Just what do you find odd about the question "Why no pics?"

Nothing. There is more than one way to say things and I think we can agree you were a little more confrontational than you needed to be.

Yes, I agree.

Well now that we have a sort of apology, HOPEFULLY he'll come back


http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...s0ba6e511.jpeg

Marquard
 

Now I know who outbid Paul and I. Congrats

And me...

Tom C

I see your Schwartz is as big as mine!

http://www.billpullman.org/film/spaceballs/S15.jpg

Great movie.

At this point, am I the only one here embarrassed at their collection:(:eek:

Not really. I mean, a baseball fan walking into your autograph room would probably be more impressed with a Bryce Harper autographed ball than a Clarkson autograph.

Now, if it was a Net54 member walking into one of our rooms, then we all should be humiliated, yes.

This is so true, the fact that a Jeter autograph can go for more than a Cobb boggles my mind.

Well for me, I just started my HOF collection a few months ago. I currently have only 40 autographs and they are of course all pretty easy ones. I will never achieve a collection of the magnitude displayed here but that was never my goal as I knew that finances would never permit it. That being said, I am enjoying the hunt and having fun doing it so I'm not embarrassed. :)

Never forget the hunt is what it is all about, it gets the adrenaline going (and occasionally empties the wallet) and renews our hope.....in essence it is the driving force. There have been a few times that there is a letdown when you finally find the one you want, and there is nothing on the horizon to look for.
Remember you have 40 now but after 40 comes 41 and so on ...it is the enjoyment, not the business that makes this fun.
Good luck

You are correct, and thanks!!

Glad to see you've come back...would be most appreciative if you could share more of your collection. I have a VERY modest collection of Hall of Famers...mostly Perez Steeles and Index Cards but a few balls and photos, too. Looking forward to any other information you can share relative to the building of your collection, too. All the best...Matt

Collecting stops being fun when it becomes a competition.

+10,000

I doubt he was trying to compete. Just admiring an incredible collection.

But where's the fun without the competition:D
I look at it as a personal competition. I am at 164 HOF'ers (once I open my box from Jim S. I'll be at 169) but I will eventually like to hit the magic 200:D

My goal was to hit 200 and now sitting at 205, It will be a while before I add the next...prices are not getting any lower!!

Very true.
I am very impressed by many of the collections I see here.
In no way was I indicating that I was competing for best in class:o
To put together a collection like that takes real dedication and determination and unfortunately I don't have the requisite time for that.
But I will still keep plugging towards 200:D

Do you guys look for autos on specific items or just anything signed by a HOF?

Depends. The tough guys, you get what you can get. Most people are more picky when it comes to the easier guys, balls, GPC, index, etc.

I'm still early in the hunt so right now I am focused on autographed cards. One of the reasons is my lack of room so cards are easier to display. I'm sure as I get into the tougher ones it will be whatever I can get.

I will go for just about anything on the tough ones with hopes of getting a nicer piece down the road and selling the first.

I agree with Mark, it really depends on the player. I always said I would NEVER add cuts to my collection, guess what, I have 3 or 4 as fillers.
I have balls, bats, photos, index cards, sports cards, checks.... Whatever by budget allows:D

I was thinking that flat items would be best.

Exactly! I have one single signed baseball, a Stan Musial that I picked up from Jim Stinson and have it proudly displayed on my desk but besides that I am sticking to cards. Since I'm so early on and picking up the easy ones, as money allows, the hardest thing is picking out which one to get. For example, Brooks Robinson - there are so many signed card choices that is sometimes makes it difficult to make a choice. As things progress and my collection increases, my choices are going to be very limited.

Is there one HOFer who is regarded as the most difficult?

I would go with Frank Grant, but it open to debate. Their are several considered either nonexistent or limited to items in government archives. You can do a search as this has been discussed before.

Addie Joss is way up there as well as difficulty goes...

Here is the old thread:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...light=toughest

Still a good read.

I haven't gotten to the point of even thinking about the more difficult ones. I'm just having fun and it gives me some focus in my collecting.

Did the HOF auto book come out? If so, where can I buy one?

Ron's book has been out a little while. I purchased my copy several months ago on Amazon. Search under Ron's name or Baseball Hall of Fame autograph books.
I do not know if you know Kevin Keating published a Negro Leagues Autograph Guide several years ago, it is informative as well with many examples.

What is Ron's name?

His last name is Keurajian.

Jim Stinson has one on ebay right now.

Wow, I have not looked at this thread in a while. Funny how it turned into a HOF auto collecting thing. There are amazing collections here to be sure, always fun to look at and discuss.

I have 240 different HOF autos, and I am someone who likes diversity in my collection. I do have a few baseballs and love the aesthetics of them, but I prefer flats for various reasons. Within that category, I like everything. Letters and contracts are at the top, but cards, postcards, caches, photos, and everything else are more than welcome. My Hack Wilson is on sheet music for a short lived Cubs song. I have several cuts as well.

I am also a big book collector and have over 100 signed baseball books, with some overlap with the HOF collection. My Johnny Evers, Babe Ruth, Albert Spalding, Connie Mack, and Billy Evans autos are in their books.

Thanks for posting some of those toughies, kirdds. Post more whenever you can, please!

Maybe we should start a thread dedicated to HOF autograph collections!

There are a few out there. Use search.

Collecting autographed books never really entered my mind, but that seems like a great way to kill the proverbial two birds with one stone by getting the autograph of the player as a player and author as well as getting an antique and rare book dealing with the national pastime.
Do you know how many players authored books? Not counting maybe the modern era. I know every superstar from the 70s onward seems to have done a book.

A number of the great early baseball books were done by hall of famers or ghost writers for them, including Chadwick, Evers, Ruth, Spalding, Cochrane, Harris, Mathewson, Ward, Comisky, Anson, White, and Cobb One of the best is Spalding's, America's National Game, which can be found inscribed, often to a person with significant baseball association. I totally agree with your reasoning.