I am not really a fan of collecting post-career cards of a given HOF player because I simply think of a "card" of a player as being issued when that player was active. For those of us who collect HOF players, at least from my perspective, that is obviously problematic since not everyone has a period card. I have no problem at all with period postcards because I'm not all that worried about whether or not its regional, national, or whatever. If exhibit cards are considered to be cards, then I'm good with other postcards being cards as well.
If the player doesn't have a period card or they are so few that I can never hope to achieve one (Frank Selee, Pete Hill, Al Spalding, and Willie Foster come to mind), for collecting purposes I vastly prefer period photos, etc., to post-career cards because I personally believe that is more authentic and more faithful to at least my collecting goals. For Spalding, I go to baseball currency. I am not a huge fan of team photos for my HOF collection (although I love them otherwise), even if period, unless I can't find anything else. Then I am, lol. There is certainly room for lots of debate on this issue and, as has been said several times before, you collect what suits you and what makes you happy. There is no right or wrong. Best,
Kenny
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