Retired Player Collectors, a question.. How far is too far?

ThoseBackPages

How far do you go when collecting cards of "your player"?

digicat

I avoid cards printed more than a year after the player retired.

ludedude

From the PSA site:

"Player Sets:
In general, player sets consist of cards for that player which were manufactured during the player's play years. Exceptions: Many companies produce cards for players the year after the player has retired. These cards, with or without stats, issued the year following retirement are meant to depict the player’s previous season. In addition, there are a few vintage sets that may list one or two cards well past the play years. These cards are allowed due to their extreme popularity. For example, in the Babe Ruth Basic Set, the 1948 Leaf is listed even though Ruth retired in 1935. Player sets in the miscellaneous sports and non-sports categories may include post-retirement dated cards due to limited availability of play years cards."

mikeschmidt

I've spent about 14 years and gone through about 85,000 Mike Schmidt cards in putting together my player set. I'm sure I'm way off the charts on "over the top".

M

JoeBanzai

Tried to collect every card with player pictured on front, even if it was another players card. Finally was forced to give up when cards started coming out in several nearly identical forms as numbered "subsets". Some even being 1 of 1's. Got too expensive, virtually impossible to accomplish and more frustrating than fun.

New focus is on PSA cards in 8 or better of cards issued during players career in the registry. Still can be frustrating, but it's fun again!

Joe

ThoseBackPages

thank you all for your input. always learning, and always appreciate that.

my main obsession is George Brett. there are many cards i still need (and thats fine, it keeps me collecting). That being said, i find myself wanting to add cards like this to my Brett Registry:



as well as other League Leader Cards that feature Brett's name on the back, as well as the checklist cards. Yea, i know thats nuts, but when a player has a definite number of cards out there (while he played), shouldn't one's goal be to have them all (if that's what their focus is)?

i am also going to chase down cards of other players that feature Brett in the photo. The "coolest" one i've come across so far is Howie Long's 1991 Upper Deck Football Card has the two of them sitting and chatting on the sidelines

ludedude

I often wondered about the team photo cards, where the player is pictured on the front and name listed in the back. Should they be included???

I have a 1977-1979 Sportscaster card of "Tony and Phil Esposito" which is in both player registry but Tony isn't even pictured???

I have a card in which PSA says belongs to the "Johnny Bucyk" player set registry (because it is listed in Beckett as being Orr/Esposito/Bucyk) but he's not even pictured (he is listed on the back)??? I asked them to remove it and they said "we go by what is listed in Beckett"???

Should utra rare cards that aren't even graded yet (Population=0) be included in the player registry like a deck of 1978 playing cards of "Phil Esposito" or "Bobby Clarke" in which there are probably 54 cards with the joker??? Those are sets I'll probably never complete.

There are lots of anomalies in the player set registry, but I still like collecting these sets.

bking

Team cards get funky IMO. Do you include the 1970 Yankees team card, with the photo taken the previous spring, as one showing Mantle?

Dboneesq

Eric ... you are lucky that Bretts last name wasn't Topps ... Which cards would you then collect? LOL

Imagine if THIS was the guy you collected?

JoeBanzai

Terrific thread!

I include the team cards in my collection, and they are in the Killebrew registry. League Leaders are a MUST! Unfortunately players are not listed on all of the team cards. I always wondered if Killebrew might be there somewhere on the 1976 Twins team card, any one have any idea if he's on the '76 Royals?

I knew a guy that tried to collect absolutely everything Killebrew when I told him that Harmon was in fact the model for the MLB logo and he would have to get every card with that on the reverse, he was unamused!

Great stuff!

Joe

jackstraw

I have thought about collecting the 2008 UD Goudey cards that has a head shot of Griffey and then
says Ken Griffey Jr says.... That might be too much but he is pictured on the cards
I won't collect anything past 2011 because he retired last year but he is exclusive to Upper Deck so there
is no cards to collect

pebblyjack

I do Brett cards as well. (And Royals cards. Killebrew is not on the 1976 Topps Royals team card as they used the 1974 team photo for both the 1975 and 1976 team cards).

With the Bretts, I decided to do everything graded through 2000 (there's not a lot after 1994, but there are some nice items from 1995 as well as the Donruss Signature Series cards from 1997 and 1998). Cards made after 2000, I collect as I run across them, if the price is right, and I grade them from time to time, but really do not go out of my way looking for them.

I also collect cards with Brett on them, even if he is not the featured player. In addition to the 1991 Upper Deck Howie Long card you mention, Brett is also shown talking to Wade Boggs on the "Boston Bat King" card in the 1986 Star Boggs set (there is both a regular card that is red and a sticker version that is yellow), and Brett is shown sliding into second on both Roberto Alomar's 1993 Select Card (#8) and 1993 Select Stars Card (#14). They are from the same play, but slightly different photos. I am not aware of Brett making any other guest appearances on other players's cards, but would not be surprised if there were others. PSA will not include those cards in the Brett Registry.

I also collect variations, whether PSA recognizes them or not, like 1988 Donruss (where the design is reversed from wax packs cards and factory set cards), or 1991 Fleer where the stat line is in different places (I think that was also wax packs vs. factory sets), etc. Sometimes PSA changes its mind and starts recognizing them (I see they just started recognizing the 1988 Cadaco disc variations (League designation vs. No League Designation). I keep hoping they will recognize the difference between the 1976 Wiffle Insert Discs from the 1978 Wiffle Sidebox Discs Hand Cut, but am not holding my breath.

I do not collect cards on which only Brett's name appears on it (e.g., checklists or league league cards that do not feature his photo), but probably only because I never really thought about it.

Panels (Hostess, 1984 Star Bretts, Drake's, etc.), if I already have the base card, kind of leaves me cold. I do pick them up from time to time, as I find them or as they are offered to me, but I do not go out of my way to track them down.

Thanks

Randy
pebblyjack

JoeBanzai

Thanks for the info Randy. One less card to hunt down. It sounds like your collection is similar to mine. Are there any Brett cards being released in the last few years? The Killebrew's have exploded, to the point where you have to be rich and crazy to try to get them all and even then would not be able to. This baseball card "lottery" has gotten so crazy, I think the card companies might have shot themselves in the foot.

I have certainly scaled down my purchasing on newer material. Still having fun collecting!

Joe

Edited to add; There was a 1972 John Ellis in action card PSA 9 that went for $227.00 last week. Killebrew appears on the card playing first base. Too rich for my blood!!!!

pebblyjack

It seems to me there was a huge explosion of Brett cards 5-10 years ago (you know with infinite variations of the same card, etc.), but that it has abated some recently. For example, he was featured prominently in the Topps Golden Anniversary (2001) Set, but I don't think there is even a reprint or anything of him in the Topps Diamond (2011) Set. Maybe it's a contractual thing. But, then again, I am only speculating and haven't really tracked recent releases that well. A collector of more recent material could probably speak better about that than I can.

The only Kansas City Killebrews I am aware of are the 1975 (or 1976) SSPC card which is plentiful and easy to find in PSA 10 (I think I got mine for less than $8.00) and the 1975 Royals Postcard, which was part of a series of stadium giveaways I believe (or maybe you could purchase them at the souvenir shop). Those team issue cards are difficult to find. I know I have never seen the Killebrew postcard. In fact, allegedly there is a 1974 George Brett Royals Postcard, which would make it his earliest release (pre-dating his 1975 Rookie card). However, in all my years of collecting Bretts, I have never seen one.

Thanks

Randy
pebblyjack

JoeBanzai

Thanks again Randy, I have both the SSPC and the Postcard, so I am good to go. Must say I am not fond of seeing Harmon in a Royals uniform, Calvin Griffith should have given Harm at least one more season in Minnesota. Killebrew was the face of the organization from 1961 through 1974. The Twins had some other fine players, but we went to the games to see "Killer hit one".

Joe

GDM67

Are we talking about time after his career ends or how prominently the player is featured on the item?

In both cases, I go by aesthetic appeal. I have a 2005 Topps Fan Favorite Dale Murphy card that I own just because I love the way it looks. As far as anything from a player's career, I'm interested in anything that looks cool. I probably wouldn't go so far as getting everything that features his name but no photo and I wouldn't really want every card with that "Ken Griffey says..." thing, either.

At the same time, I would probably want the '83 Reggie Smith for a Sandberg complete set even if it wouldn't (and probably shouldn't) be listed in Ryne's Master Set. Same goes for the '76 Steve Ontiveros for a Schmidt or that Mantle-Mays card from the '62 set for an Aaron set.

Speaking of which...I'm pretty sure that's the Hammer in the background of Eddie Mathews' '64 card but I've never seen official confirmation of it.

ThoseBackPages

No, im talking about from their playing days.

last night i ripped a box of 1994 Stadium Series I. Brett's last Stadium Card is in this series.

i pulled this out of a pack:



to me, i want this in my Brett collection.

Sangy35

Do you also include team issued photos in your player collections?

JoeBanzai

Of course! Minnesota Twins issued several 4x5's and much harder to find 8x10's!

I have the disease.

Joe

ludedude

<< <i>Do you also include team issued photos in your player collections? >>



I collect hockey cards and this is not the norm, but I checked in the baseball player sets and this is more common.
Maybe I should start adding these?

JoeBanzai

How about magazines with player pictured on cover?

ThoseBackPages

im sticking to cards

JoeBanzai

How about Bazooka, Post, Kelloggs, Jello and Milton Bradley?

Game cards like APBA and Strat-O-Matic?

ThoseBackPages

<< <i>How about Bazooka, Post, Kelloggs, Jello and Milton Bradley?

Game cards like APBA and Strat-O-Matic? >>



Yea, i like that stuff as well.

JasonM32

In my younger days I used to collect everything I could find of my favorite players. I mean everything. Magazines, toys, plastic cups, coins, newspapers, you name it. It got to a point where I had so much stuff that I didn't have room for most of it. Huge boxes of stuff that became very difficult to manage. I got married and the older I got I realized that most of what I had was just misc junk with not much real value. Real assets started to become more important to me. Not that I was planning to sell my collection but when you put a big chunk of your money in a hobby you don't like to feel like it's all worthless.

So, I got a lot more selective with what I bought. Instead of raw cards I started building PSA graded sets of my favorite players. I still collect certified autographed cards, autographed 8x10's, pro-cut jerseys, and the occasional signed ball. I chose quality over quantity. The primary focus of my collecting now is PSA 10 graded basketball cards. The card market is down but I feel like the Hall of Famers that I collect will hold their value pretty well over the years. A lot better than my not-so-limited edition plastic McDonald's cups. lol

GDM67

<< <i>How about magazines with player pictured on cover? >>

That's always cool. Beckett, Tuff Stuff, Sports Illustrated, Sport...those are all nice. I also liked the Sporting News trade size paperback Registers and Guides for various sports. They always had sweet color photograps on the front covers.