Favorite

[Cmvorce]

I’m curious what everyone’s favorite card is in their collection. Not necessarily the most valuable, or oldest, or highest graded, but their “favorite”.

When I was in 7th grade I made the biggest school bus trade anyone could remember. I received this 61 Mantle in exchange for Tecmo Bowl, Bases Loaded, Baseball Stars, and Mike Tyson’s Punchout on NES. 4 classic games - everyone on the bus thought I have up way too much but I bet that kid’s dad killed him when he got home.

Anyway, this card will always be my favorite because it was my first vintage. My first legend. Up until this my collection was filled with a bunch of late 80s Canseco’s and Jackson’s and Clemens. This changed everything.

What’s your favorite?

[Schlesinj]

Maybe that person has those games (and graded them) they may be worth more than the Mantle.

[Cmvorce]

Ha - you never know!

[riggs336]

This WaJo will always be my favorite. In 1988 my toddler daughter sprayed it with grape juice from her sippy cup. She's 36 and living in another city now so I don't see her as often as I'd like, but every time I look at this card I have fond memories.

[Casey2296]

Love the sippy cup story. I have a few trinkets from when my daughter was a young'n that evoke the same memories.
Here's mine, the only card my Dad and I ever bought together. $225 bucks and that was $50 over budget which was a really big deal for our working class family. Priceless to me.

[jchcollins]

The '56 Mantle. As a kid probably 10 or 11 years old, I first saw a picture of it in one of the Surf books that had every Topps card pictured for a particular team. Then a few years later I came upon a lower grade one in a card shop and traded the dealer virtually my entire collection at the time to take it home. That one was traded in for an upgrade (to SGC 4) this past summer. Just a classic looking card of the best player in baseball at the time, and to me screams 1950's nostalgia.

[vansaad]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

Love the sippy cup story. I have a few trinkets from when my daughter was a young'n that evoke the same memories.
Here's mine, the only card my Dad and I ever bought together. $225 bucks and that was $50 over budget which was a really big deal for our working class family. Priceless to me.

What a beautiful Mays! That is my ideal card condition for vintage. Incredible eye appeal.

[cornhusker]

Listing a favorite card is tough... like picking the best song from Ace Frehley's solo album. Here is one from my short list though. Picked this little gem out of a fiber barrel of cards my son and I bought at auction several years ago. There were 3 barrels with about 150k cards total. Junk '80's cards on top with layers of 60's & 70's vending from the mid point down. This cards stands out to me as I clearly remember my 8 year old saying "these '68 Bench cards are really cool but I wish we would find a '69". A handful or two later - there it was

[familytoad]

Originally Posted by cornhusker

Listing a favorite card is tough... like picking the best song from Ace Frehley's solo album. Here is one from my short list though. Picked this little gem out of a fiber barrel of cards my son and I bought at auction several years ago. There were 3 barrels with about 150k cards total. Junk '80's cards on top with layers of 60's & 70's vending from the mid point down. This cards stands out to me as I clearly remember my 8 year old saying "these '68 Bench cards are really cool but I wish we would find a '69". A handful or two later - there it was

It was New York Groove in a runaway. It launched the most mediocre Karaoke career ever. Mine

[V117collector]

Always liked the 57T Mantle, especially when it's ((centered)).

[joshuanip]

Originally Posted by Cmvorce

I’m curious what everyone’s favorite card is in their collection. Not necessarily the most valuable, or oldest, or highest graded, but their “favorite”.

When I was in 7th grade I made the biggest school bus trade anyone could remember. I received this 61 Mantle in exchange for Tecmo Bowl, Bases Loaded, Baseball Stars, and Mike Tyson’s Punchout on NES. 4 classic games - everyone on the bus thought I have up way too much but I bet that kid’s dad killed him when he got home.

Anyway, this card will always be my favorite because it was my first vintage. My first legend. Up until this my collection was filled with a bunch of late 80s Canseco’s and Jackson’s and Clemens. This changed everything.

What’s your favorite?

That was also my first card too! I bought it at a card shop in West Covina CA over 30 years ago... it’s probably the card I have with the least monetary value, but it has the most sentimental value because it brings me back to the orange julius and caramel corn days with my pops. My mom would shop and He’d let me go to the arcade and I’d run over to the shop afterwards before we left the mall. It will be the last card I own too!

[big-six]

Love the background on this pose

[WA_HOF_rookie]

This card = being a kid and watching Braves games with my grandfather.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[Seven]

It changes from time to time, but I think when push comes to shove, it's my 68 Mantle because it was the first one I owned, and it's what started me in Vintage.

[Exhibitman]

Dropping an Ace Frehley reference...nice!

This is the first old card I ever got:



I must've been 7-8 years old, so maybe 1972 or 1973? It has been with me through cross-country moves, earthquakes, riots, fires, and even survived my and my daughter's childhoods. I will never part with it.

This is the first T206 i ever got:



I bought it raw from Mike Berkus at one of his Anaheim shows around 1978. Slabbed years later. Another one I'd never part with.

[brianp-beme]

Great stories. I think like most of us the first vintage card is something that will always hold a special place in our collecting hearts. I always will consider my T206 Mathewson (seen below) that I got along with 4 other 1910 era HOF cards as the favorite of my collection, as it transformed me into a PreWW2 collector of lower condition cards almost instantly. Not only because they were more affordable, but also because I realized that a card doesn't have to be perfect (or in many cases not even close) to be interesting, desirable and awesome.

Brian (it also kickstarted my affinity for cards that are bigger on the front than they are on the back)

[Cmvorce]

thanks for sharing, everyone. this is fantastic. And i love that our favorite cards are almost never our "best" cards. They all have their story!

[BuzzD]

Even tho I am 98% pre-war in interests, the 53 Mickey is just too beautiful

[Pack The Ripper]

My favorite card is a 78 Molitor/Trammell rookie that I opened from my chilhood. It's a PSA1 at best but I don't care.

It's in this picture with me somewhere. Since Ace Frehley was brought up, if you look to the left side, almost all of that is 1978 Donruss Kiss cards.

[fkm_bky]

Originally Posted by WA_HOF_rookie

This card = being a kid and watching Braves games with my grandfather.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

100% the same as me. Dale Murphy was my childhood hero (even amongst Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett) and I collected all his cards. I bought my 77 rookie at a card show in probably 1983 in St Paul. I think I spent $15 on it and that was a lot for me.

Pre-war my favorite is this E93 blank back Phillippe. The coloring on it is just fantastic, combined with a bit more rarity.

Bill

[Al C.risafulli]

When I was a kid, Graig Nettles was my favorite player. I wore #9 in little league, played third base, modeled my batting stance after his (though I hit righty).

When the 1981 Fleer set was issued, my friends and I were obsessed with the set. There was no internet, obviously, so discovering all the errors was a matter of sometimes discovering them ourselves, sometimes reading about them in hobby magazines that came out just once a month, sometimes finding out about them from card dealers.

The "C" Nettles error from that set became the most coveted card in our neighborhood. Our local card shop had one - Dollars and Sense, in Ridgewood, NJ. It was $17.

My father left when I was 9 years old, and my sister and I were raised by my mother. We had no money. In 1981, seventeen dollars might as well have been seventeen million dollars to our family.

For my birthday that year, my mom bought me that card. I knew what she paid for it, and I knew how she must've had to scrimp and save to get it. I put it in a plastic case I had, and it hasn't left that case since 1981. It's worth about fifty cents today, but it's my favorite card.

-Al

[Cmvorce]

Al, I have almost an identical story with an 83 Donruss Howard Johnson. In fact, that card means more to me than the Mantle I started this thread with. Thanks for sharing.

[WA_HOF_rookie]

Originally Posted by fkm_bky

100% the same as me. Dale Murphy was my childhood hero (even amongst Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett) and I collected all his cards. I bought my 77 rookie at a card show in probably 1983 in St Paul. I think I spent $15 on it and that was a lot for me.



Pre-war my favorite is this E93 blank back Phillippe. The coloring on it is just fantastic, combined with a bit more rarity.



Bill

I traded for my Murphy rookie with a guy that lived down the street (two beat up Pete Rose cards and a 1970 Carew). It was my prized possession.

Got a speeding ticket at 16 and went to a card shop to sell some cards to get the $181 for the fine. The dealer told me my entire binder was only worth $175, but he would do me a 'favor.' Valuable lesson.

When I got back into cards last March the Murphy and Mattingly cards were the first ones I replaced.

It's a shame he isn't in the HoF, but that's a whole other thread.
Chris

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[Republicaninmass]

First IP signed card at Fenway

[hcv123]

1st up has to be the pictured Clemente rookie - At my first "big" card show at the Colosseum Motor inn in Hempstead Long Island - completely mesmerized by all the "old cards" at about 13 years old - probably an hour+ of begging,pleading, etc and my mom begrudgingly shelled out $48 for this beauty! Thus began a lifelong pursuit of most things Clemente and many wonderful stories and friendships over many years. It still sits in the screw down holder that it has resided in shortly after acquisition.

A perfect bookend is this 1960 Bazooka complete box with Clemente (The only example known) just found last year! I had been searching for it for over 30 years as a crowning Jewel in my now extensive Clemente collection that started with the rookie.

[todeen]

61 Koufax and Snider. I convinced my mother to buy both at different times. I never thought she would say yes, but she did both times and I didn't have to beg.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Cooper1927]

My favorite player has always been Lou Gehrig. I was ecstatic 8 years ago when the wife let me pull the trigger on a 1934 Gehrig #37. It was my wish card for many years. I am definitely I’m glad I got it when I did with the run up over the last few years and especially the last year.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cmvorce]

Hey fellas, just wanted to close the loop on this thread I started last week and thank you all for validating the feelings I’ve always had about the hobby. Like baseball itself there is something magical about collecting baseball cards. Reading your stories and seeing your photos and cards was a great way for me to deepens my own connection to the hobby, the sport, and the community. Great to hear from so many of you out there who seem to think and feel the same way I do about the cards in your collection. Cheers!

[JollyElm]

I'm an absolute variations hound, so these four are probably my favorites...

FavoriteVariationsPSA.jpg