Fun quick read, spent less time on the speculative bubble of baseball cards in the late 1980s/early 1990s than I was hoping; but interesting little slice of American history. ( )

I just finished Mint Condition by Dave Jamieson last night. I collected baseball cards in the 80's looking for my favorite Dodger players (particularly the elusive Steve Garvey card) and Star Wars cards later. I worked at a jewelry store/pawn shop that had a large card dealing section during the 90's market frenzy (Frank Thomas rookie card, anyone?) but left before the subsequent crash. Jamieson weaves an interesting story of the contrast of collectors with a love of the cardboard with the greed, market manipulation, fraud of many who produce, grade, and auction the cards (and some unlikely heroes within the card business). He doesn't leave the reader jaded at the end, reminding them that the love of collecting will last after the speculators have gone. ( )

An interesting and fun look into the history of baseball cards and card collecting. I particularly enjoyed the insights into the lives and habits of a few specific collectors, such as Jefferson Burdick. Jamieson draws parallels from collecting's beginning in the 1880's into the "Golden Eras" of the 1930's and 50's through the boom and bust of the 1980's and 90's. As a card collector I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but one need not be a card collector or even a baseball fan to enjoy this story of a hobby that grows into its own industry and bubbles into a massive market that unsurprisingly bursts. ( )

I never collected baseball cards as a kid (I spent my allowance money in the 1960s on comic books). i did start collecting as an adult, getting into the hobby just before the 'baseball card as an investment' craze took off. I never believed that any of those cards I bought in the 1980s was ever going to be worth any money. I collected because I liked baseball, and, as long-time Topps card designer, Woody Gelman, is quoted in the book because I had the "collecting disease". 25 years later and I'm still collecting, for much the same reason. This book is a pretty good summation of 100 or so years of baseball card collecting. Some of the material is duplicative of material found in "The Card" by Michael O'Keefee and Teri Thompson. But "The Card" is mostly about the 1909 Honus Wagner card while Jamieson's book is more broadly focused. This book will interest anyone involved in the hobby. ( )

Anyone who has ever collected baseball cards or has a general interest in the history of our national pastime will find Mint Condition fascinating. The author begins with a short history lesson in how the Civil War was in large part responsible both for the movement of baseball beyond the northeast as well as the proliferation of cigarette smoking. This, of course, led to the first baseball (cigarette) cards, or cardboard advertising. Eventually, gum manufacturers picked up on the idea and the more modern and iconic Topps baseball cards appeared. Unfortunately, in the 1980’s baseball card collecting went from a childhood hobby and transformed into adult nostalgia futures. This type of speculation, along with greediness of card manufacturers, and even the baseball players union, almost killed the hobby from which it has never fully recovered. Along the way we encounter some interesting and quirky collectors, auctioneers, designers, and forgers that actually make this a page-turner full of intrigue and disbelief. ( )