Recollection of a Unique Type of Collection

[bcbgcbrcb]

The recent George Weiss rookie card thread here on Net54 got me to thinking for the first time in a long while about those types of items that I salivated over for a decade while assembling what morphed into my version of the "Earliest Photographic Collectible of every single member of the Baseball Hall of Fame" as of 2013, which stood at 310 individuals at that time. I thought that some here might enjoy hearing about my journey, which began simply as a collection of vintage, post-war Baseball HOF Rookie Cards.

One day back in 2003, while I was doing my daily e-bay searches looking for BGS 10's of the day's big rookie cards: Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Frank Thomas, etc., I happened upon a listing for a Bob Gibson RC in lower-grade condition for sale at $40. That got me to thinking, I'm spending thousands on these modern cards, which can fluctuate greatly, and here is an all-time great pitcher's nearly 50 year-old rookie card for pennies on the dollar compared to the stuff that I was collecting at the time. So, I went ahead and made that first vintage card purchase and I was hooked after that.

As I mentioned previously, my initial plan was to collect all of the post-war HOF rookie cards so I bought a current Beckett Baseball Price Guide. I then proceeded to calculate 10% of the current "high column" price and those would become my target prices to pay for each card. Of course, this resulted in primarily low-grade cards but it was a way that I figured I could "collect 'em all" before embarking on the real challenge of researching the pre-war HOF rookies, which was, for the most part, uncharted territory beyond what Hal Lewis had compiled on his website along with a few other select Net54 members.

While I was able to complete the post-war part of the collection over the next two to three years, the research on pre-war continued seemingly endlessly as I began to pick up some of the Goudey cards from the '30's, American Caramel cards from the '20's and tobacco cards from the earlier 1900's as well as 19th Century ballplayers. It was at this point that I also made the decision to have every card in my collection graded by one of the big three grading companies, PSA, SGC or Beckett. Being that I lived within a half hour of the SGC office at the time, the vast majority of cards went to them for grading.

As I learned more about the pre-war cards, I began to realize that some of these rookie cards were going to be quite pricey. At the time, I was a bank manager so had a decent amount of disposable income to work with but I was far from being an attorney, doctor, etc. nor independently wealthy so I quickly realized that I was going to need to find a way to come up with alternatives to some of these highest priced cards that I would never be able to afford. Thus, I began looking into other mediums such as photographic pinbacks, newspaper supplements, premiums, postcards, type 1 original photographs, cabinet cards, CDV's, scorecards, programs, etc., pretty much anything that I could buy at a more affordable price to cover that individual's spot in my HOF collection. It was at this time that I also began including team pictured items such as postcards, photos, premiums, etc. in my collection as well. Besides tending to be considerably cheaper, this option offered me the opportunity to pick up multiple HOF Rookies in some cases which were all pictured on the one team image.

As you can see, what started out as a pretty clearly defined Baseball HOF Rookie Card collection had evolved over the years into more of an earliest collectibles assemblage. The amount of fun that I had while all of this was going on was incredible. I made it to 10 straight Nationals from 2004 to 2014, including the last one when I had a massive heart attack only 4 months prior. I didn't want to break my streak so I rehabbed quickly enough to make it in 2014. As a side note, the streak would end in 2015 as my family relocated to Orlando, FL from NJ. Prior to the move, I had started auctioning off the entire collection as I had begun getting deep into Negro League material after doing tons of research in that area over the years trying to identify collectibles for those Negro League greats in the HOF. Thus, I ended up taking all of the funds from my auction proceeds and putting that money into Negro League material, primarily team items again.

The Negro League stuff kept me busy for the next few years and finally, I auctioned off that entire collection in 2021 at the peak of the sports card market. Unfortunately, after the heart attack, I have never been able to sustain full-time employment again so my collecting days have trickled down to primarily bargain box stuff at local card shows down here in FL and what remains from the auction sales over the years as much of those funds get used up every year for basic living expenses.

To be clear, I am not looking for sympathy from anyone here, I just wanted to share my story with everyone on the board, including those who helped me greatly along the way and the many great hobby friendships that formed over the years. A couple of the biggest things that I learned from this amazing journey, try to hold out for the card that you really want as long as it is somewhat realistic rather than settling for something else and then later on, having to replace it with what you really wanted in the first place. I found that, in most cases, you end up losing financially this way. Also, don't be afraid to try new things, everyone should collect what they like, don't rely on what other people tell you that you should or should not buy.

Right now, I would just like to mention a few of the grading highlights from my ten-year BB HOF RC collection. Due to my insistence on having every item in my collection graded (unless size made it physically impossible), I believe that I was the first one to submit to the TPG's for grading/encapsulation: M101-1's, M101-2's, M101-6's, W603's, etc. along with many team issued premiums, programs, scorecards, etc. I also believe that I was one of the first, if not the first, to have the grading company include player identifications on the flip (primarily SGC) for team photo items such as postcards and premiums where there were no player identifications printed on the item itself. Needless to say, it took lots of documentation and research but thanks to the willingness of individuals at SGC back in the day such as Derek Grady, Bob Luce. Scott Hileman, etc. to listen and be willing to make informed decisions.

A couple of final memories from the collection were my collaboration with Lyman Hardemann at OldCardboard.com to create and maintain a Baseball HOF RC's webpage, highlighting the five earliest baseball cards for every member of the BB HOF. We recently updated things after many years in between and there is still more work to be done with this, hopefully, will be fully up to date at some point in the near future. Lastly, thanks to all of the years of research while I was compiling my collection, I was able to self-publish two reference guides which many board members have purchased from me over the years. The first was called the "Negro League Baseball Collectibles Guide" and the second was the "4-Sport Hall of Fame Rookie Cards Guide", covering baseball, football, basketball and hockey.

In closing, I am so thankful that I was able to embark on and complete such an amazing journey at the time that I did it. I don't believe in today's world, with EVERYTHING being so expensive, it would be possible to duplicate again. Not only because of the money, but just the extreme rarity of so many of those items combined with the explosion in the number of collectors across the hobby. I hope that everyone enjoyed my story and I would love to hear similar tales from other board members as to what their collecting journeys have been like.

[rhettyeakley]

Phil,

I know I enjoyed your collection journey so thanks for sharing your story.

You were a bit ahead of the game with the rookie collection in a lot a ways. I had always tried to collect earlier items from players before that but you were the first person I knew that truly had that singular focus to your collection.

Your original collection was great!

-Rhett

[Lucas00]

Is your collection Documented anywhere? Would love to take a look. This is the kind of collecting I like the very most, Earliest items are very intriguing to me. Actually picked up an original photo of Eddie Collins in college on the board recently.
I have several that double as firsts in my Snapshot collection. And a few firsts in full 8x10 type form. Thanks for sharing your Journey!

[h2oya311]

Phil - as you know, I'm very familiar with your story, but didn't have all the dots connected. Thanks for the fun read. I would be interested to know if you still do the ice cream collectibles thing...I know that was part of your collecting focus for a little while when you were in between jobs.

Anyway, I've been trying to take the reigns on your progress and research on HOF rookie card collecting, but I always feel like there's more to do and it never feels "complete".

For those who haven't seen my website yet, it's still a work in progress. But it builds on all the research that Phil did over several years and adds in additional information for stuff that wasn't known when Phil was actively collecting rookies. It is similar to the oldcardboard concept, but it has every "earliest" card/photo (including team cards) for each baseball HOFer.

It's not quite ready for prime-time (yet), but take a look and let me know if you see anything that should be edited or if you have images I don't yet have! I hope to "complete" this project by the end of 2023, knowing that it will always be a work-in-progress.

https://imageevent.com/derekgranger/hofearliest

Sorry to have derailed the thread a little, but Phil's research was instrumental in getting this started...and for that I am forever grateful!

[bcbgcbrcb]

Thank you for the kind words, Rhett. I certainly learned a lot about pre-war cards from you over the years, especially Zee-nuts if I remember correctly.

Hi Lucas - I originally posted the below list on Net54 all the way back in 2010. As of that time, this is what I believed to be the earliest professional baseball photographic collectible of every BB HOF'er. Unfortunately, I do not have graphic displays of these, I never kept the images after I auctioned off the collection. I had a pretty good number of these but nowhere near all of them. I believe that Derek Granger does have many of these images if you are looking for any. There have surely been some updates over the past dozen years so not 100% accurate any more but will get you off to a good start.


1952 Hank Aaron (Indianapolis Clowns P/C)
1911 Grover Alexander (M101-2)
1987 Roberto Alomar (Wichita Minor League)
1937 Walter Alston (Rochester Team Premium)
1958 Sparky Anderson (LaPresse)
1868 Cap Anson (Marshalltown Team Photo) courtesy of Corey S. & Kevin S.
1953 Luis Aparicio (Venezuelan League)
1931 Luke Appling (4-on-1 Exhibits)
1948 Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia Bulletin/M114)
1926 Earl Averill (Zeenuts)

1908 Frank Baker (Reading Team P/C)
1909 Dave Bancroft (Superior RPPC)
1954 Ernie Banks (Topps/All-Star Photo Pack)
1955 Al Barlick (Bowman)
1896 Ed Barrow (Paterson Team Cabinet)
1887 Jake Beckley (Lincoln Team Cabinet) courtesy of Clint
1926 Cool Papa Bell (St. Louis Stars Team P/C)
1967 Johnny Bench (Cincinnati Team Issue)
1903 Chief Bender (E107/W600)

1946 Yogi Berra (Newark Team Photo)
1970 Bert Blyleven (Minnesota Team Issue)
1981 Wade Boggs (TCMA - Pawtucket)
1921 Jim Bottomley (Packers Team Photo)
1941 Lou Boudreau (Double Play)
1903 Roger Bresnahan (W600)
1971 George Brett (Billings Team Premium)
1962 Lou Brock (Topps)

1879 Dan Brouthers (NY Clipper Woodcut)
1901 Mordecai Brown (Terre-Haute Team Composite)
1935 Raymond Brown (Negro League Broadside)
1935 Willard Brown (KC Monarchs Team Photo)
1880's Morgan Bulkeley (Matthew Brady Cabinet)
1956 Jim Bunning (Mariano Team Photo)
1890 Jesse Burkett (Sporting Times - Giants Team Supplement)
1943 Roy Campanella (Mexican League Team P/C)

1965 Rod Carew (Orlando Team Photo Premium)
1908 Max Carey (Concordia Team Cabinet)
1965 Steve Carlton (Topps/St. Louis Team Issue)
1975 Gary Carter (Topps/TCMA IL All-Stars)
1840's Alexander Cartwright (Knickerbockers Team Dag Photo) courtesy of Barry S.
1955 Orlando Cepeda (Salem Team Photo)
1861 Henry Chadwick (St. George's Team Photo) courtesy of Barry S.

1898 Frank Chance (Chicago Team Photo Premium)
1949 Happy Chandler (Eureka)
1914 Oscar Charleston (US Military Team P/C)
1895 Jack Chesbro (Springfield Team Photo Supplement)
1955 Nestor Chylak (Bowman)
1898 Fred Clarke (Louisville Cabinet Card)
1885 John Clarkson (Harper's Weekly Chicago Team Photo Woodcut)
1952 Roberto Clemente (Santurce Team Composite)
1905 Ty Cobb (W601 - Detroit Team Composite Premium)
1924 Mickey Cochrane (Zeenuts)

1907 Eddie Collins (W600)
1893 Jimmy Collins (Buffalo Team Photo Cabinet)
1922 Earle Combs (Louisville Team Photo)
1879 Charles Comiskey (Dubuque Team Cabinet) courtesy of Jay M.
1931 Jocko Conlan (LaPresse)
1950 Tom Connolly (Callahan HOF)
1879 Roger Connor (NY Clipper Woodcuts)
1923 Andy Cooper (Tomas Gutierrez/Nacionales)
1909 Stan Coveleski (Lancaster Team P/C)

1899 Sam Crawford (Chatham Team Cabinet) courtesy of Clint
1931 Joe Cronin (Washington Team Issue/4-on-1 Exhibits)
1873 Candy Cummings (Baltimore Team Composite) courtesy of Corey S.
1924 Kiki Cuyler (M114)
1944 Ray Dandridge (Mexican League Premium)
1890 George Davis (Ryder Studio Cabinet/Sporting Life Cleveland Team Woodcut)
1977 Andre Dawson (Topps/Montreal Team Issue Photo)
1935 Leon Day (Negro League Broadside)
1929 Dizzy Dean (San Antonio Team Composite Premium)
1889 Ed Delahanty (N172/MacIntire Studios Cabinet)

1931 Bill Dickey (W502/4-on-1 Exhibits)
1927 Martin Dihigo (Mallorquina)
1934 Joe DiMaggio (Zeenuts)
1946 Larry Doby (Newark Eagles X-Mas Card)
1937 Bobby Doerr (Goudey Wide-Pen Premiums)
1902 Barney Dreyfuss (Pittsburgh Gazette Supplement)
1955 Don Drysdale (Montreal Team Photo Premium)
1887 Hugh Duffy (Lowell Team Cabinet) courtesy of Jay M.
1929 Leo Durocher (4-on-1 Exhibits)

1976 Dennis Eckersley (Topps/SSPC)
1910 Billy Evans (M101-2)
1903 Johnny Evers (W600)
1885 Buck Ewing (Harper's Weekly Woodcuts)
1914 Red Faber (Chicago Team P/C)
1936 Bob Feller (Boston American Stamps/Press Photo)
1931 Rick Ferrell (4-on-1 Exhibits)
1967 Rollie Fingers (Birmingham Team Photo)

1968 Carlton Fisk (Waterloo Team Photo) courtesy of Tony S.
1899 Elmer Flick (M101-1)
1951 Whitey Ford (Bowman/Berk Ross)
1909 Rube Foster (Leland Team P/C)
1927 Willie Foster (Mallorquina)
1945 Nellie Fox (Lancaster Team Photo)
1925 Jimmy Foxx (Exhibits P/C Backs)
1949 Ford Frick (Eureka)
1920 Frank Frisch (W519)

1879 Pud Galvin (Buffalo Team Photo Trade Card)
1922 Lou Gehrig (Hartford Team Photo)
1926 Charlie Gehringer (Exhibits)
1957 Bob Gibson (Columbus Team Photo Premium)
1928 Josh Gibson (Pittsburgh Crawfords Team Photo)
1956 Warren Giles (Topps)
1962 Pat Gillick (Elmira Team Photo) courtesy of Jodi B.
1929 Lefty Gomez (Zeenuts)
1938 Joe Gordon (Newark Team Photo)

1922 Goose Goslin (E120)
1972 Rich Gossage (Puerto Rican League Sticker)
1887 Frank Grant (Buffalo Team Cabinet)
1934 Hank Greenberg (Goudey/Batter-Up/Diamond Stars)
1889 Clark Griffith (N172)
1920 Burleigh Grimes (M114)
1921 Lefty Grove (Tip Top Bread/Baltimore Team Panorama)
1982 Tony Gwynn (TCMA - Hawaii)
1926 Chick Hafey (St. Louis Cardinals Team P/C)

1916 Jesse Haines (Springfield Team Panorama)
1889 Billy Hamilton (N172)
1879 Ned Hanlon (Albany Team Cabinet)
1956 William Harridge (Topps)
1921 Bucky Harris (Exhibits)
1922 Gabby Hartnett (E120/W573)
1984 Doug Harvey (Smokey the Bear Padres)
1913 Harry Heilmann (Zeenuts)

1977 Rickey Henderson (Chong - Modesto A's)
1929 Bill Herman (Louiville Team Photo)
1957 Whitey Herzog (Topps/Washington Team Issue)
1909 Pete Hill (Cabanas)
1907 Harry Hooper (St. Mary's P/C)
1915 Rogers Hornsby (Denison Team P/C)
1921 Waite Hoyt (American Caramel)
1955 Cal Hubbard (Bowman)

1926 Carl Hubbell (Toronto Team Panorama)
1904 Miller Huggins (W601)
1889 William Hulbert (Spalding Baseball Guide)
1965 Catfish Hunter (Topps/Athletics Team Issue Photo)
1948 Monte Irvin (El Indio)
1967 Reggie Jackson (Birmingham Team Photo)
1923 Travis Jackson (William Paterson/M114 NY Giants Team Premium)
1966 Fergie Jenkins (Topps/Chicago Team Issue)
1894 Hugh Jennings (Alpha Photo Engraving)

1903 Ban Johnson (Horner American League Composite)
1921 Judy Johnson (Original Cabinet Photo) courtesy of D. Granger
1907 Walter Johnson (Weisner Cabinet) courtesy of Jeff Prizner
1903 Addie Joss (E107/W600)
1954 Al Kaline (Topps/All-Star Photo Pack)
1879 Tim Keefe (New York Clipper Woodcut)
1892 Willie Keeler (Binghamton Team Cabinet)
1945 George Kell (Philadelphia Team Photo Pack)
1894 Joe Kelley (Alpha Photo Engraving)

1914 George Kelly (Spokane Team Photo P/C)
1879 King Kelly (1879 New York Clipper Woodcut)
1955 Harmon Killebrew (Topps/Topps Double Headers)
1941 Ralph Kiner (Albany Team Photo)
1925 Chuck Klein (Exhibit P/C Backs)
1910 Bill Klem (M101-2)
1955 Sandy Koufax (Topps/Golden Stamps)
1969 Bowie Kuhn (Topps Promo)

1897 Nap Lajoie (Leslie's Illustrated)
1916 Kenesaw Landis (Hartford Team Photo)
1986 Barry Larkin (Sportsflics Update)
1950 Tommy LaSorda (Big League Stars)
1922 Tony Lazzeri (Zeenuts)
1946 Bob Lemon (Cleveland Team Photo P/C)
1935 Buck Leonard (Negro League Broadside)
1924 Fred Lindstrom (M114 - Giants Team Photo Premium)
1910 Pop Lloyd (Punch)
1927 Ernie Lombardi (Oakland Team Photo)

1930 Al Lopez (Baguer Chocolates)
1924 Ted Lyons (Diaz Cigarettes)
1887 Connie Mack (N172)
1924 Biz Mackey (Aguilitas)
1947 Larry MacPhail (True Comics)
1981 Lee MacPhail (Perez Steele HOF P/C)
1996 Effa Manley (Negro League Playing Cards)
1948 Mickey Mantle (Independence Team Panorama)
1923 Heinie Manush (Tomas Gutierrez - Detroit Team Composite)
1912 Rabbit Maranville (Boston P/C)

1960 Juan Marichal (Tacoma Giants)
1907 Rube Marquard (Canton Team P/C)
1950 Ed Mathews (Atlanta Team Photo)
1901 Christy Mathewson (Police Gazette Supplements)
1951 Willie Mays (Bowman/M114)
1956 Bill Mazeroski (Pittsburgh Team Photo Pack)
1909 Joe McCarthy (E254)
1887 Tommy McCarthy (N172)
1960 Willie McCovey (Topps/Jay Publishing)

1899 Joe McGinnity (M101-1)
1948 Bill McGowan (Umpire School P/C)
1894 John McGraw (Alpha Photo Engraving)
1906 Bill McKechnie (Washington Team P/C)
1885 Bid McPhee (Cincinnati Team Cabinet) courtesy of Gary P.
1933 Joe Medwick (Worch Cigars)
1910 Jose Mendez (Punch)
1933 Johnny Mize (Greensboro Team Photo)

1978 Paul Molitor (Topps)
1965 Joe Morgan (Topps/Houston Team Issue Photo)
1977 Eddie Murray (Baltimore Team Photo Pack)
1941 Stan Musial (Rochester Team Premium)
1939 Hal Newhouser (Salutation Exhibits)
1889 Kid Nichols (N172)

1964 Phil Niekro (Topps)
1966 Walter O'Malley (LA Dodgers Record Covers)
1871 Jim O'Rourke (Stratford Osceolas Team Photo) courtesy of Paul C.
1929 Mel Ott (Kashin/4-on-1 Exhibits)
1932 Satchell Paige (Pittsburgh Crawfords P/C)
1964 Jim Palmer (Aberdeen Team Photo Premium)
1921 Herb Pennock (E220)
1963 Tony Perez (San Diego Team Issue)
1961 Gaylord Perry (Tacoma Bank)

1902 Eddie Plank (W600)
1922 Alex Pompez (NY Cubans Team Photo)
1931 Cum Posey (Homestead Grays P/C)
1983 Kirby Puckett (Larry Fritsch - Visalia)
1879 Charles Radbourne (Dubuque Team Cabinet) courtesy of Jay M.
1939 Pee Wee Reese (Louisville Team Photo Premium)

1973 Jim Rice (Venezuelan League Sticker)
1917 Sam Rice (Boston Store/Collins McCarthy/Standard Biscuit)
1906 Branch Rickey (W601 St. Louis P/C)
1980 Cal Ripken Jr. (Charlotte - Police)
1913 Eppa Rixey (T200 - Philadelphia)
1939 Phil Rizzuto (Kansas City Team Photo Premium)
1948 Robin Roberts (Philadelphia Bulletin)
1955 Brooks Robinson (Baltimore Team Issue)
1953 Frank Robinson (Butte Team Photo)
1946 Jackie Robinson (Parade Sportive)

1887 Wilbert Robinson (Kalamazoo Bats)
1916 Bullet Rogan (25th Infantry Panorama)
1909 Edd Roush (Oakland City Team Photo P/C)
1924 Red Ruffing (Diaz Cigarettes)
1889 Amos Rusie (N172)
1914 Babe Ruth (Baltimore News/Baltimore Orioles Team Photo/Providence Team Photo)
1968 Nolan Ryan (Topps)
1980 Ryne Sandberg (TCMA - Reading)
1961 Ron Santo (Topps/Manny's BB Land)

1911 Louis Santop (Lincoln Giants Team P/C)
1913 Ray Schalk (M101-2)
1971 Mike Schmidt (Reading Team Premium)
1945 Red Schoendienst (M114)
1967 Tom Seaver (Topps/Mets Team Issue P/C)
1887 Frank Selee (Oshkosh Team Cabinet)
1920 Joe Sewell (Cleveland Team Photo P/C)
1923 Al Simmons (Exhibits)

1916 George Sisler (M101-5/BF2 Ferguson Pennants)
1937 Enos Slaughter (Columbus Team Photo Premium)
1935 Hilton Smith (Bismarck Team Photo P/C)
1978 Ozzie Smith (Family Fun Center)
1946 Duke Snider (Fort Worth Team Photo)
1912 Billy Southworth (Portsmouth Team Photo)
1946 Warren Spahn (W602)
1867 Albert Spalding (Rockford CDV) courtesy of Gary P.
1908 Tris Speaker (Little Rock Team P/C)

1963 Willie Stargell (Topps/IDL Drugs)
1920 Turkey Stearnes (California League Photo)
1910 Casey Stengel (T210)
1976 Bruce Sutter (Chicago Tribune)
1926 Mule Suttles (St. Louis Stars Team Photo P/C)
1965 Don Sutton (Albuquerque Team Photo)
1916 Ben Taylor (Indianapolis Team Cabinet)
1923 Bill Terry (M114 - NY Giants Team Photo Premium)

1884 Sam Thompson (Evansville Photo) courtesy of Joe G.
1902 Joe Tinker (W600)
1923 Cristobal Torriente (Tomas Gutierrez/Billiken)
1922 Pie Traynor (E120)
1912 Dazzy Vance (Superior Team P/C) courtesy of Dan B.
1933 Arky Vaughan (Goudey/Worch Cigars)
1946 Bill Veeck (Cleveland Team Photo P/C)
1899 Rube Waddell (M101-1)
1895 Honus Wagner (Warren Team Imperial Cabinet)

1899 Bobby Wallace (M101-1)
1904 Ed Walsh (W600)
1925 Lloyd Waner (Zeenuts)
1923 Paul Waner (Zeenuts)
1879 John Ward (New York Clipper Woodcuts)
1950 Earl Weaver (Winston-Salem Team Issue)
1920 George Weiss (New Haven Team Cabinet)
1879 Mickey Welch (New York Clipper Woodcuts)
1925 Willie Wells (St. Louis Stars P/C)
1900's Zach Wheat (Original Cabinet Card)

1884 Sol White (Bellaire Globe Team Photo) courtesy of Kenny C.
1950 Hoyt Wilhelm (Fosforos)
1910 J.L. Wilkinson (Hopkins Team Photo P/C)
1961 Billy Williams (Topps/Topps Stamps)
1950 Dick Williams (Almendares Team Premium)
1914 Joe Williams (NY Lincoln Giants Team Photo)
1937 Ted Williams (San Diego Team Photo P/C)
1899 Vic Willis (M101-1)
1922 Hack Wilson (Martinsburg Team Photo P/C)
1933 Jud Wilson (Philadelphia Stars P/C)

1973 Dave Winfield (Dean's Photo Service)
1863 George Wright (Photographic Studio CDV)
1859 Harry Wright (Knickerbockers/Excelsiors Teams Photo) courtesy of Barry S.
1943 Early Wynn (M114)
1960 Carl Yastrzemski (Topps/Minneapolis Team Photo Premium)
1959 Tom Yawkey (Fleer - Ted Williams)
1890 Cy Young (Ryder Studio Cabinet/Rogers Studio Cabinet)
1917 Ross Youngs (M114 - NY Giants Team Photo Premium/NY Giants Team P/C) courtesy of Matt
1974 Robin Yount (Big Boy's Team Photo Premium)

[Peter_Spaeth]

I've always appreciated Phil's (and Derek's) insights into rookie cards/first collectibles. Especially for pre-war, it's complicated because the dates of many issues can be unclear. There have been great discussions over the years about particular players although it seems to be of less interest in more recent years. People should definitely check out Derek's website, even on post-war there are items you just aren't likely to find as I've learned.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Hi Derek - Unfortunately, the ice cream collectibles didn’t make the move to FL with us. We hired a moving company and they charged per square foot in the truck and there just wasn’t enough value with that stuff to justify paying for it so I unloaded it all at a flea market shortly before we moved.

Your site looks awesome! Keep up the great work on that front.