Any player collectors out there?

[Vintagevault13]

I have been almost exclusively working on my 1965 Topps set this year, but I've hit a point where I need to take a break and work on something else to fight boredom and add some variety. I have gone back to my Hank Aaron collection and started to look for items I need. Growing up in the Atlanta area in the late 60s and 70s, Hank was baseball to us and has continued to be an Atlanta icon. I have enjoyed this and was reminded how much fun (and variety) a player collection can add.

This got me to wondering about other player collectors out there. There doesn't seem to be as much talk about player collections as sets, key cards, etc. I would love to hear about who you collect and why.

[hcv123]

I have been collecting Clemente for 35+ years. My longer story is on the board somewhere. Short version is I was a "collector" for as long as I can remember. Started with comic books. Got into collecting cards in ~1978 Went to first show at the coliseum motor inn (a monthly show in Long Island, NY) - Was OVERWHELMED with all the "old cards". For some reason The Clemente rookie in a dealers case really stood out to me (I was also excited because it was the most valuable card in the set and a bargain (listed in the cpu/ccp at $86) for sale at $68. A couple of hours and lots of crying, begging, negotiating and whining -Mom shelled out $48 ($47 more than I had ever spent on a card) for that Clemente rookie. I started getting more of his cards. I saw he was in a lot of the obscure harder to find sets (I always loved a challenge). I later learned about him as a person and knew I had picked the right guy. My collection is at a point where there are less than 5 items I know exist that I do not have and wish to own. I'm not holding my breath, but I know anything is possible! ........And yes, I still have that rookie (most meaningful card in my collection)

Ps. I have some pretty rare Aaron items- PM me if you are interested.

[Vintagevault13]

I have been collecting Clemente for 35+ years. My longer story is on the board somewhere. Short version is I was a "collector" for as long as I can remember. Started with comic books. Got into collecting cards in ~1978 Went to first show at the coliseum motor inn (a monthly show in Long Island, NY) - Was OVERWHELMED with all the "old cards". For some reason The Clemente rookie in a dealers case really stood out to me (I was also excited because it was the most valuable card in the set and a bargain (listed in the cpu/ccp at $86) for sale at $68. A couple of hours and lots of crying, begging, negotiating and whining -Mom shelled out $48 ($47 more than I had ever spent on a card) for that Clemente rookie. I started getting more of his cards. I saw he was in a lot of the obscure harder to find sets (I always loved a challenge). I later learned about him as a person and knew I had picked the right guy. My collection is at a point where there are less than 5 items I know exist that I do not have and wish to own. I'm not holding my breath, but I know anything is possible! ........And yes, I still have that rookie (most meaningful card in my collection)



Ps. I have some pretty rare Aaron items- PM me if you are interested.


Love the Clemente RC story. I can also remember begging my parents for money to buy a special card. It took me about 6 months to convince my dad to let me spend $5 to buy a 1969 Reggie RC!


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[almostdone]

I have collected the base cards of both Clemente and Koufax and every now and then I pick up an item from them.
Last few years I switch back and forth between Stan Musial, Pee a Wee Reese and Carl Erskine. All for different reasons. I feel Musial is one of the most underrated players from his era in collecting. Some to do with not being in NY. Some because he was a quiet unassuming man who didn't make big splashy headlines. I feel a lot of the reason was because he isn't in most 50's sets. He was overshadowed by other players cards kids were chasing during those years. Imagine if Mantle was only in 3 Bowman sets and 1 Topps set in the 50's.
I like both Erskine and Reese because of thier proximity to Jackie Robinson during the integration of baseball and the roles they played in it.
Drew

[39special]

I collect Carl Furillo and Johnny Callison stuff.
I lived in the same area as Furillo,and met him a bunch of times.I have his Topps and Bowman cards and also a bunch of oddball stuff of his,plus a lot of signed items.
Being a life long Phillies fan,I always was a Callison fan.I have his Topps run,oddball stuff
and alot of signed stuff,including a contract.Its fun collecting players as I find things that I didn't know existed.

[1952boyntoncollector]

I getting into the Jackie Robinsons...its baseball and Americana..

[Bestdj777]

Mantle was one of my mom's favorite players growing up, so I have been working on a Mantle master set for years. I currently have 341 unique items with approximately 40 or so duplicates. My collection includes almost every career contemporary card ever issued (I don't collect the test issued cards) and other interesting postcards/premium photos/team issued photos I stumbled on along the way. My want list is down to 10 regionally issued cards, which are proving rather difficult. If I can add 5 or 6 more to my collection, I would comfortably call it complete.

[ALR-bishop]

In a round about way. I collect all of the Topps cards of any player who has ever appeared on a Topps card :)

Same for Fleer

[almostdone]

In a round about way. I collect all of the Topps cards of any player who has ever appeared on a Topps card :)

Same for Fleer

That's all?:eek: Ever think about expanding you outlook?:D
Drew

[mrmopar]

Lots of Dodger player collectors popping in. Add me. I collect Dodgers in general, among other things, but I will add nearly anything and everything featuring Steve Garvey. Card or non-card.

[Exhibitman]

Lefty O'Doul, Aaron, Koufax and Al Rosen.

[Vintagevault13]

Thanks for the responses so far. I am enjoying reading about the different players we collect. A cool thing about player collecting is that we have can see a timeline of a career. In addition, it gives an opportunity to collect an incredible variety of cards (national releases, regional releases, food cards, inserts, etc).


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[z28jd]

I didn't get the final two cards yet in the mail, but I just finished a small collecting goal by getting a signed Topps card for all ten years that Al Oliver was on the Pirates(1969-78 Topps). It originally started because Oliver was signing at a card show back in 1986 and I bought three Pirates cards for him to sign. Then he was signing at PNC about five years ago and I had him sign two more cards, so I ended up getting the final five cards since then.

The strange thing, which was not done on purpose, is that the five cards he signed were all in black sharpie. The other five are in blue sharpie. Didn't realize it until I bought the last card earlier this week.

Here is a scan, obviously all the ones I got in person. I also have a handful of his rookies, not a bad card with Richie Hebner also on it

[Koufax32fan]

I am also a Koufax collector (and to a much lesser extent, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo). Once I had most of the cards (I am still holding out on buying the 58 Bell Brand card, and I think I might be missing 1 or 2 of the Venezuela cards), I started branching out into other things. I have tried to get a copy of every magazine that his picture on the cover from his playing time; as a plus, they have some great articles and the ads make me laugh - for less than a buck, you could bulk up in case that bully kicks sand in your face while you are at the beach, or you could buy lifts for you shoes that make you 2 inches taller. I then started on ticket stubs and programs/scorecards from games in which he pitched. The thing about those is that I know with almost certainty that I will never finish them. It is truly about the journey and not the finish line with those. I also have copies of all of the books about him, caches, wire photos, items from his Tropicana Motel, pins, cups, penknife, mug, bobble head, etc. The nice thing about collecting a player like Koufax (or Aaron or Clemente or Mantle or Mays) is that there will always be items that you can find, even if just new cards and inserts, and that can fit most budgets. I have been at it for many years and I still find things I have never seen a few times a year (this year, for example, I bought a full back from a box of Post Toasties Corn Flakes with Koufax and others on the back and in just the last couple of weeks I bought programs from a game in San Francisco in 1961 and one from a gain in NY from 1966).

My only suggestion is to enjoy what you collect. Ok, I lied, my other suggestion is to take your time and enjoy what you collect. While there may be a few things that you will not see again for a while, there will always be Topps and Bowman cards to buy in whatever condition you want. If you happen to see a ticket stub from Koufax' first game please let me know.

[ALR-bishop]

His toughest Topps item would be the 66 Punch Out

[Exhibitman]

While there may be a few things that you will not see again for a while


That's for sure...

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibitman/miscellaneous4/websize/1960%20Herald%20Examiner%20Koufax%20Snider.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibitman/miscellaneous4/websize/1951%20Hallicrafters%20Rosen-Lemon.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibitman/miscellaneous4/websize/1960s%20Van%20Heusen%20Aaron.jpg

[DHogan]

My player collection is of anyone in any sport with the first or last name Hogan. Except Hulk Hogan. I have about 45-50 cards from pre-war to present day cards.

[David W]

Lou Brock - and to a lesser extent other Cardinals. Actually, there are only a few things I do not have, so I'm debating what to do next.

Here is a link that finished up 1 year of posting all my collection.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=174114

[CobbvLajoie1910]

Cal McLish, Frank Baumholtz, & Lefty O'Doul.

[tribefan]

In Baseball - Andre Thornton & Jim Thome (Indians only)
Basketball - Pete Maravich
Football - Brian Sipe, Bernie Kosar, Ozzie Newsome

Can you guess where I grew up lol?

[quitcrab]

I collect brooks tobinson from 1957 to 1978

[ValKehl]

Post WWII - Pete Runnels & Mickey Vernon, because they were my favorite Senators when I was a Little Leaguer.

Pre WWII - Walter Johnson & Sam Rice, because they they had the greatest pitching and no-pitching careers, respectively, with the Senators.

[bnorth]

I player collect Wade Boggs. Otherwise mainly collect error cards of any player in any era.

[Exhibitman]

Other Sports:

Boxing: Benny Leonard, Jim Jeffries, Joe Louis; to a lesser extent Rocky Marciano
Basketball: Wilt Chamberlain
Football: Jim Brown
Soccer: dabble in Pele stuff
Non-Sports: Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz, Groucho, autographs of comedians

[brookdodger55]

Collect Anything Brooklyn Dodgers/L.A. Dodgers
Zack Wheat and Sandy Koufax, Don Sutton

Mike

[Hammerin'Hank]

I have been almost exclusively working on my 1965 Topps set this year, but I've hit a point where I need to take a break and work on something else to fight boredom and add some variety. I have gone back to my Hank Aaron collection and started to look for items I need. Growing up in the Atlanta area in the late 60s and 70s, Hank was baseball to us and has continued to be an Atlanta icon. I have enjoyed this and was reminded how much fun (and variety) a player collection can add.

This got me to wondering about other player collectors out there. There doesn't seem to be as much talk about player collections as sets, key cards, etc. I would love to hear about who you collect and why.

We share much in common.

I'm a fellow Dawg fan.

I have spent this year collecting the 1964 Topps set. I am 1 card shy of completing the set..........missing only card#505 Stan Williams.

Hank Aaron is the 1 individual player who I collect. I have every regular issued Topps card from 1955 - 1976, in grade 7 or higher, plus several other All Star, combo,, or league leader cards. The only regular edition card I'm missing is his 1954 Topps Rookie.

[Exhibitman]

I prefer oddball, regional and team issue items to mainstream for my player collections:

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibitman/miscellaneous4/websize/1953%20BFE%20Rosen%20001.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibitman/basketball/websize/1960%20Chamberlain%20team%20issue.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibitman/miscellaneous4/websize/2014%20JB%201.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibitman/miscellaneous4/websize/Aaron%20Team%20Issue.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibitman/miscellaneous4/large/1955%20Koufax%20wire%20photo%201.jpg

[Vintagevault13]

We share much in common.



I'm a fellow Dawg fan.



I have spent this year collecting the 1964 Topps set. I am 1 card shy of completing the set..........missing only card#505 Stan Williams.



Hank Aaron is the 1 individual player who I collect. I have every regular issued Topps card from 1955 - 1976, in grade 7 or higher, plus several other All Star, combo,, or league leader cards. The only regular edition card I'm missing is his 1954 Topps Rookie.


We do have a lot in common. I have the Topps 1954-1976 regular issue Aaron run, but my cards range from 3-7 (all are ungraded so I am estimating). I am working on some of the inserts and "oddball" items now. Aaron is a fun, but doable, challenge as I have found most of his cards to be reasonable. Probably the most underrated player IMO.

Good luck on the collection.

GO DAWGS!!

[jason.1969]

I collect Hank Aaron and have a list here:

http://jasoncards.wordpress.com/2014/11/26/hank-aaron-wall-museum/

I really got hooked when I read the Bryant biography. It helped also that I already had his rookie card and about 10 other ones.

[7nohitter]

Ryan collector here.

I have triples of all his Topps (except the RC), Fleer, Donruss, Score issues.

I am also slowly putting together (signed when possible), in order, the 5,714 strikeout victims...Pat Jarvis to Greg Myers!

[KingFisk]

I collect Carlton Fisk....I had so many 1984 Topps cards of him when I was 10, and my dad told me about his historic home run when I showed him all of those cards, so I decided he must be the best player. He became my favorite from that day forward...still a few cards elude me...like the '74 Deckle Edge and a handful of those 70s disc issues...I was really excited when they started cranking out cards for him again in the late 90s but now it's a Quixotic quest to try and track down every card for him that comes out....I have basically given up chasing the modern Fisk issues and gone back to vintage graded singles. But I still have my massive binder with all the cards I collected from 1985 onward. It's totally priceless to me!

[Mark70Z]

I collect brooks tobinson from 1957 to 1978

I'm with quitcrab; Brooksie all the way...

He was my hero growing up, so why not collect his items. I do dabble into some of the other years, but mainly stick to the years '57 to '78 as well.

[Vintagevault13]

I collect Hank Aaron and have a list here:

http://jasoncards.wordpress.com/2014/11/26/hank-aaron-wall-museum/

I really got hooked when I read the Bryant biography. It helped also that I already had his rookie card and about 10 other ones.


Great displays!


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[CharleyBrown]

Started collecting Jackie Robinson cards... had most of the Master set... sold off most of it, and I started focusing on the 1947 Bond Bread set.. Now that I've just about finished that, I'm going to start picking up some key cards, and then I'll focus on another player or two.

[Exhibitman]

I collect Hank Aaron and have a list here:

http://jasoncards.wordpress.com/2014/11/26/hank-aaron-wall-museum/


Very nice.

I picked this up a couple of Nationals ago:

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibitman/miscellaneous4/websize/1976%20The%20Transport%20Co%20Aaron%20ticket.jpg

[brewing]

I didn't get the final two cards yet in the mail, but I just finished a small collecting goal by getting a signed Topps card for all ten years that Al Oliver was on the Pirates(1969-78 Topps). It originally started because Oliver was signing at a card show back in 1986 and I bought three Pirates cards for him to sign. Then he was signing at PNC about five years ago and I had him sign two more cards, so I ended up getting the final five cards since then.

Here is a scan, obviously all the ones I got in person. I also have a handful of his rookies, not a bad card with Richie Hebner also on it
I used to collect Al Oliver cards. He was my favorite non-Tiger. I have about 100 different cards of his.
I can't say I am really collecting any individual player anymore although I'll pick up the occasional high grade Oliver, Whitaker, and Trammell if the price is right.

[jason.1969]

The 1976 Topps Al Oliver is a really beautiful card.

[cwazzy]

I collect Roy Campanella. My first vintage card was a '53 Topps Campy that I saw at a show that I was working with my dad around 1992. I couldn't stop staring at it and my dad ended up getting it for me for Christmas that year. A few years ago I started collecting all of his cards I could find (and afford). I've wizened up a bit the past couple of years and am concentrating on his cards through 1979 and have sold all the modern cards I had accumulated. I'm missing a couple of cards from the PSA master set but they don't show up too often (or are out of my price range at the moment). While I wait for them I am getting ready to start a Musial collection. I will also eventually work on a Bob Gibson set.

My other card collection (still very much in its infancy) is one that I'm working on with my boys. We're trying to get one card of every player that has played for the Cardinals since 1900. Obviously that's impossible since quite a few of the players played to few games to have a card produced. Eventually I'd like to produce my own cards for them but I haven't a clue how to do that.

[JollyElm]

Speaking of Al Oliver, I have 4 or 5 of his cards autographed (through the mail) from back in the day. I believe they all show him on the Rangers. They are all available for trade if anyone is interested and can be found on page 33 in the autographs section of my bucket.

[mrmopar]

I collect Oliver too, although I find that I can't bring myself to go after him the way I do with my primary player because I don't want to pay the individual premium on most of the oddballs people sell on ebay these days and nobody has had any quantity in bulk that I needed to sell otherwise.

The 76 Topps is a definite favorite of mine and this modern card is one I snagged as well.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a81/mrmopar/My%20Collection/Autographs%20for%20show/9aee_1.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/user/mrmopar/media/My%20Collection/Autographs%20for%20show/9aee_1.jpg.html)

Had this been a Dodger card, it would have been over the top, although his time in LA was brief. Pirates would have been my 2nd choice for a club on this one, but i can live with Texas.



I used to collect Al Oliver cards. He was my favorite non-Tiger. I have about 100 different cards of his.
I can't say I am really collecting any individual player anymore although I'll pick up the occasional high grade Oliver, Whitaker, and Trammell if the price is right.

[mrmopar]

You have some really nice 70s star/HOF autos there.


Speaking of Al Oliver, I have 4 or 5 of his cards autographed (through the mail) from back in the day. I believe they all show him on the Rangers. They are all available for trade if anyone is interested and can be found on page 33 in the autographs section of my bucket.