The Top 10 Collections of All Time

As we look back and celebrate our 35th year as a collector of rare baseball cards and memorabilia, we thought it would be fun for the long time collectors and dealers to post their votes for the top ten baseball card collections of all time.

Our list is alphabetical order. We had the good fortune to view six of these collections before they went to auction. Whose name (s) would you like to add?

1. Buck Barker
2. Jed Burdick
3. Lionel Carter
4. James Copeland
5. Barry Halper
6. Dr. Kersharac? Mastro and Lifson purchased this collection in the70's
7. Don McPherson
8. Frank Nagy
9. Corey Shanus (19th century) Marshall Fogel (20th century0
10.. Sir Edward Wharton Tigar

[slidekellyslide]

I'll bet there are collectors out there that we just have no real idea what encompasses their collection and they may even rival some of the collectors on your list.

Mark Macrae? Dave Eskenazi?

How about Donn Steinbach? He had a fabulous collection that included a T208 complete set.

Was the Southern Gentleman (from Mastro catalogs) Copeland?

[canjond]

Bruce - one I'd consider adding to the list is Larry Frisch.

[WarHoundR69]

Maybe the author of The American Card Catalog - Jefferson Burdick?

[Jay Wolt]

Originally Posted by WarHoundR69

Maybe the author of The American Card Catalog - Jefferson Burdick?

He's listed at #2 as "Jed" Burdick

[barrysloate]

Corey Shanus.

[Jay Wolt]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Corey Shanus.

He's listed at #9

[batsballsbases]

Barry he is listed #9

[slidekellyslide]

Keith Olbermann?

[batsballsbases]

Thanks Jay!!!!!!!!!!!

[barrysloate]

Am I supposed to list ten names or pick the best from Bruce's list of ten? Either way, while there are huge card collections out there- you can add Richard Masson to the list- Corey's is the most important ever assembled. But since he prefers his privacy I will leave it at that.

How come the Dorskind Collection isn't on the list?

And don't forget Gary Cypres.

[Jay Wolt]

Here are some cards that were previously owned by 3 men on Bruce's list

Frank Nagy


Lionel Carter


Buck Barker

[terjung]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

you can add Richard Masson to the list

+1

[Joe_G.]

Richard Masson should certainly be on the list. I still don't understand how he assembled so many complete sets and near sets. He's building sets that even advanced collectors merely hope to obtain type cards from.

83% complete Yum Yum
http://www.sgccardregistry.com/set.a...0&userset=1188

69% complete G&B
http://www.sgccardregistry.com/set.a...1&userset=1190

And the list continues, just click on "User's Other Sets" to view them (I guess Richard is an SGC guy).

Note, if the "Top 10 Collections of All Time" criteria were focussed to certain eras or sets, the list could markedly change.

Hi Barry

As you can see Corey was listed 9th as our list was in alphabetical order

Richard Masson along with three or four others could certainly be added
to the list. But at 10, nearly all of the collectors are now gone. We didn't addThe Dorskind Group because our collection doesn't even make the top 25..although we hope that it will someday. However, rank, at least in this case, does not matter as much as taking a moment to recall the great collections of the hobby's early pioneers.

Best wishes to Judy and you for a good New Year!

Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List

[barrysloate]

Thanks Bruce for the holiday wishes, and the same to you.

Some of the collections you listed are long gone. At least in the case of Jefferson Burdick, his collection will remain intact forever (except for the pieces that were stolen). However, he wasn't a baseball card collector per se, but a collector of all cards and paper ephemera.

[hank_jp]

Another contender is the Gelman family. Woody Gelman was the creative director of Topps and had all the original proof sheets, first runs of cards and who knows how many copies of everything Topps made. He also started the Card Collector Company that ran ads for collectors for years until it was bought out by Larry Fritsch. Woody was also one of the pioneers of the early group of collectors mentioned in Bruce's top ten.
I remember Woody's son Richard telling me in the early 70's how excited he was to finally complete a set of tobacco cards from the early 1900's. He also sold about a half dozen T206 Wagners over the years if I remember correctly.
One of these days I'd like to see his collection ... it must still be amazing.

Hank

[barrysloate]

Hank- I bought one of Richard Gelmans Wagners in 1986...and sold it a year and a half later.

[sflayank]

1st of all u must separate memoribilia from cards

then we must consider rarity
so i would say the collector who has a complete set of 53,54,55 hunters, 54,55 esskays,53 briggs, 55 felins, 52 national tea labels sets of topps dice, 55 test stamps,66 punchouts,67 standups 68 discs 51 current all stars with the big 3....anyone with a lot of money can buy a t-206 wagner but ill bet he cant buy a set of any these...so find the guy who has these and he has the best collection
and im guessing none of the collectors listed had sets of these
except for woody gelman on the topps test issues

[olsport]

I think John Kashmanian should definately be on the list, after seeing his amazing memorabilia collection in his book "Baseball Treasures" http://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Treas.../dp/0887404928 One of the greatest books ever produced on vintage baseball memorabilia!
I also believe the collection of "Dick Dobbins" who lived in the bay area, had one of the greatest collections also. http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt7c6037n5/

[Thrill-of-the-Hunt]

Mr. Randyl Stuckemeyer (RIP) check out his 1914 CJ (GEM MINT Jackson), and all his other amazing sets.

[SteveMitchell]

Frank Nagy spent several thousand dollars in or around 1960 to purchase the Walter Corson collection which included dozens of complete 1952 Topps baseball sets - not to mention thousands of T cards. Mr. Corson might be a candidate for inclusion on this list.

[quinnsryche]

my father Pat Quinn. Owner of the country's first full time baseball card shop The Sport Collectors Store in Chicago, IL with Don Steinbach, Mike Keasler and Roger Marth (all awesome collectors). I can't even begin to tell you what my dad had at the height of his collection. THE premier autograph collection amongst other one of a kind items. All the collectors listed previous (Halper, Mastro, Lifson, Lipset, Young etc.) had dealings with him and could attest to what he had before he sold it all and retired from collecting, although he still runs his monthly auction even though he's retired at least a half dozen times!

[toppcat]

What about Lew Lipset? I have to think his collection at its peak was top ten material, no?

[barrysloate]

Clearly there were more than ten people with world class collections, and it would be difficult to pick a best one. There were many.

[thekingofclout]

that have a better collection than Marshall Fogel. I'd say his collection is more like top three...at the very least.

As for cards only, I'm very surprised that Charlie's name wasn't mentioned.

Just my .02 worth.

[Griffins]

Tony- wasn't Goody Goldfadden's Adco the first shop? He started in '48 in Cleveland, and then moved it out to LA in the late '50's or early '60's.
I know when I started going there in about '72 it could take weeks to get an appointment, and you'd still be waiting outside with others long past your appointed time.

[uffda51]

[QUOTE=Joe_G.;770608]Richard Masson should certainly be on the list. I still don't understand how he assembled so many complete sets and near sets. He's building sets that even advanced collectors merely hope to obtain type cards from.

Unbelievable. I had no idea that Richard had so many of these babies. Or that most of them even existed.

[tbob]

And then there is the inevitable question- do you rate collections by scarcity of cards or condition of the cards? There are a lot of collectors out there with lower graded cards which many of the whales have never even seen. Do you give huzzahs to the guy with the highest graded E90-1 set or the guy with the complete T210 set, even though many of the cards are low grade?
Very subjective...

[drdduet]

And to all the major collections we don't know a hoot about. I know of 2 collector's who will not reveal their collections/habits. I had the privilege of seeing one of the collections first hand and it was spectacular to say the least.

It was assembled mostly in the 40's and 50's and includes some of the hobby's greatest treasures and rarities. I can tell you it includes a complete T206 set minus the Doyle variation--with many rare backs, hundreds of T210's with a Joe Jackson (and a Stengel), complete T202, T207, T205 sets'; a Cobb with Cobb back, a 1933 Goudey Lajoie and complete set, an apparent complete Old Judge HOFer set, several Victory tobacco's including a Cobb, Coupons galore--all 3 types, some Mino's, Pirates, ...complete Topps baseball and football sets through 1972, all the Bowman sets, 1914 & 1915 Cracker jack sets, etc, etc, etc....

The collection is heavy in 1930 through 1950's stuff. Many of the "older" cards are "kept in the back" as the collector is most proud of the cards of his day. Not one of the cards is graded--at least none that I saw. The T206 Wagner is likely a strong 4. He likely has 10000+ tobacco cards of all sorts--what I found most interesting is that he does not have a single duplicate of any of his cards.

I viewed the collection in the mid 1990's.

I know another guy who won't show me his collection. What I do know is that when I "called him out" by asking him to validate his claims of having a Super Collection he came over to my office with a small box. In it he had a a few gems--1952 Topps Mantle, 1933 Goudey Ruth, 1934 Goudey Gehrig, and some E Wagners and Cobbs. This was supposedly just a sample (kinda of convincing at that) of his 'vast' collection in which he claims to have many more spectacular specimens--including the T206 Wagner. He claims to have assembled his collection in the 1970's.

I've heard of other super collector's in the South as well, but you know how that can go. I just believe there are many spectacular collections out there that go unknown by the mainstream collectors and dealers.

[shelly]

Bill Heitman.

[Mikehealer]

Originally Posted by drdduet

It was assembled mostly in the 40's and 50's and includes some of the hobby's greatest treasures and rarities. I can tell you it includes a complete T206 set minus the Doyle variation--with many rare backs, hundreds of T210's with a Joe Jackson (and a Stengel), complete T202, T207, T205 sets'; a Cobb with Cobb back, a 1933 Goudey Lajoie and complete set, an apparent complete Old Judge HOFer set, several Victory tobacco's including a Cobb, Coupons galore--all 3 types, some Mino's, Pirates, ...complete Topps baseball and football sets through 1972, all the Bowman sets, 1914 & 1915 Cracker jack sets, etc, etc, etc....

The collection is heavy in 1930 through 1950's stuff. Many of the "older" cards are "kept in the back" as the collector is most proud of the cards of his day. Not one of the cards is graded--at least none that I saw. The T206 Wagner is likely a strong 4. He likely has 10000+ tobacco cards of all sorts--what I found most interesting is that he does not have a single duplicate of any of his cards.

I viewed the collection in the mid 1990's.

Wow Darren, that must have been something to see. Thanks for sharing.