Posted By:
Chris CountsGilbert,
Like yourself, I definitely fall into the last category. I'm always looking for cards "of character." The collectors in the first two catagories you describe have always puzzled me. I have difficulty understanding how the marketing stategies of tobacco companies are relevant to baseball. They look kind of cool, though, so I'll give them a pass. But I'd never pay extra for a Polar Bear, for the same reason I'd never pay extra for a Yankee (actually, I like polar bears more than Yankees).
As for the "PSA 8" collectors, now there's a breed I'll never possibly understand. How in the world can the corners or centering of a card matter that much? I've sent in a couple cards (only so I could resell them; I prefer unslabbed cards in my collection) with razor sharp corners, and they came back as "6's" or something like that. I have great vision, I've been collecting for 36 years, and I can't tell the difference between a "6" and an "8."
As for "vintage" collectors of 1960s cards, I truly sympathize with their affections, but personally, I prefer cards from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. I consider these decades to be the Golden Age of Baseball. The 60s were pretty good, though. My Bell Brand and Kahn's Weiners cards are some of my favorites ...