Player collectors -- Best player to collect
 

For all you player card collectors out there, who do you think is the best player to collect (and why). When responding, please consider:
1. Popularity
2. Price (accessibility to the average collector)
3. Any other pertinent factors

I am sure there are many opinions. Looking forward to reading the responses.

One of the players I collect is Frank Robinson and he has my vote here.

I think he is under appreciated in the hobby and in the sport itself considering all he has done in his career.

MVP in both leagues, 1966 Triple Crown, two time World Series winner, nearly 600 home runs and the first black manager in baseball.

All that being said, I don't think his card prices reflect the great career he has had and when people talk about all the all time greats, especially during his era, more folks talk about Aaron, Clemente and Mays.

One other player I want to mention is Ron Santo. He is a favorite of mine and only recently Santo is getting his just due in the hobby. For years I thought he was over looked not only for the HOF but in the hobby yet he was the best third baseman in the N.L. during the 1960's and into the early 70's.

Santo played in a strong pitchers era as did Frank Robinson but put some solid numbers up during his career.

I collect Mantle, but price can definitely be prohibitive. I think Yogi Berra may be a decent way to go, and he was up next on my list. In whoever you collect, I think the key is to avoid anyone with a career that lasted into the 80s/90s. I love Nolan Ryan, and he would have been my natural first choice, but the number of card he has is astronomical. On the other hand, Mantle is right around 230-300 cards which is a bit more manageable.

My vote would go to Clemente. He certainly passes the popularity test. IMO he is as or more iconic than any player of the last 50 years with the possible exception Mantle. Price is manageable to the average collector and his cards cover most of the iconic sets of the 50-70's.

LOL, Just posted and remembered my avatar photo - from the hall of fame.

Not pre-1980 but I player collect Wade Boggs. I collect him because he is my all-time favorite player. After he retired I quit collecting till very recently. The good thing about his cards being from the junk era is they are cheap as chips. The bad part is there are an amazingly large amount of cards to hunt down.

i collect mantle so my vote is for Mantle but like other guys said, price can be a problem.....

My other more reasonable choice is maris and jackie robinson

Maris is really affordable... and it is the first to beat the Ruth homerun record. I love the movie 61 so i love maris :)
I think it is popular, the price are verry reasonable and Maris cards are easy to find ...

when my mantle topps run set will be completed i think i will go with Maris or perhaps my other choice , jackie robinson.

thanks

I love this thread, thanks so much for starting it! As a new collector it really gives me some insight into the hobby/passion of collecting.

Welcome to the hobby. I used to be a set collector, but it can get overwhelming. Collecting player sets can be less daunting and lots of fun. It is great to document a players career while also having an opportunity to collect cards from several years. Enjoy and be sure to post your cards.

I absolutely agree on Frank Robinson and think Spahn, Drysdale, and Bob Gibson are both affordable and very under appreciated. Unfortunately I lack the attention span to collect any one player.

100% agree about avoiding players that play into the 80s. The chase just becomes almost unmanageable.

I have been a set guy, but eventually I will be a player collector. When I do, I will probably start with Ted Williams and then my other favorites like Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Clemente, Mantle, Koufax, etc.

I hear ya. I can't just collect one player...so I collect a few players, some are Hall of Famers, some are stars, some are commons but they all mean something to me.

Totally agree with you.

Thanks, and I will post some. I've been collecting 50s and 60s HOFers that are PSA graded. After doing some research on here, talking to a few folks, I have recently picked up some raw cards for a pretty good price. I picked up a 53 Whitey Ford the other day (its in the mail) and am looking forward to adding that to my collection. I really appreciate all the friendly and helpful folks on here!

Nice pickup. The 1953 Ford is a great card!

Well, I am putting my Lou Brock collection up now. I collect him primarily because I am a huge Cardinal fan, and in the 70's when I was a kid, he was Mr. Redbird. His cards are also fairly easy for the most part to attain, and affordable with the main exception being the 67 Punch Out.

I have thought about also doing an Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee collection, but frankly there are just way to many cards to collect as well as keep track of.

I also am collecting all time Cardinal players, having put my own lists together of the top 15 players at each position, plus top 50 starters and 20 relief pitchers.

I got this signed by Lou Brock back in the early 70s. Picture is a bit odd as I took it through the glass of my display case in my study.


Attachment 124233

Popular usually equals expensive.

The must underrated popular player as far as prices is Stan Musial. His numbers are amazing, and his cards are reasonably priced. There is a limited number of years he had a card during his playing years.

Personally, the first player set I completed was Al Kaline. Very underrated, his numbers are on par with Clemente, but his cards sell for 1/2 of his.

Besides F. Robinson who is very underrated among collectors, the following are undervalued in my opinion. All are members of the 500 HR club too.
Eddie Matthews (only his hi# rookie is expensive)
Mike Schmidt (greatest 3B ever with all cards besides rookie available under $20)
Ernie Banks
Willie mcCovey

The best player to collect is one you like and respect, regardless of what others thi
 

There really is no best player to collect. I've thought about it now and again. Forty years ago I collected what I could find of Mantle, Killebrew, Maris, Nellie Fox, Ernie Banks, Murcer, Drysdale, Mel Stottlemyre and Frank Howard. For some players there's just so few, such as Jackie Robinson. We all know about the problem with Mantle--the price, and sometimes just finding an example we really like that is available & affordable.

Aside from the above, a couple players with very interesting diversity in their master sets are Gil Hodges and Roberto Clemente, the latter of whom several have mentioned.

I admire the guy who laboriously and joyfully put together the finest PSA-graded master set of Ron Santo. He really went all out and has a simply amazing assembly of Ronnie's cards, coins, and other items. Great article on him in the SPORTS MARKET REPORT a few years back.

When the pickings are few, such as the aforementioned Jackie Robinson, it makes a lot of sense to go after the post-career cards from the last 25 years that are visually-stimulating--that move your collecting soul, so to speak. Market value? None--so what. Future value spike. I doubt it, but again, so what. A great-looking card, well-designed, anchored by a great pose is valuable to you as a fan. Of course, I refer not to issues where logos have been removed; don't waste your money on those. It's sad. These restrictions so reduce their visual impact, as a magnificent Bengal Tiger with its teeth pulled out. As an example of what is worthy, I love the late 80's Pacific Baseball Legends sets. Their Mickey Mantle is stunning, because they had the good taste to use an Ozzie Sweet portrait. There are many others in those Pacific sets that are fabulous. Same goes for some of the Perez-Steele cards, in particular their Greatest Moments. Ditto for several fantasy cards made by myself and a team, the '94 Upper Deck/Topps '54 Topps Mickey Mantle card that never was, and Bob Lemke's '53 Red Man Tobacco card of Mick. All simply elegant. They complement my period cards and other items beautifully because period vintage photos were used to create those post-career cards.

I mean, I still have items in my now small collection that would crack clear through any arrogance and superiority of the major player collectors [not referring to any of my fellow Net 54ers], but no big deal. If I love Clemente, I want his stadium pin from about 1970-71, the one with the matte finish and green background. If I love Mantle, the Topps are great, but what I really want are either of the Dormand postcards, the '59 Bazooka, and the '60 Post (the Drysdale in this set is flat out the best one of all of Big D), amongst a few others. I finally got the 1960 Post Mantle, though it took me well over 30 years. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll ever get some of them, but the mainstream are all so . . . . available, great-looking as they are. When the scarce and/or rare also happen to have devastatingly attractive eye appeal, they get put on a mental or paper want list. The wait can be long, and arduous the hunt for the rare game, but the fulfillment is wondrous.

With Jackie Robinson, I'm more interested in the tough Bond Bread regional than the Leaf. Black 'n white trumps this time, by far.

You have to factor in whether the player was photogenic, and of course if the card producer selected an excellent photo to go with an attractive design.

It comes down to collecting what or whom you love, and trying not to break your bank.

I want to say though regarding mainstream, where would we be without them? For player collectors, some of their best will always be mainstream. For Mantle, any of his gum cards are wonderful; Topps usually made sure Mick's cards looked smashing. Except in '62, where he honestly looks kinda smashed. To be sure, Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente Topps cards are all very moving.

We've had this discussion many times, but it's always nice to have one outstanding card of the player that is not easy to come by.

Finally, I think one nice twist is to aim for a favorite dozen of any number of players that you really like. The major benefit is you don't have to go mad trying to get every one ever done of the guy. Or, if you must have more, a 21-gun (item) salute. The ones to choose? What YOU like and can afford, regardless of what others say. Thus, you can have numerous player displays and arrangements in one or more All-State display cases, or a curio cabinet. I loved how a Jackie Robinson fan from Net54 used an ornate white shadow box built into a wall to display several of the very rare Bond Bread regional rarities and a '48 Leaf, with a gorgeous figurine of Jack stealing home as a centerpiece---well done! I never tire of looking at that when it happens to come up.

Research, your imagination, and following your heart and mind's aesthetic value.

Just ramblin--time to shush.

Salute. -Brian Powell

I like Mays
 

I have been collecting Willie Mays cards for several years. He had a long career, so his cards span from 1951 into the 70's. I also consider him to be one of the all time greats. I think his prices are reasonable, considering how good of a player he was. His cards can be had for a fraction on what Mantle cards cost. I also put together a Topps run of Aaron. The only expensive one was his rookie, but it is a classic and is worth the money in my opinion.

I collect brooks robinson from 1957 to 1978. I managed to get every card except for the 61 dice game , 68 3d prototype, and a full 65 bazooka box, it was a great way to discover issues that you didn't even knew exist it also sparked my interest in completing sets that brooks was in like the beautiful 64 stand ups,70 pictures of champions , and the 63 fleer set

I have been collecting Clemente for a long time, my favorite player (I was born in Pittsburgh). I love player collecting because of the variety and exposure to sets you almost never see. You get a real feel for scarcity in that some cards are a dime a dozen and other you can go 20 years waiting to see one, the chase is so much of the fun. Player collecting is not like collecting the main street sets of the 50-70's in that its for the most part not about money as you can't just buy a set like you can on the topps/bowman sets. I have been working on my Clemente set for over 20 years and im still looking for about 10 cards.

I also collect a couple pre war players which is fun too. I have considered working on a Jackie Robinson and a few other players like Spahn.

Good luck, you will have fun with any player you choose.

The only player collection that I ever considered doing was Dave Parker ("The Cobra") as he was my favorite baseball player growing up as a kid in the mid-late '70's. In the early '80's, I really liked Lloyd Moseby of the Blue Jays and then Eric Davis of the Reds in the late '80's. During the '90's & '00's, Vlad Guerrero was my guy, even got to do two private signings with him in 1996 when he played for Harrisburg at Trenton, NJ.

I love collecting Nolan Ryan BECAUSE there are so many cards! I've been collecting him since 1990 and STILL do not have every card. Granted, I have MANY multiples of all his Topps cards...but every year there are more!

I have collected all of Clemente and Koufax's Topps cards and then built unique display cases for each of them (my other hobby).

I am slowly working on my other two favorite players of the era, Pee Wee Reese and Stan Musial. I just picked up a 49 Leaf Musial (see December pick up thread) and am only lacking a few Red Man, his Red Heart and 48 Bowman. I can't wait to make a case for my Musials as I also have an auto ball and a 1948 Sport Magazine that is signed.

I don't think I will ever get the 52 Topps Reese but will be happy to make a nice display for the rest of the ones I have.

Bottom line is I collect all the main cards I like and not too many of the regional ones and then start to plot my design for display. If I looked for every card I would never get to display them the way I want and it would be so big I couldn't find wall space for it anyway.

Drew

Sounds great. Would love to see some pics.

I collect Mantle because when my dad died, I got the few Mantle cards that he had (league leader cards , 1968 Topps game and a few others). Been hooked every since. I probably have between 12 to 15 of his cards now and am looking for more. :)

How about Gil Hodges or Pee Wee Reese (two of my all-time favorite players, despite the fact I'm a Giants fan). Both have great-looking cards from a variety of classic sets, and putting together a collection of either wouldn't be nearly as costly as one with some of the other names mentioned.

Some of my personal favorites:

1952 Topps Hodges
1952 Bowman Reese
1953 Bowman Hodges
1956 Topps Reese

Peter Edward Rose is another one to collect

Don Mattingly. But only up till 1993. After that there's just so much product it's tough.
Lawrence Taylor. UNC guy. Argument as the greatest LB ever. Argument as a top 5 all time player. I know he has his faults but when I was 10 LT was a God. Plus, his stuff compared to many is quite reasonable.
Scott Stevens/Chris Chelios. Basically for fun. Too much product to even contemplate being a completionist. I pick and choose.
Clyde Drexler. Same as Stevens/Chelios.
I dabble with a few others like UNC's George Lynch. Darryl Strawberry. Chris Doleman.
I like collecting guys that I liked growing up. Personal feel to it.

Just to weigh in...

1. Popularity - I believe if you go with popularity you'll have Mantle, Clemente, Williams, Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb, etc.
2. Price (accessibility to the average collector) - then you'll have great players such as Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Aaron, Bench, B. Robby, etc.
3. Any other pertinent factors - personally I don't take into consideration resale, so I would collect who my favorite all time player is. If you do this you'll never get tired of who you collect even if you take breaks from collecting.

Like others have said you'll learn all about other items that are out there of the player you're collecting. I thought when I started single player collecting that it wouldn't take me to long to get everything, but found out relatively quick that I'll "never" have everything (and that was before all the 1/1 and #'d cards).

It looks like you're a Braves fan so I'd go with Aaron, Sphan, Matthews, Jones, Murphy or one of their great pitchers.

I collect Hank Aaron because he was a childhood idol. I collect Sandy Koufax because he was a legend in my community. Collect who you like...

Just a quick question
 

I am a huge Cardinals fan and my focus is autographs and game used items. However, I wanted to start a player collection of either Gibson or Musial. My question to you veterans is, do you only consider the cards that were made while they were playing as part of your collection? Probably a dumb question
Thanks for your guys' responses

Not a dumb question at all, particularly given that the online set registries vary in their approach--PSA does not include these cards, and I believe SGC does. I generally only collect career contemporary cards. You have to collect what you like though, so if you like the newer stuff, go for it.

Great question and really not a wrong answer. I personally only collect cards that were issued during the player's career. For popular players like Mantle, Aaron, Clemente, etc., the amount of modern cards issued post-career can be overwhelming.


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I agree--and for me, I like to collect EVERY Nolan Ryan card that comes out...and since there are offerings EVERY year, I grab them.

Just out of curiosity approx. how many Nolan Ryan cards are in your collection? I collected him for a while but had to sell off my collection of him (minus his 68, 70, and 71) and I had over 300. I also only had cards issued during his playing career.

Drew

See, that's the great thing--there are no rules. I personally do not collect stuff made after the player's career has ended. So my Aaron collection stops with his last Topps card. Nice thing is that there are so many regional and oddball items for a player during the postwar period that you are never really done.

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...n%20ticket.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...x%20Snider.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...es%20Aaron.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...0Aaron%201.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...20schedule.jpg

After attempting a HOF RC set, then switching to just post-war HOF RC's I've finally settled into simply collecting cards of players I liked as a kid or cards of players my father liked.

I also decided to just collect RC's and additional cards that I like of each player. I'm no longer attempting to get every card for any player.

First thing I did was delete every set I had in the PSA registry. Believe it or not, that helped me stay focused.

There are plenty of players whose cards are undervalued (as others noted) Mays, Musial, etc. Since I also collect to display in my family room, I like to also get an autograph, figurine, etc. to display with each players cards.

Here are a couple of my display cases, each case each dedicated to one player.

Good luck!

Adam, I love all the oddballs in your collection. I've enjoyed seeing them in the recent pickup threads. I am just beginning to venture into the oddball/regional stuff myself.

Dan, love the display. Would love to see pictures of the others if you have any. One day, I would like to put together something like that. For now, all I have is a single shelf on a small book case that I can devote to displaying my items--one of the disadvantages of city living.

My big two, Roberto Clemente and Robin Yount. Two greats in their time, under-appreciated to an extent, both members of the 3,000 hit club, and both played their entire career for one small market team. Three MVPs between them, spectacular in the World Series, and absolutely adored, Clemente in Latin America and Pittsburgh, and Yount across the entire state of Wisconsin.

Their rookie cards are iconic ('55 Clemente and '75 Yount). Clemente's last card was 1973, so collecting their master sets, I have a beautiful example of every set from 1955 to 1994 (except for 1974), Yount's last year.

I would say Hank Aaron