Collecting Hank Aaron and Willie Mays

[jason.1969]

I will give a hint which one I enjoy collecting more...

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[Tigerden]

[QUOTE=jason.1969;1870119]I will give a hint which one I enjoy collecting more...

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Jason,

Beautiful display of Hank Aaron run of cards. I mostly am active on the memorabilia side but as of late have gotten back to my roots of card collecting. I've been adding some raw 60's and 70's era star cards to my collection of cards my brothers and I pulled from packs during that time period. Most are VG to Ex Mint (a few near mint)but I enjoy them and can care a less of their value. We flipped them traded them and unfortunately wrote on a few of them. Still lucky to have them and add to the collection for a fairly cheap price.

[brian1961]

I cannot think of any major league player that "worked so hard" at killing his legacy, erasing great memories, sledge-hammering his statue that Willie's long-time fans had built within their tender minds to him, then murdering hundreds, if not thousands, of "little boys within grown men" at autograph shows than "Say Hey" Willie Mays. In the late 1980s, I virtually gave away all my cards of Willie Mays in the pages of Sports Collectors Digest, and Mr. Mays has not done a single, solitary thing to cause me a moment's regret.

As for Mr. Henry Aaron, a year or two ago I purchased his gorgeous, mesmerizing 1967 Coca-Cola premium, printed by Dexter Press. I want to have PSA grade that beauty. You'd of had to guzzle a whole slew 'o Coke to get all the bottle caps, and probably draw a few faces reserved for the places of the very short-printed Braves caps, to fill the Atlanta Braves Coca-Cola cap saver sheet. Once the saver sheet was filled, and if the relatively brief deadline had not passed, redeem it at your local (actually, GEORGIA OR SOUTHEAST STATES ONLY-ONLY-ONLY!) Coke bottler to receive a "free" 12-card premium set of your Atlanta Braves. Nestled within the set was their star, Henry Aaron. His face reflects a hero wanting to graciously smile back at his adoring little fans, who thought the world of him. Yes sir, I prize that '67 Coca-Cola Hank Aaron premium highly; not the sort of prize you see staring at you every day on eBay, not to mention the National Sports Collectors Convention. Didn't cost me a lot, and yes, I think it's got potential to increase in value nicely, but that is not why I bought it. I bought it because I like Henry and how he looks on the premium, period. I love the challenging regional promotion from whence it came, period. Lastly, I like that the item has remained a scarce, somewhat rare Hank Aaron piece THAT WILL STAND OUT IN ANY DISPLAY OR ASSEMBLAGE OF HANK AARON CARDS.

And how does your Willie Mays look on his Coca-Cola premium? I was going to write, "No comment", but decided it would be more appropriate to accurately depict how Willie strikes me on his Coke premium that kids would also have had to guzzle tall glass after tall glass, and thus work hard to get those precious cards (and cavities!!!!!)-----flavorful adjectives and a description as "disinteresting", "disappointing", "dilapidated", downright "sad-faced" and "diametrically opposed to saying 'Kansas City!", as Henry Aaron was. Perchance that last one flew over your head---walk to your closest mirror and say "Kansas City!" and watch your expression light up.

I've had to force myself to think of Willie Mays so long here I have to stop now and burp, or perhaps it will be the dreaded barf.

---Brian Powell

[VintageVinnie]

I think what Aaron was forced to endure, while chasing Ruth's all time HR mark, will endear him to fans for years to come. The hate mail and racism was horrible and Aaron handled it with professionalism and didn't tell a lot of people at the time. He just went out and did his job every day. With the 45 year anniversary of his historic home run just passing, and soon to be 50th, I think a whole new generation will be made aware of Aaron's greatness. This includes both on the field and off the field...especially how he handled himself in the face of racism. This is right along the lines of the great Jackie Robinson.

As far as Mays, he is on my personal top 5 list of greatest of all time. However, as Brian said above, Mays has been so rude and outright mean to so many fans for so many years...people are just turned off by him. I think you will see Aaron's stock rise in years to come.

[Bigdaddy]

I've put together Topps/Bowman checklists of Mantle, Mays, Koufax, Clemente and Aaron and am slowly knocking off cards from the list. Looking at the lists as a whole, what strikes me is the affordability and attractiveness of some of -the All-Star, multiplayer and highlight cards of these guys. Cards like the '62 Mantle/Mays or '58 Braves Fence Busters or '63 Dodgers Big Three or the '58 Mick All-Star.

[hcv123]

It's been a while since I was setting up on the show circuit, but I don't believe much has changed. Purely from a collector demand perspective - Mantle is king followed by Clemente. Mays and Aaron were a relatively distant second.