Team or Player collectors - do you collect every card you can get?

[Dabigyankeeman]

I am a Yankee and Mets collector, and i also collect various other cards i like. However, i dont try to get every single Yankee card i can find. I only collect cards i like. For instance, it in 2008 Topps and Upper Deck produce a card of the same player, if they are both nice, i will put them in my album, but if i think one is an ugly card (bad picture) i will NOT put it in my album. The same goes for insert cards, most of which i think are ugly, if i get a Yankee it only goes into my albums if its a good looking card. I am really into what a card looks like, i think way more than other people.

Even with marginal players, i dont a bunch of Celerino Sanchez Yankee cards, i am satisfied to have 1 in my collection. On oddball players like this, i try to only have 1 in my albums as opposed to players like Jeter who i would put multiple cards in my albums EVERY year. However, i still would not put every single Jeter card in my albums, it still has to be good looking.

The only exception to this is the real old stuff, as i love the pre-1960 cards and now have around 500 Yankees (and close to 500 combined Brooklyn Dodger & New York Giants cards), and i will put any of these real old cards into my albums.

Years ago i would keep anything that said Yankees on it, oddball ugly card sets, not anymore, i have given them away and just stick with the cards and players i really like.

If you collect specific teams or players, do you do this, or do you just collect every single card you can get your hands on and try to see how many cards you can obtain?

[OnePimpTiger]

I have several player collections (see the sig), but don't collect teams any more. I used to collect Cubs, but I quit that and actually quit baseball altogether. When I was collecting the Cubs though, I was getting into what you're talking about. My brother always bought a lot of baseball and he would give me most of the Cubs and it ended up being a lot of cards I didn't care for, either because they were players I'd never heard of, never watched play, or the cards were of players I liked, but the card was ugly (yes, I consider the look of a card also).

Now with my player collections, I'm a little different. With my main guys (Clemson alum, Aaron Rodgers, David Legwand), I try to get one of every card I can with one small exception...I try to not get any single color, solid white GU. Otherwise, any thing of theirs down to base Topps Total I try to get.

With some of my other less important player collections (Philip Rivers, Brian Calhoun, Ryan Suter, Ilya Kovalchuk), I collect most of their stuff, but I don't actively try to get some cards. Say there's a certain card that I don't really care for, if I can get it cheap without giving up anything I like, yeah I'll do it. But if there's the slightest hesitation about a trade because of that, I'll pass.

I do think I'm one of the hardcore breed of player collectors. A lot of people now only collect GU and autos or only #'d stuff. If that's what they enjoy, more power to them, but I don't think that's a true player collection. I see your point of only looking for cards you find aesthetically appealing much more than only getting cards because of their value.

[Dabigyankeeman]

A lot of people now only collect GU and autos or only #'d stuff. If that's what they enjoy, more power to them, but I don't think that's a true player collection. I see your point of only looking for cards you find aesthetically appealing much more than only getting cards because of their value.

Good man, however, I think you and I are in the minority! You've got the attitude I like, but I cant knock the way anybody collects as we all like different things, but as to the way YOU collect, I bow down to your greatness.

[gladdyontherise]

i also have 5 player collections at the moment, amare stoudemire, justin verlander, glen davis, miguel cabrera, and dontrelle willis. i take any card of them that i dont have including base. i enjoy searching for them but right now verlander and stoudemire or my biggest targets, cabrera seems to have many gu's/autos so if i have to give something i dont want to for it, i pass, but i dont like to trade autos for any pc need for gu's regardless, reason being when i use to do that, the same person i traded with to do it for them said they wont trade gu's for autos etc. very hypocritcal. but yea player collecting is fun for me.

[snowkat]

I used to collect every Avalanche card I could get. But over the years, the proliferation of sets and sub sets and super limited cards, and GU scraps, made that even more impossible.

Now I stick to a few years at a time, and try to fill in everything I can from those years, inclusive of base, inserts, and some parallels. But rarely GU, as I don't really like the look of most of them, and only an occasional auto card.

That said, I don't keep duplicates of a card except in the case of RCs once in a while.
Fortunately, the pocketbook doesn't have to suffer the wrath of chasing down vintage.

[molly1984]

for Albert Belle in baseball I do, because it was easy to print up a list. I know I will never get all of the cards out there, but it doesn't hurt to have the list :) And since he is retired, I don't see many more cards of him being created.

For Brian Schneider I am also trying to get all of his cards, and he doesn't have many made each year so I see it as possible, aside from 1/1 cards.

[trevorp121]

for Kobe I try to get any card I can.

[jmdorsey]

I collect Drew Stafford and I go for pretty much anything I can get my hands on, and in any amount. The only exception is that I only want 1 of each base card, but other than that anything goes.

[gatorboymike]

Yes, unless they are ridiculously overpriced. The guys I collect, I can usually get non-plate 1/1s of them for between $15 and $25. But this guy on eBay has one for $100 right now, and I'd honestly rather never own it than pay that much for it. Of course, I am willing to wait a month to see if he lowers his price.

[sevencostanza]

I'll take a .10 cent base card or a $200.00 autograph. Doesn't matter to me, just as long as I need it (or can afford it lol).