Posted By:
Fred CWell first off, cross Larry Corcoran off your want list. There's a nut that lives on the east coast that collects this player very "aggressively". If you want a Corcoran card you might have to beg and pony up a lot of dough. With that said, lets move into what's fun and how to collect these little beauties.
Teams (pick a team that you like from that era, like Louisville, hahaha)
Stats (collect all the batting title winners - don't forget you get to pick from 3 leagues or collect all three league leaders)
History Kevin's suggestion to read a few books about the era (The Beer and Whiskey League is a great book on the American Association) may get you rocking in a fun direction.
HOF Hall of Fame players are always fun to collect, especially in that era. You could pick up the HOF that had the most wins in a season (Hoss Radbourn) or the HOF that had the highest season batting average (Hugh Duffy) along with all the other HOFers - I think that is going to cost a few bucks though.
Subsets - The Browns Champions for example. Barry had a set of those in the auction that closes tonight (20SEP07).
Just remember that the addiction to these cards is something that sneaks up on you. Once you're hooked, that's about it... there have been a few collectors that let go of their OJs. I think they may have been trying to collect every player (at least one pose) and started losing their grip on reality. Both used to be sane people but I'm not sure any more.
GOOD LUCK in this endeavor. Most people just indiscriminantly buy cards until they figure out a niche.
Welcome to the brotherhood of insanity... you're going to like this...