Presented here is a brief informative term guide that i created for the Baseball Card Collector. It points out and explains the hobby's most used terms when dealing with or buying baseball cards.  I believe that it is important for Baseball card buyers on Ebay and around the world to have some sort of recognition and knowledge on their card purchases for a few reasons.  One main reason is to have an idea before hand on what cards you will be investing your hard working dollar on so that you the buyer will not regret your purchases.  Another reason is that if you take the time to memorize some of the hobby terms that this guide provides, you will be a smarter collector.  You will have a competitive edge against your fellow bidder(s) or collector(s) by out smarting them with knowledge, awareness and being one step ahead of the game if any of these cards or terms show up on Ebay, at a Convention or at a private auction.  You will intimidate dealers with your new knowledge of baseball cards.  A third reason is, if you are a new collector getting involved in this wonderful hobby you should really know what some of these terms mean since they do come up frequently when collecting or discussing baseball cards.  Even for the veteran collector who has forgotten over the years what some of  the main hobby terms standfor, this guide will reincarnate their meanings.  Remember knowledge is power!

This guide will contain the card terms, my definition of each term and a sometimes a brief explanation.  I will focus on the more frequently used card terms in our card hobby.

CARD TERMS AND THEIR MEANINGS:

A.C.C.- Stands for the American Card Catalog. This is the very first catalog that was written in the 1950's (cataloging, identifying and pricing baseball cards produced from 1887-1950) that paved the way. We get all our card designations from it.

ALL STAR CARD- A card in a set that pictures a player from the American League or National League who made the all star team. These cards are usually created differently to "stand out" more than the other cards in the set.

ALTERED CARDS- Cards that have been tampered with by an individual in a negative way by trimming, miscutting the card to make it look better in appearance for profit purposes.

ANONYMOUS ISSUES - Cards that were issued in the early 20th Cent. whose origin are unknown.  (You will find Anonymous issues primarily with E-cards, T-cards and Strip cards)

AUTHENTIC CARD- A 100% original genuine card.

AUTOGRAPHED CARD- A card that has a photo of a particular player with his original hand signature on the card.

BACK DAMAGE- When the reverse portion of a card contains some kind of physical wear. example-paper loss.

BAZOOKA CARD- A gum company that issued cards with their products from 1958-1971. Also issued cards again in 2000's.

BECKETT- A magazine made price guide/book that list baseball cards with their market value.

BLANK BACK- A card that was issued with no printing on it's reverse. Usually a proof card.

BLANKET- A flannel or cloth type material that was issued in tobacco packages in the early 1900's that had drawings of  ball players or other subjects.

BOWMAN- A company in Philadelphia that produced cards from 1948-1956.  Than again produced cards from 1989-2004.

"C" DESIGNATION- Stands for the identity of a cigarette card issued in Canada in tobacco packs.

CABINET CARDS- A large size card issued in the 19th century- early 20th century depicting an image (in this case a ball player) on a heavy cardboard stock. Usually you had to redeem coupons,wrappers, packages or tokens and mail away to the Co. to recieve a cabinet card as a premium (which i will explain later in this guide).

CARD STOCK- A paper material which cards are printed on.

CDV- Stands for Carte de Vista-"Photo card".  (similar to cabinet photos mentioned above, but smaller), these are photographic images that were mounted on cardboard stock that were produced in the 19th Cent.-Early 20th Cent.  These were the beginning of photographic pictures of ball players & other subjects on cardboard (which in turn paved the way to producing baseball cards).

CENTERING - The precise position of the photo taken on the card in equivalent to it's borders

CHECKLIST- A card that is included in a set that list in numerical or alphabetical order the other cards in the set. It is what i call the "Table of Contents"card(s) for a set.

COMMON CARD -The least valuable player card in a particular set.

COUNTERFEIT - A card that has the presentation of an original card but in fact is not authentic.

CREASE - A card that has a wrinkle or bend on the surface layer of the cardboard (the card).

DESIGNATION- A letter and number that was designed for cataloging each card produced from 1887-1950 by the A.C.C. creator and founding father of our hobby Mr. Jefferson Burdick.

"D" DESIGNATION-Stands for the identity of all bakery and bread cards.  Cards that were issued with bread products or bakery products.  These are usually considered Regionals (explained at the bottom).

DIE CUT- A card that was made to be perforated out of  it's original cardboard so that it can be displayed by collectors. Example-folding the card to standup.

DISC- A flat circular issued card (round card)

DONRUSS- A gum Company from Memphis that produced cards from 1980-Present.

DOUBLE PRINT- A card that shows two printings by an accidental error from the printing factory. Since they are mistakes, collectors love to collect error cards from the Co. thus making them interesting for collectors. Sometimes they command a higher value since they are unique.

ERROR CARD -A card that was issued wrongly with the players name, year, team, picture incorrect.

"E" CARD - The designated letter in the A.C.C.(mentioned above) identifying all early cards that were issued in candy packs.  E- cards are also called candy cards, caramel cards.

EXHIBIT CARD - Heavy stock postcard size cards that were issued originally from 1921-1966 and sold in penny arcade machines.

"F" CARD- The designated letter in the A.C.C. identifying early baseball cards that were issued with food products as inserts.

FACSIMILE AUTOGRAPH- A card that contains a reprinted signature of the player.  Usually done by a photographic negative.

FACTORY SET- A card set that comes straight from the factory and put together (parceled) by the factory only, not collectors.

FLEER- A company that issued sports cards from 1923-Present.

"FLIP IT"- Expression used when a dealer or buyer purchases a card(s) and then hands it over immediately to another buyer hoping to make a profit.

GLOBAL- A professional grading company.

GOUDEY- A gum company out of Boston, Mass. that issued cards with their gum in packs from 1933-1941.

GRADE - The condition of a card.

GRADED CARD- A card that has been given it's condition by a professional grading company and the card then is encapsulated in the company's card holder.

HIGH GRADE - An exceptionally well looking card.  A card that has great color, photo, sharp corners, clean back. No flaws.

HALL OF FAMER CARDS (HOF'ers) - Cards of the ball players in a set or lot (later explained) that have made it into the Baseball's Hall of Fame Museum. These are the elite player cards in the set and command a higher value.

HIGH NUMBERS -Each card carries a number on the back. These are the last numbered series cards of the set.  They usually command a higher value than the other cards in the set because not many were printed or the distribution wasn't widespread.

INSERT- A special card that was added or enclosed in some kind of package as an extra bonus for collectors. Stamps, posters, decals were also added as an insert.

ISSUE-  A word that is used to label or identify a set of cards put out by it's manufacturer for that given year.

LID- A disc shaped material used to cover a product containing a picture of a ball player (in this case) for promotional use.

LOW GRADE- Cards that are not in presentable condition.

LOT- An assortment of cards grouped together for sale.

"M" CARD - The designated letter in the A.C.C. identifying all cards that were issued by newspapers/periodical Co.

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES- An expression used for cards that were not produced by a major or popular manufacturer.

MINOR LEAGUE CARD- Cards of a ball player printed showing them on their minor league ball club.

MINI CARDS- Cards that were made in a smaller size (mini) compared to the original larger cards of the particular set as a test by the card company to see how well it does.

MISCUT - A card that has been cut unevenly by the manufacturer.

"N" CARDS -The designated letter in the A.C.C. identifying Nineteenth century cards.  These are classified as the first baseball cards in history and the beginning of baseball card collecting.

NON SPORT CARD - Any card issued that has nothing to do with sports.

OBVERSE- The picture or photographic side of the card.  

ODDBALL CARDS- Unusual looking cards that were issued in limited quantities by a manufacturer in different shapes, sizes, forms.

OFF CENTERED (o/c)- A card that was printed irregular.  Not centered.

PANEL CARD - A rectangular piece (usually) of cardboard picturing more than one ball player on it cut from a package.

PLAYBALL GUM CARDS- Baseball cards produced with their gum products from 1939-1941 by Gum Inc. of Philadelphia.

PREMIUM- A special card that was mailed or given by the Company to the person who redeemed his/her coupons the Co. issued, sent them back to the company and as an incentive for buying their products & saving the coupons, the Co. would give you or mail you a "Premium"( special) card.

PREMIUM CARD- The highest dollar valued card in a set.

PROOF CARD- A card that is printed by the manufacturer before issuing their entire card set or product so that they can examine and detect any errors to that card.  Always found with a blank back.

PSA- A professional company that grades cards based out of California

"R" CARDS - The designated letter in the A.C.C. identifying candy and game cards from the 1930-1950. (note: R cards are Different from E-cards in that E cards mostly were smaller size, issued earlier in history with candy. R-cards were issued from 1930-1950 with gum example:Playball cards listed above are considered R-cards for short).

"RARE CARD" - Expression used for one of a kind cards that are impossible to find in any condition and have a non existent presence in our hobby in relation to the cards that you see frequently.  Years may pass before seeing one.

RAW CARD - 1) Term used for a card that has not been graded by a professional Co.  2). Can also mean a card not in good shape.

REGIONAL ISSUE- Cards that were produced in a limited area of the U.S.A. and were issued to increase the sales of the companies products by having collectors sought after these limited cards. Example: Wilson Weiners cards.

REPRINT- A fake card that was not made from the original plates or negatives.

REVERSE - Another word for the back of a card.  The "reverse" part of a card is where you will find the players statistics, bio and card # in the  set (most of the time).

ROOKIE CARD - The players very first photo on a card.

SCARCE - A card or series that are difficult to find but not impossible. These cards do appear but not frequently nor in large quantities.

SERIES- Cards from a set that have been numbered, printed and distributed by the Company in a specific order to their distributors for resale.

SET- Contains Every single card issued and completed by the manufacturer for that entire year.

SOUTHERN LEAGUERS- Cards produced depicting players who played in the South, The Southern League.

SCD (Sports Collectors Digest) - A weekly hobby Newspaper that is published and gives information on the sports card and memorabilia industry.

SEPIA CARDS- A card that was issued with a dark brown ink or pigment on the obverse (front) of the card.

SGC- A professional grading company that grades cards.

SHORT PRINT- Cards that were printed in very few quantities in a given set.

SLABBED CARD- An expression used, meaning a card that has been encased and sealed in a hard plastic holder by a professional certification service.

STRIP CARDS- Cards that were issued in the 1920's-30's on usually long strips containing more than one player card on it.  They were issued with dotted marks to cut each individual player cards and collect them.  Uncut strips are usually worth more.

"T" CARDS- The designated letter in the A.C.C. identifying Twentieth century U.S. tobacco cards.

TEAM CARDS - A card picturing an entire team and Mgr.

TOBACCO CARDS - Cards that were inserted into tobacco packs (late19th Century-Early 20th Cent.) by various tobacco companies of the time to increase their product sales by including a "Tobacco(baseball card) card" as an extra gift with it's product to their buyers.

TINT VARIATIONS- Cards that were produced with a shade of variation color from the manufacturer not intended for that actual card.

TEST ISSUE- Cards that are produced for the first time in limited quantities as an experiment by the card Company to see how well it does.

TIN TYPE- (began)1850's-1902. A photographic image of a ball player (in this case) and other subjects that were visible on a thin metal plate.  These were another way early in history in which photographic images depicting subjects (like the CDV, Cabinet photos, but usually found smaller in size) were collected.

TOPPS- A baseball card Company that originated in Brooklyn, NY that has issued sports cards since 1948-Present.

"TOUGH CARD"- An expression used when a card is difficult to find. (example: That E-card is a tough card?)

TRIMMED- A card that has been altered by slicing it's borders.

"V"CARDS - The designated letter by the A.C.C. identifying Canadian Gum issues.  Gum card issued in Canada.

VARIATION CARD- When two identical cards of a player has been produced with different versions. Can be a printing style version, player photo version, player listed with two different teams version, and so on...

"W" CARDS- The designated letter by the A.C.C. identifying Exhibit cards, Strip cards and sometimes team cards.

UNCUT SHEET- The complete sheet of cards printed from the composites that are not cut into individual cards.

UPGRADE - An expression that is used when you plan to purchase the same card or cards that you own in better condition than the one(s) you own. (example: I need to upgrade my 1952 Topps set.)