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- Baseball Cards (11)
- Baseball (10)
- Ben Henry (10)
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Baseball Card Examiner
Showing entries for Category: Baseball

POSTED June 25, 6:25 PM

Recently I decided to focus my collection and trade away the rest. It's a daunting proposition for an incurable pack rat like myself. But it's got me thinking that I should've done this a long, long time ago.

For one thing, focus gives a collection shape and purpose. I've always thought that there are two ways of going after cards: Collecting and Amassing. The collector makes purchases with a goal in mind (like a complete set or to add to a player collection) while the amasser just buys and buys for the heck of it. No matter how I've tried to delude myself in the past, I've always been an amasser. And look what it's got me: an 150,000-card collection with no rhyme or reason to its makeup. It's frustrating, to say the least. But those days are behind me. I'm ready now to Collect.
I've decided to focus on the Boston Red Sox, and though the team's history is dotted with superstars and Hall of Famers, it's a fairly easy team to collect: it's had long stretches of mediocrity–and plenty of bad players. Guys like Bob Bolin, Marc Sullivan, and Herm Winningham mean I don't have to pay a lot per card to finish team sets.

    It's another story when collectors choose a team like the Dodgers or Yankees, two teams perennially stocked with the game's brightest talent. Unless you saved your Koufaxes and Mantles from when you were a kid, cards of those two Hall of Famers don't come cheap. Even cards of role players and bench guys from the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies are usually more expensive than other commons simply because of the team affiliation.
    One team that I had been thinking of collecting is the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers have fielded many great teams over the years, and cards of players from their last World Championship team (1984) are woefully under-appreciated. Rookie cards of guys like Jack Morris, Kirk Gibson, Lance Parrish, Lou Whitaker, and Chet Lemon are cheap (each can be had, in near-mint condition, for between $5 and $10). Shortstop Alan Trammell shares his rookie with Hall of Famer Paul Molitor (1978 Topps #707), so his is considerably more valuable than the rest. Still, collecting Tiger baseball cards is not a very expensive proposition.
    Narrowing focus doesn't just mean collecting a team. Many collectors focus on individual players. Right now I'm putting together a trade with a collector who specializes in Mark Grace, the former Cubs and Diamondbacks star. I've heard from collectors who focus on Rickey Henderson, Ichiro Suzuki, Will Clark and J.T. Snow. Even a collector who pursues cards of Mackey Sasser, the New York Mets' back-up catcher of the late 1980s.
    There are literally thousands of ways to give your collection focus.

    Hopefully I've found mine.

Categories: Baseball Cards , Baseball , Ben Henry , Red Sox , Dodgers , Yankees , Tigers

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To Collect Is To Trade

POSTED June 13, 10:13 PM

One of the best things about collecting sports cards is trading with a friend. Well, we're all friends here, right? So I say, trade with me. If you've got a few cards you don't want laying around, send them my way and I'll send you... Read More

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Ten Under Ten

POSTED May 22, 11:49 AM

Mention baseball cards to the random person and perhaps a sly smile will flash across their face. The names Mickey Mantle and Honus Wagner will undoubtedly come up, as will the assertion that a mother, grandmother or other hardline... Read More

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A Valuable/Valueless Argument

POSTED May 14, 11:36 AM

Who was the greatest center fielder in New York in the Fifties? What is the best baseball card set ever—before the war and after? Who had the funniest name? The largest head? And how about the ugliest mug only a mother could... Read More

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Caring for Your Collection

POSTED May 11, 2:29 PM

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I should display my collection: boxes in my closet, in random stacks around my apartment, or in pages in a binder? Displaying and caring for cards is one of the biggest topics in the hobby, with Ultra Pro just... Read More

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My Favorite Subset: 1981 Donruss Managers

POSTED May 7, 1:47 PM

I am a man of many favorites. That’s why it’s easy for me to appreciate the manager cards from 1981 Donruss: the stark simplicity of what is, in essence, a headshot or a blurry medium shot of an old man is rendered both wonderful and painfully... Read More

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One Man's Trash is the Same Man's Treasure

POSTED May 5, 9:47 AM

I’ve decided that I’m going to try to complete the 1981 Topps set. No big deal, I have most of the commons; all in all it will probably take me $10 to buy the star cards I need. But that’s not what I want to talk... Read More

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A Few Fantastic Cards to Start the Day

POSTED May 2, 9:13 AM

Poor Rusty. Who’s idea was it to take his photo in front of a chainlink fence by the parking lot? Or did he have a bus to catch back to the minors? By the way, why does it look like he was cut in half by a magician and then poorly reconnected?... Read More

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How Much is my Baseball Card Worth?

POSTED April 29, 5:22 PM

I get this question a lot, and in all fairness it’s probably the most-asked question in collecting. It’s a good question to ask, especially since a card’s worth is one of the easiest ways to determine if the... Read More

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Introduction

POSTED April 28, 1:33 AM

Inevitably, a certain something gets lost in the translation from holding baseball cards in your hand and reading about them. Holding a baseball card is not just a tactile experience; it's a five-sense fun-time explosion for the whole... Read More

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