Undervalued HOFers?
Geoff76
Posts: 163 ✭✭✭
At the risk of posting something that I’m sure has been hotly debated on many occasions, I was wondering who others thought (card-wise) were significantly undervalued. I picked up this 1968 McCovey last night for $116 (a few others not as well centered sold for $78ish) and I couldn’t help but think it seemed like a really low price. Was it because he played alongside Mays? Eddie Mathews seems undervalued for similar reasons with Aaron. Shortly after I bought this card, a PSA 8 of McCovey’s 1961 second year card sold for $200. 
7
Comments
I think Duke Sniders cards are very undervalued,
Stan the man
1948-76 Topps FB Sets
FB & BB HOF Player sets
1948-1993 NY Yankee Team Sets
A lot of HOFers are undervalued.
Great card you have. The hobby over values rookie cards, so look at it as a way of getting a sweet card just a handful of years younger for a fraction of the price.
It is hard to peg a long retired player and figure a way for him to rise above others to become more in demand than them.
McCovey's rookie card in an 8 has been going for just over $2,200. His second year in an 8 for just over $200(as you noted). His RC isn't any more rare to account for that difference.
It's just that the hobby over values RC's. Thing is, I don't think that will change though.
Looks like you can buy every single Topps year of McCovey in an 8 for less than his RC in an 8. To me that seems extremely odd.
So you can build a pretty good higher grade collection if you don't care about RC's.
Again, sweet card.
Frank Robinson!
Brooks Robinson.
I love McCovey too. All so underrated and under-valued.
Carlton Fisk.,Billy Williams come to mind.
Nellie Fox.
I collect hall of fame rookie cards, https://www.instagram.com/stwainfan/
1958 Curt Flood PSA 7 will be a $500 card in 2 years.
Kiss me twice.....let's party.
Love the detailed response!
Interesting. What is the rationale? Not being a wise guy, I just like to hear those prognostications.
Musial, Frank Robinson, Warren Spahn (really all HOF pitchers not named Koufax and Ryan), agree with OP on McCovey also Mathews - both overshadowed by their ATG teammates.
Would Stargell be another?
Marichal and Drysdale…
Harmon Killebrew comes to mind. While a 1955 PSA 1 Clemente would be the centerpiece to some collections, a 55 Killebrew in a 7 can be had for the same price. I want to say he hit more homeruns in the 60's than anyone else.
Joe Morgan, Frank Robinson, Rickey Henderson, Tris Speaker, Phil Niekro, Bert Blyleven. Honestly, McCovey wouldn't have been in the top 25 underrated HoFers, maybe top 50.
That was my thought, too. Pitchers, especially, seem to be the most undervalued. Niekro and Blyleven for sure, but also Marichal, Jenkins, Bunning, and Perry. And considering just how great they were, I think Seaver and Gibson are grossly undervalued.
But the most undervalued HOFer of all is, obviously, Bill Mazeroski.
Oh man. Gibby and Fergie for sure. Criminally undervalued.
Of the 3 rookies in the 1955 set, Killebrew is much cheaper than Koufax and Clemente.
Lou Brock is undervalued..
I collect hall of fame rookie cards, https://www.instagram.com/stwainfan/
Dave Winfield
Tom Seaver
Frank Robinson
Warren Spahn
Eddie Murray
Steve Carlton
Randy Johnson
Eddie Mathews
Joe Morgan
Don Sutton - It seems that Sutton's cards are valued as though he was little better than an above-average player.
Possibly the greatest disparity between playing greatness and card value can be found in the case of Joe Morgan. Phenomenal player but his cards don't generally reflect it. I have never understood that.
Robin Roberts (HOF), War Horse. pitched 38 straight complete games. Pitchers, , ss, and 2nd are usually undervalued as for a vintage is concerned.
Most Vintage 7's and down are very reasonable right now.
Yes . 7s are very reasonable. 8s pretty high. Go figure !
So in the post war era, basically anyone not named Mantle, Aaron, Mays, Clemente, or Koufax.
Likely elected to HOF soon and card is condition sensitive. Also not too many HOF RCs in the ‘58 set so not as much competition.
Kiss me twice.....let's party.
I will go with everyone's favorite Hall of Famer,Harold Baines. If for no other reason just the fact that there are fewer 81T Harold Baines PSA 9 then there are 78T Eddie Murray PSA 9. When did that happen?
How much did it sale for is one of the funniest and most ignorant things I've ever heard.
I'm going to argue that Derek Jeter's 1993 SP card is the most undervalued rookie card. If you look at the population and factor in the great demand for Jeter his 8's seem like a bargain at the current rate of around $350. Playing in deeper water his 9's also seem pretty cheap right now. Compare them to other modern rookie cards and they are very undervalued in my opinion.
But Don Sutton really was not much better than an above average player. I mean we're not talking Jack Morris, Jim Kaat, or Catfish Hunter who were barely above average, but still…
When he retired there was a lot of speculation that he would be the first 300 game winner not elected to the Hall. I don't think anyone expected it would be Clemens.
Don't think I've seen any relievers identified yet. My votes would go to Fingers, Gossage and Wilhelm. I like Eckersley a lot, but I don't necessarily think his cards are undervalued.
Setting aside Eckersley for the time being, who at any rate started 361 games and earned as much as 3/4 of his value as a starter, I'm firmly of the opinion that the only reliever who has contributed as much to his teams as HoFers not generally considered mistakes is Rivera.
The question then becomes will any of the "undervalued" become more valued.
The names we all put forward are certainly "underappreciated" stars; but not sure that's ever going to equate to much higher values.....
That's the million dollar question for sure.
Catfish Hunter was the fastest to 200 wins since Christy Mathewson. If not for arm problems causing him to retire at age 33, Catfish would have won 300 games easily and possibly had 3000 KKs.
It was said of Catfish Hunter. The bigger the game the better he pitched.
I collect hall of fame rookie cards, https://www.instagram.com/stwainfan/
That sort of thing is said of lots of pitchers. It's always hogwash.
MLB history is simply not captured by the HOF. I take a deeper look at what really matters which consists of those players that likely will never be in the HOF but were historically significant in the progression of MLB.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
This is the reason I don't really get into the weeds on Hunter being in the Hall. He deserves it even if injuries killed his career.
Ray Chapman for the Hall!
Jimmie Fox and Christy Mathewson come to mind as significantly undervalued versus their top counterparts for the era.
Jim Thome.
I would look at great players that are underappreciated that will never get in the HOF- Walker Cooper, Dutch Leonard, Andy Pafko... just to name some names
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
While the thread was for undervalued HOFers, I agree that the most undervalued players are not in the HOF. That's why I bring up players like Ron Fairly and Gene Tenace all the time. It's one thing to be in the HOF and your cards don't command the premium we think they should, but it's more disturbing to me when really good players (like Fairly or Pafko) command no premium at all.
But that's not the topic of the thread. It's not enough for a player to be completely underappreciated. If the player is "undervalued" it must mean that when future generations figure it out, then their cards will be more sought after. Do you see that happening with Cooper, Leonard, or Pafko?
I think the non-HoFers who are undervalued really must be either borderline HoFers or cult favorites. So I think that Bob Uecker, Bo Jackson, Glenn Hubbard ('84 Fleer in 10 went unsold at $395 minimum bid earlier this week) are among the very few that have a chance of even holding their value.
Pafko may have the best chance, being number 1 in the '52 Topps set. That card will always hold its value and there is a chance that future generations might misunderstand why and bid up other Pafko cards.
Ferguson Jenkins. 6 straight 20 wins seasons with CUBS. Really , many HOF pitchers.( Palmer, Carlton. ) Even Seaver.
While my comments and some suggested players are not on point as to undervalued HOF players, it does offer an inexpensive alternative that just may give the op as well as others as to what else is possible.
As for Cooper, Leonard and Pafko- I do see the potential for interest provided that there is a broader interest in the history of MLB. The good news is the cards of these players are inexpensive for who they are- The 1952 Pafko was the #1 Card which is why the value is where it currently stands, but it is also from that brief period he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers- He was a fan favorite in Chicago before being traded to Brooklyn. Cooper was one of the most underrated catchers. His cards are not easily available from the early 1940s- As fan favorite in St. Louis, I see no downside to obtaining his 1957 Topps card as a Cardinal. As for Dutch Leonard, he was one of the great knuckleball pitchers that had the misfortune of never playing for a pennant contender with exception to the memorable season Washington had in 1945.
There are others- among them are the 1953 Topps Luke Easter card
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
his rookie cards are overabundant. maybe his 1992 leaf gold card? 1992 Topps gold winner? 1993 finest refractor!!