Excited new member - intro + a few questions

[Pythonfactory]

Hi all. Let me start off by saying that I am amazed by the passion and wealth of information cooked up by the community here. I just discovered this site this weekend and have probably spent about 20 hours since then perusing.

A little about myself. I am 26 and live in Seattle. When I was in elementary school, every minute and penny I had was devoted to baseball. I would spend my time reading baseball autobiographies and baseball encyclopedias while spending my allowance and any other money earned at the local card stores. I moved on once I entered high school and didn't re-enter the world of baseball cards again until 2 years ago.

I tried getting into the new sets over a period of a few months but there were just too many options and I couldn't get into the autograph / game-used / serial #'d madness. I ended up selling all my old and new baseball cards except for ones that had special meaning to me (e.g., a 1973 Topps Willie Mays and 1961 Topps Duke Snider that I managed to get from a classmate in 7th grade for what was at the time 5x Beckett value in Indians players - Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, etc.). I find myself looking at these old cards fairly often and have considered getting into vintage baseball cards for a long time because I appreciate the history of the game and how it used to be played by farmer's sons who had to plow the fields in the off-season.

My goal going into this is to acquire cards that tell me the story of the game and demonstrate its history. I THINK that I've decided on a collecting goal that can last me many years: to collect what I believe to be the "coolest" / "most unique" (and affordable) card of everyone in the HOF. I would like to display these cards on the wall in several displays that include the name and induction year of the players. Regarding this, I have a few questions:

1) Do any of you display your cards? I've seen a few cheap (~$50) displays online but none of them have looked that impressive. I'm thinking of commissioning a custom made one if anyone knows someone who can make it. I'd also love to see any displays that you have. I couldn't spend all this money and time on something that just ends up in a safe deposit box or a 3 ring binder.

2) Do any of you know a website where I can easily access an image of every single card ever produced? I checked out beckett.com but they are very limited. Ideally, I would be able to search by player and not by set.

Sorry for the long rant but I wanted to give a little background about myself before diving into the community. I look forward to talking with many of you over the years.

Take care,
Bryan

[Brian Van Horn]

Bryan,

Funny, that's my name too, just with a different spelling. Welcome aboard. As for displaying cards I do the internet version which is to set up albums. Ask Leon on how to go about it. In the meantime, feel free to check out my info with links to the albums.

[Jantz]

Welcome aboard Bryan!

One thing to consider as far as displaying cards, maybe use reprints for decorating your man-cave, while keeping your vintage cards safe & locked up. One of my favorite cards is a T205 John McGraw. I actually own a very nice example. So instead of displaying it, I bought a reprint from the 2003 Topps T205 set to display and enjoy.

Trust me on this, I actually got a phone call from my local police department on Monday about a card collection that was possibly stolen. They called me to get some assistance as far as values on some of the cards.

Anyway, welcome to the website. Its a great place! Be sure to check out the Buy/Sell/Trade page. Its a great venue to buy cards.

Good Luck with your goal.


Jantz

[mintacular]

Not quite what you asked but this book has an image of every Topps card by set from 1951-85.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-COMPLETE...item3ccc579bb2

PSA has quite a bit of databases with some or most of what you might be looking for

[cyseymour]

Bryan,

It can get extremely pricey to collect a card of every HOFer. Some people do it. One way of narrowing it down is to just do the HOFers from one particular set. Most common choices on this board would be T206's, T205's, N172's and maybe E90-1's. I don't want to sound snobby but a lot of the folks on the board collect pre-war because the cards are older, more rare, and quite special. Nothing against Topps cards, but I would consider going the prewar route, you might ultimately find it more fulfilling.

My only advice is to take a lot of time to research and maybe don't start putting money into it until spring.

Best luck,

Jamie
N172 collector

[oldcardboard]

I make custom displays of my favorite players. A mix of different items is what I like best. Here is Walter Payton.

[dabigyankeeman]

Originally Posted by mintacular

Not quite what you asked but this book has an image of every Topps card by set from 1951-85.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-COMPLETE...item3ccc579bb2

PSA has quite a bit of databases with some or most of what you might be looking for

That book is great, and there is a companion book, identical in size, called Classic Baseball Cards The Golden Years 1886-1956 which shows most of the old non-Topps cards from the 1800's up thru the start of Topps, and it shows all the Bowmans thru 1955 also. I have both books, they are incredible.

[E93]

Welcome aboard.
JimB

[bcbgcbrcb]

Welcome aboard, Bryan.

Beckett has a hard copy, alphabetical checklist by player's last name of just about every card made. There are some omissions but it would be a pretty good start for you.

[DaveW]

Bryan - Welcome. I don't think there are any websites that have images of every card ever produced, but there are some sites that are pretty good.
You can use:
http://www.vintagecardprices.com
There is a search function that allows you to search by player and it will tell you every card that that player is on and it will have pictures for most of the cards. You can also search by set or team and it will even tell you which players are in the HOF. You can use the search function without being a member.

Good Luck.

[EvilKing00]

welcome Brian - im pretty new here as well! I would deff take my time and search the web and make the right choice.

The link that DAVE just posted - http://www.vintagecardprices.com, is in my opinion a great tool in seeing every (i think) card. havs helped me alot in the past too.

In my opinion - I would take a GOOD look at the T205 cards. I think the most beautiful cards ever made, first cards to have stats on the back, many diff back types, some more rare vairation cards as well.

Anyway welcome and good luck

[kmac32]

Bryan,

You might want to look up Pennzoni display cases. Not real expensive but look very nice. Think the web site is www.pennzonidisplay.com

[mrvster]

welcome my friend, extremly addictive this board and hobby, you wont be dissapointed

peace

johnny