All or Topps
 

I don't contribute much to this forum because my knowledge of baseball cards is still in its infancy, but I read nearly all the threads on this awesome website in hopes to one day be able to more actively contribute.

Anyway, I collect HoF rookies PSA grade 8 or higher and wanted to ask a question regarding which brand of card to collect. This really isn't a problem in the 50s, 60s, and 70s since Topps is the really the only card manufacturer, but starting in the 80s there are many other cards (Donruss, Fleer, Score, Upper Deck, Bowman, ect). Attempting to collect a rookie card in each brand becomes even more daunting when you start collecting cards from the 90s and 00s. So, do you restrict yourself to one brand when it comes to a rookie card, or do you collect rookie cards from all the manufacturers?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

I've never really been into the rookies thing. There were solid reasons for it mattering on pre 1980 ish cards, but they were already fading reasons by 77.

That being said, I'd pick one of 3 ways each with something interesting.

All - something to be said for a larger search.
Just the card from the hot set that year - Arod SP diecut, rather than the base set or other companies. That sort of thing.
The card from the set with the earliest release date- Takes a bunch of research, but one of the sets will actually be "first" from the mid 80's there was a bit of a rush to see who could get the sets out earlier.

I wouldn't leae out the earlier regional sets either. Some are tougher than the cost would lead you to think, and give a display some variety.

Steve B

Kinda agree with Steve here...I always go with the best(or hottest) rookie card. While Steve used Arod's '93 SP Die-cut as the preferred card(speculatively speaking as far as HOF), personally I think the die-cut is kinda unnecessary(although that's the one I do have)...Griffey would clearly be the '89 UD.. '88 Score Traded for Alomar and Biggio(possibly Glossy, if ya wanna go that far). blah, blah, blah, you get the point. As far as speculation, once the Chrome era started, Bowman/Topps Chrome became my default, unless there were no true chrome rookies made, then I go to best/hottest rookie.. Ultimately brands really don't matter to me in the long run, because I get bored and just buy whatever I don't have, whether I really need it or not..

Collect what you like. I prefer Bowman's to anything.

Hof
 

Ryan, I too collect HOF rookies. I would add to the other comments by asking if you have plans to register these cards in a registry (PSA/SGC). If so, they have compositions that you will need to adhere to, which will direct which card you purchase.

Assuming that your just collecting for your pleasure of owning HOF RC's, I would say add the card you like the best. I'm somewhat partial to Topps myself, but as others said, I would purchase the 89 UD Griffey RC, 88 score traded Alomar, 87 Fleer Larkin when adding those to my RC collection. I like those cards.

Good Luck.

For the '80s, I like to have rookies from each brand of my favorite players. I try to get any Ripken, Griffey, or Maddux I don't have. I mostly like oddball rookie year cards and Traded/Update cards, because they seem to be in relatively shorter supply than those distributed through packs.

For rookies after '89, I collect regular Bowman and a few of my favorite Bowman Chrome sets. I like the early Bowman Chrome sets.

My advice as well. However, since a lot of these cards are relatively cheap, I usually try to get all manufacturers. To make it more interesting, you can throw in the oddball cards in the mix since the fleer/donruss/score/ud/topps cards are fairly easy to obtain. I'm a greg maddux collector...so, i got all of his rookie cards produced by the standard brands, but also went after his oddball cards, which took more time to research and obtain (since they dont go up for auction as frequently).

But, if you simply just want one RC card for each player..go with the one you find most appealing.

As a collector I understand it is important to collect what you find interesting, but it is nice to have the opportunity to pick the brains of other collectors for advice. Thanks again for the feedback.

For my rookie collection - the 1970's was easy - basically just Topps (I'm not really into regionals, etc.)

In the 1980's - every key rookie - and in multiples! Some scattered "inserts" and "traded" cards as well. I stayed away from the "glossy" and "tiffany" cards because they just didn't appeal to me for some reason.

In the 1990's - every key rookie from all sets. Again, I stayed away from all glossy, tiffany, refractor, etc paralells.

2000+ - really don't have much. Too many sets - too many cards - too expensive. I'll pluck off some key cards here and there. Just lost an auction for a Verlander rookie. It went quite high.

My goal is all HOF rookies from the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's. That's gonna' take a while.

I enjoy looking at my pre-war and vintage rookie collection - just as I do my 1970-1999 rookie collection.

Collect what you like - it's all in fun!

1980 and later - PSA 9 or better
1970 - 1979 PSA 7 or better
1948 - 1969 PSA Any :)