Areas of focus
 

What do you guys focus your modern cards on? I love getting in-person autographs, cards only mainly. Joe Mauer is a huge focus, and HOF signed rookie that fall into this era, or future guys like Pujols, etc.

Love to get numbered cards signed, preferrably 1/1. My best friend had his first baseball card ever come out, and bought a ton for him and myself, and got some 1/1's signed from him. Was very neat.

Anyways, what do you collect?

I will buy high grade Pete Rose cards and some other rookies of players from when I was a teenager, but that's about it when it comes to modern stuff.

Personally I focus them on auto cards and game used relic cards.
Also I enjoy collecting the Topps Heritage sets.

I have a Barry Larkin collection that is up to 1250 different cards and amazingly, not even half way home. Talk about a marathon!

Also 5 cards away from 95 ud cc se gold signatures.

Recently decided to try to collect personally autographed cards in two sets : 94 pinnacle and 95 cc se. I'm up to about a dozen in each set. Sent out about 30 TTM requests and have received two back : Will Clark and Jimmy Key. Unfortunately both signed the Pinnacle card and not the ud cc se card. Still very nice of them.... :) Not sure if I'll keep up that quest though! Never been a big fan of autographs, although I do have an 82 topps Gary Carter that was signed at Fulton County stadium.

Lastly I'm on the lookout for a 2009 A&G silk Chipper Jones.

That's it for me modern wise.............

It'll be interested to see if this forum causes me to want to chase any new stuff.

Tony

Cleveland Indians, would be so much easier if they stopped adding players, but no they just gotta keep adding names on my list, jerks :D

Mostly right now I'm looking for the post 80 team issues (2004 is being a nightmare and all for Jeff D'Amico in a Tribe uni) Though I'm keeping my eyes on the autographed limited runs (Justin Germano auto from the 2011 Topps Opening Day set was much harder than I expected)

Right now pretty much sitting around waiting for what 2012 Topps Update will bring to the table (So happy Topps finally did Jack Hannahan in their main set, always good to replace a program with a real baseball card)

Topps Heritage
 

I build the set every year, or used to, now I just buy a set and then I buy lots of opened cards so I can get them signed.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...hbraves001.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...braves2001.jpg

Ok I'll bite, love the autos .... what's your secret?

I think I have a Jeff D'amico autographed rookie card somewhere!

Detroit Tigers RC Certified Auto's (Lions and Pistons too)

Steve, I know the PSA registry has some subset designations. Is there a designation for Pete Rose cards? AKA, highest graded complete PSA Pete Rose collection belongs to ......

With those, living in Atlanta for 18 years helped. They are a combination of signings @ the ballpark, Spring Training, appearances at local businesses like car dealerships and Millwood went to my church.

Jeff don't remember to versions of the Big Cat in 2001 Heritage ? Is one a promo or is it from2006 Topps 52 Debut Flashbacks ?

Top row center, is one of the three promos for the set; Galarraga, Clemens and Kevin Brown. The Galarraga is the only one where the promo pose was different than the regular issue.

Thanks, very cool collection

I mainly focus on my player collections (Dave Winfield, Dave Henderson, Roberto Kelly, Hensley Meulens, Bernardo Brito, Tuffy Rhodes, Dann Howitt, Steve Howard) which is mostly made up of less than successful sluggers (at least in MLB). Pretty much all my sales from CheckOutMyCards and Sportlots go toward expanding my player collections.

Beyond those, I try to find good deals on any undocumented (at least in the US) non-US cards I can pick up for decent prices, and compile set checklists to add to the SportsCardForum Inventory Manager system. I don't really have a lot of interest in the current sets being issued in the US, aside from the inevitable Winfield cards.

I casualy collect most of the 81- now stuff, but I mostly focus on sets I like and printing errors and varieties.

Lately Gypsy Queen, A+G and lineage.

Steve B

Opening packs
 

I like to open packs and look at and read the cards. Earlier this year, I opened my first case — 2011 Bowman Draft. Sold pretty much everything since then to recoup costs and then some. Made a couple hundred dollars off the case. Took the money and bought vintage for my PC. I don't remember the last time I paid for anything out of pocket. My modern collection is paying for my vintage collection plus grading fees. I also invested in some 2012 Bowman Chrome Cardinal prospects (Oscar Taveras and Carlos Martinez) that I plan to sell at the opportune time to fund my vintage PC.

For me, modern allows me to open packs while still building up my vintage PC :)

Andy

For those of you with player collections:
1) What did you use as your checklist?
2) How do you organize?

A year or so ago I started a Rickey Henderson master set and have picked up MANY duplicates. I found it easier to put a single copy of each card into a box, in order. The duplicates I also have ordered but in many other boxes.

Rob
:)

For my Larkin collection I got a Larkin master checklist from beckett.com about two years ago. If I remember correctly, you have to subscribe to the online price guide to get the checklists. I think I probably got a one month subscription.

I keep my collection in plastic sheets in a 5" binder, grouped by years. I'm about to bust out of that one though - will need a six inch binder soon.

Tony

I started with Beckett for the checklist, but now I use the Inventory Manager at SportsCardForum. With the players I collect that spent lots of time in the minors and overseas, Beckett's usefulness quickly ran out since they pay little attention to either of those areas. For purely selfish reasons, I volunteered to help out on SCF's system to fill in the gaps so I could properly document my own collection. It will never be the "bible" of the hobby but, at least for modern cards, it makes a great checklist.

As for organization, I still pretty much stick with pages and binders for anything that fits. To be honest, anything that doesn't fit is lying around in stacks on any available flat surface.

Bernardo Brito
 

OT to thread, but surprised to see Bernardo Brito mentioned. I went to many games when he played for the Waterbury Indians in CT circa 1986. Had to go find the foul ball caught by my father, then signed by several team members. Brito's sig is on there, and Jay Bell (the only player I think to have Major League success). Cool.

I collect anything and everything Roy Campanella. I don't care if it's a base card or a game-used card. If it's out there I want it. So if anyone here has some available let me know and maybe we can work something out. :)

George Brett
 

I collect George Brett cards (from his playing years only) and, like the others mentioned, started my checklist with Beckett's on-line tool. But you can't stop there. I've added hundreds of cards to the checklist over the years by gathering info from message boards, other player collectors and just running across items at shows or on eBay. If you're collecting someone like Henderson (or Brett for me) and you come across any set from his playing days he's usually in it. Sharing checklists with collectors of other contemporary players can give you a good benchmark for sets you might find your cards in.

For storage, I go with the large semi-rigid holders in a graded valut box. You can get about 400 of those in a box and they're easy to store. Plus the large semi-rigids allow you to store larger format cards and odd size items. All the cards are in the box in the order they are on my checklist so I can find them. Then I have a binder for the truly oversized items.