Strike’s End to Help Baseball Cards? With...

Strike’s End to Help Baseball Cards? With Major League Baseball players set to play ball, is baseball card collecting headed for a new golden era?

There could be a scramble for cards this year as collectors come back to the market, though the days of skyrocketing prices are over, manufacturers, dealers and collectors say.

But baseball or other sports cards can grow steadily in value if the cards are the right ones, those in the industry say.

“The older cards have really held up well,” said Steve Rotman, a collector based in Worcester, Mass., who’s been in the business nearly 20 years.

“All of a sudden (Willie) Mays, (Jackie) Robinson, (Mickey) Mantle and (Joe) DiMaggio seem to be a little more important than the current players.”

Newer cards produced over the last several years, which make up the bulk of the market, lost 20% to 25% of their value during the strike, he estimated.