Where did the term “semistars” originate?
 

Talking about “semistars” in our industry is so commonplace, but it really is an absurd thing when you think about it. No one would ever actually call a player a semistar outside of card collecting. Did the term originate with Beckett magazines or has it been around for longer? It’s so ubiquitous that I find it hard to believe Beckett was the originator, but who knows.

I have never thought about it, but I feel like I have heard semistars for about as long as I have been collecting, so at least from the late 1970's.

Brian

It's hard to tell after so long, but I think I recall hearing it before Beckett even began. Along with other terms for good to really good players who were not ones you immediately thought of as star players.

I think it started with the price guides, not sure what year, 70’s I would guess.

The term may have come from "semi-pro" ball and been extrapolated to represent 2nd tier stars. Just guessing though.

I choose to believe it was a term created specifically to refer to Harold Baines. And from there it just caught on. As in, yesterday’s semistars are today’s Hall of Famers.

The first time I remember seeing the term was in price lists for buying singles from sets. They might say something like "Commons are 5 cents each, semi-stars 25 cents, and star cards priced as shown." Then you would have to try to guess which category the card you wanted fell into when placing an order.

It's true that it appears to be a baseball card thing, likely made for price guides. It's a spot between common players and stars.

The first time I heard a collector refer to a baseball card as "gem mint," I thought he was making a joke. I also remember when PSA & SGC were still something of a novelty.

semi
 

yes, the price guides back in the day - CCP, and CPU , recall they used that term " semi stars"

Scd
 

The first use that I remember was in Sports Collectors Digest ads and dealer sales list from the 1970's and early 1980's.

It has been many years but I recall that a “star” was voted to the All-Star game for a number of years, at least 3. But a semi-star was only voted once or twice.

Closely related, but not necessarily tied just to cards is the term "minor stars." I've always just thought of this as recognizable players, but not the cream of the crop. Maybe Willie Davis, and not Willie Mays...

I worked on the first 15 issues or so of CCP and the term was around well before then. I suspect, as noted above, that is originated in dealer catalogs or ads of the late 60's or 1970's. You had a five or six level of stratification by the time CCP was launched that was generally understood. Ignoring test cards and the like, it was essentially, in descending order: Superstar/HOF-Star/Semi Star/Popular or Local Player/Common, with the latter of course segregated by series.

If I remember correctly - which I may not - there were SEMI-stars AND MINOR Stars, too...

OR am I nuts???

In the 1970's and early 1980's I considered a player a SEMI-star if he had a really great year one year and not so hot the next, leaving you in doubt about his next season. A minor star was a cut above average, but below SEMI-star status. Mostly used to price card lots for set breaks.

No, you're not nuts. I always thought of the two terms as being/meaning about the same thing, and that they were virtually interchangeable.

semi
 

Oh yes, there was also the " local " star price guide designation.... .which depending on what town you were in/ near a major lg team....every team had at least 5 " local stars " ..and sometimes " local star" was nothing more then
your Ed Kranepool type guy...which was a common in the other 49 states !! LOL

I recall it was used frequently in the 1970s at card shows.

Joke? Oh, they were dead serious. And for something so serious you need protection!