I was looking through some old issues of Baseball Hobby News, and I found this editorial in the December 1979 issue by editor Frank Barning. In it, Barning looks back at 1979, "the greatest year in the history of our hobby". In addition to BHN starting up that March (it would cease publication in 1993 after a good run), the Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide had been published that spring, the first price guide to give prices for each individual card, in three different conditions. I was 13 at the time and deep into the hobby, and I remember how revolutionary that was. That was also the year that superstar cards, led by the 1952 Topps Mantle, really began to explode in price, as Barning notes. Of course, they would continue to explode even more in the following decade, but 1979 was the year it really started. It's also interesting to read Barning's speculations about what 1980 might bring. People were seriously wondering whether Dave Kingman might beat Roger Maris's single-season home run record, after he hit 48 in 1979.
I've kept some of the ads surrounding the column, because they're fun to look at too.
