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Baseball Card Styles

There have been many different types of baseball card styles over the years, each with their own look and format. The changes are found most noticably in the cards' borders and graphics. Improvments in photography have also altered the look of the cards with clearer, crisper pictures and more vivid colors. However, some cards aren't photographs, but rather painted portraits that have been reproduced. Card companies have also add embossing with raised chrome lettering and logos.

Borders
- Most baseball cards have borders around their edges, so that the image of the player on the card is sort of framed in a specific way. These borders are usually colorful graphics which are synonymous with the type of trading card company. Topps cards with borders were usually simple in their design with one color, putting the emphasis on the photo of the player, while certain Fleer cards had intricate designs around their borders, making the card appear to be more ornate. These borders and their corners are also the parts of the card that are mostly like to be damaged and cause the card to lose value. Card borders also must be cut squarely by the manufacturer or the card automatically has less value.
Information
- The majority of information on a baseball card is usually put on the back, which has the players height, weight, batting side or pitching arm and a myriad of starts from their past seasons, if not all of their seasons, while playing in the pros. The font and layout of this information varies from brand of card to brand of card but is usually small but readable. However, the information and the font on the front of the baseball cards varies greatly. Most cards will have the name of the player, their position, number and the team they play for. The font which is used is based on the style that brand of card is producing that year, ranging from a cartoonish style with illustrated letters and numbers to a serious style, with typed letters and numbers
Photos
- Photos on the baseball cards vary greatly. Many of these photos are taken during spring training, especially for rookie cards, as these players won't have played in many major league games where baseball card quality photos can be taken of them. Sometimes these photos are doctored or Photoshopped. For example, Fleer released a set of cards called Fleer Flair, which had multiple images of players on a glossy card in a dream-like style. Other photos, like the famously valuable early tobacco baseball cards, have sketches or portraits of players posing for the card.

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