Do you own a card collection or collection of cards?

[wolterse]

I stare at my baseball cards and can find absolutely no rhyme or reason to them. CJ, T206, E95, E96, E90-1, N162 and so forth and so on. I own a collection of cards. But, it makes me happy. I have had thoughts of selling everything to fund a card collection. I would probably start with one of the caramel sets, probably E95 or 96. But, as I contemplate that, I get depressed because I really like my collection of cards. With it, I can go off on any tangent I want with no regret. I like that flexibility.

Question for the board - Do you own a card collection or collection of cards? Anybody sitting on both sides of the fence?

[Epps]

A card collection. Always collecting the Black Sox, especially Joe Jackson and just started on the 33 Goudey set.

[ktwilli71]

I suppose you could say i have a collection of cards . I have bought a couple collections the last couple years . Both were over 50,000 cards with literally 100's of unfinished sets . Most more modern worthless but i cant seem to part with them. I have concentrated on finishing the sets so they become a card collection .

My personnal collection is slowly becoming specifically Braves cards and memorabilia .

[Ladder7]

Collection of cards and a little of everything. Organization scares the bejeesis out of me.

[Jason Carota]

A card collection. I've managed to stay focused on my Red Sox type set, with the addition of a one card per team N172 set. When I started to collect prewar, I definitely had a collection of cards. I find that having a focus (or two) increases my appreciation for what I have.

[Matt]

I have both; a card collection with very vigorous rules defined for what counts and what does not and then a collection of cards for stuff I like that doesn't fit into the first group.

[brianp-beme]

I proudly own a collection of card collections.

Brian

[ethicsprof]

card collection: T206
card collection: Type 1900-1936

all the best,
barry

[FrankWakefield]

Mine's a mess. There were a dozen or so sets that I focused on, while also attempting to get one of each type. And then there was a while that I was trying for a card for each HOF player for the 20th and 19th centuries. I sold a few of the 19th century players, and when Carter and Puckett got in I got disgusted with 20th century HOFers, so I sold a few and held the rest.

I have a bunch of 2004 Albert Pujols Topps Heritage chrome cards, they're numbered 0001 to 1955. I confess to having more than my share of those. And in close proximity to those are a few Old Judges, bunches of caramel and tobacco cards, Baseball Magazine premiums, Diamond Matchbooks, team premiums from the 30s, a near set of 1967 Topps (the only set I'd completed as a kid, but Mom gave them away, she had good intentions). Cardinals Police sets, strip cards, ZeeNuts, T210 Blue Grass League series 6 cards, some Signature Rookie cards from the 90s... it is just a mess.

[ullmandds]

My collecting aspirations go like this...I try to collect types and have a caramel run e90-E107...mostly complete...trying to finish a tobacco run t200-t217...but missing a few...I have a T206 backs collection which is 80% complete...I collect yankees cards of all kinds...ruth, gehrig, dimaggio, mantle...I have a babe ruth collection...with at least 1 card depicting him on each team he played for...I also have a HOF'er collection...but only the ones I like! I also have a yankee stadium postcard collection. Then I have about 50 other tobacco caramel cards that I just like. I have about 100 other types and oddballs from the early 1900's to the 50's...I have a 19th century collection 15 or so cards. I have a bread card collection. I have a minor league card collection. Then I have my more modern collection which consists of the 1000-2000 or so cards that survived my camaro selloff of 1986'. And lastly I collect the cards depicted in the 1975 topps set of mvp's from the 50's and 60's...for some reason these cards were so ingrained in my head as a child that they have become very desirable...to me! I'm very focused.

[Jantz]

Considering the fact that at this very moment I have a T205, T207 and a 1972 Topps Fisk rookie card sitting on my desk, I'm going to have to say a collection of cards.

Jantz

[Bosox Blair]

My first love is my card collection - Boston Red Sox cards.

But I also have a collection of cards. Some of these are cards I really liked, players I like, and some are just cards I acquired somehow or another.

Cheers,
Blair

[Bamacollection]

I am definitely on both sides of the fence. I am "working" on T200, T205, T206, T207, & M116 sets. I also have a tendency to buy whatever looks appealing on any given day. Thus, I have several cards that make no sense at all when looking at the group as a "collection". I do remember why I bought most of the cards and each time I pick one of the "strays" up for a look, I seem to enjoy it even more...like a homeless kitten of sorts. Currently I'm on a T205 kick and have been for a couple of months. But, I did veer off into the W601's for a week or so and still hope to add a few of those when I can get off this never-ending project!

[David W]

I've got both.

But I'm trying to focus more, and have currently focused on St. Louis Cardinals only, primarily the top 15 at each position all time.

[JasonL]

I find this one of the most fascinating, and insightful glimpses into the lives of fellow collectors...and the relative desirability of certain types of cards, etc.

I think I may rather resemble Mr. Ullman.
Ah, Frank, never miss an opportunity to dis one that I grew up admiring in Mr. Puckett, may he RIP....
To each his own, I certainly understand.

To answer the question, I have a card collection, in which I collect many collections of cards and other card collections (of cards)!!!

I try to organize, but it is a bit of an aberration for me, in that it is one area of my life where I am not nearly as linear in my thinking or organization as I am in the rest of my daily life and work...

There is Pre-war and Post-war
There are player Collections, spanning baseball, football and basketball
There are team collections (Cubs)
There is a family collection (which is a subset of the Player Collections, I suppose, but those branch out to all memorabilia and not just cards)
There are complete sets of teams, some minor league teams, and a few major post-war Topps
There are a few figurines (Ozzie Smith, Watler Payton, Johnny Bench)
There are a few bats (Puckett, cousins)
There are autographed balls (HOFers)
There is international baseball (vintage tobacco)
There are "Odds and Ends that Looked Cool while I was Bored on Ebay" (yes, this is the official name of the collection, and it consists of things I might not even be able to re-sell, like fairly beat-up 1960's topps stars)
There are T206 subsets based on the image background (Sunset, Stadium, and Sweaters)

And the most fascinating aspect of all this is that I own only 38 items!!!
-kidding, I have 138!

[tonyo]

I try my best to have a card collection in which each card belongs in a certain group or theme. That's just my nature!

I do have a few dozen cards that I pick up here and there that I accept as part of my collection. Most recently, I was in a card shop to pick up the last common that I needed for a 2009 set and a '53 Topps Berra called me over. He doesn't fit any of my subsets but I stared at him for a while then offered the guy 75% of the sticker price. I thought he was going to bite but he didn't. About a week later I picked up the Berra in similar condition on ebay for 50% of the guys asking price. Beautiful card in my opinion. The way my mind operates, I'll probably form another themed group or subset around that Berra one day.

Here are some of my themes or subsets:

Pre-war: (all lower grades poor to VG)
33 Goudey HOFers. 22/65 - none of the big ones
T205 NYGiants who played in the 1911 World Series. 12/17
T205 NL HOFers. 5/12
T206 : Still feeling this one out as I learn more about the set. Currently I'm only slowly (won 21 of about 300 cards I've bid on!) buying action poses as I'm not very fond of the look of most of the portrait cards. Have 22 cards, 5 are hall of famers

Post-war:
54 bowman yankees hall of famers 100%
56 topps hall of famers 100%
58 topps 500 hr club 100%
67 topps hall of famers 100% Seaver is a reprint
72 topps set 95% - first set I collected as a kid.
73 topps set 100% (just completed this week)
77 topps hall of famers 100%
78 topps hall of famers 100%

Modern:
84 Donruss Hall of famers 100%
93 topps finest hall of famers and my best guess for future hofers 80%
94 pinnacle museum 66%
05 topps heritage - (my guess for hall of famers) 80%
07 topps heritage 500 hr club - (plus my guess for 500 hr) 100%
09 Goudey 100% (how I stumbled upon pre-war)
09 Allen and Ginter Minis 55%


Tony

[Leon]

Great question. I think I have a mess of a collection of cards. I try to stay focused on type cards but when I got down to needing only a few, and that few are "few and far between " then I have gone for cards that I like. As a type collector I am interested in my collection almost every single day.
Then I added the ancillary packaging to the collection of cards and away I went....where I am going, not so sure. But it's a fun journey and I have met a ton of nice folks along the way. regards

[Zach Wheat]

Like Matt just mentioned, I think I have both a card collection and a collection of various cards that I happen to like. I am mainly a set collector which constitutes 90% of my collection. My card collection has well defined rules about what constitutes a set; however, I also have a smaller collection of cards that I thought just looked neat. Most of my collection of cards are rotated on my desk through out the year. Current desk piece is a Type I, V61 of Eddie Collins.

[Howe’s Hunter]

from someone else's collection.

[tbob]

Card collection. A few type cards but I am basically a set collector. A couple of times I have purchased a type card but end up having to try and complete the set
Completed Sets include E-90-1, E93, E94 (two cards short of 5 sets), E95, E96, E97, E98 (two sets), T205, T206 (less Big 4), T207, T212-1, T212-2 (both), T212-3, 1955 Bowman, 1960 Topps, 1971 Topps (all baseball) and 1955 Topps and 1962 Topps football.
Near completion 1970-71 set basketball, 1911 Zeenut, T200 fatimas, Domino Discs,
A Ways to Go T210 all series, 1912 Zeenut, Pacific Coast Biscuits (PCL), E99, E100, T3 Turkey Reds.
The caramels are all slabbed. The tobaccos are not except the T212-2 series of 150s, Fatimas and Turkey Reds.

[Rickyy]

Majority is a card collection with specific focus, but I do have some collections of cards that I have for no other reason than I like having them.

Breakdown of card collection:
Topps BB complete sets 1970 - 1979 (100% complete)
Topps FB compelete sets 1971-1973 (97% complete)
Topps Bktball complete set 1971/72 and 73/74 (97% complete)
BB type card collection 19th century to 1977 (never ending quest...)

Collection of cards that I like for simply for what they are:
Various Exhibit cards Pre and Post War
1976 and 1980 Topps Unopened BB pack
1976 Topps BB rack pack
Several 1970's Topps BB and FB cello packs


Ricky Y

[Anthony S.]

I find myself inexorably compelled toward completing sets. It's like jury duty sometimes.

[JasonL]

Originally Posted by Anthony S.

I find myself inexorably compelled toward completing sets. It's like jury duty sometimes.

how in the world is it like jury duty?! That is one I have not heard before...
Are your urges to purchase like calls to serve? - always being dreaded in the back of your mind, -until once they are finally forgotten, you are served and find yourself scanning Ebay???

can you get excused for previous service?

or do you mean that unproductive sessions of searching through dealer tables of commons can be like sitting in a waiting room only to be excused after an entire day?!

[frohme]

Like others, it could go either way for me. Its either T207 or a pre-war Pirate. Possibly both, rarely neither. I guess its focused enough to be a card collection, but just looking at the Pirates, it would probably be classified as the other.

Trying to find rhyme
or reason amidst cardboard?
Collect and enjoy!

[Exhibitman]

I tried to put together a card collection once and it about bored me to tears. I collect whatever I like, whether it is Pride of New York autographed cards of my Yankees heroes from when I was a kid, an obscure boxing strip set from the 1920s, or a Marx Brothers arcade card. Whatever it takes. When I eventually die and leave it to my daughter she is going to have a hell of a time trying to figure out what I was thinking...

[kmac32]

Actually both is true for me. I own a collection of Elmer Miller cards and a collection of E121 series of 80 and series of 120 Giants and Yankees. I also have a complete collection of topps cubs including all variations from 1951 to current. also a collection of t207 cubs.