Draft:Lew Lipset
biography and brief career summary of Lewis Lipset aka The Old Judge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lew Lipset (born 1942) is an American sports memorabilia expert, author, and prominent figure in the baseball card collecting community. Known by the moniker "The Old Judge," Lipset is recognized for his pioneering research and writing on vintage baseball cards, particularly those from the 19th and early 20th centuries. His work is credited with providing a scholarly framework for the preservation and study of early baseball history within the sports card industry.
 | Review waiting, please be patient.
This may take 8 weeks or more, since drafts are reviewed in no specific order. There are 3,012 pending submissions waiting for review.
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
Reviewer tools
|
Comment: Please have a look at your footnotes. Johannes (Talk) (Contribs) (Articles) 13:37, 15 March 2026 (UTC)
Early life and education
Lipset was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1942, to Estelle and Herbert Lipset. He attended Tilden High School, where he was a starter on the varsity basketball team. Growing up in Brooklyn, he became a lifelong fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers, later citing the team's 1957 move to Los Angeles as a significant personal event.
Upon graduating high school, he attended the City College of New York (Baruch College), where he played junior varsity basketball and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics.
Career
Professional beginnings
Following college, Lipset began a career as a computer programmer, working for firms including The Equitable and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. During this time, he operated a side business in philately (stamp collecting). However, his interest eventually shifted back to baseball cards, specifically focusing on pre-World War II issues.
Baseball card industry
In 1976, Lipset left his programming career to focus entirely on his baseball card business. He became a prominent dealer at national card shows during the late 1970s and 1980s. He was an original dealer at the inaugural National Sports Collectors Convention in 1980 and served as a co-organizer for the 4th National Convention in Parsippany, New Jersey, in 1983.
Writing and publications
Lipset is best known for his research-based approach to the hobby. He authored a seminal three-volume set titled The Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards:
- Volume 1: 19th Century Cards (1983)
- Volume 2: Early Gum & Candy Cards (1984)
- Volume 3: 20th Century Tobacco Cards (1909–32) (1986)
From 1985 to 1994, he published The Old Judge newsletter. The publication featured the "Hobby Notes" column and provided the industry's first rigorous surveys and price guides for pre-war sets. The newsletter ran for 50 issues and remains a primary reference for historical card data.[1] Lipset retired from the memorabilia business circa 2010.
Legacy
Lipset is frequently cited as a founding figure of the modern sports card industry. Collectors often refer to the history of vintage card collecting in terms of "Before Lipset" and "After Lipset" eras, noting that his publications transformed fragmented oral traditions into a comprehensive "map" for serious philography and memorabilia collecting.[2]
Personal life
Lipset married Marsha Lipset on November 24, 1966. They have two children. After living in Queens and Suffolk County, the family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1996 before returning to New Jersey in 2018.