Book cover of Card Sharks: How Upper Deck Turned a Child's Hobby into a High-Stakes, Billion-Dollar Business

Book description

Taking the reader from the birth of sports cards in the 1880s to the present, Williams investigates the success in the shady world of baseball cards. At the center of the industry is Upper Deck, the largest manufacturer, with sales of over $260 million each year. Williams exposes how the…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Card Sharks as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Card Sharks is the story of the trading card industry and how one company, Upper Deck, created an industry of sports collectibles and then, because of greed, cheated its customers. Pete Williams's investigative book searched out true stories and documents and flipped the booming trading card world on its head. We all should have known the logic behind creating collectibles that cannot be sustained and how one company took the industry to new heights, fooled everyone, and then reworked itself to continue years later, even getting caught counterfeiting another company’s collectibles and pretty much getting away with it. It is…

If you love Card Sharks...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Want books like Card Sharks?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Card Sharks.

Browse books like Card Sharks

Book cover of The Prince and The Discourses
Book cover of Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth
Book cover of Soldiering: The Civil War Diary of Rice C. Bull

Share your top 3 reads of 2026!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

164

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Card Sharks, you might also like...

Book cover of The Tao of Poison

The Tao of Poison by Isham Cook,

A poisonous maiden, a Daoist sex cult, and a violent insurgency.

The polyandrous Yan family in China's rural Shaanxi Province takes in two carpenter brothers. When one brother is convicted of murder after killing their neighbor in a dispute, a constable threatens to expose the family's rumored polyandry and extorts…

Book cover of Big Ideas... For Small Businesses: Simple, Practical Tools and Tactics to Help Your Small Business Grow

Big Ideas... For Small Businesses by John Lamerton,

Big Ideas… for Small Businesses is a straight-talking, no-nonsense guide to growing a small business without sacrificing your lifestyle. Written by a former civil servant turned entrepreneur, the book challenges hustle culture and instead champions the idea of an "ambitious lifestyle business" - one that provides freedom and financial stability,…

5 book lists we think you will like!