PSA crew publishes spectacular coffee-table book on cards …

If a chunky little baseball card with a uniform snippet, a slice of bat and an autograph can be deemed a $35 item, it’s hard to tell what Collecting Sports Legends: The Ultimate Hobby Guide is worth.

That’s the fully justified title of a new coffee-table book produced by Joe Orlando and the gang at PSA, and what they have produced is nothing short of a masterpiece. The $35 is also, not coincidentally, the price for this treasure, which should never be confused with what the book is actually worth. Two different equations.

Listing the Top 250 Sportscards in the Hobby, the book shows many of the hobby’s great rarities and virtually all of the most coveted cards down through the years, and shows them in a color-enhanced, attractive setting that showcases our hobby like few other books extant.

The book would be anointed classic status even if there were no text involved, but of course there is, and it’s put to nice complementary effect, providing boatloads of information for those who might not be too familiar with card collecting, along with plenty of morsels even for the advanced hobbyist.

As nice as the top cards section is, the top 30 complete sets is just as stunning, often picturing a couple of dozen cards nicely arrayed over four-page spreads. There are also sections on collecting unopened packs, tickets, bats and autographs – all of it effectively done.

According to Orlando, the book will be available through all the major book sellers, at their
retail stores and on their websites – Barnes and Noble, Borders,
Amazon.com and others. You can also contact Zyrus Press (the publisher)
directly at (888) 622-7823 for more information.

He added that PSA will also be giving the book away as a gift to everyone
who signs up or renews their membership for the PSA Collectors Club. "We really appreciate all the kind folks
who support our club and feel including this book is one way to thank
them." Orlando said.

My hope is that the book would get big play outside the confines of the hobby. I would think that any adult male who ever collected cards as a youngster would be hooked were he to simply open this book up at a bookstore chain or his local newsstand.

This is good stuff.