10 Most Iconic Cards under $200

[jared6180]

I posted this over on Blowout and it seems everyone is fixated on 1980s junk wax and 1993 Jeters. So let me ask you vintage guys for your opinion...

What are the Top 10 Most Iconic Cards for under $200. I put the price limit in there just because I am a small budget guy and I don't have the $1,000s to spend that some collectors do. Sure I expect there to be a few 80s cards represented, but not 9 out of 10!

I would like to start building a Vintage PC and these answers are going to be useful for what I chase in the near future.

Thanks ahead of time guys!!!

[pokerplyr80]

Most of the iconic postwar cards are available for 200 or less if condition isn't an issue. You can still get a Clemente RC in a 1 for not much more than 200. Ryan, Rose, Koufax, Banks, Seaver, etc can all be found for less. The rest can be found in higher grades, as can non RCs of pretty much everyone.

[CW]

a card loved by many collectors and under $200 in mint condition...

[deltaarnet]

Originally Posted by CW

a card loved by many collectors and under $200 in mint condition...

Agreed!!!

[bobsbbcards]

Maybe these too:

[the 'stache]

I'd imagine you could get a lot of the "iconic" vintage cards if they don't come entombed in a plastic slab.

A '75 Topps Yount, or a '75 Topps Brett...both can be had for under two C notes. Slabbed, you're going to pay more, obviously. But a PSA 8 Yount can be had for under $200. A PSA 8 Brett? Probably going to be over $200; a 7 can be had, and a 7 can still have real nice eye appeal.

A '71 Thurman Munson can be had in nice shape, sans slab, for well under $200. Hell, an upper-mid grade example can be had for under $200. That's the card to have of the former Yankee Captain.

A 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson is an iconic card. You can get a PSA 8 for well under $100.

A perfectly centered '78 Topps Eddie Murray, in a PSA 8, should be doable for $100, or slightly higher.

A real nice '78 Topps Paul Molitor/Alan Trammell, centered and without the black "smudge", can be had for $100 at a PSA 8.

That's just a few examples. There are more. It really depends on what you want. If you're collecting for the fun of it, you should do well with ungraded cards. Just be sure that you know how to determine if a card is authentic, or not. Start out small. Build a collection of "control cards" for each set that you're going to explore, and compare any card you're considering buying to one of those control cards, under a loupe. Get a black light, and look for alterations, or coloring (especially the '71 set. If you go for a Munson, a black light is a MUST. The black borders are notorious for chipping. Don't be fooled by somebody selling a card that has had the chips colored over by a permanent marker. That will show under black light).

[jared6180]

I get very nervous about buying fake cards and for this reason I will probably buy most if not all graded by PSA. I frankly do not trust BGS with anything as fragile as old cards, they barely get new cards done right plus their labels look like dog do-do with older cards.

It might be a little goofy, but ideally I would like to buy based on my own grading expectations and tolerances. I have provided the following "chart" to show you what I mean...
Year Min. Grade
2000+ 10
1990-99 9
1980-89 8
1970-79 7
1960-69 6
1950-59 5
etc...

Now, obviously there are some cards, esp RCs that will not fit this criteria. So these are set within perfect world scenarios.

I am thinking about starting my vintage collection with a Brett RC in a PSA 7 or a 58 Mantle/Aaron in a PSA 6.

[MCoxon]

Also Jared, if you're willing to go PSA 5 for 1950s card, you've got TONS of iconic cards to choose from:

1954 Bowman Willie Mays, Duke Snider (mentioned earlier)
1956 Topps Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente
1957 Topps Sandy Koufax, Ted Williams

Originally Posted by jared6180

I get very nervous about buying fake cards and for this reason I will probably buy most if not all graded by PSA. I frankly do not trust BGS with anything as fragile as old cards, they barely get new cards done right plus their labels look like dog do-do with older cards.

It might be a little goofy, but ideally I would like to buy based on my own grading expectations and tolerances. I have provided the following "chart" to show you what I mean...
Year Min. Grade
2000+ 10
1990-99 9
1980-89 8
1970-79 7
1960-69 6
1950-59 5
etc...

Now, obviously there are some cards, esp RCs that will not fit this criteria. So these are set within perfect world scenarios.

I am thinking about starting my vintage collection with a Brett RC in a PSA 7 or a 58 Mantle/Aaron in a PSA 6.

[Laxcat]

I'm not that big on condition. I would suggest a lower condition, but not fugly, '69T White Letter Mantle. Tough & Iconic card IMO.

[Rookiemonster]

I call it the forgotten hall of famers.

Duke snider

Harmon killabrew

Whitey ford

Ernie banks

Bob Gibson
These guys are always affordable . You can get a whitey ford rookie for 200!
And if your in to football you can get even more bang for your buck . I think for 200 you can almost have any player in low grade. The guys I listed you can find better grade for you price point .

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by jared6180

I get very nervous about buying fake cards and for this reason I will probably buy most if not all graded by PSA. I frankly do not trust BGS with anything as fragile as old cards, they barely get new cards done right plus their labels look like dog do-do with older cards.

It might be a little goofy, but ideally I would like to buy based on my own grading expectations and tolerances. I have provided the following "chart" to show you what I mean...
Year Min. Grade
2000+ 10
1990-99 9
1980-89 8
1970-79 7
1960-69 6
1950-59 5
etc...

Now, obviously there are some cards, esp RCs that will not fit this criteria. So these are set within perfect world scenarios.

I am thinking about starting my vintage collection with a Brett RC in a PSA 7 or a 58 Mantle/Aaron in a PSA 6.

Those two seem like a good place to start. A 75 Brett should have a 75 Yount to go with it though. You could get one of each in a 7 for 200 bucks.

The 58 Mantle/Aaron is my favorite Mantle combo card. I also like his 62 with Mays and 57 with Berra. Both well within your price range. Good luck building your collection.

[the 'stache]

Exactly. I don't get it when somebody lists a '75 Brett as iconic, but not the Yount from the same set. Both came up at the same time. Both were among the very best players of their generation. Both got their 3,000th hit within 10 days of each other, and both went into the Hall together.

It's like having Lennon but not McCartney. Blasphemous!

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

Those two seem like a good place to start. A 75 Brett should have a 75 Yount to go with it though. You could get one of each in a 7 for 200 bucks.

[jared6180]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I don't get it when somebody lists a '75 Brett as iconic, but not the Yount from the same set. Both came up at the same time. Both were among the very best players of their generation. Both got their 3,000th hit within 10 days of each other, and both went into the Hall together.

This is a legitimate point. My only reason is because I was born in 1980 and raised a Royals fan, so I consider Brett to be the best. Yes, I'm a bit of a homer for my Royals. I remember Brett and Yount reaching 3,000 at about the same time, but Brett had a larger impact since I watched him play in person and on the TV FAR more frequently than Yount. Is Yount still involved in baseball? I know Brett is very involved with the Royals front office.

Is there a guide for various years of cards and what to look for? Something specific I could read and maybe see images of Real vs. fake? I would love to learn this stuff, and would especially love to learn how PSA grades their cards. In my untrained opinion a PSA 3 and 1 don't look very different especially when we start talking about the difference in the half-grade differences. I bought a few vintage cards from a set breaker in 2012 and what I thought for sure would be an 6 or 7 came back 4s and 5s. I was very disappointed and decided to stay with modern cards. I just really have a desire to get mostly out of the new stuff though so I keep circling around to vintage.

1953 Bowman Color Pee Wee Reese is gorgeous. I really like that set, but I think my favorite is 1950 Bowman, for some reason the small square cards always get my attention.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Exactly. I don't get it when somebody lists a '75 Brett as iconic, but not the Yount from the same set. Both came up at the same time. Both were among the very best players of their generation. Both got their 3,000th hit within 10 days of each other, and both went into the Hall together.

It's like having Lennon but not McCartney. Blasphemous!

The limit is 10 cards, so why have multiple cards from the same set and too many 70s cards when many key 60s RCs can be had in that range. Ideally, you would try to get one key card from each year 52-75. It's not that Yount RC is not iconic, just not as iconic as Brett.

[the 'stache]

Nervous, or not, you really need to learn how to differentiate between a real card, and an inauthentic one. I cannot stress this enough. It's really not that difficult, and doing so offers you far greater protection than buying PSA slabbed cards alone could ever do. PSA slabs can be faked, and tampered with.

The mantra of Net 54 is "buy the card, not the flip" for a reason. If you automatically assume a PSA-slabbed card is authentic, you expose yourself to unnecessary risk.

I find it curious that you are so concerned about buying faked cards, but you then you have nothing but negative thoughts about Beckett. They may not command the same premium PSA does, but I've never seen a BGS slab tampered with. If authenticity is your chief concern, a Beckett-slabbed card would seem to be the way to go. You can always send it to PSA, and have them cross it over. Yes, it would cost you money, but if you ever decided to sell, you'd have iron clad provenance, as a unique serial number would be issued for your card, and you'd have been the only owner.

Originally Posted by jared6180

I get very nervous about buying fake cards and for this reason I will probably buy most if not all graded by PSA. I frankly do not trust BGS with anything as fragile as old cards, they barely get new cards done right plus their labels look like dog do-do with older cards.

[the 'stache]

Also, no discussion of iconic vintage cards is complete without this beauty:



Not a chance in heck you get this card, at this grade level, for under $200. But ungraded, you should be able to get a very nice example for yourself.

If you buy from a reputable seller, and spend just a little effort learning how to authenticate vintage cards, you're really going to expand your collecting universe. Good luck.

[daves_resale_shop]

My 1975-90 list

1990 leaf Frank Thomas
1989 upper deck ken Griffey jr
1985 topps Mark McGwire
1984 fleer update roger Clemens
1984 fleer update Kirby Puckett
1982 topps traded cal Ripken
1980 topps Rickey Henderson
1977 topps dale Murphy
1975 topps robin yount
1975 topps George brett

[MCoxon]

Grade sensitive, of course, but

1978 Reggie Jackson
1975 Brett
1973 Clemente
1971 Munson
1968 Bob Gibson
1962 Mantle/Mays
1958 Mantle All Star

[ZiggerZagger]

As far as Iconic in terms of enduring images (as opposed to a card's importance or RC status), several come to mind.

1954 Bowman Duke Snider
1961 Topps Yastrzemski
1962 Topps Banks
1967 Topps Mantle
1971 Topps Clemente (or many of his early 70's cards)
1974 Topps Winfield RC
1975 Topps Nolan Ryan
1976 Topps Bench
1977 Topps Schmidt

And of course the '75 Brett and '80 Henderson, '89 Griffey RC's, as have been mentioned.
I suppose the line between "iconic" and simply a very attractive card is a bit blurred for me, though.

[rats60]

1975 Brett
1973 Schmidt
1969 Jackson
1968 Bench
1967 Carew
1965 Carlton
1960 Yaz
1964,66-69 Mantle
Most 60s Clemente or Mays

[MCoxon]

Originally Posted by rats60

1975 Brett
1973 Schmidt
1969 Jackson
1968 Bench
1967 Carew
1965 Carlton
1960 Yaz
1964,66-69 Mantle
Most 60s Clemente or Mays

Very good list, and like Clemente/Mays, you also could get 60s / '70s Aarons (I love '61 and '73)

Also, 1969 Bench as well

[rats60]

Originally Posted by MCoxon

Very good list, and like Clemente/Mays, you also could get 60s / '70s Aarons (I love '61 and '73)

Also, 1969 Bench as well

My favorite is the 65 Topps. I originally had Aaron too, but realized that was 11 cards. You could go with the 66 NL Batting Leaders card since it has Clemente/Aaron/Mays and then add a 1965 Koufax.

[Shoebox]

Some great cards on this list. Some cards I would consider adding if you are willing to own lower to mid grade cards.

53T Satchel Paige
56T Jackie Robinson
54T Ted Williams
57T Hank Aaron
56 or 57T Mickey Mantle
54B Willie Mays
53B Stan Musial
65T Sandy Koufax
69T Tom Seaver

Some of those would require condition sacrifices on your budget. Especially the Mantles (PSA 2?) but all of these are great cards in my opinion and while not RCs for several they represent historic years in their careers.

[jchcollins]

Some of the early combo cards are iconic in my eyes - both the '57 Mantle / Berra and the '58 Mantle / Aaron can be had for well under $200 in less-than-PSA 8 but still very attractive shape.

How about a '64 Aaron or Clemente? Great looking cards that don't come anywhere near breaking the bank.


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