Personal Collecting History

[Mutton Chop Yaz]

After collecting the "first five," I made a few false starts on a new project before deciding to attempt a basic 1934-1936 Diamond Stars set. I chose this set because it was beautiful, fairly small, and didn't have a Ruth or Gehrig that would be a roadblock to finishing the set. I focused on centering and sought out cards in the VG to VGEX range, including raw cards that I later submitted for grading. Sometimes I fell short of my target (Jordan) and sometimes I did a little better (Foxx), but usually I landed right where I expected (Simmons). I worked on this for about a year, then the pandemic hit and I dropped it to focus on everything else going on in my life and the world. The set currently sits at 87/108.

[Mutton Chop Yaz]

Late last year, I checked back in to see what was happening in the card world and was shocked. I'd long considered expanding my collection to include a small group of the most consequential players who played both pre- and post-war, integrated baseball, and emerged as stars from the immediate post-integration and westward expansion era, but I thought I would be able to do that down the road at a leisurely pace. Not so! Cards that I thought I could find any time for $125 were suddenly $500 or more. Jackie Robinsons and Satchel Paiges were quickly becoming unaffordable. Star cards from the 1950s were now going to have to be star cards from the 1960s.

I recognized that it might be a bubble. I also recognized that premier cards have tended to hold or increase in value over the long term, and my intention was for my cards to be permanent parts of my collection. So, I thought about whose cards I wanted and what qualities were important to me, investigated card issues I hadn't considered before, made a plan, scoured the listings, and overpaid for everything. Some of my constraints (e.g., an attractive design and image, good centering, and an absence of prominently featured racial caricatures, if possible) made my search a little trickier than I'd anticipated, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.

[Mutton Chop Yaz]

Pre- and post-war stars:

[Mutton Chop Yaz]

Early integrators:

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Post-integration/expansion stars:

[Mutton Chop Yaz]

Other than returning to my Diamond Stars set, I'm not certain where this leaves me. My collection feels satisfyingly complete. Modern cards don't appeal to me. They seem complicated and expensive, and watching players in real time through the eyes of an adult somehow diminishes the fun of collecting them for me. They're professionals doing something tangible, working hard to find miniscule advantages, not myths who towered over their contemporaries and whose feats can't be replicated. It's just not the same without the patina of history and a child's frame of reference.

I also don't plan to look beyond the titans already in my collection or seek out more or "better" versions of their cards. One nice example is enough. Maybe I'll change my tune. Maybe I won't be able to resist the call of the hunt. Maybe I'll decide I need a Lou Gehrig or a Cy Young or a Cap Anson. Maybe prices will crash and I'll be able to add or replace cards for practically nothing. Maybe my circumstances will change and I'll have to sell them. Maybe they'll become so valuable that it would be silly not to.

I do know this: as long as I have a collection, this card will be in it. I have it because I used to go to the same barbershop as Mr. Colavito. If you were a boy who liked baseball and left a card with the barber, Mr. Colavito would sign it. It has value only to me, and it's one of the only mementos of my youth that has followed me through the decades. Dinged corners, airbrushed hat, and Chief Wahoo aside, I can't imagine letting it go.

Cheers, and happy collecting.

[hcv123]

Great story!