THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502190216
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BRIAN L. BIGELOW, SPECIAL TO THE VP/LS
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
It's the start of spring training, 1995!
This is the time of year when baseball and baseball card collecting gather steam for the coming season. Collectors become acquainted with the rookies and welcome back the veterans. February is expected to bring heightened enthusiasm for baseball collectibles.
Cards are hot this February, as usual, but don't look for a bat or ball on the high-demand items. The cards collectors want this year feature NASCAR drivers and their cars. This change is unprecedented, and no one could have foretold that it would occur so neatly.
Racing cards are the upstarts of the card industry, with a ``tradition'' dating back only to 1988. That was the year J.R. Maxx Inc. of Charlotte issued the first comprehensive and nationally distributed set devoted to NASCAR figures. The company demonstrated that racing cards had wider appeal than had been assumed and was soon joined in competition by other manufacturers.
It may be premature to speculate that Dale Earnhardt will supplant Ken Griffey Jr. at the top of collectors' ``most coveted-cards'' lists. Then again, that's what's happening as spring training and baseball card collecting stumble into 1995. The NASCAR fans are active and anxious, their cards are dashing around the tracks and the card companies are working hard to capture and deliver the excitement in their products. MEMO: Brian L. Bigelow is store manager and appraiser for Candl Coins & Stamps
on Independence Blvd. and North (Lynnhaven) Mall Drive in Virginia
Beach. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Cards featuring NASCAR stars such as Ricky Rudd are drawing
attention in February.
by CNB