The sports card industry, like most of today's institutions, has been subject to such radical change that it has little in common with what it was thirty years ago. In 1980, the baseball card boom had not yet taken hold; by the time the 1990s rolled around, it had evolved from a childhood hobby to a business worth real money.
It is now 2010. We have seen sports cards made of steel, game-used cloth, and whatever this was, but we have also seen much of the industry crumble -- Upper Deck, for instance, lost its license to produce MLB, NFL, and NBA cards. How? Well, there are several reasons, one of which is surely this: if it's printed and it's not a book or get-well-soon card, it is not long for this world.
We at SB Nation feel that the solution to reviving trading cards can be found by taking a cue from other industries. Web-based content is the only remaining means of survival. With this in mind, we present to you Series II of the SB Nation Trading Cards set. (You can view the brief Series I set here. They are months old at this point, and worth a lot of money.)
These cards come complete with blurbs containing invaluable facts, statistics, and stories for personalities all over the sports world. What's more, we're rolling out a unique new feature: the cards' market value is listed on the cards themselves, leaving no doubt as to whether you have made a worthwhile investment. Cut these suckers out and stuff them in a shoebox. You'll be sitting on a gold mine.
Five new cards will be issued with each update. Enjoy!