Posted By:
CarltonHendricksThe Zimmer is so rare it's beyond rare, it's an exotic. If I had a Zimmer it would be the centerpiece displayed with all other games around it. Plus it's diamond shaped when displayed so would standout perfectly at the center.
Your question to me: "what is the crown jewel of vintage sports games?" is basically a "if money were no object" question, so, I suppose I'd say the Zimmer is King of board games.
If money were no object, then, since baseball is the king of sports collectibles, that is, it is the most popular, and generally the most expensive sport to collect. Then the Zimmer would take first place. It's kind of the ultimate Mcloughlin game, it's got the Mcloughlin quality graphics, at least on the inside, plus it features all those name players, so it's not generic like most or all other Mcloughlin's. The Zimmer is actually hard memorabilia and hard memorabilia that is displayable and great looking is almost always very expensive. The first time I saw a Zimmer was where most of us saw it in the article on Barry Halper's collection in the April 1987 Smithsonian magazine.
But from a practicle perspective....I don't know what Zimmer's are bringing now days, but I could probably buy a lot of great Victorian sports board games with all the money it would take to buy a Zimmer. Really they're only for the baseball purist. I'm a generalist that collects all athletic sports. The baseball purist enjoy what they collect, I enjoy what I collect, stuff overlaps sometimes, we all have a great time, it's a great hobby!