Share your contrarian hobby opinions

[jingram058]

Grading has ruined the hobby.

[Casey2296]

48 Leaf/49 Bowman Jackies are some ugly ass cards. The 52 Topps Jackie is fine art.

[Chris-Counts]

I like trimmed cards. I bust everything I buy out of the slab it came in. I ignore the constant advice to focus my collection. Instead, I collect just about anything that's vintage, related to baseball and looks cool. I believe Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente and 1952 Topps cards are overrated. And I'm puzzled why people take the Hall of Fame so seriously.

[Bicem]

Marilyn Monroe stuff is greatly undervalued, she's every bit the American icon that Babe Ruth is.

[Jason19th]

I second the trimmed cards love. I makes no sense why these beauties are considered to be trash

[Peter_Spaeth]

I don't get the point of collecting most sets with 75 percent common players nobody gives a damn about. How someone can be psyched to pick up a Karger or Abbatachio or Hoblitzell or Dooin or whoever is beyond me.

[boneheadandrube]

I crack cards out of PSA to send to SGC for my collection.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by boneheadandrube

I crack cards out of PSA to send to SGC for my collection.

I do the same, although SGC hands out A's way too much due to grader inexperience.

[timn1]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I don't get the point of collecting most sets with 75 percent common players nobody gives a damn about. How someone can be psyched to pick up a Karger or Abbatachio or Hoblitzell or Dooin or whoever is beyond me.

I actually think that's the majority opinion. Mine is contrarian . Here goes:

I much prefer collecting common players to HOFers. I already know what the HOFers look like. Part of it is that I can afford more of them, but I love picking up a card of a player I don't already have in any set. In fact I have a "Player Wantlist" consisting entirely of obscure dudes who only appeared in one or two sets.


Anybody got a 1934 Exhibit Len Koenecke or an E286 JuJu Drums of Harry Cheek (he had a MLB career BA of .500!)?

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by timn1

Anybody got a 1934 Exhibit Len Koenecke or an E286 JuJu Drums of Harry Cheek (he had a MLB career BA of .500!)?

If I had a Harry Cheek, I would finally be able to support a full-on beard.


But seriously, Harry does have cards in the 1912 and 1913 Zeenut sets as well.

Brian

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by timn1

Anybody got a 1934 Exhibit Len Koenecke or an E286 JuJu Drums of Harry Cheek (he had a MLB career BA of .500!)?

A friend of mine has a noticeably errant hair growing out of his cheek which he constantly misses when shaving. It's become a running joke: "Your 1910 baseball player is showing!"

As long as he doesn't whip out his Koenecke... I'd have to get out my fire extinguisher.

[Jstottlemire1]

Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax cards are over rated 🙋🏻*♂️

[sreader3]

Kellogg’s are the Van Goghs of baseball cards because of the blurred 3D backgrounds. I never tire of looking at them. Especially the original 1970 set.

[chadeast]

To steal another member's line, A is for Awesome! Especially when they can be had for beat up PSA/SGC 1 prices. Personally having zero faith in any TPG's ability to detect more carefully performed trimming / alterations makes this an easy bridge for me to cross.

[Exhibitman]

The following cards are hideous:
--1933 Goudey Foxx
--1933 Goudey Gehrig
--T206 Young glove showing
--T206 Speaker
--E90 Jackson
--1952 Topps Mays
--National League T205s
--R427 blue tint
--W512, W513, W9316, IFS Blue and Orange, Universal Toy & Novelty strips

T227s are lousy likenesses of the subjects.

The premium for the Obak Ten Million card is asinine.

Just because a player was a great player doesn't mean his cards are worth as much as he was. Frank Robinson, Eddie Collins, Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker, Rogers Hornsby, etc.: sorry collectors, but their cards are never going to be on the same level as Ruth, Cobb, Johnson, Aaron, Mantle or Gehrig, no matter how much we discuss it.

Willie Mays is not less popular than Mickey Mantle because of race: he was an asshat who played for the least popular NY team for a few years and spent most of his career in the godforsaken frozen wasteland of Candlestick Park. He is less popular because his fan base is much smaller.

Joe Jackson was a crooked player who should never get into the HOF. Ditto Pete Rose.

Racist players from the Jim Crow era who are in the Hall of Fame should stay right where they are: do not erase history, learn from it.

Anything made from 1981-1988 is junk wax. Period. Anything made after 1989 is shiny crap. Period. Have fun with it, play with it, speculate with it, but recognize it for what it is in the end: recycling.

Anyone who spends more than $1,000 on a card, or who owns more than $10,000 of cards, and says that they don't care about the value of their cards, is lying.

The set registry is stupid. Bunch of insecure old white guys comparing pee-pees.

The National should be in Chicago every year. Good venue, easy airport, lots of hotels and food. If the show isn't going anywhere west of Chicago or south of AC, it isn't a National it is a northeastern regional. Just stick it in Chicago and stop pretending.

Long baseball pants are an abomination and should be banned immediately. The players today look like kids in their favorite team PJs.

Pitch counts are for wimps.

Michael Jordan is overrated.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I agree with a lot of what Adam says, but I think many vintage collectors are off base about the strength and lasting power of modern cards. They have and I believe will continue to have a huge following, much bigger than our vintage community.

[Tyruscobb]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

The following cards are hideous:
--1933 Goudey Foxx
--1933 Goudey Gehrig
--T206 Young glove showing
--T206 Speaker
--E90 Jackson
--1952 Topps Mays
--National League T205s
--R427 blue tint
--W512, W513, W9316, IFS Blue and Orange, Universal Toy & Novelty strips

T227s are lousy likenesses of the subjects.

The premium for the Obak Ten Million card is asinine.

Just because a player was a great player doesn't mean his cards are worth as much as he was. Frank Robinson, Eddie Collins, Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker, Rogers Hornsby, etc.: sorry collectors, but their cards are never going to be on the same level as Ruth, Cobb, Johnson, Aaron, Mantle or Gehrig, no matter how much we discuss it.

Willie Mays is not less popular than Mickey Mantle because of race: he was an asshat who played for the least popular NY team for a few years and spent most of his career in the godforsaken frozen wasteland of Candlestick Park. He is less popular because his fan base is much smaller.

Joe Jackson was a crooked player who should never get into the HOF. Ditto Pete Rose.

Racist players from the Jim Crow era who are in the Hall of Fame should stay right where they are: do not erase history, learn from it.

Anything made from 1981-1988 is junk wax. Period. Anything made after 1989 is shiny crap. Period. Have fun with it, play with it, speculate with it, but recognize it for what it is in the end: recycling.

Anyone who spends more than $1,000 on a card, or who owns more than $10,000 of cards, and says that they don't care about the value of their cards, is lying.

The set registry is stupid. Bunch of insecure old white guys comparing pee-pees.

The National should be in Chicago every year. Good venue, easy airport, lots of hotels and food. If the show isn't going anywhere west of Chicago or south of AC, it isn't a National it is a northeastern regional. Just stick it in Chicago and stop pretending.

Long baseball pants are an abomination and should be banned immediately. The players today look like kids in their favorite team PJs.

Pitch counts are for wimps.

Michael Jordan is overrated.

Preach. Although I don’t agree with it all, this post contains is very truthful takes.

[rjackson44]

Turkey reds

[seablaster]

Contrarian? How about this:

Stop bumping BST posts with another post to say "Sold!" It now places the unavailable item at the top. Just edit the original post to indicate the item is sold. Case closed. It's not that hard people.

Oh, and yes, the T227 Cobb is based off the T5 Pinkerton image, but he looks like Telly Savalas and it sucks.

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by seablaster

Contrarian? How about this:

Stop bumping BST posts with another post to say "Sold!" It now places the unavailable item at the top. Just edit the original post to indicate the item is sold. Case closed. It's not that hard people.

I am guilty of that and I apologize. I did not initially realize how to edit the title of a thread to reflect that an item had been sold.

[refz]

-1953 Bowman color is the most attractive set
-1933 Goudey Ruth 149 is the better of the 4
-1952 Bowman’s Mantle and Mays both are far better looking than 1951/2 examples
-1952-54 Topps are not my favorites
-T206 Cobb red portrait is nicer looking than the green
-T205 set is underrated
-Any vintage card high grade is an asset
-Todays prices are absurd

[BuzzD]

Colgan's are the best source of actual player photos

[vintagechris]

Collecting cards of lesser known players is more interesting than collecting HOFers. I really enjoy learning interesting facts about the lesser known players.

[frankbmd]

I don't waste my time trimming ungraded cards for profit.

I buy graded cards, crack them out of their slabs, and then trim them.

I resubmit the cards I have trimmed to see if I can get a numerical grade or at least a purple sticker indicating that I am card board certified.

[Neal]

The green Ruth is the best of the four Goudeys
The 50s were the greatest decade for cards

[toledo_mudhen]

-1955 Topps is the greatest Postwar Set ever produced and (Per Al)

-1952 Topps is an overrated set (Dont care if I never own the Mantle)
-Grading has been a huge benefit to the hobby
-Modern collectors and investors are all collectors, there's room for all of us

and go..........

[Vintagedeputy]

I buy tobacco cards for the player on the front. The advertising on the back means absolutely nothing to me. I suppose that the different backs are interesting to some, but when I look at a card my first thought is not Piedmont or Uzit? Who cares?

[michael3322]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

48 Leaf/49 Bowman Jackies are some ugly ass cards. The 52 Topps Jackie is fine art.

Some say this is Jackie's finest looking card.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by michael3322

Some say this is Jackie's finest looking card.

That is a beautiful card Michael

[Stampsfan]

Centering is one of the most overrated aspects of a cards condition. I much prefer a card in the condition it was in when it was originally pulled from a pack. Subsequent handling of a card should define it's condition, not how it came out of the factory prior to being handled.

The amount a card was enjoyed is reflected by it's condition. I sometimes struggle with top grade cards, and think that the person who originally pulled it never looked at them, never played with them, and likely never appreciated them as much as someone who originally had a (now) lower condition card.

[sreader3]

Originally Posted by Stampsfan

Centering is one of the most overrated aspects of a cards condition. I much prefer a card in the condition it was in when it was originally pulled from a pack.

I agree Bob. Unfortunately centering fanaticism now reigns. So we all most bow to the god of centering when considering what to pay or list a card for.

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by jingram058

Grading has ruined the hobby.

Very hard to argue with that (says the guy who, sadly, will be bidding on graded cards on eBay tonight). Ugh.

[ullmandds]

Rarer cards of ruth/cobb should be more coveted and valuable than t206's and goudeys.