Players who are more known for a card than their career.

[Ejm1]

Originally Posted by BleedinBlue

Oscar Gamble
1976 Topps Traded

The afro is more of a legend than the player and the card.

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by Ejm1

The afro is more of a legend than the player and the card.

I'm with BleedinBlue on this one.. EVERY kid collector I knew growing up, knew Oscar Gamble (for greatest ever fro) and Bake McBride (for awesome chops) by name, only because of these two cards, but we had no idea who these guys were as players.. turns out both were pretty good ballplayers!

[alanu]

When I first started collecting I had heard a lot more about these cards before I knew a whole lot about the players behind them, even though they are all HOFer's

t206 Wagner
Goudey Lajoie

Bowman Mikan

National Chicle Nagurski

[mets41]

Strasburg--isn't he releated to Joe Charboneau?

[williamcohon]

I think arguing that Honus Wagner fits this category because his t206 is better known to the man on the street than his career, misinterprets the sense of the question. To me, the question means who was not a famous player, but has a famous card?

Some cards of obscure players have become well-known within the hobby. I know Ten Million was mentioned, from the t212 set. But I think Frank Miller may fit even better.

Miller played seven seasons of minor league ball, but had, when the dust settled, a thoroughly forgettable career. He also had a t212 card. Lately, a wealthy descendant has been buying up all of the cards, creating a scarcity and a stir.

Anyone working on the t212 set thinks of the Miller card as a major acquisition. But in 1911, nobody ever pulled Miller out of a pack of Obak cigarettes and celebrated.

The rare R328 card to which you refer is Fred Lindstrom

Only two examples have surfaced.


Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List
bdorskind@dorskindgroup.com

[Bilko G]

Originally Posted by williamcohon

I think arguing that Honus Wagner fits this category because his t206 is better known to the man on the street than his career, misinterprets the sense of the question. To me, the question means who was not a famous player, but has a famous card?

No the question is "Players who are more known for a card then their careers" and Wagner DOES fit that question perfectly.

Case in point, i was on the phone with my 74 year old mother a few hours ago and asked her of she knew who Honus Wagner was. Exact question to her "Do you know who Honus Wagner is" after about a 5 second pause she said "Isn't he the guy on that rare baseball card?". That was her exact answer. She knew exactly who he was because of his T206 Baseball card. She didn't say nothing about him being a great Baseball player or the first group of members of the HOF. About a minute later as we talked about the card she even asked me "If this was the one that Wayne Gretzky owned"

[vargha]

Don Mossi (at least to card collectors)

[whaler]

Originally Posted by williamcohon

I think arguing that Honus Wagner fits this category because his t206 is better known to the man on the street than his career, misinterprets the sense of the question. To me, the question means who was not a famous player, but has a famous card?

Some cards of obscure players have become well-known within the hobby. I know Ten Million was mentioned, from the t212 set. But I think Frank Miller may fit even better.

Miller played seven seasons of minor league ball, but had, when the dust settled, a thoroughly forgettable career. He also had a t212 card. Lately, a wealthy descendant has been buying up all of the cards, creating a scarcity and a stir.

Anyone working on the t212 set thinks of the Miller card as a major acquisition. But in 1911, nobody ever pulled Miller out of a pack of Obak cigarettes and celebrated.

William,
While I will not argue the premise of your post as it relates to the subject of the thread (although you did fail to mention 5+ years in the majors), I do take exception to you claiming to know anything about my financial status. In my 11.7 years of collecting, I have averaged 4.03 cards per year at an average cost of $150.97 per card. If that is the new benchmark of wealth, this has to be the wealthiest group anywhere on the web.

[sycks22]

How about T206 Demmitt

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by alanu

When I first started collecting I had heard a lot more about these cards before I knew a whole lot about the players behind them, even though they are all HOFer's

t206 Wagner
Goudey Lajoie

Bowman Mikan

National Chicle Nagurski

The Wagner and Lajoie are extremes cases in this instance. And while I didn't originally have these two in mind when starting this thread, I did imagine Wagner would potentially come up. Didn't really think much about Lajoie, but that card is perfect as well, but nowhere near the Wagner extreme. Looking back to the 80's and early 90's, we all remember seeing those generic "baseball card starter kits". They usually came with a handful of garbage cards and a few reprints, with the two most memorable being the Wagner and Lajoie. On the backs of these, they both talked about the history of the card, and what it's worth as opposed to talking about the player. I think that things like this helped lead to people caring more about what a card's worth, then they do the player that is on it..

Actually, your mention of Nagurski, got me thinking that the 1955 Topps All-American Four Horsemen card might fit into this category... Sure the nickname is probably more known than the individual players, but I think the card may be even more known that the nickname..

[scmavl]

Somebody beat me to Don Mossi. My other pick would be Wally Moon.

[vargha]

Damn! That is quite the unibrow.

[scmavl]

Originally Posted by vargha

Damn! That is quite the unibrow.

EVERY year, EVERY card... He never trimmed that thing.