APBA Blog mailbag: Identifying old APBA cards

image

I received an email from Robby W who posed a frequently asked question:

My mother in law gave me 2 packs of old baseball cards.  They are Kansas City Royals and New York Mets.  How can I find out what year they are from and could you tell me a little more about them and the game they are used for.  Thank you

Robby, I’m sure some of us are envious of your relationship with your mother-in-law.  :)

This is how I responded to his email. 

Hi Robby,

Doug Burg’s APBA Baseball Card 12 List is very helpful in identifying APBA Baseball cards.  Here is the list. 

http://www.apbablog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/APBA12list.pdf

Look at which result number the ’12’ is at for each card.  It should be the same for each card in each season set.  If it is a modern card set, it might have a copyright year at the bottom of each card.  You could use that to cross-reference it. 

Between those two (and perhaps some sleuthing on the web), you should be able to determine what seasons you have. 

I’ve pointed out Doug’s 12 List in the past but it definitely bears repeating.  For those wanting to identify old APBA baseball cards or just to get a snapshot history of when APBA baseball card sets were published and when certain ratings and card changes (i.e 42, ZZ etc.) were implemented, it’s a valuable resource. 

Thomas Nelshoppen

I am an IT consultant by day and an APBA media mogul by night. My passions are baseball (specifically Illini baseball), photography and of course, APBA. I have been fortunate to be part of the basic game Illowa APBA League since 1980 as well as the BBW Boys of Summer APBA League since 2014. I am slogging through a 1966 NL replay and hope to finish before I die.

4 Comments:

  1. I have a set that has 25 next to the 12, I can’t find a reference for the year of that set and wonder if I am looking in the right spot?

  2. Hi Keith,
    Look for the red ’12’ and determine which number corresponds with that. There is only one 12 on every card. On older cards, it varies and you can use the APBA 12 list to figure out which season it is.

    hope that helps!

    Tom

  3. Thanks so much for the reply. Turns out it is a 65.

    Thanks!

  4. So in that case, it could be from 1922, 1943, 1960 or 1980.

    Hopefully, you can figure it out given those clues.

    Good luck, Keith!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.