Baseball Card Collecting for Beginners

After Korean Baseball Organization games appeared on ESPN during the first year of the Covid pandemic, Americans got a crash course in the history and nature of the Korean version of professional baseball. Not only did it exist; it was fun and exciting. The KBO has legitimate stars, some of whom have made the transition to Major League Baseball.  But what is out there for card collectors?  Well, that's wanted to know, and I'm sure I'm not alone. So here's what I could find out about Korean baseball cards. Korean baseball cards hit the scene in the 1980s. Some were sold as team sets, and many were unlicensed. Sorting through what I can find online, the earliest example of Korean cards seems to feature a design that matches 1980 Topps. The words are, of course, Korean. It also appears that the players may be from MLB rather than members of the KBO. In the l1990s, a company called Teleca began to sell packs of cards. The 1999 Teleca set features 232 cards. The first Teleca...

In March 2020, as Americans sheltered at home and faced the sobering realities of a disease that was killing thousands daily, they also sought a release, a distraction. Normally, baseball played that role for millions, but Major League Baseball was forced to put the season on hold. Suddenly, baseball fans sought alternatives-woodworking, knitting, baking, and, quite notably, sports card collecting. Some had collected before and still had cards stashed away. Others were newcomers. Both groups quickly found the hobby overwhelming. Sports card collecting had experienced sea change since the junk-wax era heyday of the mid- to late-1980s and early '90s.  For me, the card collecting was a small joy in a dark time, but it just wasn't enough. I needed more baseball in my life. I missed the game. I needed to see the green grass and the dirt and the nine players on the field with an opposing player at bat. Amidst this crisis, an unlikely hero emerged: the Korean government and something ...