Card collecting isn't just for sports fans anymore.
Sure, you can still get a 1953 Jackie Robinson for $450 and pay$1,150 for a 1948-49 Joe DiMaggio. And if your game is played onthe parquet floor, a 1961 Wilt Chamberlain can be had for $1,400.
But how about a promotional 'Demolition Man' card with a photoof actor Sylvester Stallone on the front. That'll run you $3.
A set of 'Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi' cards, with about 100entries to peruse, sells for $25. You name it, people make cardsfor it.
There are Desert Storm cards, Flintstones cards, Playboy cards,Star Trek cards, Beatles cards -- and even distinguished economistscards.
For the truly macabre, one Manhattan dealer offers a CharlesManson card, with a sketch of the cult murderer out front and ashort bio on the back.
'Most of these things, when they're popular is when the item ispopular,' said Mark Magaldino, owner of card seller Collector'sUniverse. 'But if it's dead, it's dead.'
The market for non-sports trading cards, however, is alive andwell. While sports cards still sell better, non-sports offeringshave made strong gains during the past four years, Magaldino said.
Many purchasers of non-sports cards are collectors, thoseinterested enough in a particular topic to buy all the cards theycan find.
Card buyers are often card investors, too.
Leon Lazar, co-owner of card dealer It's 'A' nother Hit, saysit's simple. 'A Michael Jordan rookie -- somebody bought it for $1.Today, it's $1,000. It's an unofficial stock market.'
Buyers of non-sports cards also pay close attention to thefuture value of their investments, though perhaps not as much assports-card collectors.
Theo Chen, a pricing analyst at Beckett Publications Inc., sayshis company, which publishes Beckett Baseball Card Monthly andother sports-card guides, has often been asked to produce priceguides for non-sports cards.
But so far, Beckett has no plans to do so.
Still, the interest in card collecting -- sports and non-sport-- is huge.
Chen says sales of new sports cards total $1 billion to $2billion a year. Trading in previously owned cards is at least thatbig. And the non-sports market is an unknown quantity above that.
In New York, dealers hawk their cards on the street as well asin well-appointed -- and not-so-well-appointed -- shops. Often theysell trading cards along with comics, another increasingly popularcollectible.
Dealers warn those who buy cards on the street to be wary ofcounterfeit cards.
That could become a big issue given the prices some cardsfetch. A 1910 Honus Wagner not long ago sold for $451,000.
Higher-priced cards, those fetching several hundred dollars ormore, are mainly the domain of adult investors.
For those who don't have a knack for picking cards that willappreciate in value, there's another option: Buy the companies thatmake the cards.
Topps Co., Score Board Inc. and Marvel Entertainment GroupInc., which owns card maker Fleer, all have publicly traded stock.
