Name your collection

[dabigyankeeman]

While I collect all New York cards, I am really going after the Yankees as my main goal. As many 1980 and older as I can get, and after 1980 I obtain cards I like due to too many to bother with.

So far I have:

Every Bowman 1948-1955
Every regular issue Topps 1951-1980 (and a load of 1980 - 2011)

Then I have a very high percentage of Yankees from older sets like:
T206
T205
T207
Goudeys, all years
Play Balls
Leaf
Strip Cards
Dan Dee
Red Heart
American Caramel all years

and a ton of oddball cards mainly pre-1965 going all the way back

I really enjoy being a team collector because it gives me latitude to get so many different cards from the early 1900's up thru the current sets of the current year.

[paulcarek]

My personal focus:

-- 1952 Bowman
-- Top tier HOFers from classic sets
-- 1973-80 Topps (my "pack-opening years")

Another idea I had (and posted about) a while back, that never quite got off the ground:

A "Tragic Heroes" collection featuring players on the wrong end of the stick during famous baseball moments. A few examples:

Fred Merkle (grab an affordable T205 or T206)
Charley Root (nice-looking '33 Goudey)
Mickey Owen ('39 Play Ball?)

[DanMc]

This topic is particularly relevant to me as I have decided to get back into collecting after dabbling with vintage cards. I have tried set collecting, but didn't want to feel obligated to purchase expensive commons. I also tried the "if I see something I like buy it", but found I prefer some structure in collecting.

I thought about collecting only hofers from a certain set or sets but, like cdn_collector mentioned, everytime I see a different thread or article I realize there are lots of types of cards which appeal to me.

I have decided to put together a hall of fame collection. I figure it is defined in scope and will allow me to use different types of cards. I realize I may never complete the set, but it will be fun trying.

[sox1903wschamp]

Originally Posted by dabigyankeeman

While I collect all New York cards, I am really going after the Yankees as my main goal. As many 1980 and older as I can get, and after 1980 I obtain cards I like due to too many to bother with.

So far I have:

Every Bowman 1948-1955
Every regular issue Topps 1951-1980 (and a load of 1980 - 2011)

Then I have a very high percentage of Yankees from older sets like:
T206
T205
T207
Goudeys, all years
Play Balls
Leaf
Strip Cards
Dan Dee
Red Heart
American Caramel all years

and a ton of oddball cards mainly pre-1965 going all the way back

I really enjoy being a team collector because it gives me latitude to get so many different cards from the early 1900's up thru the current sets of the current year.

I share your sentiment. Just not the same team .

[DetroitJay]

I recently got back into vintage card collecting. I figured i would start by completing my Mickey Mantle collection. I want one major issue card (topps or bowman) from every year he had a card. I was about 1/2 way there when i picked back up. I specialize in "collectors grade" or beat up cards!

I've managed to get a card for every year except 1953. I really like the Topps, so i am waiting for one i can afford. I think a 1951 may be out of reach, but i was able to get a 1952 Bowman in a range i could afford, so i was happy about that.

I also try to collect Hank Greenberg cards. He shipped off to WW2 out of Detroit with my Grandpa, so i feel like there is a connection to my past. Have 2 Goudeys and the National Chicle card so far.

Some pics of the collection before the recent updates:

[ls7plus]

I collect stars and hall-of-famers, focusing on their rarer cards. I find it gives me the freedom to collect a wide variety of cards, rather than being bound to just a set or two. A good example of a fairly recent acquistion might be the
1956 Kahn's Frank Robinson card. Finally got an example with very nice eye appeal (low technical grade of SGC fair, due to back damage--it had apparently been glued in a scrapbook, but that preserved the rest of the card, which appears to be EX+). Had been searching for that card for about a dozen years with no luck (other than seeing it offered as one of perhaps 25 cards included in a single lot in something like an REA auction), and finally getting one was very, very satisfying!

Best of luck in your collecting,

Larry

[Jmad]

Originally Posted by DetroitJay

I recently got back into vintage card collecting. I figured i would start by completing my Mickey Mantle collection. I want one major issue card (topps or bowman) from every year he had a card. I was about 1/2 way there when i picked back up. I specialize in "collectors grade" or beat up cards!

I've managed to get a card for every year except 1953. I really like the Topps, so i am waiting for one i can afford. I think a 1951 may be out of reach, but i was able to get a 1952 Bowman in a range i could afford, so i was happy about that.

I also try to collect Hank Greenberg cards. He shipped off to WW2 out of Detroit with my Grandpa, so i feel like there is a connection to my past. Have 2 Goudeys and the National Chicle card so far.

Some pics of the collection before the recent updates:

Those are some great shots!! It's really cool you have the connection to Greenberg.

[VinTX]

I've just recently gotten into vintage collecting after I finally just decided I'd had my fill of the "current" stuff. I decided to start off with a set that I've always really liked (the '55 Topps baseball) and currently I'm a little over half way finished with it. After that I plan to take on a much more long term goal of the '54 Topps baseball set, which I also really like, entirely graded PSA 7 or above. I imagine that in the process of working on that one I may pick up some other stuff here and there as well just to keep me sane

[dabigyankeeman]

I posted earlier in this thread that i collected New York cards, mainly Yankees.

Now I am adding a smaller new part to my collecting - cards of Jewish ballplayers. There actually are around 150 - 160 of them, and a good pct. of them had baseball cards. There are sets made recently of Jewish ballplayers, but except for guys with no other cards, I wont use those sets, I want the real cards from their playing days. I just started my collection by getting a Hank Greenberg, a Sandy Koufax, and a Moe Arnovitch. Of course, I also have a bunch of the recent guys like Ryan Braun (father was Jewish), Keven Youkilis, etc.

The neat thing about this collection, just like my Yankees team collection, is that I can get all kinds of different cards from the early 1900's thru the newest current cards, and all different manufacturers.

I love when a collection has a strong theme but also has variety to the cards rather than just putting one set together.

[DetroitJay]

Originally Posted by Jmad

Those are some great shots!! It's really cool you have the connection to Greenberg.

Yeh, i remember my Grandma telling me about the connection years ago when i was a kid. A few years ago i found my Grandpa's discharge papers and the induction day matched up, departure from Detroit via train.

A couple months back there were a ton of pictures on ebay of Greenbergs army induction and departure. All the dates matched up perfectly. Unfortunately i thought they were a little over priced and passed on them.