[Bigdaddy]

It sounds to me that you are hearing two voices here -

1. The vintage collector who likes fountain pens, Gov't post cards, checks, etc. For a lot of the older HOFers, these are great suggestions. I wouldn't suggest that for a Randy Johnson or Greg Maddux auto though.

2. For more recent players, I think career contemporary cards are the way to go. I like the PS postcards, but as someone mentioned, they don't cover all the players as they've stopped production, and even then, some were not released until after (or close to) a player's death.

Personally, I'd stay away from 8x10 glossy photos, they just seem to have died off in value for several reasons. And I'd stay away from balls as they can be hard to predict how well the autos will hold up (toning, fading ink, etc).

So for newer players, say 1960's on up, I'd try to get them on a card. With older players, it's really up to you. One option with the older players is to either get someone to make a custom card with your auto cut or I've seen Perez Steele cards that have been certified with a cut auto.