Affordable HOFers?
 

Just curious as to who all you think from the 1950s through the 1970s as a player in general is undervalued? While we certainly would all like to collect complete runs of Mantle, Aaron, Mays, etc., my suspicion is that's a bit of a pricey order for most of us if we are talking about cards in decent condition.

Are there any certain players you collect simply because they are more affordable? My examples are Ernie Banks and Roy Campanella.

-John


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Most of us will be in agreement that Frank Robinson is way undervalued.

I would agree with this as well given his career numbers and some marks he has historically (MVP in both leagues, first black manager) which would nominally indicate him being valued higher. The explanation I've always seen for this to be blunt is that Frank is kind of a (synonym for "not a very nice person") in comparison to others of his day. I don't know how much to put into that because I'm not particularly a Robinson fan.

Others undervalued on my list would be Duke Snider (at least in comparison to Jackie Robinson or his contemporaries Mantle and Mays...) Bob Feller, Whitey Ford, and Warren Spahn. Spahnnie in particular I think is a great value for most of his 1950's and early 60's cards - many of which can be had in decent shape for less than $50. Not a bad deal at all for the most successful left-handed pitcher in baseball history.

I actually think Willie mays is still undervalued high grade wise as well as rookie cards...prices starting to come up...but I think collectors 10 years from now that aren't collecting now or cant afford the big cards now may not love mantle as much (as compared to mays) as the people who buy mantle today are....not talking about the 1952 mantle of course..

Affordable HOFers?
 

You're right, I may need to revise that.

And just in general: I got a '55 Bowman Mays PSA 4 a couple of weeks ago on eBay for $80 something. Try doing that with Mantle or Ted Williams. Also consider that many baseball historians consider Mays the greatest position player of all time, and when the Sporting News ranked the 100 greatest players ever back around the year 2000 - Willie was second only to Babe Ruth.


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I think taking into continuation both career numbers as well as fan "likability " Stan Musial is fairly undervalued. I think a lot has to do with him not being on a regular Topps card until 1959. His rookie card can be had for a reasonable price as well as any other regular issued cards when comparing to other within the same set.
You defiantly can't get a steal on his stuff but when you consider him as a person as well as his place in baseball history I think his stuff should soar. Like Aaron I also think him not playing in New York hurts his prices.
Drew

In agreement on Frank Robinson. There was a similar thread on this not too long ago and Robinson was mentioned the most I believe.

I would also like to add Juan Marichal to the list. He had the most wins in the 1960's including three seasons of 25 or more.

All are good. I might mention that you can pick up Monte Irvin cards for very very cheap still. You can find his 52 Topps for less than $10 still. Irvin was a man caught between times. Often his career is looked at as a National Leaguer and not just a Negro Leaguer. His career is like Satchell Paige's however. He had a great career in the Negro Leagues and was older in the Major Leagues (he was a 30 year old rookie), yet still had a very good Major League career. He was elected via the Negro League ballot.

I just don't see any price increase on Irvin cards as the years go by.....I see him going to common range and just some people that collect HOF like they do with nameless goudeys or some T206 that don't recognize the name and only recognize the 'HOF' next to the listing

now if theres a movie in Monte Irvin's name that comes out or MLB decides to retire his number or something..thats a different story

Agree on Musial at least in terms of what his cards are worth and how great of a player he was. You used to hear his name at least floated in the "greatest hitter" arguments a lot back in the 1980's, but that kind of faded as Ted Williams got older and then died. Kids today in many cases have never heard of Musial, which is a shame. My favorite card of his is the '58 Topps All-Star, which if I'm not mistaken was triple printed. You can get a very nice copy for well less than 50 bucks.


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Affordable HOFers?
 

Somewhat the same deal with Roy Campanella. He was 27 before being called-up to the Dodgers and then of course his career was cut at least somewhat short (he had already begun to slow down) in 1958 with the accident. Regardless of the argument that he didn't deserve at least one of them - Campanella and his 3 MVP's in 5 years is something that I think is definitely overlooked by the collecting community. Most if not all of Jackie Robinson's cards seem overpriced or at least "high" to me (in that even for lower grade examples - you don't often see them for sale at or below SMR values...) but Campy is largely ignored. At least in the period from 1951-55, you would have to admit that for the offensive production of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Campanella was a much more valuable player than Robinson. I get that Jackie's signature accomplishment was a unique one, and is unequaled both in baseball and American history - but by the same token purely as a player - I feel that Campy largely doesn't get his due.


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