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PianoLegsI suppose it was the history alone at first. They really are "relics" in the sense that they carry a bit of the nineteenth-century with them. The players' "blood is in the cards," so to speak (and not in the way that some companies will soon begin to slab dried blood from Cobb's spikes). They're remarkable frozen moments from a time in the game that very few people know much about. They mark an instant that most players considered a privilege, not a burden: posing on a diamond or going to a studio and having one's picture taken. I don't believe the game was any more pure or rarified (I live in Troy, NY--a city with a rich but shady baseball history), but it was somehow very different. It will never be that way again--and for some reason that hooked me.
Ultimately, however, it was the charisma of the cards themselves that kept me on the line (and forces me to wait another year for a new roof). When I first saw the 1887 n-690 Kalamazoo Bats Bastian-Lyons or the 1888 Old Judge n-173 Brouthers with bat Cabinet, I thought my eyes were fooling me. How could I have never seen them before? The graphics of an 1888 n-29 Allen & Ginter Album or an 1888 n-43 Allen & Ginter Getzin or ANY 1889 a-35 round album, still seem to be impossible accomplishments for that time period. There are certainly cards that are worth more money, but I don't think there could be many that are more astounding. [By the way, you can find images of any of these cards online--most of them posted by forum members].
I should probably add that, as a Cubs fan, this time period was actually GOOD for us. Although I prayed at Johnny Evers' grave before each playoff game, the results were mixed. So for another year I'll break out my round-cornered T-206's and turn double plays on my kitchen table all winter long. [By the by, if you happen to know the shmoe who wins that @#$%^& foul ball, could you please ask him to kill a goat with it?).