For over 200 years baseball cards have been a collector's item. To entice people to buy more, just over 100 years ago marketers put gum sticks and trading cards together. The bundle idea was a hit.

Out of the explosive growth came the Topps company. It really all began over 60 years ago.

Do you recall what I am talking about? Did you trade cards as I did with my friends?

And who can forget those hot summer days when some tape and trading cards made a boring day exciting. I can still see my black bike with the trading card taped so that it rattled off the back spokes of the rear bike tire.

Life was good.

As time went on, preserving the trading cards became more of a priority. Mainly to keep the cards looking good and then later for the value some of the cards began to grow in.

And so with baseball trading cards leading the way and inheriting massive success, soon other sports followed in hot pursuit of their own pieces of cardboard with pictures on it.

Another big name company to appear was Donruss. They debuted by featuring a set of rookie cards in the early 1980's.

The next big company to arrive was Fleer. This company makes trading cards for entertainment and sports.

Another giant is a company by the name of Pacific who focuses on hockey and football.

As mentioned above, Topps really lead the way. They added the pack of gum with the cards which was a genius marketing move. Besides sports cards, they have also moved into the gum business.

Both Score and Upper Deck are two other sports trading card companies.

Score focuses on entertainment and football cards.

Upper Deck introduced cards that were glossy which made them stand out. Besides cards they also sell memorabilia and entertainment items.

For those of us who are also big fans of the minor leagies, Just Minors is a sports trading card company that focuses on baseball. They also expanded into selling signed mini helmets.

Another minor league focused company is Team Best. Their focus is entirely baseball.

As you enter this world of trading cards it is quite amazing.

When you drop by the Topps website you will see a lot of history being that they were the front runners. You really have to see this site as there is too much to tell in a short period of time.

Another place to browse is the Beckett website. They lead the pack for sports price guides. In those guides you can read about articles, news, prices, and a lot more.

Check out Baseballology when you get a moment. Their website has plenty of information on books, movies, and baseball cards.

DCS Sports Cards also has a nice site online. They sell the famous bobble heads and other memorabilia along with trading cards.

Oh while I have it on my mind, make sure to take a look at the Tuff Stuff magazine. It has a lot of commentary, info, news about the sports card industry.

That shold be enough for you at this time. As you read there are plenty of things to do and places to see when it comes to sports trading cards.

It has been a passion of mine since I was a kid and it continues to this day.