My collecting habits are odd at best, when I started, there was so much different available usually inexpensively that I tended to buy without much regard for condition or what player it was. Sort of prompted by friends saying that it wasn't much if I didn't have the whole set.
Over the years I've ranged from buying whatever I came across cheap, being sort of picky about condition, etc
I eventually settled into wanting mostly ok condition or better but not minding the worse cards that came my way. Can't really afford stars in prewar, and now most of postwar. So I look for oddities.
My wife says I like the hunting better than the catching, which is pretty much true. Always fun to hunt for things that are overlooked and special in some way.
Part 2 is a bit harder, I think it's because until very recently baseball had few changes to the game. And with long careers there's some continuity from one era to another. Like Red sox left fielders... Williams, Yaz, Rice, and maybe Greenwell. All good to great hitters, all played down as not being good fielders, (Like playing there lets anyone look good as a fielder) All not really great with the press.
That's about 50 years or more of having sort of similar left fielders
(Yes, I relaize none of the later guys were anywhere near Williams.)
And I think especially pre- free agency, most teams had something like that.
Football has had constantly evolving rules for ages, Basketball has changed mostly in how it's played, and hockey been stable except for how many teams there are.
All of them have players with typically short careers. So the continuity from one era of play to another isn't there. (to me, maybe not to someone else)
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