It took me some time to decide on what kinds of things I would collect, and then building those sets started to get a bit easier.
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| Where to begin? |
I have to thank the blogging community for being so vibrant and having so many unique voices. I can't remember how I found it, but it was this post from GCRL that convinced me to take a closer look at what I wanted to collect. I had been poking around online (mostly just checking listings on eBay) for several weeks before finding out that there were several places in the Twin Cities where I could find cards and buy them in person. Aimlessly looking online was not really cutting it.
The 1957 Topps Elmer Valo from the GCRL post was a key to unlocking several things in my collecting: I realized that the story of the player, and the composition of the card's photo was often more important to me than how valuable the card might be.
The first show I went to in the Twin Cities I got the opportunity to look up close at and hold a 1963 Pete Rose rookie. I didn't have the money to purchase the card (even though the card had some serious paper loss on the back and was highly discounted). I found after spending some time looking at the various table's offerings, that the Pete Rose Rookie was not really for me - it's iconic, yes, and has a an interesting history (the scandal of the fakes in the 1980s), but the card itself didn't really do it for me.
I did end up getting the 57 Valo, and now I am building a small PC of Elmer Valo cards.
I also got a chance to look at Rose's 2nd year card, which was more in my price range (on the higher end), and really liked the trophy associated with it. So, I ended up starting a collection of all the Topps All-Star Rookie cards, which has been a ton of fun to chase.
What are some of the more specific collections you've developed, and how did it occur to you to start it?
I have a Rookie Cup collection as well. I started it because the rookie cup was a big part of my youth with Canesco, Joyner, McGwire, Griffey, and many other. Plus I just liked it.
ReplyDeleteI also have my Rockies team collection. It's kind of obvious why I have that.
Another thing I am going to start is a sampler collection for each team. One card of each player to wear that uniform. If possible of course.
Just collect whatever you like, but definitely cater it to your specific tastes. Otherwise you'll get bored with it pretty quickly.
Right on - thanks for the comment!
DeleteThat sampler collection sounds like a beast!
The '57 Valo is one of my favorite cards ever. I'm actually planning to show it on my blog again very soon.
ReplyDelete50's Topps all had great designs, but the photos were sometimes bland (same poses every year, lots of straight ahead portraits), so cards like the Valo just stand out so vividly.
DeleteI had never seen that Valo card before. Wish I had owned it 20 years ago. I used to see Elmer every spring working with the Phillies minor league players in Clearwater. He was a really nice guy and would always say hi to me.
ReplyDeleteI moved to PA in 1998 and one day I'm reading the obituary section of the newspaper and saw that he had died. Unbeknownst to me, he had been living in the same area I had just moved to. I remember looking his name up in a phone book and discovered he actually lived within walking distance from my house. I was really disappointed that I never got a chance to bump into him while living there.
Thanks for sharing that story - it's nice to hear that he was a good guy, too.
DeleteCard shows are so much more fun than getting on eBay. Something about human interaction and all that!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the blogosphere, by the way!
Thanks!
DeleteI feel like it's easier to politely haggle at shows, plus vendors will save stuff for you for next time if they find things you are collecting... in general it's my favorite way to get new cards (though I haven't really started doing blogger trades yet, that might end up taking the cake!)