After I got back into the hobby during my late 20s, I found that I was buying everything current; baseball, football and hockey. It was getting to be too much and needed a more narrowed focus. These are a few of the mini collections that I’m working on.
Graded RCs and HOF RCs
I’ve always liked rookie cards. Some of my first RCs were of Ken Griffey Jr from 89 Fleer and Donruss sets; didn’t have his UD card until much later in life. When buying raw rookies, I found it hard to determine the condition or if they were altered. So I started buying cards already graded. I like both Beckett (BVG or BGS) and Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) graded cards.
1960 Topps Baseball (HOF only)
One of my favorite vintage designs is 1960 Topps. I picked a few of these cards in PSA holders in mid-grades, so I decided to collect all of the Hall of Famers in that set. Currently there are 30 HOF players in this set.
1960 Topps
#1 Early Wynn
#10 Ernie Banks ✅
#28 Brooks Robinson ✅
#35 Whitey Ford ✅
#50 Al Kaline ✅
#55 Bill Mazeroski ✅
#73 Bob Gibson ✅
#100 Nellie Fox ✅
#148 Carl Yastrzemski
#200 Willie Mays ✅
#210 Harmon Killebrew ✅
#240 Luis Aparicio ✅
#250 Stan Musial ✅
#264 Robin Roberts ✅
#300 Hank Aaron
#305 Richie Ashburn
#316 Willie McCovey
#326 Roberto Clemente
#335 Red Schoendienst ✅
#343 Sandy Koufax ✅
#350 Mickey Mantle
#395 Hoyt Wihelm
#420 Eddie Matthews ✅
#445 Warren Spahn ✅
#450 Orlando Cepeda✅
#475 Don Drysdale ✅
#480 Yogi Berra ✅
#490 Frank Robinson ✅
#493 Duke Snider ✅
#502 Jim Bunning ✅
1999 UD Century Legends Epic Signatures (HOF only)
Ive always been a sucker for a good looking autographed card. This is a beautiful subset that looks really sharp signed. It’s a clean design with the player photo and a background photo of Tigers Stadium. The blue sharpie autograph really pops on these cards. I am collecting as many HOFers as I can acquire.
Vintage HOF cards
I’ve been big into vintage cards lately; especially Hall of Fame cards. I love the unique designs over the years. I didn’t have any cards handed down to me. I’ve been trying to catch up on what I missed out. I was born in 1980 and didn’t start collection until 1989. So vintage for me is anything prior to the 1980s. There are some great sets from the 1960s and 1970s. Depending on condition, these cards can be found at reasonable prices. I usually look for cards in mid grade condition. Eye appeal is important. I’d rather have an OC card with rounded edges vs one with a crease. I’ve been collecting HOFers from each set and storing them in semi rigid holders inside two row shoe boxes.
The Warren Spahn Collection
I am trying to put together a PSA run of every card from Warren Spahn’s career. For
now, I will focus on the main Topps and Bowman cards. I will try for mid grade cards, but may need to sacrifice condition for some of the rarer cards.
1948 Bowman RC
1949 Bowman
1950 Bowman
1951 Bowman
1952 Bowman
1952 Topps
1953 Bowman
1953 Topps
1954 Topps
1955 Topps
1956 Topps
1957 Topps ✅
1958 Topps
1958 Topps AS ✅
1959 Topps
1959 Topps AS
1960 Topps
1961 Topps ✅
1961 Topps AS
1962 Topps
1962 Topps AS
1962 Topps IA ✅
1963 Topps ✅
1964 Topps
1965 Topps ✅