Why do you collect what you collect?

[Casey2296]

I'm always curious about what motivates a card collector to collect what he/she collects. Of course you have your "if I had a million dollars" list (currently that's one mid grade basketball rookie card with a 40000 psa pop) but my question is what motivates you to collect a year? a player?, a set?, a back?, etc.

Personally, I collect images, although I've embarked on my first attempt at a set (E94 set of 30) thanks to the bad influence of Leon and his pre war Cronies on this forum.

48 Bowman? My set is complete with 3 cards. Musial, Feller, Richardson. Don't see the sense in chasing a Rizzuto, he looks like someone gave him a hot foot while wearing a vintage umpire pad under his shirt. I'll take his tops 53 thank you very much.

29 Kashin vs 33 Goudey Gehrig? I'm fortunate enough to have both but you can guess which one I like more.

39 Play Ball? My set is 5-7, portraits only. Ott, Hubbell, Gehringer, etc.

48 Leaf Jackie? Never, that's an ugly ass card. My set is two, Williams and Vander Meer.

54 Wilson Franks? 1 image.

52 Topps? 1 image. Jackie. 53 Topps 6 images. 51 Bowman 10.

You get the point but that's how I collect, how and why do you collect what you collect?

Now if I can just get someone on this sub to sell me their E121 Sisler (batting) my life would be complete...

Edit: Thank you to member itjclarke for making my Sisler quest complete.

[nat]

When I was about 11 I set out to get one (playing-days contemporary) card of every MLB hall of famer. Obviously I didn't get very far as a kid (I had a couple Goudeys, but that was it for pre-war at the time). So, why do I collect what I collect? I'm finishing my childhood card collection.

Also branching out into Japanese cards, because I like learning about an entirely different world of baseball. But even there it's one of each HOFer.

[Casey2296]

I collect Japanese too, great images and the baseball history between our two nations is something special. I always thought if T206 collectors ever got bored with back variations they could collect Japanese backs which is an almost insurmountable task.

[Exhibitman]

Just got the collecting bug when I was a boy and never changed.

My first big year for baseball and football cards was 1971. In 1972 I started ripping packs of basketball cards. 1975 is the year I started buying hockey cards. I quickly moved on to the chase for older cards. My uncle gave me The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book (Little Brown, 1973; Brendan C. Boyd & Fred C. Harris) and I read it until it fell apart. It was my first real exposure to the art of golden age Topps and Bowman and those cards were now on my radar. I found The Complete Book of Baseball Cards: For the Collector, Flipper and Fan [1975; Steve Clark] and was hooked on T cards.

My first card show was Thanksgiving 1976 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, sponsored by the ASCCA. I’d become a Willie Mays fan when he returned to New York in 1973, so my first great project was to collect an example of every Mays card. I finished the Topps run at that show with the 1952 and 1953 cards. My mother nearly ripped my father’s head off when she found out that he loaned me $45 to buy them.

We moved to L.A. in 1977 and the only good thing about the move as far as I was concerned was that I fell ass-backwards into perhaps the richest collecting environment around. I quickly became involved with the West Coast Card Club, which held monthly meetings in a church basement and later a social hall in Northridge. I also lucked into several collections that were given to me by family and friends.

My collection at that point was pretty much about the four sports, Topps, Bowman and a smattering of T cards. It was during that time that I focused on a few Western regional issues that have ever since fascinated me: Zeenuts, Bell Brand, 1968 Atlantic Oil.

I put away the cards after the 1980 baseball season and really did not return to them for nearly a decade, when I decided to attend a massive show at the Moscone Center in San Francisco as a welcome diversion from law school. Unfortunately, in a moment of existential panic in 1987 I sold off a big chunk of my collection to raise some cash before law school. I really did not buy much at the Moscone show but I was re-energized to start collecting. I then attended shows throughout the Bay area if I could get to them on BART or other public transit.

When I returned to L.A. after graduating and got a job and started having disposable income, I really got back into collecting, aided by the abundance of shows. It was a rare weekend that I did not have at least a show a day to attend and set up at.

My collecting changed immeasurably around that time owing to two meetings at shows. At one, a fellow had 1948 Leaf cards of Barney Ross and Benny Leonard. I sort of knew that boxing cards existed but seeing these, I was instantly smitten. I bought the pair for a few bucks and took them home to show my father. He looked at the Ross card and said the words that changed my collection forever: “I think my cousin Ray fought him.”

You could have knocked me over with a puff of air. “Dad,” I said, “if you have a cousin who was a boxer that means I have cousin who was a boxer.” He then told me about Ray Miller for the first time and I realized that I was related to a world-class athlete.

The other collection-changer for me was meeting an old-time collector named John Spalding. Some of you might have known John. He was a collector from the Bay area with a strong background in PCL history and sports. But that isn’t what got me interested. It was his album of prewar Exhibit cards. I knew of and had collected the postwar cards from time to time, but I’d never seen anything like these. Over the course of several shows I purchased giant stacks of them from John (many of which I still have), while making a general pest of myself picking his brain about the issue and others as well.

As far as specifics, as I age I find myself most drawn to the cards issued when I was a kid and the older ones that I had when i was a kid. I have projects too. My collecting looks like this:

--A world boxing type card collection represented whenever possible by favorite fighters: Benny Leonard, Joe Louis, Jim Jeffries, Manny Pacquiao. I'm approaching 1,500 unique issues
--Some boxing memorabilia, mostly premiums.
--A boxing HOF collection represented by career-contemporary cards whenever possible, which I use as the backbone of the type card collection (e.g., I have a type card from the 1931 Bigott set from Venezuela that happens to be HOFer Pedro Montanez), premiums or other memorabilia when no cards exist.
--Prewar baseball cards and ephemera: i especially like oddball issues that cost a fraction of the mainstream cards.
--Exhibit cards and related arcade issues
--Postwar mainstream collections of baseball basketball, football and hockey focusing on the 1970s and raw: gimme a 5000 count box of 1972 Topps anything and I enthralled for hours
--Autographs and cards of musicians and comedians



RIP EVH

[One 'ol Cat]

I started all of this in 1972. The Sunoco football stamp album. It was a real mania for us twelve year olds. I still have it. I think I am a dozen or so short. The next year, a schoolmate named Joe got me going on the 1973 Topps baseball set. It was the year that Hank Aaron was making his assault on the home run record. Joe was a good guy. Unfortunately he was killed when a hydraulic cylinder failed while he was fixing a dump truck.
I worked on Topps baseball in the seventies. Learned about the Card Collectors' Company. Picked up some vintage stuff.
I fell victim to the 80's craze. Tried to corner the Don Mattingly market. So I have a little of everything. I had to liquidate a hoard of T207's and T206's I had collected because life happened.
I now focus more. I can't get everything, so I work on my Buffalo C46's. I am working on 2001 Topps gold parallel. Pick up an oddball thing here and there. I like the game. I like it's history. I like the graphic design of the old cards. And I don't worry if anyone cares. (Except for my wife, of course. I bury the card purchases under 'educational expenses')

[bnorth]

When my younger brother got me into collecting around 35 years ago I decided to pick one player. To me batting average is the most important thing. Back then Wade Boggs was the man for batting average. So I have been collecting him for a long time. The last couple years I have been collecting his bats. I am 1 bat away from filling a 20 bat display with his bats.

I also like weird and unusual items so I have lot of printing error cards and oddball memorabilia of all kinds.

[riggs336]

Complete sets. As many as possible and as complete as possible. That means master sets, errors and variations. Including odd stuff like 1960 Fleer #80 and 1967 Topps Maris as a Yankee.
One thing that hasn't changed since I was a kid is that condition is almost meaningless to me. My collecting philosophy has always been Quantity Over Quality. Completion is the thing for me.
Now, if someone will sell me a T205 Hobby no-stats, I'll move on to the next set.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by riggs336

Complete sets. As many as possible and as complete as possible. That means master sets, errors and variations. Including odd stuff like 1960 Fleer #80 and 1967 Topps Maris as a Yankee.

One thing that hasn't changed since I was a kid is that condition is almost meaningless to me. My collecting philosophy has always been Quantity Over Quality. Completion is the thing for me.

Now, if someone will sell me a T205 Hobby no-stats, I'll move on to the next set.

Quantity over quality drives me too. Sometimes it sucks, but I've got some cool pieces!

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[Seven]

I say I collect a little bit of "everything." Everything being mostly cards from the 1960's and backwards. Mickey Mantle is one of my biggest draws, I'm just enamored by him. His career, the constant "what ifs", the fact he did so much on practically one knee. He's my main draw I would say. Have some Mays and Aaron too in my small collection. I recently find myself getting interested in Tobacco/Caramel Cards as well. Eddie Collins, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson. I would love to own a Cobb or a Wagner one day, it's just not in the cards at the moment. A little too far out of my price range, when I feel like there's other collecting goals I need to accomplish first. I suppose If I stumble across a Cobb that I fall in love with, and can't pass up on the deal I would take it.

Lou Gehrig is another player that I've taken a lot of interest in lately. I've always appreciated the 33 and 34 goudey cards of his. I discovered his Kashin recently along with the 33 Delong as well. Pipe dreams at this point though, I can't afford them. At least ones in presentable condition.

Autographs is something else that I'm very interested in too. I worked on a Ron Lewis Living Legends set for a little bit, before getting a good deal on a complete one. I have a few doubles, but I'm a bit of a hoarder and don't want to get rid of them! I suppose I could display the doubles and then keep the main set stored away.

I love the history of our National Pastime. As a History Buff and a History Teacher, I really do enjoy reading about careers of random players that I discover, that I never saw play. Owning some of their cards makes me feel like I have a window into the era that they played in.

[todeen]

Pictures make everything better! I'm a secondary history teacher, MA in US History. My mom is a collector of furniture and milk glass. I'm also interested in family history. The combination of my mom and liking historical stories is the nature/nurture reason I collect. Started buying baseball cards in 1991 when it was Topps 40th anniversary. I also had/have ADHD, and cards and baseball were an incentive to pay attention in school.

I got rid of 95% of my card collection in college. I hate the gambling aspect of modern cards - spend money with no guarantee of return value. Refocused on whatever I thought was cool. I'd rather buy specifically what I want rather than blow money for no purpose.

Grew up in Billings, MT. Minor league affiliate of Cincinnati is/was there. Turned me into a Reds fan. I collect Barry Larkin, Joey Votto, Ernie Lombardi and 1939/40 era because of this. I'm hoping Tyler Stephenson will be the next Reds legend to be developed and stay with the team. The picture is Barry Larkin's personal WS celebration hat, signed. Picked it up this spring from a board member. Super excited about it. Centerpiece of my modern Reds collection. Have been working to put together the W-711 Reds set. Getting closer. W-711 is centerpiece of my 1939/40 collection.

I collect Tris Speaker because he is a distant relative. My grandma didn't know much about him other than my grandpa was related to him as distant cousins. But to a 7 year old, that's pretty cool. Picked up a Speaker auto from Lelands in 2013/14. Still love it!

I also collect items that tell the story of MLB history. This is probably most easily associated with type collecting. I'm in the middle of selling stuff because this idea is too broad, but I love it. If I had more room I'd continue collecting as I do. But I narrowed it down to Cal Ripken Jr and Lou Gehrig (this was my first major historical memory of MLB I can remember watching on TV). I also am thinking of expanding into Ty Cobb because of his friendship / relationship with Tris Speaker. I also have Joe Dimaggio because of his connection with the 1939 WS against the Reds. And Stan Musial. My LCS had some unique items for Stan one day that I bought. Makes a nice display. And I love advertisements for Wheaties!

I have a couple modern miscellaneous items for Griffey Jr, and Jeter. Might collect them some day when I get bored and need a new focus. I get bored of collecting the same old thing and need new outlets for searching on ebay.





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[UKCardGuy]

For me, collecting began in 1976 when I was 8. My grandmother came to visit with a friend of hers who worked in a newsagent in Manhatten. He brought my brother and me a Topps vending box. (I still have that box and the cards that came in it,)

At the time, I loved playing baseball and watching games on TV, but hadn't really had any cards. When I got the vending box I asked my Dad to explain the stats on the back of the cards. He explained the rules of thumb... >. 300 batting average was good... Less than. 3.00 ERA was good.

That was it. I was hooked. Every Saturday, I took the $2 my Dad paid me to cut the grass and rode my bike to buy new packs of cards. Then one day, a baseball card shop opened up in my local mall. My mind was well and truly blown. There were rows and rows of cards in plastic trays and binders with sleeves. The cards going back to the 50s. I asked to look at the early cards but the price per card was $1 or 75 cents for the commons... I wouldn't get many cards for my $2. The 1960 Topps were only 20 cents each. That was the right balance for me. They looked cool and I knew some of the players from my Dad and uncles. I could get 10 commons each week. That worked for me.

I'd bring home my cards and go through them with my Dad. He'd remember stories about those players. My dad wasn't usually the easiest person to spend time with - so going through my weekly card pickups with him was great.

Ayear or two later I begged my dad to take me to a big baseball card convention near Texas Rangers Stadium. My mind was blown a second time. All I wanted every birthday or Christmas was baseball cards or money for baseball cards. This went on until I bought a case of Topps wax packs in 1984. After that, my money went into getting a car and my new girlfriend. My collection was left in my parents house. 20 years later, I was married, with kids and living in England. Ona visit to my parents house, my mother wanted me to take my cards or she was going to throw them out. I sold most of my best cards at the LCS (1960 Mantle, Koufax, Yaz, etc). That money was helpful to my young family. The rest of the cards came home with me to England and stayed in my attic.

20 years further, my kids are grown and I revisited those cards in my attic. I dusted them off and assessed what I had. My original 1978 vending box was there as well as cards ranging from 1956 to 1984. I decided to slowly rebuild my 1960 set. My collecting resurgence has grown from there.

I'm spending my late adulthood recreating what I had as a kid..and with it a connection to history and my late father.

I collect a little bit of everything now, but my main focus is to complete my 1960s topps set and others from the 1950s to the 1970s. I also love the Kelloggs sets that remind me of the days when I sent off for them in the mail.

I have a soft spot for autographs, world series tickets and pinbacks. But really, I'm inclined to pick up anything that triggers a bit of nastalgia for me.

I don't have the budget for some of the premier sets like the T206 or the cracker Jack sets.
For me the 1930 W554 set has been a great intro to the pre-war sets. We'll see where it goes from here.

[Huysmans]

What I think is great about this thread is the diversity of collecting exhibited. I can honestly say that if most of what others collect on here were offered to me for free, I would politely decline.

I'm also sure that the overwhelming majority of members here would have zero interest in what I collect.

That's part of the beauty of the hobby, the unlimited choice, and the fact that there are no rules to collecting.

[wazir of wham]

I have been collecting vintage Baseball related magazine advertising and Old magazines with baseball covers for about 25+years now. The stuff just intrigued me when I first found those vintage ads in old Life/Look/Colliers/Post magazines in an old book store in Oakland that was closing after 50 years of doing business.

That got me "hooked" where else can you find a 1935 full page Babe Ruth ad pushing Barbasol shaving creme or Joe DiMaggio pushing Camel cigarettes, or Ty Cobb or Christy Mathewson pushing Tuxedo Tobacco from 1915.

Back in the mid 70's I collected with my sons and we collected hard until about 1988 when the card market went crazy. Today I do enjoy collecting game used cards and mainly focus on Yankee cards picking up Aaron Judge when I get a chance.

I remember collecting back in grammar school when you could pick up 5 packs for a quarter, take them to school and trade during recess. Built up quite a collection into the early 60's..........then GIRLS took top spot........then the draft and Vietnam. When I came home I asked what happened to my boxes of cards in my closet??? " IBurned them"...........Oh OK what ever? Yikes I really could have cashed in with those boxes. I have saved all of the cards that me and my Boys collected back when and they will have the opportunity to enjoy them again one day. I wish my Aunt would have done that!!

[Jcfowler6]

I do it for the girls.


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[Robbie]

I do it to get yelled at by my wife.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Jcfowler6

I do it for the girls.


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Yes, we are much more attractive as nerdy card collectors

That said, I like baseball (Not current MLB) and like to collect old stuff. Baseball cards just make sense.

[cgriffith]

I collect because of the history of the the game/player, connection I have to them and the innocence of the journey ( nothing like grabbing a card of a player and watching the numbers accumulate over time) the art, design etc.

I am a New York Yankees fan. Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra PC collector and a set builder of the following sets: 1948 Bowman/1951 - 1956 Topps; to me each represent different things DiMaggio is larger than life an American icon, and was a celebrity late into his life. As for Yogi he was a champion, he earned everything, a war hero and a philanthropist. To me each were better people than players and it makes collecting them fun.

[hcv123]

Actually started with comic books. Landed at my first card show around age 11-13. Cajoled my mom out of $48 for a Clemente rookie - why? I don't have a great explanation - the card just appealed to me visually - at the time had no idea who Clemente was. Shortly thereafter picked up a sport americana price guide and learned about many of the non Topps/Bowman issues - I suppose "the challenge" has always been a motivating factor (thematically in a number of areas of my life). So started looking for the Clemente's from all those other sets as well as more of his Topps issues. Later learned about his life and was hooked. Have also dabbled on the side with rare issues like Topps test issues and assorted regional and food issues (The challenge). great idea for a thread.

[VintageBen]

I used to visit the local card shops weekly as a child. I loved the atmosphere of the shop. I loved just hanging out and talking sports. I'd spend approximately $50/week.

A few years ago, a guy named Orlando Rodriguez(he was a big time Cobb collector, Orly57) found me on Instagram and we formed a relationship. He helped me refocus my collection. I sold off a bunch of what I had to fund nicer things. I stopped going to the card shop. I stopped cold turkey. Orly told me that if you are looking for a certain card and the shop has whatever example that's what you have to settle for. I tried to be patient... So hard to do, because who doesn't want every nice card?

I had always wanted a Hank Aaron rookie. I was in the band from middle school all the way through college. I didn't really play much since graduating so I sold my trumpet to help fund that Hank Aaron rookie card. I got the best example I could afford.

After getting the Hank Aaron rookie, I noticed that I could find those all day, everyday. So I sold it.

I then got all 4 T206 Cobb's. Again you can find those all day, everyday. Sold them too.

A few weeks before the 2019 National in Chicago, I won the PC796 Honus Wagner PSA 2 in Heritage. I loved the image. My goal at the National was to improve my SGC 2.5 T206 Green Cobb. The card was superb for the grade. Orly helped me pick it out. I had no luck improving it at the National....

I sold it there.

I used those funds to get something nice at the Natty....

I go and visit Don Hontz (super duper nice guy). I see all of these nice looking/expensive cards. I had my eye on the Max Stein Cobb and the PC796 Cobb Wagner SGC 1.5... I was a few hundred $ short for the Max Stein Cobb but I got the PC796 Cobb/Wagner. It made sense since I had just purchased the Wagner a few weeks prior. Every time I passed his table another Cobb was gone.

A friend, who was at the show with me, said that I should complete the set. At the time, I didn't know much about the set. I looked into it and noticed it was only 25 cards. So it was something I thought could be achieved. I was in the mode to make that happen. If i hadn't purchased the Cobb/Wagner, I don't think I would have put the set together.

I bought almost every PC796 I saw at the show(Lajoie, Chance, Bridwell, and Cobb/Wagner). I was off to a great start.


Most of the cards in the PC796 set have a population of ~15 or less. So I like collecting something that is rare. I've always loved collecting vintage cards. I believe that value will increase and so will the demand. I like the images, especially the Speaker and the Cobb/Wagner(the best players of the dead-ball era shaking hands before the 1909 WS). Jim Van Brunt told me that maybe only 4 people that he knows have completed the set. In my pursuit, the hardest card to obtain was Tris Speaker. Most people who have completed the set state that Eddie Plank was the toughest.

I've made new connections while attempting the set: SeaBlaster Karthik Naidu, Mike Peich, Jeffrey Lichtman, DJ Richards, Jim Van Brunt, Taylor Hamilton, and Don Hontz. I hope I didn't leave anyone out.

This past April, my wife and I were planning to visit Boston for the Boston Marathon (we were going to spectate about 10 friends running the distance). My Eddie Plank was mailed to a Boston address and I was going to visit where it ended up back in 1910, but Covid-19 got in the way of that. Maybe next year I'll check that out.