[jchcollins]

Part of this I think is knowing how to separate what is "iconic" vs. who is popular right now simply due to the passage of time. There are few people still alive today that really remember Babe Ruth well, yet we know from the history books and the highlight reels that we owe pretty much the foundation of the sport to him and what he did to keep it going after the Black Sox scandal. Back when I first started collecting cards in the late 1980's, there were a good deal more '50's stars that were super popular then who seem to have fallen out of favor a bit now. Musial, as already referenced used to be referred to as the greatest hitter in the NL, and was often compared with Ted Williams. You rarely hear that kind of talk now, at least outside of St. Louis. Bob Feller was a regular on the card show circuit, and much was made of his career - the excellent start as a youngster, the 3 no-hitters, the war service. But you are right, you rarely hear Feller's name brought up today (outside of Cleveland anyway) on a regular basis when discussing all-time great pitchers, or at least it seems to me. Feller in the end I don't think helped his own cause much - as he aged there were a few notable times where he said disparaging things about Nolan Ryan or made other comments to the fact where it seemed obvious that he did not want to acknowledge the times. Who knows. On par I think he was one of if not the greatest pitcher of his era. Some of that got borne out a few years back when he was ranked fairly high in the Sporting News top 100 players of all-time. Roy Campanella is another one I point to. Back in the 1980's, there weren't many players at all who had won 3 MVP awards in their careers. That seems to be totally overlooked today in light of the mockery that Bonds made of that award. But others since have come along and won more. I think Pujols has 4.

The point is I think that times just change. I would not define iconic as different just due to the popularity of the present era. Bottom line - collect your favorites and remember why they are important to you regardless about what the rest of the collecting community or society seems to have to say about them.


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