Hall of Fame “set” collectors.. what are your suggestions for modern players?

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

I’m not too familiar with rookie cards of most of those guys, but if any of them have the ‘cliche’ rookie designs of that time frame, I would go with those. By that I mean Donruss ‘Rated Rookie’, Topps ‘Future Star’ or gold rookie cup, Upper Deck ‘Star Rookie’, etc.

[cjedmonton]

Great topic and one that is close to my current project of obtaining all 40 Topps era HOF pitchers. Each will represent a different base year/design with no omissions from 1952-81 and no rookies.

The vast majority of folks will rightfully endorse the RC. Rookies are king, that can’t be denied. But there are so many other ways to celebrate these players in card form beyond just their (likely) most valuable mainstream card.

Personally, I would suggest a different year/product for each player (non-RC). Totally agree with your preference to have them represent the team they are most closely associated with. Would also recommend a great action shot or from a memorable/award winning season. A snapsot of them in top form to help you tell a story.

For example, I chose the following Topps cards for the pitchers on your list for my project:

1991 Smoltz (great action shot on the 40th anniversary design, an emerging star and eventual HOFer on that 1st Braves juggernaut season (14 division titles in 15 years)

1992 Mussina (inaugural Topps card from his superb sophomore season in which he was a 1st time All Star and placed 4th in the Cy Young voting, an early look at what would become a deserving HOF career)

1997 Rivera (first solo Topps card, the last great 42 proudly on display, and the year he began his role as only the greatest closer of all-time)

1994 Hoffman (2nd Topps card, but his first as a Padre where he would spend the next 16 years entrenched as their iconic closer and the 2nd greatest Padre ever after Gwynn)

2001 Halladay (seemingly innocuous 4th year Topps card, but important for a couple reasons; bounce back year after that all-time horrid 2000 season, classic 50th anniversary Topps design, and one year away from his breakout season when he became Roy Halladay)

Anyway, I found that building little recaps like these was not only fun, but helped showcase the young player at the time and who he would eventually become.

The Trading Card Database is an excellent resource to compare designs/years from all brands if you haven’t already checked it out.

https://www.tcdb.com/

Best of luck!

Chris

[G1911]

I'd pick based off aesthetics among options that meet your criteria for being on the primary team. Any hard and fast rule leads to examples you won't like as much.

[Belfast1933]

Originally Posted by G1911

I'd pick based off aesthetics among options that meet your criteria for being on the primary team. Any hard and fast rule leads to examples you won't like as much.

Good advice… I like this approach. These players start to drift into all the post 1991 shiny, over the top looking (in my opinion) cards that just don’t look like baseball cards to me.

Thx for the suggestion

[nat]

I'm one of the "one of each HOFer" guys, and for the newer players in my collection, it's just aesthetics. Rookie cards of these guys aren't special; plenty of them can be had for a buck. There are millions of cards of these guys, always available, at little cost. Just get whichever one you like the best.