Bicycle Day - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Card Sharks: How Upper Deck Turned a Child's Hobby into a High-Stakes, Billion-Dollar Business (Hardcover)

The back-stage temper tantrum of Mickey Mantle speaks volumes on what has become a multi-billion-dollar industry in baseball cards and sports memorabilia.

Author Pete Williams shows an angry and bitter Mantle after a 1993 appearance on a national home shopping program that was in conjunction with the MLB All-Star Game festivities put on by Upper Deck - railing about the the host's questions, which may not have helped in pushing his autographed merchandise - and attempting to negotiate the following weekend's appearances for the company into being considered as two events, which will make the Yankee legend closer to accumulating enough dates in the year for his nearly $3 million salary to sign autographs on "exclusive" memorabilia.

From the days when baseball cards were used as inserts to secure the packaging of tobacco products to the bubble-gum wars waged by Topps on other companies and a landmark judicial decision in 1980 that opened the doors wide open for a competitive marketplace in baseball card sets, Williams ambitiously covers the bases as he delves into the creation of Upper Deck, an idea from a frustrated card dealer who was tired of buying bogus memorabilia and an inventor who could add a unique identification tag to thwart counterfeiters.

While the story is initially driven by an entrepreneurial spirit born in the 1980s, neither of the founders are in the picture a few years later as the company profits explode as it becomes the high-end retailer in sports cards and collectibles through aggressive marketing and the securing of legends with exclusive and lucrative promotional contracts, along with the baggage from any number of controversies and allegations of unsavory business practices and fraud.

This is an incredible tale on how a kid's summer pastime became an industry monster that seemed so solid on the outside, but could pop at any time like a bubble blown too large from one small stick of gum. With the shrewd marketing of pop culture and the creation of a unique sports boutique based on its alleged rarity, Williams forges a classic story driven by the dreams of youth....and greed of adults.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written book that is a must reading for card collectors, November 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Card Sharks: How Upper Deck Turned a Child's Hobby into a High-Stakes, Billion-Dollar Business (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book very much. It has two themes: first, it shows how one company with the right idea and the right people behind it can revolutionize an entire industry, against all odds. Second, it tells us that to succeed in today's competitive markets you have to elbow your way in. While the allegations of wrongdoings by trading card companies seem like unsubstantiated hearsay, the book does make you feel that you are on the inside, witnessing how the real entrepreneurs do it. Very entertaining read.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating look at the sports collectables industry, January 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Card Sharks: How Upper Deck Turned a Child's Hobby into a High-Stakes, Billion-Dollar Business (Hardcover)

The "Barbarians at the Gate" of the baseball card industry. Fascinating, yet creepy, to see from the inside how a child's hobby has been exploited by sleazy characters. Will definitely turn you off collecting new cards as an investment.