Posted By:
Chris CountsI like your ideas, Gilbert ... I too collect cards on a budget that's smaller than what I'd like to own. Fortunately, I don't find this a hindrance at all. If anything, it forces me to focus my collection and appreciate the fact that more isn't always better, which I have, for the most part, learned to do.
Here are my personal guidelines for keeping my budget in line:
1) Limit myself to one card per player ... I sometimes get carried away and seek out multiple cards of my favorite players, like Roy Campanella, Pepper Martin or Enos Slaughter, but for the most part I live by thsi rule ...
2) Seek out cards with pin holes, glue stains,tape stains, writing on the back, even cards that are trimmed. I love finding what I call a "perfectly-flawed" card ... I do searches on eBay for PSA 1's ... it's amazing what you can find! ...
3) Disregard the opinions of the Hall of Fame voters, which I personally believe are a bunch of clowns (get it together you guys and put Minnie Minoso in Cooperstown!) ... just because Frankie Frisch (and I'm a big Frisch fan!) voted in all his buddies (Fred Lindstrom, Dave Bancroft, Jesse Haines, Ross Young, Highpockets Kelly), it doesn't mean I need a card of each of them ...
4) And buy Exhibit cards and Batter-ups (especially without the tops!) whenever possible ...
My goal is to keep my collection small but interesting ...