Collecting Focus: Share Your Story

[BuzzD]

For the past 40 yrs or so I have tried to collect everyone who has played for the Yankees, and particularly in a Yankee uniform. If no BB card exists, I search for original photos in a Yankee uni, and in absence of either a card or photo, I collect autographs, non-NYY cards and non-NYY original photos. I will use original pages from guides, original team photos, etc as well. A particular subset is players with only a single game as a Yankee. My latest purchase is a 1926 photo of George Kiddo Davis, who after graduating from NYU had one game. It is a wide-ranging collection including many really scarce images, type cards, an even 1 lantern slide of Boardwalk Brown, a 1915 Yankee who only appeared in a 1915 team photo otherwise. The hunt is not confined to vintage items. For example, I cannot find an original image of Rick Honeycutt in a Yankee uni. There are other post WW2 recent examples as well. Send PM if anyone wants a link to my Flickr page to get a better feel for this effort.

[Zach Wheat]

Started out collecting the early '52 Topps set and then branched into early T cards (T200, 201, 205 & 206). Probably should have listened when someone warned me about my goals.....along the way learned a lot from some great guys

[Rhotchkiss]

Since getting back into cards in about 2015, my focus has been on investment and I have generally targeted blue chip players and sets from 1903-1927, but mostly 1903-1911.

For a while, I got heavily into back runs and advertising backs in general, and I assembled as much as I could of T206 Chance Portrait, Evers Yellow Sky, Tinker Bat off, E92 Wagner Batting, Wagner Throwing, and Cobb on Bat, and M101-4/5 Thorpe. I put together a master T206 back set, including Cobb back/T213/T214/T215, and I started hoarding T206 Brown Old Mills and T206 Brown Lenox. I also wanted to own sets and I assembled a complete 524-card T206 set, a complete E107 set, a complete 1914 CJ set, a virtually complete T3 set, and then had some smaller team sets, like E104-2, 1906 Lincoln Publishing, etc. I am done with all that now.

Over the past year I have sold the vast majority of my cards, by bulk, but retained the majority of value. Now, I generally only want super-special museum cards. I feel like I have been to the mountain top and now just want a few, key souvenirs from that journey.

There are some things I do regret selling, such as my 1914 CJ Set, my T206 multistrike Cy Young Ghost (but that now lives in a great home), and my 1901 Pittsburgh cabinet with Wagner's first image in a Pitt uniform. But generally, I do not regret trimming down the fat.

I still look at all auctions and get excited about all the Cobbs, Wagners, Ruths, Jacksons, etc. but right now I am putting money into real estate and more usable assets instead of cardboard. That said, I am an addict who has collected on and off my entire life. I expect its only a matter of time before I jump back headfirst into T, E, and D cards, W600s, Rose Co PCs, etc etc etc.

Cool topic, thanks for starting the thread

[fkm_bky]

Always had a focus on collecting all the T206 HOF Portraits...then moved to Herzog Boston sub-set with all the backs. Finished the HOF Portraits (minus real Plank/Wags) in July 2023 and really haven't done any further investing (both due to financials and trying to come up with a new focus). Got to the point with Herzog where the only backs left to attain will take a lot of time and money.

In the interim, I still love following the industry and living vicariously through your investments

Maybe once the kids are out of college I'll get more into things...for now, I don't plan on parting with any of them and look forward to the next adventure.

Great thread!

Bill

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Since getting back into cards in about 2015, my focus has been on investment and I have generally targeted blue chip players and sets from 1903-1927, but mostly 1903-1911.

For a while, I got heavily into back runs and advertising backs in general, and I assembled as much as I could of T206 Chance Portrait, Evers Yellow Sky, Tinker Bat off, E92 Wagner Batting, Wagner Throwing, and Cobb on Bat, and M101-4/5 Thorpe. I put together a master T206 back set, including Cobb back/T213/T214/T215, and I started hoarding T206 Brown Old Mills and T206 Brown Lenox. I also wanted to own sets and I assembled a complete 524-card T206 set, a complete E107 set, a complete 1914 CJ set, a virtually complete T3 set, and then had some smaller team sets, like E104-2, 1906 Lincoln Publishing, etc. I am done with all that now.

Over the past year I have sold the vast majority of my cards, by bulk, but retained the majority of value. Now, I generally only want super-special museum cards. I feel like I have been to the mountain top and now just want a few, key souvenirs from that journey.

There are some things I do regret selling, such as my 1914 CJ Set, my T206 multistrike Cy Young Ghost (but that now lives in a great home), and my 1901 Pittsburgh cabinet with Wagner's first image in a Pitt uniform. But generally, I do not regret trimming down the fat.

I still look at all auctions and get excited about all the Cobbs, Wagners, Ruths, Jacksons, etc. but right now I am putting money into real estate and more usable assets instead of cardboard. That said, I am an addict who has collected on and off my entire life. I expect its only a matter of time before I jump back headfirst into T, E, and D cards, W600s, Rose Co PCs, etc etc etc.

Cool topic, thanks for starting the thread

We can all go home now.

[The Detroit Collector]

Anything Detroit Tigers 1880-1935.
Postcards, cards, photos, supplements etc.

[WillowGrove]

Originally Posted by BuzzD

For the past 40 yrs or so I have tried to collect everyone who has played for the Yankees, and particularly in a Yankee uniform. If no BB card exists, I search for original photos in a Yankee uni, and in absence of either a card or photo, I collect autographs, non-NYY cards and non-NYY original photos. I will use original pages from guides, original team photos, etc as well. A particular subset is players with only a single game as a Yankee. My latest purchase is a 1926 photo of George Kiddo Davis, who after graduating from NYU had one game. It is a wide-ranging collection including many really scarce images, type cards, an even 1 lantern slide of Boardwalk Brown, a 1915 Yankee who only appeared in a 1915 team photo otherwise. The hunt is not confined to vintage items. For example, I cannot find an original image of Rick Honeycutt in a Yankee uni. There are other post WW2 recent examples as well. Send PM if anyone wants a link to my Flickr page to get a better feel for this effort.

Buzz I found this photo in a NYC Newspaper so one does exist!