What player or team do you PC and why?

[Jstottlemire1]

Always good to share and hear why others collect
who or what team they do.

[BioCRN]

Mark Grace, raw, in a binder I love to flip through.

1800s-current Cubs notables, greats, HOFs...graded (227 cards). I decided to go from raw to graded in the late 90s...graded some of my cards, sold many off to go graded. On whole I wish I would have just kept collecting raw, but the collection is so heavily graded now that it's a bit of a sunk cost thing at this point.

Cubs autos (some graded, a huge majority not).

1950-2011 notables, greats, HOFs (489 cards)...used to be 2001 for Pujols/Ichiro...currently 2011 to include Trout.

These are the active ones and there's a few dozen cards I'm actively looking for.

I have other complete ones like 1986-1988 Mark Grace graded, Junk wax "greats" and 1952-1987 Cubs graded display, etc.

[raulus]

Nothing less than the GOAT!

And a few other Giants players like Ott, McCovey, Marichal, Bonds, Bonds, and Will Clark.

[Carter08]

Warren Spahn and Gary Carter, my two favorite players. Also helps that they aren’t budget busters.

[bk400]

Ozzie Smith, Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez and the 86 Mets.

And also nothing less than the real GOAT: Hank Aaron.

[ClementeFanOh]

Player: Roberto

Team: Brooklyn Dodgers (not LA), Cincinnati Reds

Trent King

[bnorth]

Mainly Wade Boggs and error cards of all types. I like the rare oddball stuff so errors seemed the logical choice. When I started collecting in my mid/late teens Wade was by far the best contact hitter so he was my choice for favorite player. I also collect some Eddie Mathews cards/items. At some point I want to add Tino Martinez and Roger Clemens bats.

I have a little bit of everything but those are my favorites. I no longer collect them but I also enjoy My T210 Ft Worth team set and all the T210s of players with the last name Jackson. My Joe is a fairly good reprint/counterfeit. It has a T206 Old Mill back so not really a counterfeit but it also doesn't say reprint anyplace.

This Wade Boggs/Roger Clemens wrong back pair are by far my favorite cards I own or have ever owned.

[Casey2296]

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Nice idea for a thread.

My preference is Cobb, Crawford, Wood, Lajoie, Johnson, Speaker, Matty, Bender (white cap), Hooper, and West Coast stuff.
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[Lucas00]

Red Schoendienst.

-Nice human, Nobody that met him has ever said a bad word about him. He would talk with fans for hours for free and would sign wherever, whenever. He never turned down a request.
-Hofer.
-Historic franchise, with die hard fans.
-Very fun to collect, he spanned imo the golden years of cards, especially food releases. Mid 40s to early 60s. Tons of oddball releases and memorabilia.
-Unofficial record for longest time in major league baseball ever.
-Affordable (but many times he is the sp in hard to find sets, so sometimes not so much haha)

[commishbob]

Billy Pierce and Charles Bender

Pierce pitched in the first game i saw live (1960 at Yankee Stadium) and I sort of latched on to him from that although, as a Baltimore native, I'm an Orioles fan. I communicated with BP during his later years. He was a prince.



I was given a book about Bender some years back and found his story to be fascinating. A unique guy with many interests and relatively affordable cards for a pre-war HoFer.

[Balticfox]

I don't collect any particular individual team let alone player. If I decide to collect a certain set or a series (the years 1954, 1955, 1957-63 and 1965 for vintage Topps right now), I'll go after all the cards the way I did as a little kid unless there's something about certain cards that offend me, e.g. AL and NL President cards or the Babe Ruth subset from 1962 Topps. As a result, I'm much more inclined to go after the Checklists than any individual player. Here are some samples from my collection:





Unlike the way I collected as a kid though, I enthusiastically go after the wrappers and special insert cards, e.g. "Lucky Penny" and contest cards, these days. The memories are there in the wrappers for me as well. After all, I bought and handled hundreds of those as a kid. Here are a couple from 1961 that I've not posted until now:

[OhioLawyerF5]

I collect Cincinnati Reds cards from all eras. Focus is on hall of famers in Reds uniform. I supercollect Barry Larkin with a focus on rare 90s inserts/parallels.

[ASF123]

The ‘53 Bowman Schoendienst is a beautiful card, like so many in that set, and the one above is a particularly beautiful example.

[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

I don't collect any particular individual team let alone player. If I decide to collect a certain set or a series (the years 1954, 1955, 1957-63 and 1965 for vintage Topps right now ), I'll go after all the cards the way I did as a little kid unless there's something about certain cards that offend me, e.g. AL and NL President cards or the Babe Ruth subset from 1962 Topps. As a result, I'm much more inclined to go after the Checklists than any individual player.

Unlike the way I collected as a kid though, I enthusiastically go after the wrappers and special insert cards, e.g. "Lucky Penny" and contest cards, these days. The memories are there in the wrappers for me as well. After all, I bought and handled hundreds of those as a kid.

Oy Vay!

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by ASF123

The ‘53 Bowman Schoendienst is a beautiful card, like so many in that set, and the one above is a particularly beautiful example.

Thanks Andrew, it's probably my favorite set ever made so I had to find a really nice one to use for my player run. I think it looks better than many 8s.

[Exhibitman]

In baseball:






basketball:



Football:



Boxing:



H815 Adam Hats premiums:



A 1904 cabinet issue from the West Coast:



I am also fond of cabinets and mounted photos of HOF boxers from major photographers, like this Ad Wolgast from Dingman:



Or these Sarony portraits of heavyweight champs Paddy Ryan, Jim Corbett and Jim Jeffries:





Nice thing about the H815s and cabinets and photos is that they are so rare that I maybe add 1 every year or so.

Racing:



Soccer:



Nonsports:




I am also working on a period-issued postcard and publicity card collection of the cast of Casablanca:

[DHogan]

I collect players in any sport who's first or last name is Hogan.

1932 NY Giants Schedule post card Frank Hogan by Dave H, on Flickr

[ASF123]

Originally Posted by DHogan

I collect players in any sport who's first or last name is Hogan.

Please tell us you store your collection in a binder labeled “Hogan’s Heroes.”

[Writehooks]

Baseball: Catfish Hunter. Loved watching him with the A's, and then becoming the linchpin that resuscitated the Yankees franchise. I mailed a fan letter to his home in North Carolina in the winter of 1976, along with a ball to be autographed and a $20 money order to cover return postage to Canada. Three months later, the autographed ball, a gorgeous signed 8x10 photo and the UNCASHED money order arrived in my mailbox, along with a brief signed handwritten note thanking me for taking an interest in his career.

Hockey: Cards and ephemera from the debut season of the World Hockey Association (1972-73). Bobby Hull's defection from the NHL 's Chicago Black Hawks to the WHA's Winnipeg Jets gave the rebel league instant credibility and resulted in a historic court ruling that declared the "reserve clause" in NHL contracts illegal, thus changing the landscape for every major North American sport.

Boxing: Cards of the lineal world heavyweight champions from John L. Sullivan to the second coming of George Foreman.

Misc: Cards, photos, programs and tickets of Evel Knievel. Along with Muhammad Ali, one of the true cultural icons of the 1970s.

[JLange]

I have quite a few different collections within my PC, but I’ve been collecting Bob Feller and all things Cleveland Baseball as long as I can remember.

[DHogan]

Originally Posted by ASF123

Please tell us you store your collection in a binder labeled “Hogan’s Heroes.”

No, but that sounds like an idea for me to think about.

[cubman1941]

Another Cub collector except I collect all things Cubs related. My player is Hank Sauer (only as a Cub). I had the opportunity to meet him at a signing one year. I told him the my story of sending him a letter in 1952 asking for an autograph and never getting a reply. He then proceeded tell me he must have not received it as he always replied to requests for autographs. He asked me to sit next to him while he was signing and we talked baseball for a long time. My wife didn't understand but she hung in there. I also have branched off into Bears and some Blackhawks.

[Brent G.]

I got back into collecting in 2023 after nearly three decades (I sold my junk wax collection to buy a nice car stereo at 16), and last year, got into pre-war Indianapolis (where I grew up) baseball. It’s been great to learn about the different eras and players. I’ve been fortunate to get these items from fellow members.

[fkm_bky]

As a youth, it was all about Dale Murphy. Nowadays, the only one I latched onto was Buck Herzog. We share the same birthday, and I thought a backrun would be fun.

Love these threads!

Bill

[bk400]

Wow, there are some seriously badass looking cards in this thread! I'll sheepishly contribute a few Ozzie oddballs from the height of the junk wax era.

[rats60]

I collect Roberto Clemente and Pirates Hall of Famers. I grew up in LA in the 60s. I didn't like the Angels or Dodgers. I thought Clemente was the best player in the game and so I started rooting for the Pirates. I saw them win in 1971 and 1979 and have stuck with them since.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by bk400

Wow, there are some seriously badass looking cards in this thread! I'll sheepishly contribute a few Ozzie oddballs from the height of the junk wax era.

After seeing the second card from the left, I now believe Ozzie was a fully invested participant during the steroid era.

Brian

[DW03]

I'm related to Earl Whitehill so I pc him, let's me get into pre war cheaply

[TUM301]

A little bit scattered but always on the lookout for Black Sox team cards/items particularly Joe Jackson. Drawn to this team because of the ongoing history and intrigue, can’t ask for more than that !

[CobbSpikedMe]

Prewar Jersey City Skeeters.



.

[ValKehl]

Having lived my entire life in the No. Va. suburbs of DC and always rooted for the Washington teams pretty much explains what I collect and why, as follows:
Post-War:
- Pete Runnels & Mickey Vernon, because they were my favorite Senators when I was a kid.
Pre-War:
- Sam Rice - I'm striving for a master set of his cards.
- Cards of WaJo and all of the other players who were on the Senators 1924 World Series Championship Team.
- N172 Old Judge & N284 Buchner Gold Coin cards of Washington players.
- Cards of Virginia League players from the E222, T206, T209-2, T210-2 sets.
- Type cards - mostly those cards with cool advertising.
- A back run of Hugh Jennings cards with the orange background (because my favorite color is orange).

[carlsonjok]

I PC two players:

Paul Blair - because I had a Paul Blair glove growing up and I have always favored defensive standouts regardless of the sport. I got the chicken bucket lid from a member here. The 1976 Topps is only there for scale.

Johnny Antonelli - I grew up in Rochester and he had a bunch of Firestone Tire Centers there. I knew him first as the tire guy. This is a promotional card for his autobiography, which was published by the RIT Press. RIT is my undergraduate alma mater.

[conor912]

I was always into “old baseball” as a kid and by the time I in high school I was collecting exclusively vintage. When I was a senior I was taking the commuter rail into Boston and someone had left a copy of SI with Al Simmons on the cover. I picked it up and read about the late 20’s A’s teams that were as good as the Yankees during the same time. For the first time, I was read about Foxx, Grove, Simmons, and Mickey Cochrane, who I took a particular interest in since he grew up not far from me, and attended Boston University, where I was headed the next fall. I’m a set collector, so to this day he’s the only singular player I collect.

[vintagesportscollector]

In the 70’s I got my first cards - a huge box of thousands of cards from the ’60s and very early ‘70s that a neighboring kid was giving away. My dad didn’t seem to really care, nor take an interest in much of what I was into, but he asked "do you have any Jim Palmers?”. Apparently he was his favorite player. I pulled out about a dozen cards from 67 to 72, but no RC. My dad was pretty excited and we bonded. He wasn’t a very affectionate dad, but I remember that very fondly. He got me a 1974 the following year -still my favorite card.

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by vintagesportscollector

In the 70’s I got my first cards - a huge box of thousands of cards from the ’60s and very early ‘70s that a neighboring kid was giving away. My dad didn’t seem to really care, nor take an interest in much of what I was into, but he asked "do you have any Jim Palmers?”. Apparently he was his favorite player. I pulled out about a dozen cards from 67 to 72, but no RC. My dad was pretty excited and we bonded. He wasn’t a very affectionate dad, but I remember that very fondly. He got me a 1974 the following year -still my favorite card.

Great story.

[olecow]

Eddie Mathews. He's been my favorite player for over 30 years, even though I was born the year after he retired. I also like that his cards aren't hugely expensive, other than his 52 Topps.

[z28jd]

I've shared the story before, but I picked out a Larry Corcoran card as a Christmas gift at a young age because he was the best OJ player available for sale in a Larry Fritsch catalog. I thought OJ cards were extremely rare, so when I had a chance to get a second one and it was a different variation, I got it cheap. I then tried for all six variations, had trouble finding the sixth one (hands at shoulder, London), so I bought a few doubles to trade in case one popped up. By the time I got the first London/shoulder, I only needed two more to have two runs of the same six cards, so I got caught in the loop of buying doubles to trade in case one came up, which led to trying a third run. Eventually I just decided to buy as many as I could, though I have passed on 3-4 of them over the years when I was collecting something else. That's how I ended up with this (second scan was bought after the first pic was taken, so the count is 44 now)

[Golfcollector]

I PC Sam Crawford.

I grew up in a small town around 10 minutes from Wahoo, Nebraska.

I am biased but still of the opinion he is one of the most overlooked talents of his era

For consideration, only Cap Anson, Honus Wagner and Nap Lajoie were 3000 hit club members when Crawford left the Tigers in 1917 and headed west the the PCL.

When leaving MLB in 1917 he was just 39 hits shy at 2961.

He played a few more years in the PCL and compiled a total of over 3700 hits, an impressive number indeed.

[Brent G.]

Originally Posted by z28jd

I've shared the story before, but I picked out a Larry Corcoran card as a Christmas gift at a young age because he was the best OJ player available for sale in a Larry Fritsch catalog. I thought OJ cards were extremely rare, so when I had a chance to get a second one and it was a different variation, I got it cheap. I then tried for all six variations, had trouble finding the sixth one (hands at shoulder, London), so I bought a few doubles to trade in case one popped up. By the time I got the first London/shoulder, I only needed two more to have two runs of the same six cards, so I got caught in the loop of buying doubles to trade in case one came up, which led to trying a third run. Eventually I just decided to buy as many as I could, though I have passed on 3-4 of them over the years when I was collecting something else. That's how I ended up with this (second scan was bought after the first pic was taken, so the count is 44 now)

Great choice -- I think they're the most fascinating set in existence. What did you score Larry for and what year are we talking?

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by Brent G.

Great choice -- I think they're the most fascinating set in existence. What did you score Larry for and what year are we talking?

It was a present, plus other lower price cards were involved, so I don't remember exactly. I think it was $140 for a low grade copy. Don't remember the exact age I was, too young to know about OJ cards probably, but let's say it was around 1996. The second one I got in early 2000 on the day I went on Ebay for the first time. It was the first OJ card auction ending that day. I had to get my mom to create an account in under 20 minutes so I could bid. It was low grade as well, but I think I paid only $30

[Brent G.]

Originally Posted by z28jd

It was a present, plus other lower price cards were involved, so I don't remember exactly. I think it was $140 for a low grade copy. Don't remember the exact age I was, too young to know about OJ cards probably, but let's say it was around 1996. The second one I got in early 2000 on the day I went on Ebay for the first time. It was the first OJ card auction ending that day. I had to get my mom to create an account in under 20 minutes so I could bid. It was low grade as well, but I think I paid only $30

FANTASTIC stuff!

[jingram058]

Tommy Henrich. I carried on running correspondence with him for several years when he lived in Arizona. He sent me all kinds of neat things, including a personalized autographed copy of his book. You can't put a price on something like that. After talking with him, I feel like I played in the outfield for the Yankees. He had in his personal collection a bat given to him by Joe DiMaggio during the streak. He told me that Joe D was a great guy, one of best friends, and don't believe most of the BS written about him.

[StraightRaceCards]

Ever since I read this story, I’ve gravitated towards Al Kaline. Inspired by his talents but mostly his character.

Everything I have read about him points to how he led his life with modesty and humility, which is who I am striving to be as a leader, husband, and dad.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/173...sting-message/

In a similar vein, I am trying to collect more Christy Mathewson, and cards of the track athletes featured in my favorite movie, “Chariots of Fire”

[Section103]

I have 2 main collections going at any point in time:

1 involves PC collecting for about 20-odd players who played college ball where I went to school (assuming they played in the MLB and have cards before 1980.) Of the 239 catalogued in the Beckett Alphabetical Checklist and known uncatalogued, I have 236. Those last 3 are.............nearly impossible to find (not necessarily $$$ prohibitive).

The other is a straight HOF player collection. Im about 40% complete there.

[clydepepper]

Whitlow Wyatt - as he was a distant cousin of mine.


Any player with local ties...either born or played here.


Braves, Braves, Braves


Koufax, Mantle and Ryan (now on a budget)

...and many others...



.

[BuzzD]

Since early 80's been working on every Yankee, either card or original photo in NYY uni, or autograph. Lots of very scarce but very obscure items, but the hunt is the thing - as we all know..
The photos are of Jim Curry, Tacks Neuer and lastly, Stubby Magner. He went straight from Cornell to Yankees in 1911, got cut; played 1912 in Wilkes-Barre, got cut; back to Cornell to manage hockey team to a winless record; ended up in Univ.Buffalo as baseball coach.
PM for a link to my Flickr page, if interested.

[The Detroit Collector]

Born and raised in Metro Detroit.
I collect anything and everything Detroit.
HOFers, non HOFers, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, boxing.
Cards, autos, memorabilia, photos, tickets you name it.

[obcbeatle]

That is a VERY cool Highlanders photo!!!

[Bigdaddy]

Mostly, I'm a Cincinnati Reds collector focusing on post-war Reds team sets. I know I could probably find any card I need (want) on eBay right now, but it's fun to assemble the team sets a-card-at-a-time. And for the teams of the late 60's to early 80's, I collect autographed versions of the cards. Those are the players I remember from my youth.

On a player level, it's Johnny Bench, though I haven't veered too far off track with all the odd-ball stuff and newer heritage cards that are out there.

[EGreenwood]

Oscar Stanage for me. My Dad bought my first tobacco card, a T-206 Sweet Caporal Stanage in 1981.

I collect a number of other players like Don Zimmer, Don Mossi, Sam McDowell, Jim Rice and Oscar Gamble.