Overrated/Underrated/Favorite/Least Favourite Singles

[Seven]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

What does the one number away have to do with it, don't follow.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't number 311 start the 4th series of the 1952 Topps? Which pushed it into the high number category which are more difficult to find do to the time of the year they were printed?

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Seven

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't number 311 start the 4th series of the 1952 Topps? Which pushed it into the high number category which are more difficult to find do to the time of the year they were printed?

1-80
81-130
131-190
191-250
251-310
311-407

That Mantle leads off the high series does not make him any less of a high than any other high; the original comment saying he is barely a high number of course does not actually relate to how sheets are printed or cards distributed. A card either is or is not in a certain series; it’s a solid cutoff and not a sliding scale. Mantle is one of the 3 DP’s in series 6.

[G1911]

Overrated - Fictional rookies like Jackie’s 1949 Leaf. Post career cards like Play Ball Jackson and Leaf Ruth. Meme cards like Ten Million, Contentnea’s Uncle Sam and Old Judge’s that include a dog. Hype train cards that defy any rationality like 52 Mantle’s. Cards of Black Sox layers commanding a ~1,000% premium over their playing ability.

Underrated - great players without the PR team. Hornsby, Collins for example. Rarities without the PR team, especially unique or nearly unique items that seem hurt by the fact that there are hardly any extant to appear in auctions and fuel hype.

Favorite: T3/T9 can’t be beat aesthetically in my eyes.

Least Favorite: Strip cards that are ugly.

[3-2-count]

Overrated - 1952 Topps Mantle. It’s not his true RC and I dislike the pose.

Underrated - T206 Eddie Plank. Finally getting the recognition that it deserves.

Favorite - T206 HOF portraits. Take your pick.

Least favorite - E90-1 Joe Jackson. Such a hideous image.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by G1911

1-80
81-130
131-190
191-250
251-310
311-407

That Mantle leads off the high series does not make him any less of a high than any other high; the original comment saying he is barely a high number of course does not actually relate to how sheets are printed or cards distributed. A card either is or is not in a certain series; it’s a solid cutoff and not a sliding scale. Mantle is one of the 3 DP’s in series 6.

My mistake Greg. Did not actually know that. We learn something new everyday, I suppose. I'll edit my previous post. Thanks for the knowledge!

[egri]

Overrated: 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle, and that set in general. Some of the cards look nice, but a lot of them look the same.

Underrated: 1935 Diamond Stars Lefty Grove. I'm a sucker for anything Art Deco.

Favorite: 1949 Leaf. If Andy Warhol designed a set, I imagine that is what it would look like.

Least Favorite: 1958 Topps. Who decided that cutout players on garish backgrounds was a good idea?

[skelly423]

Originally Posted by egri

Underrated: 1935 Diamond Stars Lefty Grove. I'm a sucker for anything Art Deco.

Great call. It’s a fantastic set, and the Grove card is so tough

[Rhotchkiss]

Overrated - All 1933 Goudey Ruths. Its very late career, they are not rare and there are four different Ruth's in the set

Underrated - T210 Joe Jackson. Crazy rare (only 17 graded between PSA/SGC) and one of the all-time legends. I think this should be a $1mm card in any condition

Favorite - T206 Wagner. It is the all time greatest collectible and the face of cards

Least favorite - E98 "Cy Young". Its a picture of Irv Young

[oldjudge]

Since I am not very knowledgeable about most sets outside of Old Judges let me restrict my answers to that set. These answers may differ somewhat from the book because of new finds or just because my views have changed over the last 14 years.

Most Overrated—-Anson in Uniform—It is a rare card by most standards (4 or 5 known) but not by Old Judge standards. There are hundreds of poses in the Old Judge set, including those of HOFers, that are as scarce or scarcer.

Most Underrated—Any Player’s League card. These cards are genuinely rare and document an important time in baseball history. The fact that these cards represent only four of the eight Player’s League teams illustrates the cessation of card production following the formation of the American Tobacco Company in early-1890, an act that eliminated the need to include costly purchase inducements in cigarette packs.

Favorite—N173 Ewing portrait. This beautiful pose is only known on a unique N173.

Least Favorite—I love the set so this is a tough question. If I have to pick something it would probably be any Tommy McCarthy card Not that I have anything against McCarthy but he clearly does not belong in the HOF and there are many more deserving players in the set who will never be enshrined..

[Lobo Aullando]

Overrated: T206 John Titus. Why, god? WHY?!?!?

Underrated: W517 Babe Ruth (pick 'em). Been loving the Diamond Stars recently, but these 3"x4" strip cards are everything that virtually all the other strip sets aren't, detailed and nicely aesthetic. Getting lumped into that category hurts.

Favorite: 1953 Bowman color Stan Musial. That image puts me right there in a different era, it's so alive.

Least Favorite: T206 Spike Shannon. Was this intended to be a Picasso homage? (I don't even know what to make of the paper strip "cards.")

[egri]

Originally Posted by Lobo Aullando

Overrated: T206 John Titus. Why, god? WHY?!?!?

Wait until you hear about 1952 Topps Tony Bartirome.

[Lobo Aullando]

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=211710

Unreal. It's like Zevon's "Mr. Bad Example" come to life.

Originally Posted by egri

Wait until you hear about 1952 Topps Tony Bartirome.

[Jstottlemire1]

Overrated - 1952 Topps Mantle as stated several times above many factors!

Underrated - 1916 M101-4 Ruth’s to me he is the undisputed GOAT and unlike most I love black and white prints.

Favorite - shocker here, I love the e121 series of 120 Ruth Photo Montage, ahead of it’s time to me and I like the three images of him.

Least favorite - E98 "Cy Young". Irv Young and they didn’t even pitch with same arm lol, so no reason to even pretend lol. Close second E90-1 Joe Jackson normally has terrible registration, lips all over and I don’t like the purple background.

[JollyElm]

Overrated - 1989 Topps Gregg Jefferies - I’m still waiting for this card’s value to finally reach the promised land and bring me the riches I deserve!!!!!!!!

Underrated - 1973 Topps Willie Davis - My God!! He’s getting plinked on a baseball card!!!!!!!!!!

Favorite - 1974 Topps Ron Santo - This card looks like a fan’s snapshot and is unlike any other card from the era. It just doesn’t fit the look and feel of anything else, so it stands alone.

Least (why is this word written like a Brit?) Favourite - 1958 Topps Sneezin’ Brooks Robinson - Photog, get that man a handkerchief!!!!

jefferiesdavisbrookssanto.jpg

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by egri

Least Favorite: 1958 Topps. Who decided that cutout players on garish backgrounds was a good idea?

Perhaps someone who had fond memories of the 1941 Goudeys when they were growing up?

Brian

[steve B]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Perhaps someone who had fond memories of the 1941 Goudeys when they were growing up?

Brian

Which were in turn designed by someone who fondly remembered a bunch of E card sets.