What kind of baseball card collector are you?

[Balticfox]

What kind of baseball card collector are you? Do you collect only the players from a certain team or specific stars/rookies from any particular set? Or do you try to acquire every single card from any set you start collecting?

[raulus]

Hi Balticfox:

Looks like you're relatively new around here. So welcome to the site.

You raise some good questions, and I'm sure that you'll find a lot of different approaches to how people collect, as we all have our own ideas around what gets us excited about collecting.

But if you're looking to help people to open up and be generous about sharing, maybe you could start off the conversation by sharing your personal approach to collecting?

Since I see that you have a poll, you might also consider whether some of us use more than one of these approaches. My guess is that most of us could check multiple boxes. Under the current format, it looks like only a single selection is permitted for each respondent.

[Eric72]

• I'm building a set I fully expect to complete (1956 Topps)
• I'm building a set I expect to never complete (T206)
• I get stars and rookies from other sets (picked up a Mantle, Mays, and Spahn this past weekend and I was looking for a Frank Robinson rookie)
• I get cards of players from my favorite team (the Phillies)
• I get cards of my favorite player (Steve Carlton)

Sometimes, I get cards 'cause they look cool (this weekend, I also picked up a '61 Wes Covington)


So, my vote is "all of the above, and more."

[bnorth]

After around 40 years of collecting I think I have tried it all at one time or another. Still mainly a Wade Boggs and error card collector but have a little bit of everything and everyone.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by raulus

But if you're looking to help people to open up and be generous about sharing, maybe you could start off the conversation by sharing your personal approach to collecting?

My plan was to do so after a day or two so as not to appear "judgemental" and thus colour other responses.

Originally Posted by raulus

Since I see that you have a poll, you might also consider whether some of us use more than one of these approaches. My guess is that most of us could check multiple boxes. Under the current format, it looks like only a single selection is permitted for each respondent.

I considered ticking off the "Allow Multiple Votes" option but I thought I'd covered all the options individually. I failed to consider that some collectors might approach collecting cards from different sets in different ways.

In the past few years I've actually been adding these options to polls I start:

6. All of the above.
7. None of the above.
8. I don't understand. Could you repeat the question?

I shouldn't have left them off I guess.

[deweyinthehall]

I principally go for Topps base sets - right now have 1966-2001 - and all inserts, variations, send-aways, traded sets, wrappers (no boxes), etc. By this time next year, I expect I'll have 1965-2002.

Also collect 4 individual players - Jim Rice, Dwight Evans, Tim Wakefield and Jamie Quirk.

[JollyElm]

I am both ALL of the stated options at the same time and NONE of the stated options at the same time.

[jl4jc2001]

I am a Topps Set Collector. I build multiple sets of the same year also.

[Zach Wheat]

As Nicolo suggested, many of us can check multiple boxes. I am mainly a set collector (with variations), but also collect sheets.

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

What kind of baseball card collector are you? Do you collect only the players from a certain team or specific stars/rookies from any particular set? Or do you try to acquire every single card from any set you start collecting?

Good question, and welcome to the forum. The collective knowledge from the members is astounding.

[irv]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

What kind of baseball card collector are you? Do you collect only the players from a certain team or specific stars/rookies from any particular set? Or do you try to acquire every single card from any set you start collecting?

I collect 52 Topps in hopes of completing my set but all other cards are just stars/rookies here and there from baseball and hockey, and both include vintage and modern.

I have no desire to collect/complete sets.

[lrush]

I collect my favorite team but mainly vintage HOFers & vintage rookies. Also have 27 player runs.

[steve B]

I collect pretty much everything.

But I have rarely focused on anything, so for example, I'm still a few cards short on the 76 set, I might actually work on finishing it for 2026.

Usually when I go to a show if there's something in particular I want I don't find it, but do find other stuff.

[jchcollins]

My card collecting from when I was kid slightly predates my Cub-fandom, so as a result I tend to collect everything (where possible) and not just my team. Though I do plenty of that too. I digress...

I collect singles and stars traditionally - probably first and foremost, but as I have gotten back into the hobby as an adult, I have become interested in certain other vintage sets and other players. I don't have a ton of rules when I see something that catches my eye, other than the fact I don't do a ton of prewar. I love how prewar cards look and the history of those players and sets, but for my collecting dollar - the truth anymore is most of those cards have passed my budget by in comparison to what I can still get on the postwar side for the same amount - that I still want to get. My postwar wantlist still shows no sign of ending in terms of stuff I still would like to acquire, so I don't see that model changing significantly anytime soon.

[Section103]

Im a little bit of 1 and a little bit of 2 (primarily), but I think 2 comes closest to my current habits.

[Balticfox]

If I start on a set, I go after all the cards. Given the huge size of Baseball card sets and the nosebleed prices some of the star cards fetch, I must invariably do a large amount of prioritizing by favourites when it comes to the stars. Truthfully though unmarked Checklists are at least as high a priority for me as are most stars.

The vintage Baseball card sets upon which I've started are these:

1954 Topps
1955 Topps
1957 Topps
1958 Topps
1959 Topps
1960 Topps
1961 Topps
1962 Topps
1962 Post Cereal
1962 Canadian Post Cereal
1963 Topps
1965 Topps

The only set I'm even close to completing though is the 1962 Canadian Post Cereal.

I also go after the wrappers including variants from any set I'm collecting. I got the idea to collect wrappers from a glossy page picturing a bunch of Topps Baseball wrappers in an early 1980's Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide by Dr. James Beckett.

Moreover I've been collecting Non-Sport cards at least as long as I've been collecting Baseball cards. And wrappers have been avidly pursued by many Non-Sport card collectors since the 1970's anyway. In fact the longest standing and best respected Non-Sport card magazine is called The Wrapper!

I still remember mentioning that I had a complete set of Civil War News cards to a collector I met at Comics Unlimited on Keewatin Avenue in Toronto back in 1982 or so. He immediately asked me whether I had a wrapper. And just by coincidence I happened to be in the same shop a year or two later when the same fellow was exulting about scoring a Civil War News wrapper which he was now going home to put with his set! (I have both the one cent and five cent Civil War News wrappers myself now.) Here though are some of my Baseball card wrappers from the 1950's:

1957



1958



1959



I also remember mentioning the CFL wrappers I had while I was talking on the phone to another avid CFL collector in Vancouver back in 1995 or so. I could almost see the penny drop in his mind right across the continent! And yes, within a few weeks he was negotiating to purchase my duplicate CFL wrappers.

Of course I like unfolded display boxes too. Whether I can find let alone afford any of the Baseball ones is another question.

[todeen]

I collected everything baseball when I was much younger. As time has gone by, I've become more nostalgic for players of the 90s, namely Barry Larkin and Ken Griffey Jr. They were my favorites then, and remain so now. I dabble in modern Reds, but I get bored quickly. I never get bored of those two. I am on this board to dabble in vintage and pre-war, and to gain knowledge from extremely knowledgeable peers.

I buy cards and memorabilia. It's so much better than cards only. I'm showing my Barry Larkin collection right now in the modern card thread.

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

[maniac_73]

After 35 years of collecting I dont have a focus I just collect cards I think are cool

[jjp3rd]

I’m a hoarder/ quasi-setbuilder. Have completed the monster, almost done t205, completed the 55 Topps and Bowman, and I collect Brooklyn and Baltimore. I’m also liable to buy anything I see and throw it in a corner.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Balticfox]

How important are the Checklist cards to you set builders? Are they somewhat of an afterthought as cards you need to complete the set or do you seek them out as avidly as you do any of the star cards?



I'm among those who avidly pursue Checklists.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

How important are the Checklist cards to you set builders? Are they somewhat of an afterthought as cards you need to complete the set or do you seek them out as avidly as you do any of the star cards?



I'm among those who avidly pursue Checklists.

Disclaimer that I'm not much of a set collector to start with - but when I thought I was going after the '63 Topps set earlier this year, when I found sharp unmarked checklists down at the LCS - I bought them up before anyone else could, lol.

[mikemb]

I am a set builder and the checklists are very important to me.

In my sets I have unmarked and decently centered checklists. In addition, I have all know variations plus many print variants.

My sets from 1967 to 1971 also have the marked checklists that I completed those years as a 10 to 14 year old.

Mike

[ALR-bishop]

All Topps sets, ungraded in binders, plus variations, plus unopened pack, plus any pack insert ads and salesman sample if any, plus any pack insert sets, plus any separate supplemental or test set issued that year by Topps, from 48 and then 51 to 2024. Also all the Heritage sets so far

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

All Topps sets, ungraded in binders, plus variations, plus unopened pack, plus any pack insert ads and salesman sample if any, plus any pack insert sets, plus any separate supplemental or test set issued that year by Topps, from 48 and then 51 to 2024. Also all the Heritage sets so far

Wow!



But I take it that you're not interested in all the variants of the wrappers issued every year.

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

...plus any pack insert ads and salesman sample if any....

I'm particularly interested in seeing any pack insert ads and salesman sample cards you have. Can you post some pictures?

[ALR-bishop]

yes, give me a day or so

[Balticfox]

So a clear majority of 49 out of 84 collectors on this board go after all the cards of a set, but only 11 of those 84 are interested in the wrappers and display boxes as well.

[hcv123]

My primary/priority collecting interest has been to collect most things Roberto Clemente from 1950-1973. The collection includes regular issues, inserts, food issues, test issues, publications, ticket stubs, newspapers, store model gloves, pins, coins, personal items, photos, etc. As my collection reached a point where it was hard to find anything to add, and in an effort to introduce my kids to collecting, in 2015 I(we) started to build Pirate team sets from 1952-1973. During that time my older son took a liking to prewar cards - that sent me down a pretty deep prewar rabbit hole - added a bunch of Pirate team sets from that era and also grab odd type cards that are visually appealing.

"Hard to find" has always intrigued me - so in addition to the above, I assembled a small collection of the biggest stars Venezuelan cards - the only one I am currently missing is the 1967 Aaron. Also a few other odds and ends (1959 Bazooka Mantle complete box and trying to build a 1962 Bazooka complete box set)

[Exhibitman]

None of the above. I just collect what I like, a hodge-podge of stuff.

[Tere1071]

I collected beginning in 1969 when I was 8 years old and quit in 1991-92 and got rid of everything. If I had a proverbial crystal ball at that time nothing would have been sold, but that’s another story.

When I reentered the hobby in 2012, I focused on completing Topps Heritage sets as well as other retro designed sets as I was convinced that the real vintage sets were beyond my means. I never collected the chrome, autographed, or relic cards, but I sought out the variations. After purchasing two 53 Bowman Color commons on a nostalgic lark, the Heritage cards were replaced by a 53 Bowman Color set, followed by completing Topps Baseball sets from 1970-1975. My best friend gave me his childhood collection of “well (man)handled 1967-69 Topps Baseball commons and I have nearly completed the 68 and 69 sets while the 67s will be a 1-533 run.

I once had a 59 Topps Baseball set, but since I have this obsession with having to complete things and constantly improve them, I probably won’t be able to go after that, as well as other favorites, including the football and basketball cards of my youth. However, I am able to enjoy looking at the collections of others and follow the stories that accompany the visuals.

Phil aka Tere 1071

Sets under completion:
1967 Topps Baseball 529/533
1968 Topps Baseball 596/598
1969 Topps Baseball 662/664

Also working on: 1967 Topps Baseball Posters; 1968 Game Inserts; 1969 Topps Baseball Stamps in albums; 1971 Coins; 1973 Blue bordered checklists

Goals: 1964 Topps Coin complete set (really popular on my neighborhood in 1973/74); 1970 & 71 Topps scratch offs

[brad31]

In my case specific stars are any HOFer.

[Hendu]

For me, I'm mainly a player collector. This includes both vintage and modern:

1. Stan Musial
2. Bob Gibson
3. Bill Terry
3. HOFers
4. Albert Pujols and other Cardinal stars

[skil55voy]

I collect all Detroit sports teams. Baseball, Football Basketball and Hockey. My main focus is Baseball, but I have runs of Lions from 52 on up, Pistons from 61 up and some Red Wings 60's up.

However, my main collectible interest: Post Cereal and Jell-o. I have master sets of 61, 62 and 63 baseball. A partial set of 62 Canadian Baseball, partial 62 Canadian Football, Complete 63 Canadian football and a 63 Canadian album partially filled. I have all sets of modern US and Canadian baseball sets (including some factory sets and in send away albums) Canadian Jello and Kraft
hockey sets from the 80's on up.

I have uncut sheets, mail-in sheets, full boxes of Jello and cereal boxes.

[Tere1071]

Originally Posted by Tere1071

I collected beginning in 1969 when I was 8 years old and quit in 1991-92 and got rid of everything. If I had a proverbial crystal ball at that time nothing would have been sold, but that’s another story.

When I reentered the hobby in 2012, I focused on completing Topps Heritage sets as well as other retro designed sets as I was convinced that the real vintage sets were beyond my means. I never collected the chrome, autographed, or relic cards, but I sought out the variations. After purchasing two 53 Bowman Color commons on a nostalgic lark, the Heritage cards were replaced by a 53 Bowman Color set, followed by completing Topps Baseball sets from 1970-1975. My best friend gave me his childhood collection of “well (man)handled 1967-69 Topps Baseball commons and I have nearly completed the 68 and 69 sets while the 67s will be a 1-533 run.

I once had a 59 Topps Baseball set, but since I have this obsession with having to complete things and constantly improve them, I probably won’t be able to go after that, as well as other favorites, including the football and basketball cards of my youth. However, I am able to enjoy looking at the collections of others and follow the stories that accompany the visuals.

Phil aka Tere 1071

Sets under completion:
1967 Topps Baseball 529/533
1968 Topps Baseball 596/598
1969 Topps Baseball 662/664

Also working on: 1967 Topps Baseball Posters; 1968 Game Inserts; 1969 Topps Baseball Stamps in albums; 1971 Coins; 1973 Blue bordered checklists

Goals: 1964 Topps Coin complete set (really popular on my neighborhood in 1973/74); 1970 & 71 Topps scratch offs

To clarify, collecting the 64 Topps coins is an eventual goal, but I need to finish my current lists before moving on to other collecting endeavors.

Happy collecting!

Phil aka Tere1071

[Tere1071]

Originally Posted by Tere1071

I collected beginning in 1969 when I was 8 years old and quit in 1991-92 and got rid of everything. If I had a proverbial crystal ball at that time nothing would have been sold, but that’s another story.

When I reentered the hobby in 2012, I focused on completing Topps Heritage sets as well as other retro designed sets as I was convinced that the real vintage sets were beyond my means. I never collected the chrome, autographed, or relic cards, but I sought out the variations. After purchasing two 53 Bowman Color commons on a nostalgic lark, the Heritage cards were replaced by a 53 Bowman Color set, followed by completing Topps Baseball sets from 1970-1975. My best friend gave me his childhood collection of “well (man)handled 1967-69 Topps Baseball commons and I have nearly completed the 68 and 69 sets while the 67s will be a 1-533 run.

I once had a 59 Topps Baseball set, but since I have this obsession with having to complete things and constantly improve them, I probably won’t be able to go after that, as well as other favorites, including the football and basketball cards of my youth. However, I am able to enjoy looking at the collections of others and follow the stories that accompany the visuals.

Phil aka Tere 1071

Sets under completion:
1967 Topps Baseball 529/533
1968 Topps Baseball 596/598
1969 Topps Baseball 662/664

Also working on: 1967 Topps Baseball Posters; 1968 Game Inserts; 1969 Topps Baseball Stamps in albums; 1971 Coins; 1973 Blue bordered checklists

Goals: 1964 Topps Coin complete set (really popular on my neighborhood in 1973/74); 1970 & 71 Topps scratch offs

To clarify, collecting the 64 Topps coins is an eventual goal, but I need to finish my current lists before moving on to other collecting endeavors.

Happy collecting!

Phil aka Tere1071

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by skil55voy

However, my main collectible interest: Post Cereal and Jell-o. I have master sets of 61, 62 and 63 baseball. A partial set of 62 Canadian Baseball, partial 62 Canadian Football, Complete 63 Canadian football and a 63 Canadian album partially filled.

I have uncut sheets, mail-in sheets, full boxes of Jello and cereal boxes.

Wow! Do you have any 1962 Canadian Post Sugar Crisp Baseball sheets? Or any Post CFL sheets?

[campyfan39]

Mine wasn't one of the options

I collect topps 1952-1987 (focus on 50s-60s stars and sets)

[Rickyy]

I have a type card collection (pre war and post war) with focus on Exhibit Card Hall of Famers and some key cards. I used to have a larger type card collection of pre war but sold them off.

I also have complete Topps Regular Sets in Binders (1970 to 1979) including variations and wrappers.

I also have a 1971 Topps Greatest Moments set in Binder

I also collect Topps Cello Packs and Rack Packs (have a couple from 1970 thru 1980) but they are getting too expensive now...

I also like to collect individual cards of Test Issues or Unissued Proofs

Ricky Y

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

If I start on a set, I go after all the cards. Given the huge size of Baseball card sets and the nosebleed prices some of the star cards fetch, I must invariably do a large amount of prioritizing by favourites when it comes to the stars.

As I'm filling in some of my Baseball sets, I'm finding that I get virtually no satisfaction/delight from far too many cards. Head shots are boring enough, but Baseball sets include more than the occasional capless player plus even players who are obviously wearing the wrong team's uniform. These just make me scowl. And there's no way I'm going to shell out big bucks for a higher priced player if he's not appropriately attired and posed.



Moreover I do have to admit that I get a lot more psychic pleasure adding a card of a player I remember being good back in the day.