If you could only have one card...
 

If you were only allowed to own one postwar baseball card what would it be? For the sake of realism, the only catch is that it has to be a card that you either already own or could realistically purchase. If you want to throw in a hypothetical dream card too, I guess that would be okay. :) For me it would be the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. The first vintage card I ever purchased back in 1998 at the ripe old age of 17 was an EX 1952 Topps Willie Mays and ever since then I had always dreamed of owning a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card. Even though I've now been fortunate enough to have owned several of them, for me it still represents the holy grail of baseball cards.

#1 on my wish list right now is a 1973-74 Venezuelan League sticker of Jim Rice.

For me, it always comes back to the '82 Topps Traded Ripken. It was the first card that I really had to save for. Actually, it's the only one I've ever saved for. Everything else so far has been impulse buys when the price was right..My absolute favorite card ever. Pre or post war..

1966 Clemente. Traded for one in late 1970s. First "old" card I owned. Gave the other kid (we were maybe 10) a big stack of Philadelphia Phillies cards. Clemente was and is my all-time favorite player, even though I was very young when he died. That card will always take me back to being a kid, opening fresh packs of cards, and sorting and trading. Still have the card from that deal, of course.

56 Mickey

One Card
 

1967 Topps Stand Up Mantle. I have the proof, would not mind getting the die cut version.

Under the guide lines of the question probably the 1953 Satchell Paige. My wife got it for me and its always the card I show off to those looking at my collecton.
Drew

1967 Topps Punch Out of Lou Brock. It's the only real high dollar card left that I don't have.

Over the years, my collecting focus has changed a number of times. The constant through all of that, though, is about 10 postwar cards that I envision as the 'end state' of my postwar collection. As another poster said in the thread about owning a '52 Mantle, I hesitate to buy them (all) since it would essentially end my postwar collection.

That march has slowly started though, so if I had to stop at one, it'd be the only one of the ten that I currently own, a 1953 Topps Jackie Robinson.

Regards,

Richard.

<img border="0" width="300" src="http://www.richardarmstrong.ca/baseball/Robinson/1953_Topps_Robinson.jpg">

What are your top 10 postwar cards? I always like hearing other people's lists! :)

Doug,

This could [should?] probably become a thread of it's own, but since you asked, and you're the OP, I'm throwing my response right back into this one.

That said, the list looks like this. As a kid, this is what I dreamed of one day owning:

1948 Bowman Warren Spahn
1951 Topps Red Back Yogi Berra
1952 Topps Mickey Mantle
1953 Topps Jackie Robinson
1954 Topps Hank Aaron
1958 Topps Roger Maris
1968 Topps Nolan Ryan


When I came back to the hobby 10 years ago, the list evolved some.

a.) In all likelihood, I will not own the 1952 Mantle. But I'll hold out hope. In the mean time, I'll use a 1956 Topps Mantle as a placeholder until either I own a 1952 or give up the dream of owning one.

b.) Until I hold them both in my hands, there's a chance the 1954 Topps Aaron is replaced with the 1954 Johnston Cookies Aaron.

c.) 1954 Red Heart Stan Musial and 1949 Bowman Duke Snider get added.

d.) As a kid, the modern card all of us wanted was the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. For that reason, KGJ gets the nod to round out the ten.

So there you have it. Your thoughts? Your list [assuming you have one]?

Regards,

Richard.

I was going to go ahead and start that as a thread just for fun so I'll post my list there to start it off. :D

My 1979 Topps Ozzie Smith rookie. Pulled from a pack by me (or my older brother) when I was about 7, and it's one of only two cards I still have from my early childhood (the other being a 79 Brock). The rest got pawned off at a flea market while in college so I could live off grilled cheeses for a month.

Ozzie
 

Were you lucky to get one with decent centering ?

Actually yes. I had a few of them, but kept just this one because it was well centered. Corners are pretty soft though.

Me too.

'52 Topps Mantle
 

'52 Topps Mantle...I might even pick one up some day......it would have to be well centered though.

There was an almost dead centered SGC 30 '52 Mantle in the 2/10 Goodwin auction, but it sold for $10,555. I'm pretty sure that I bid on it, but that price was steep for me. Of the six '52 Mantles that I've owned, the nicest was a PSA 4 that was centered down and to the right (which seems typical of '52 Topps Mantles) and it cost me $2000 less than what that SGC 30 sold for. I've got a collecting buddy that's a nut when it comes to centering, but if it comes down to paying a premium for centering or a card in better overall condition at the same price I'd take the higher grade card. I guess that's what keeps the hobby interesting. If everybody had the same taste in cards nobody would ever get a deal! :)

Realisticaly, 1949 Bowman Satchel Paige or 1949 Leaf Jackie Robinson or 1954 Bowman Ted Williams.

Probably one of the following three I already own:

(1) '55 Exhibits Postcard Back Mantle;

(2) 1907 Dietsche Fielding Position Cobb;

(3) 1923 Lections Babe Ruth.

But ask me on another day, and the list of possibilities might be entirely different!
And Adam's reference to the '54 Bowman Williams makes me once more regret selling the high-end PSA 7 I sold a couple of years ago.

Best wishes in your collecting endeavors,

Larry

card i would love
 

1966 mickey mantle/jim ray hart double punchout

I'd say none rather than one. It wouldn't be a card collection with only one.

Post war?
Tough choice but if I could own one I would say either '51 Current All- Star Roberts or Topps dice game Mantle. Both are worth the wait!