The Trading Cards listed in this eBay category are cards that have to be purchased. Unlike Trade Cards which were old advertising cards that were given away from the late 1800s to about 1940. Also this catergory does not include Sports Cards related to sports events such as Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Football, Golf, Hockey, Racing and Tennis.
Therefore Trading Cards are small cards which is intended for trading, collecting and playing games. These often feature cartoons, comic book characters, or television series. In the 1990s, cards designed specifically for playing games became popular enough to develop into a distinct category of collectible card games. These tend to use fantasy subjects as the basis for gameplay. The development of the Internet has brought the development of various online communities through which members could trade cards with each other.
The value of trading cards depends on a combination of the subject's popularity and the scarcity of the cards themselves. In some cases, especially with older cards before the advent of card collecting as a widespread hobby, they have become collector's items of considerable value. Such items are argued to have great potential for appreciation and can become collector's items. In more recent years, cards have not necessarily appreciated as much in value due to mass production, although some manufacturers have used limited editions and smaller print runs to boost value.
