What Is Your Card Collecting Focus?
Mefer
Posts: 1,163 ✭✭✭
I seemed to be scatter brained and overly eclectic with card collecting. Slowly but surely, at least in my case, I have sold many of my cards instead focusing on things I really like and can display. Maybe it is just me but keeping a bunch of stuff stored in a closet is no longer fun. With that said, my current card collecting focuses on:
-- Willie McCovey
-- Rickey Henderson
-- Brandon Crawford
-- A's cards from the late 60s to early 80s.
-- Giants cards from the 70s.
-- Limited dabbling in modern issues to some Giants and A's cards.
Also on the list, but lower down the totem pole:
-- Eventually finishing a 1957 Topps set in honor of my grandfather.
-- Cards of Athletics players from the late 20s to early 30s (second Mack Men championship era).
It feels good-- my focus is not chasing what may increase in value (not trying to lose money however) but collecting what gives me joy and what I might be able to display. Cards in the closet are just not my cup of tea anymore (ironically I will still have some in the closet but a lot fewer).
What about you?
Matt
Comments
My primary focus are cards that I recall well from my childhood through my teens both sports and non-sports.
Secondary focus on pre-war Baseball
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
I like to collect HOF players that I had watched on TV or in person growing up...so it's post-war era.
50s and 60s are my wheelhouse...
I just picked up a set of 1994 Fleer X men Ultra cards.
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe
The substantial truth doctrine is an important defense in defamation law that allows individuals to avoid liability if the gist of their statement was true.
I've been upgrading HOF'ers that I collected as a kid. (1977-1987) Needless to say, they were all handled too much. Just upgrading them as I can. I want to be able to hand these down to my son with the best possible condition for each card (Raw, I don't collect graded)
toddtopps
Hi, hello, how are ya?...............welcome..........
http://www.unisquare.com/store/brick/
Ralph
Do u ever post anything else??
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
I have never had what you would call a focus. I like so many different card related items that i have tried to pick up anything that interest me. Even seeking out bargains and holding back on buying expensive stuff I want, i still manage to spend too much month after month.
If I had to limit myself to only 1 theme moving forward, it would be autographed cards, certified and in person, any sport.
These threads give me new ideas to help un-focus my collecting.
I have multiplistic foci. I need medicine.
All is fair in love and war and third party grading.
I'm done with graded cards thanks to the price hikes, inconsistent grading and overall horrible experience with PSA lately. Instead I'm doing what most of us did as kids and going back to building sets. I'm working my way back and just finished a pretty damn mint 74 set and looking for a nice sized starting lot of 73s to begin my next challenge.
Brian
In the mid 2010’s, the Guardians had 2 excellent players come up: Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. I think both will end up in the Hall. I have 2 super rainbows going: 2016 Topps Lindor and 2021 Topps for Ramirez.
For the 2016, just keeping an eye open for the 1/1s, I have all the other variations. 22 of the 41 variations are PSA 10s. (As an aside, the pop report shows the Chrome Blue parallel has 7 graded a 10 - I would pay pretty good to get one).
For the 2021 Topps Jose Ramirez, looking for the sapphire red, and a couple of the UK set parallels - in addition to the 1/1s (I have found 4 1/1s so far) To get a sense of the expansion of the Topps products, the Jose Ramirez rainbow is at 81 different right now with more to find, while 39 covered everything other than 1/1 in 2016.
70s/80s/90s sets in binders/pages along with 90s insert sets.
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Well welcome to the club! I like to think of 1970-1980 as the Silver Age of Baseball cards! (1948-69 is the Golden Age as that's when you had Mickey Mantle as well as nickel packs and 1981 is when the Bronze Age starts because that's when the Topps monopoly ended)
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
1976 - 2010 are my years! 76 was the first year collecting and 2010 was when Griffey retired so pretty much anything sports related with a focus on Gretzky and Griffey cards... Cost of everything has slowed me down but still collecting for fun and as long as it's still fun I will collect.
ON ITS WAY TO NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92658
The first UFC/MMA cards (or historic MMA cards). Have most I am after... maybe need a dozen to finish some sets or acquire ones in a higher grade.
The UFC card hobby is a bit strange but its growing. I thought what sport am I ultra passionate about and get to collect the 1st cards issued for relatively cheap compared to other sports.
Received exact same message from that member after my first post here
IMHO it's super creepy, not too mention borderline stalky and just about scared me away from this forum!
As a Cubs fan, primary focus is on collecting team sets. Just finished some 50's sets, slowly moving to pre-war. Mix of graded and raw.
Don't be scared here , we are all friends. Well , maybe there is one that is pretty scary when he is not flying around on his broomstick.
The member seemingly stalks brand new members with the exact same high creep factor message.
Not sure who appointed that member as the Collectors Society boards Welcome Wagon but the stranger danger IMHO is palpable and disturbing. Based on responses I've seen on this forum, I do not believe I'm alone in those fears.
I would say better to be welcomed than un welcomed.
It's the message itself.
Seriously creepy, disturbing vibe and verbatim stalks nearly every first time poster with that message.
Hi, hello, how are ya?...............welcome..........
I thought it was scary when it happened to me then noticed that is pretty much all that member has posted the last several years.
What was once considered polite and welcoming is now considered creepy and disturbing.
Brick creepy and disturbing? 😂😂
He even put in a happy face!
Why not respond like a normal human being and thank him for the nice welcome?
BTW he’s been married for like 60 years and is the nicest person on these forums. How about newbies like groo try to learn something about him before spewing nonsense
I was just playing with you. A little humor.
My focus is pretty unfocused. LOL
Unopened - primarily baseball and non-sport pre-1981, but not exclusively
I love set building, so always looking to continue building my 60s and 70s baseball and basketball sets - still trying to finish my favorite set - 1965 Topps baseball.
Collecting World Series timeline SF Giants cards of specific players and sets
Love horror/fantasy/monsters, so looking to finish and upgrade my Philadelphia Dark Shadows sets, as well as Shock Theater set of the Hammer horror film movies (Christopher Lee heavy).
Of course, if I find a really good deal, I will buy regardless of focus. LOL
I am an addict. Anything I can get my hands on. I used to collect vintage but I quit buying when the prices skyrocketed. Now I run into any Walmart I pass and buy cards. I need to get focused on less. I am running out space in my office.
I do agree it's unsettling. In modern times it's understandable the message, which he posts over and over to every newbie, is perceived by some as stalker-like or menacing.
If the message varied and not posted immediately after a members first post perhaps it might appear more welcoming???
Anyhow FWIW I agree with Groo 100%.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Truth.
Like it or Not Times Change!
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
BTW… brick never welcomed groo after his first post anyway. He made his first post on this forum and nobody welcomed him.
After his first post on sports talk ‘this is the show’ welcomed him. Groo is a little late chastising show time for the welcome because he passed away about a year ago.
Sounds like groo is a lot creepier than brick.
So if I tell groo to get lost am I commended for it? Is this backwards world? A bit confused here. 🤔
Hey brick… just want you to know not everyone is going to turn on a member who has been nothing but kind to newbies here.
The problem is people now are a lot stupider than the folks of your generation.
I appreciate your kindness! 👍
I am kind of all over the place. It really depends on what I'm into at the moment.
I began collecting signed baseballs in 2002. I don't really chase those as much these days. I don't have room, and while I'd like to switch out some I have on display, I'd rather meet players in person. Auto prices are too high now for the players I want, and I don't have the patience to sit in lines all day anymore.
I grew up a huge fan of Canseco, I don't really chase his cards, but if there's an insert set where I just like that card, I try to get his as it's usually much cheaper than say Griffey (who I also loved growing up).
When I first got back into card collecting, I only wanted to work towards an entire mid-grade run of Milwaukee Braves cards. I got through 1958, and completely fell off in favor of collecting HOF rookies. Somewhere in there I got into TTM autos and decided to build a signed set of 1979 Topps baseball, primarily TTM. I started this in 2016. There's 777 total autos and I only need 13 more to complete this set. I jokingly asked my wife if I should start a signed 1979 football set and did not think that was funny at all. After running out of 1979 TTM guys, I started sending off rookie cards to HOFers to sign, but I've run out of those to get too.
I'm still getting HOF rookies, but I haven't bought any in awhile. I plan to get back into that more soon. Some higher grade HOFers are very affordable, but I have no real connection to em. I have majority of the players I watched growing up, so I've been going after more "golden era" players. But nice looking ones obviously are going to cost more. Especially the bigger names. I'm slowly saving up for a 48 Leaf Jackie Robinson. If I get that than I feel like I should go after the other three I don't have (50 Bowman, 52 Topps, 53 Topps), but the financial aspect would take me a long LONG time, so I'm on the fence.
Because of that, I got into Wisconsin sports tickets. I learned very quickly that there's so many events that had a historical event happen, you can't get them all, and while I could go after 500 HR guys, or 3000 Hit guys, I don't have a lot of connection to those. But I love the history of my state's teams. And the Packers have a deep history. They are fun to chase because you can find great ones relatively cheap if you're patient. I enjoy the rabbit hole you can go down as well. Just gotta be patient, and willing to do some deep diggin at times.
My god I'm rambling. Thanks for reading!
There are lots of options for mailing cards in for private signings. Lots of bad ones... quite a few solid, reputable ones. Helps to avoid the standing in line aspect or traveling for autos. Waukesha sportscards does a lot of private signings. That wasn't my LCS when I was collecting in WI, but the location in Waukesha on HWY 18 has been there since 1990 I bet. Autographs have really blown up in popularity the last few years. It's getting hard to complete projects. I still prefer to do many of my autos in person, but I also send a lot out and I've been using one company in particular lately and it's saved me a lot of time and $$$.
Me creepy? scary? stalking? No just a kindly senior citizen welcoming to the forum what those of my generation would call whippersnappers. BTW in all the years I have welcomed newbies only one person knew where my welcoming statement came from. I would have responded sooner but I just got back from therapy and happened upon the posts.
http://www.unisquare.com/store/brick/
Ralph
@Brick You are a treasured member here, don't let anyone else make you think otherwise!
My focus for the longest time has been playing years Greg Maddux cards and all of Hank Aaron's signed base cards. I have completed the Hank Aaron run and adding to the GM master set is rare since I can't sub the lower end cards in hopes of a 10 due to it being so cost prohibitive. I mainly focus on cards for setting up at shows and some eBay, but try to stick to what I like so if I stopped doing it tomorrow I would be happy with what I have. I am currently putting together a raw 1970 football set in exmt condition that I started on a whim.
eBay Store
Greg Maddux #1 Master SetGreg Maddux #2 Basic Set
I focus on HoF rookies, especially first ballot. Goal is to complete the set registry in the grade of the decade (ie , PSA 8 for 80s)
Second focus of every Topps set during my lifetime has been deferred and not sure if I’ll ever pick it back up.
Saying hi isn’t creepy. Asking for real first name is, tho.
Pretty much the same. But a heavy lean to football. Focus has evolved since jumping back into the hobby in Dec. 2012.
I focus on the first card of a player. My focus came about towards the end of the junk wax era when the writing was on the wall and decided I didn't want to collect cards that were insanely mass produced. Generally, 70s-mid 90's stars and local fan favorites. So, lots of Minor League, Junior League cards (hockey), Nordic country stickers (hockey), College set cards, some odd non-USA issues, or sometimes it's a postcard from a team postcard set that predates the RC, etc. If the RC is the first card of a player, but there is also a locally issued card in the same year, I'll go for the local issue.
I forgot to mention most of my collecting hobbies in general is all about trying to get as big a yearly sequence as I can (like for Topps baseball I got all the sets from 1973-2013; but short the cards below and 73's Ryan and Schmidt and football I got all sets from 1980-2000 except Montana RC), like in coins, stamps, World Book or Britannica yearbooks, World Almanac, or even UK Media Guides and Cats Pauses (yearbooks)!
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Are you looking forward to seeing what 2025 Heritage will look like? I always found Heritage to be quite interesting and fascinating but never could afford to do those sets as they are like $400-$500/yr if you count the SPs and cheap (non serial numbered) insert sets.
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars