Customer Reviews

Collecting Baseball Cards

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I thought I would get a current and comprehensive review of the hobby when I ordered this book. I purchased it new because I wanted a current edition. As soon as I received it I saw that its copyright (even though it was a third edition) was 1990. I read it anyway hoping that maybe they had attached a couple of new chapters to cover the internet and online auctions and their impact on the hobby, but no luck. This book needs updating badly. Too bad, I was hoping for advice and I got something that a 10 year old would not want to write his book report on because it's so badly outdated by current events.

I READ THE BOOK MANY YEARS AGO AND IT WAS DATED THEN. I HAVE COLLECTED FOR 44 YEARS AND LOVE THE HOBBY, BUT THIS IS NOT GOING TO TEACH ANYONE ENOUGH ABOUT THE HOBBY TODAY TO BUY THE BOOK. IT IS SEMI INTERESTING BUT I THINK THAT IT IS FOR THE MID 80'S NOT TODAY.

MR. PEARLMAN IS VERY KNOWLEDGABLE AND THE BOOK WILL GIVE YOU A GREAT AMOUNT OF INFORMATION FROM THE DAYS GONE BY. IT IS FUN TO REMEMBER THE PAST, YET WITH TODAYS ISSUES WITH CARDS AND THE HORRID AMOUNT OF CARDS BEING PRODUCED, THE DAYS OF COLLECTING AND TRADING ARE STILL HERE FOR THE CHILDREN. BUT WHEN I SEE A CHILD OPEN A $20.00 PACK OF CARDS AND IMMDIATELY LOOK AT A PRICE GUIDE TO SEE HOW MUCH THEY ARE WORTH (ACORDING TO THE GUIDES), FOR ME IT THAS TAKEN THE JOY OF THE SPORT AND COLLECTING AWAY. THERE HAVE BEEN SO MANY CHANGES SINCE THE PUBLISHING OF THIS BOOK THAT IT IS GOOD FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO COLLECT OLDER CARDS ONLY.

Hello. I'm Donn Pearlman, author of Collecting Baseball Cards, and I appreciated all the wonderful response when it was first published in 1987, and a subsequent follow up edition two years later. Not a price guide, it was the first major "how to" book about baseball cards in many years when it was first published. But it has not been updated since then, and yes, it is verrry outdated in many respects.

The information and advice about learning all you can about cards BEFORE purchasing still is valid; so's the info about encouraging readers to learn about card grading. But there's no info about the Internet, the many card companies that have come and gone since 1989, and other information that would be needed to make the book much more useful in the 21st century. Because of other professional commitments, I do not have plans at this time to write an updated version.

Happy collecting all,
-donn-
Donn Pearlman