evolution of your collection

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Posted By: david poses

a little background- like pretty much everyone new to vintage cards, initially, i had convinced myself that i would assemble the full 524-card t206 set. within a few days, the goal became "the full 520 card set." then it occured to me that the hall of famers were much more plentiful than the southern leaguers, so my primary focus was to assemble the sl'er set, with a side-hobby of gathering up as many other t206 cards as i could come by. for some reason or another, i found myself resenting the southern league set. i didn't want to buy ike rockenfeld. that guy looks like he's wearing a hat you'd see in an s&m biker bar (no, i don't know from experience). mccauley too. why do i "have" to buy these and other cards i may not want. i hate the arch persons card. he looks like a fat guy about to throw a ball. but if i wanted to get every southern leaguer with piedmont and old mill backs, i'd need to shell out good money so i could have two ike rockenfelds.

the more i researched the hobby as a whole, the more the concept of "the 25 card collection" appealed to me. collect what you want, downsize when necessary, but don't limit yourself to cards you think you should have because if you want to have a southern league subset, you'd better track down a few arch persons cards.
*disclaimer: most of the southern league cards, imho, are some of the nicest looking in the t206 set, let alone the hobby. shag, hickman, paige, fritz, reagan...

i sold my near-set of southern leaguers recently, keeping only a few spare gordon hickman cards, one of my two ray ryans, and the shag shaughnessy with the hindu back (not the one i sold a few months ago- the nicer one).

the whole world is open to me now. i'm looking at the e102 hal chase not feeling like "oh s**t- if i get this, i'm going to screw up the southern league fund." maybe i'll track down an e98 plank (in not so stellar shape). i got a few t210's. i almost won a b/w t209 on ebay last weekend. part of me feels like i had to get the t206 set thing out of my system like some kind of vintage collector's initiation hazing. i feel liberated.

the last thing i want to do is bash the t206 collectors- please don't take this the wrong way. i'm just speaking from my own experience of having a eureka moment recently when it dawned on me that there's a whole world out there.

surely some of you can relate. care to share how your collection has evolved? anyone into the "25 card collection" how is it working for you? how do you choose your cards? what cards are in the 25 card collection?

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Posted By: MVSNYC

haha...

welcome to the wonerful world of collecting.

don't worry, you are not alone, everyone of us (i think) has had very similar thoughts.

"the 25 card collection", which has been discussed here every now and then, is liberating...there's no rules or parameters, you collect what makes you happy (afterall that is what it should be about)...

it is a rotaing collection...doing it i have owned, t206, t205, t200, e107, boston garters, etc...

ironically, i say all this, but on and off, i have dabbled with building the monster (which i currently am doing "on the side")...it wants you to quit...it is not kind

best of luck.

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Posted By: leon

Hi David,
I venture to guess each of us has a different emphasis with regard to the way we collect. I know many staunch T206 collectors, many die hard caramel collectors and many more that change their focus fairly often. I have always liked a variety of things in whatever I do so type collecting has been my focus from day 1. Not too long ago I felt like I was a little too enthusiastic with my collection (read addicted) and had more money into them than I should relative to my other resources so decided to sell most of my 19th Century cards. I am very happy to be collecting 20th Century types and the possibilities are still almost limitless..The main thing is to enjoy whatever you are doing and don't worry too much about the competitiveness of it all. The friendships I have made in the hobby are another great aspect of it all. I have had some great times in the hobby with them and hope to have many more ......nice question. best regards

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Posted By: JK

Good luck with the new focus - though I suspect you will have a bit of difficulty finding that e98 plank.

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Posted By: Tyler

David,

My story is virtually the same as yours. I started putting together the T206's a little over a year ago. As I approached 80 or so cards (nice mix of HOF's, SLers and Commons) I started to learn much more about other issues (through the help of this board, especially the Pickup Threads).

It got to the point were I couldn't justify spending $50.00 on some guy named Bill Bergen, or hundreds of dollars on a SLer, when I could be saving for a E92 Matty.

I am currently down to about 7 T206's. I kept 3 Cobbs, Matty, Johnson Portrait, Lajoie w/ Bat, etc. Now, instead of a bunch of commons and expensive SLers I have the aforementioned E92 Matty, an Orange Border Matty (anxiously awaiting the package from Goodwin) a T200 Cleveland Team card featuring Shoeless Joe, a '33 Goudey Ruth and several others that I find way more enjoyable and interesting.

The monster wanted me to quit...I did...collect what you like.

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Posted By: john/z28jd

I had a moment like that recently but I dont know if i will actually listen to my voice of reason. I collect Old Judge cards by player now and I realized at some point I'm going to have to spend alot if I want certain players from the dotted tie series and I said to myself, I dont like portrait cards,I just might not spend that kind of money to get players who only have portraits. If Stephen Behel wanted me to have one of his cards he should've brought a glove and a cheesy background to his photo shoot!

So as of right now,theres no dotted ties,no browns champions and players who have both portraits and regular cards with poses can only be found in poses in my collection....until you find that guy named Anson,and well his pose card is a little out of my range,so his portrait can stay.

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Posted By: peter ullman

I can totally relate...but "my" monster I was going after was Leon's monster...the acc type collection. I too got sick of "having" to buy rare and very expensive types that I didn't necessarily like...just for the sake of the goal. I decided months ago to just collect what I like...I've thought about a "25" or "nifty fifty" and that is difficult enough. I've been slowly selling cardds I don't love in exchange for ones I do...and I'm in love again!

pete in mn

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

I started by buying everything under the sun.

Then I tried to narrow my focus by working on complete sets from every year the Yankees won the World Series. That worked really well for a while - it gave me 26 sets to build, all sorts of issues to choose from, at all different price levels. When budgets were tight, I could work on 1978. When budgets were a little more free, I could work on 1938.

Then I got frustrated that there were sets I liked, like 1957 Topps, for example, where I "couldn't" own a card. So I added a HOF type card set to my collection. Eventually, the coolness of that consumed me, and I got up to around 200 HOFers and 150 card types. Due to my fascination with this, I started liquidating the Yankee sets.

Then I started to realize that I'd like to own multiple cards of some HOFers, so I started adding to the breadth of the HOF collection. And suddenly I had five different Roger Bresnahan cards.

Then I started to realize that I didn't really want to spend money on Earl Weaver and Rollie Fingers, because I'd rather have "better" cards of older players. Eventually, I started buying nothing but prewar cards.

So I settled on the "Nifty Fifty," which is a concept I currently embrace. I also work on a few sets diligently - 1938 Goudey and W575-1 Henry Johnson Confectioners. Less diligently, I'm building off-grade T205 and T206 sets.

And to keep myself buying cards, I'm building a run of 1970s Topps baseball sets.

Lastly, I've recently started building a type set of the ABA All-Time team, and a type set of shiny autographed cards from the NBA's Top 50 players.

So you can see, I'm very focused.

-Al

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Posted By: Jimi

I've recently embraced the "25 Card HOF Collection" and am loving it! If my budget allowed, I'd be collecting the Nifty Fifty instead. I thought that once I got to a point where I didn't want to sell off any of my 25 cards, then I'd bump it up to a 30 Card HOF Collection and so on. Right now, however, I'm collecting prewar and postwar in that HOF Collection as the funds simply do not allow for me to do prewar only at this time. The idea will be to make it all prewar eventually. My road to this collection is similar to others.

I've always been a set collector and have always worked on a complete Topps Run. It can get very frustrating trying to get high numbered SPs and so on, and the 52T set is just a bear since most of the high numbers are commons and expensive. My shift went to HOFers and prewar almost exclusively 5 years ago, and dabbled with the T205s, T206s, T201s, and even completed the n28 set. Unfortunately, buying a new home costs money and the n28 was sold to help with furniture (DON'T EVER DO THAT!) This sorta forced me back into post war cards again. Partly, though, at that time I was ticked off at the high prewar prices, and quit it altogether.

Once, I got settled in the house and money was starting to come in a little more, I ound myself buying a complete Caramelo Deportivo set, working on the T205 set again, HOF Collection, complete Topps Run, and many many projects all at once. All that seems to lead to is stress on myself and my collection. I was back to reducing the inventory again.

The bottom line with the 25 Card HOF Collection is that you are dabbling with 25 cards....and that's it. Slows the tempo down for me and allows me to look for cards in that collection only. I still have a couple other projects working, but I am finally having a lot of fun right now!

Jimi

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Posted By: Addie_Joss

I'm 22 years old now and have been collecting on and off since I was 10 years old. When I first started out I wanted anything old and any card as long as they're a HOFer. The first card I ever bought was a 1966 Topps Fergie Jenkins Rookie from a show at my local mall. I still remember it vividly. The HOFer rush lasted a while and now I have a ton of useless and unwanted cards like my 1969 Topps Ernie Banks or my 1950 Bowman Rizzuto or my 1954 Bowman Robin Roberts.

From there I decided, about when I was 13 or 14, that I wanted to build a set. I chose the 1951 Topps Red Back set because it was small and relatively cheap. I made it about 30 cards into when my jerky little brother decided to hide them and to this day I have no clue where they are and he claims to "not remember doing it". So annoying. Then I tried a 1953 Bowman B/W set for the same reason but quickly got bored because I think there is only 1 HOFer in the whole set.

When I was about 15 my dad took me to a show at the White Plains Center which was where I discovered pre-war cards. I instantly fell in love with the artwork, the players, the lore of the cards, and the fact that they were so old. I loved to think about all the people who owned the card before me and how funny it was that this 1887 Buchner ended up in my grubby 15 year old hands 115 years later. So from about 15 on I've only been interested in cards from 1887-1935.

Now I've bgun trying to limit my focus. I'd like to put together a Diamond Stars set because I love the design and the players included. I also love Turkey Reds, even though I only have one, American Caramels, 19th century cards, and trying to collect at least 1 card of every top tier HOFer.

I guess in the end my collection is still as unfocused as it has always been.

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Posted By: Phil Garry

My collection did almost a 360 degree turn from 2004-present as compared to 2003-earlier. My earlier collection focused on all modern day superstars (Jeter/A-Rod/Clemens/Bonds/etc.) and included only BGS 9.5/PSA 10/SGC 98 rookies and minor league cards. During 2004, I sold off my entire previous collection and decided to collect 1948-present rookie cards of every Baseball HOF member. Since then, I have expanded to collecting the earliest possible card of every Baseball HOF member, including both pre-war and post-war, usually settling for low-mid-grade cards due to budget constraints.

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Posted By: Brian Lindholme

Guys, I thought this would generate more interest (maybe it's not controversial enough:) So I dug it up from pg 2.

I actually think many of us have been on the collecting roller-coaster, myself included.

I started by buying Topps cards in the early 70's as a kid, all 4 sports, every dime I had. Lots of neighborhood kids did the same for a few years. None of them except me ever kept theirs!

Fast forward to 1989, I found a price guide. This surely doesn't sound too unique so far.

In about 1991 I found an old bookstore with dispay cases of vintage cards. First time I ever saw real DiMaggio, Mathewson, Cy Young etc. cards. I had enough on me for a 58 Pee Wee Reese and a DS Frankie Frisch. I made it back several months later...no cards. I was told they were all stolen but the shopkeeper didn't seem too upset, maybe they were'nt his...

That turned me on to the old timers, as from 1989 to 1991 I spent hundreds (thousands) of dollars on Topps, Fleer, Score, Donruss, Upper Deck. Wish I never did but heck, I liked it then.

Then I turned the focus to HOFers, I amassed a good chunk from Albany, NY shows and a trip or two to Cooperstown.
I started T205 then too, as I always liked those.

When I found eBay and Solomon's auctions, it was a deadly time to the wallet but I got a lot of cards...and some real gems in those days for reasonable prices.

By 1997 I had most of the HOFers and 1/2 of T205, only buying some new hockey cards here and there but gave up on new baseball as I couldn't keep track of that shiny stuff.

When I joined OBC, I started venturing to completing all those old Topps sets I had when I was a kid, crazily going back into the 50's for old Bowman & Topps sets until the 1953-80 years are about 90% complete as of today.I don't do much with those now, a few here and there, mostly because I need a lot of those pesky high numbers that aren't much fun to hunt for (or pay for)

All along I've been buying type cards, HOFers and T205's.
I gotta find a reasonable T205 Wilhelm and I'll be done with that set. I have an example of all the post 1900 HOFers.

I'm kinda stuck. I will always go after HOF cards I don't have...I want everyone from every major set because I'm nuts, but I can't seem motivated to buy the commons for long (failed T206 a few times because of that) and the other sets I've started might end up being sold. I've got too many cards and I'm not that interested in 80% of them anymore.

I'm gonna hang tight in case I change my mind, but if you start seeing some types on the BST, you'll know why.

So, as I mentioned, this is probably not too unique a story...a bunch of you probably evolved the same. I'd love to read about how you guys cycled through your collecting interests and where you are today.

Thanks
Brian L
familytoad
Ridgefield, WA

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Posted By: Chris Counts

My collection started in the spring of 1970 when my mom sent me to the grocery store to buy some brocolli. Why I spent the money on a pack of cards I'll never know. But when I got home and told my dad, he took me back to the store, where we bought some brocolli and another pack of cards.

I was nine when I started buying cards, and by the time I was 10, both myself and my younger brother were fascinated by old cards. By the time I was 13 and attending my first card show (T206s in ex-mt were plentiful at $1 each ... I bought Joss, Lajoie, Chase, M. Brown and Magee), I had already discovered most of the Topps sets simply from finding them at garage sales and antique stores.

From 1973 to 1980, I collected just about everything. My lack of focus was staggering. Along the way, though, I did manage to complete a variety of 50s and 60s sets, most of which I sold off as soon as I discovered girls, cars and rock 'n' roll ...

Fast forward to about seven years ago. I got in a bad car wreck and took a break from work to get better. My younger brother, who never stopped collecting, introduced me to eBay. I quickly became hooked, buying just about anything that inspired me in the moment. But the prices of the good stuff were just too much for my budget. So I decided to focus my collection a bit and buy only one card of every player I liked and one card from every set I like. I soon deviated from that plan, and before I knew, my collection was the same muddled type card mess it had been three decades earlier.

It's difficult for me to collect sets because I don't ever want to spend money on a card I don't like. So sets are out. A type card set is also a problem since a lot of tough sets don't do anything for me (man, I'm sure glad someone likes those '38 Goudeys!) So for the lack of a real plan, I now only collect cards I like from sets I like: Exhibits (all years), Batter-Ups (tops or no tops, the more colors, the better), '53 Bowmans (color or B&W), '57 Topps, Mothers Cookies, Oakland Oaks, Bell Brands, 1934 Cardinals (any set), 1938-40 Reds (I love those W711-1s!), ballpark postcards and a schizophrenic cross-section of type cards I like, mostly from 1933 to 1957 ...

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Posted By: Brian Lindholme

...sometimes buying cards you don't like.

Maybe some of you feel this way, I kinda do. I didn't have a problem buying T205 commons but buying T206 commons bugged me. I guess it's not really the commons but rather that I've been somehow uninspired to collect 206's or 207's.

Chris, the broccoli story is great!

I guess you'll be driven to bid in the upcoming Broccoli & Luckyman auctions. (just kidding guys, no offense)

So there are guys who are "completionists" and other guys whose focus changes frequently. Some are in between those...kudos to those true collectors whose evolution keeps the hobby fresh. Afterall...if everyone were " all inclusive accumulators" there would eventually be no cards left to buy.

Brian L
familytoad
Ridgefield,WA

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Posted By: steve yawitz

Funny how this thread is littered with T206 casualties. I'm also a recent victim. It just got to be too much. Not so much the money spent on all those nondescript players, but the time, energy and focus. Once my dedication started wavering around the halfway point, I knew it was over.

I do still collect St. Louis players and have exempted them from my quota, so to speak, but I limit the rest of my collection to 34 cards. It makes me a little more selective when buying but also keeps things fresh. I certainly have a core of favorites, but for the most part, the others kinda come and go. Which is how I like it.

http://imageevent.com/yawie99

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Posted By: Tom D

I collected cards as a kid after my dad and I found a card shop in the local mall that sold older cards. From there we went to local card shows. My collection was basically the new Topps set from each year and player runs for stars that went back through their entire career. My collecting days waned when Fleer and Donruss showed up. It was just too much.

I got back into collecting with my first couple of graded cards purchased off ebay about 7 years ago. I bought a 1970 Kellogg's Bob Gibson PSA 8 and 1955 Red Man Al Rosen PSA 6. I ended up completing both the Kellogg's and Red Man set. Along the way I started a 1978 Topps PSA 9 set, but I've put it aside at about 75% complete. Someday I'll pick that up.

From there I realized that there were a few things I really enjoyed. One was searching out white border stadium postcards for the original 16 teams. That has since become a growing collection of stadium postcards from the last 100 years. I like the stadium postcards because to me the ballpark represents the game, and the game is bigger than the players. It has opened up a whole new history of the game to me through my research of ballparks. Even better, there is no set to complete since there are always more postcards out there.

The next thing I realized was that I liked creating my own projects to complete, some of which are more structured than others. I'm working on a prewar 25 card collection and a postwar one as well. This way I can add a 1973 Joe Namath and a 1974 Julius Erving, just because I like those cards. I've ended up working on a Tom Daly player set, just because he is a namesake of sorts. That has lead me to searching out different Old Judge poses. Also in there are Red Belt and Dormand postcard sets, a Lionel Carter type card set, a Yankee Retired Number type card set, and a Don Larsen perfect game lineup set. I've found that these smaller projects let me really but cards I like and not feel as if I'm just filling out a checklist. When I want that, I'll just work on a Topps Heritage set.

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Posted By: Jason L

I think it's interesting that there is an "evolution" to collecting at all, but there very much is...wonder why...?

I claim to be typical (on and off, newer then older, lack of focus)

Phase 1:
Started 1984, until 1987
(current years, dabbled in what I then thought was ancient, which means 1970s)

Phase 2:
Start 2002-Today
(A trip to Cooperstown induction weekend is what launched Phase 2. Started right in on 1950s-60s, HOF, Cubs focus, then found PSA player sets registry, then pre-war in 2006 and all hell broke loose.)

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

"Funny how this thread is littered with T206 casualties."

I got a chuckle from that response. I guess I have a different mindset than most on this thread. When I start a set,
I have to complete it. Furthermore, upon completion I continue to collect printing errors, variations, etc. in the set.
In my way of thinking, there is no "common" player. I like to research every player pictured in a set. I figure that if
the designers thought enough of that player to include him in their set, then there must be an interesting story to be
found. And, more often than not, there is a great story to be read.

I've completed all major BB sets from 1887-1985. The following sets I've favored, so I've collected them in multiples.....

1889 Goodwin Champions (N162)......2.5 sets
1908-1910 American Caramel (E90-1)......1.75 sets
1909-1911 T206......4 sets
1933 Goudey......2 sets
1941 Play Ball......4 sets
1948 Bowman......2 sets
1949 Leaf......1.8 sets
1949 Bowman (regular)......24 sets
1949 Bowman PCL......2 sets
1952 Topps......2 sets
1953 Bowman......2 sets
1959 Fleer......2 sets
1966 Topps......2 sets
1975 Topps......5 sets
1975 Topps (mini)......2 sets


TED Z

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Posted By: Anthony S.

Ted,

Did I read that correctly? You've completed all major BB sets from 1887-1985?? Wow.

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Posted By: Todd C

I got my start in vintage card collecting after watching Pride of the Yankees for the first time in the early 1990's. As a kid, I always collected the Topps baseball and football cards.

My first vintage card was a 1934 Goudey Gehrig card, the portrait version. Soon after, my dad and I found a couple of local card stores in Sacramento, CA that specialized in Vintage Cards. I soon found my collection getting extensive with Goudeys, early 1950's cards...and then TOBACCO CARDS. My first purchase was some T212 Obak cards. Some of you might know me mainly by those cards. Since then, I have added hundreds of tobacco cards including a couple of E107's, many T206's, T207's including Broadleaf and Red Cycle backs, etc, etc.

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

You read right....besides the sets listed in my above post, here are the rest of the major sets I have completed....

1887 Allen & Ginter (N28)
1887 Buchner Gold Coin (N284)....82 of 152 cards
1908-10 American Caramel (E91)....61 of 99 cards
1910-1911 Sporting Life (M116)....280 of 290 cards
1911 T205
1911 T3....101 of 126 cards
1912 T207
1912 Imperial Tobacco (C46)....65 of 90 cards)
1912 Series of Champions (T227)....only the 4 BB cards
1914 Cracker Jack
1915 Cracker Jack
1934 Goudey
1934-36 Diamond Star
1936 Goudey
1939 Play Ball
1940 Play Ball
1941 Goudey
1947 Homogenized Bond Bread....44 of 48 cards
1948 Swell Sports Thrills
1950 to 1955 Bowman sets
1953 to 1985 Topps sets
1960 to 1963 Fleer sets


TED Z

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Posted By: Corey

Which set took you the longest to complete? I'm completely blown away.

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Ted, you need to get started on those '38 Goudeys.

-Al

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

I left out the toughest set....my 1949 LEAF BB set (101 cards)....I started it as a kid in 1949 and finally completed it in 1993.
The 49 cards in the 2nd series are extremely rare.

1st Series

2nd Series (short-prints)




TED Z

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Posted By: Pennsylvania Ted

"Ted, you need to get started on those '38 Goudeys."

I did start on this set in the mid '90s. Had one of the Joe DiMaggio cards, a few HOFer's, and a dozen commons.
Then a trade deal, presented itself that I couldn't pass up, so I traded all the 38G's away.

TED Z

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Posted By: T206Collector

I got up to 521, with Magie, but then took a dramatic and well-documented hit going after Plank. I figured I would just get back on the horse and ride back up the mountain, but something happened on my way back -- I got distracted by a recent find of autographed T206 cards. And when I started to acquire those, it made the unsigned ones seem almost imcomplete to me.

Fortunately -- at least from a cost perspective -- I have apparently exhausted all supplies of signed T206 cards that I do not already have. The collection stands at 31 different examples. But instead of reinvesting back into the monster, I began to sample signed cards from other sets, including T201, T202, T205, E95 and more recently W560 (Grove rookie) and 1933 Goudey. The Goudey quest didn't kick in -- though I'd love a 1933 Goudey signed Grove -- and I'm not really as fascinated by post-WWI signed cards as I am with the pre-WWI signed cards. So we'll see how my collection continues to evolve.

My race to 521 was focused and unwaivering. But I am not sure I have it in me to climb back up. It is sort of like visiting an amazing place on earth. After you return, do you save up to go back -- or do you start planning trips to other exciting locales? At this point, I'm just not sure.


_____________________________________________
Visit http://www.t206collector.com for my blog, interviews, articles, card galleries and more!

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Posted By: Ricky Y

I started out strictly as a kid collecting Topps. Then I started to work backwards filling and upgrading my Topps sets from my childhood (1970 - 1979). Around the late 70's..I became interested in older stuff and concentrated on trying to get key cards from key sets...being budget minded..I was willing to settle for good to v good stuff. I acquired 33 Goudey Ruths, 52 Mantle, 41 PB Dimaggio etc during the late 70's..early 80's...

Naturally, I started to gravitate toward the pre war stuff after that...and decided to acquire sample cards from key sets for those too...so a type card collector was born...now due to financial considerations..I don't necessarily go for "key" cards..but do try to get the ones with the best eye appeal.

I did dabble briefly trying to complete a 33 Goudey set..but decided to spend my money on type cards instead so I'm sitting on about 54% complete set. Only exception to my type card collecting now is that I try to acquire as many HOF exhibit cards as I can.

Ricky Y