Who are the 10 most important collectors in hobby history

[jeffmohler]

I came from a stamp and coin background prior to getting into baseball cards about five years ago. In those fields there has been a great deal of scholarly research done over the years. To me, the card hobby is just in its infancy compared to stamps and coins. In order for it to mature we need to see more research, books written and hobby associations formed. We should have organizations like the American Stamp Dealers Association, Society of Philatelic Americans, the American Numismatic Association and others. Why we don't have exhibitions of collections, research papers presented and conferences at the National puzzles me.

To address the topic at hand, I would nominate Lew Lipset for his Encyclopedia, Scot Reader and Ted Zanadakis for their ground-breaking work on T206 and the guys that put the Old Judge book together. This is the kind of research that will eventually bring order and growth to the hobby.