HoF Set Idea...thoughts?

Axtell

Just curious if anyone had suggested putting together a set of HoFers (either complete or postwar), that listed their last regular season card as a player?

It seems like it would be a much more affordable set to collect, and be able to collect a complete set of HoFers like that (I think) would be fun...the rookie set, while nice, is out of reach for many collectors whereas the last card would be a much more affordable venture.

mikeschmidt

Affordable, yes.

Interesting - perhaps not so much.

I would hate to have to choose between which Steve Carlton card to include the set. Surely, I would have to look it up, as memories of the Twins, Indians, White Sox, and Giants dance around in my head, with no chronological timeline in my mind as to which team he played for which week.

Or Eddie Murray. Was it the Indians, Orioles, Angels or Dodgers that he finished up with? Anyone remember for sure? Anyone care? All I know is that in the 1980s era - I'm sure that there is some traded/update set somewhere out there commemorating the move.

What about Don Sutton? Does anyone remember that he finished with the Dodgers? Does anyone care?

I, of course, am being fecitious to some extent. I guess I am just trying to highlight, though, that a great number of baseball superstars sort of stay on too long, well past their prime - and collecting from their sports-hero downfall days does very little for me. Which would be Rickey Henderson's last card? Or do we have to wait and see...?

It is an interesting project - and it surely is more affordable. I guess I would say that with most post-war HOF players, that there are some really nice examples out there that are in the 4/5 grade, that are also affordable and at least in my mind, more desirable.

Axtell

I think along with this, at some point, PSA should/is going to split off the HoF registry to another, say 'post 80s' set...with the reintroduction of competition to Topps in 81, there are just far too many rookie cards to have to choose between. For Puckett, the 84F update was a pretty easy choice, but I am sure there are some who say an update/traded card isn't a 'true' rookie card.

HCS

I like the idea of having the final career stats of HOFs on his last card (s). I vote for it.

MorrellMan

In most cases, the last card doesn't include the player's last year. And those stats wouldn't show a lot of pertinent info: although he is not in the HOF - did you know that, in 1961, Gil Hodges was the #1 all-time National League right-handed home run hitter?

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but it kills me he's not in the Hall.

NickM

You can already collect a set in this fashion and register it in the current HOF set registry.

If you wanted to create a separate registry item for a set of this nature, you would probably run into a lot of debate about which cards should count - e.g., should it be the '77 Topps Brooks Robinson or the '78 Topps Brooks Robinson Highlight; or the '66 Topps Koufax or the '67 Topps NL Wins, ERA, or K Leaders card featuring Koufax. For a player such as Nolan Ryan, the discussion could be rather lengthy.

Nick