How big is your card collection?

[Hammerin Hank]

I've been a collector of baseball cards for about five or six years now, and even though I haven't even bought any these last couple years my collection has about 2,000 cards. None of them are very valuable. Perhaps you have some that are. I have that organized by the team the player was on in the card and then alphabetically so I can easily find the card if I need to. Being a Cubs fan, I probably have more Cubs cards than anything else. And there are a lot of Sosa and Griffey cards too. Well, anywho, just tell me about your collection.

[kelo80]

I started like 2 years ago, but found out that just wasnt my thing, I have like around 200 cards, mostly Padres. My collection includes Griffey Jr. Gonzo, Gwynn, Sosa by the most famous.
GL with this forum. :clapping

[Biggtone23]

I've been collecting for about 10 years now. I have somewhere around 20,000 to 25,000 cards. Most are from the late 80s - early 90s so they are not worth much. Most common cards from these sets book at a penny (Beckett Dec. 03). Some highlights of my collection.
1983 Fleer Tony Gwynn rookie $15.00
1993 Topps Traded Todd Helton Team USA $30.00
2001 Topps Ichiro Rookie $15.00
2002 Topps Barry Bonds 73 Home Run sub set
70 - $25.00
73 - $60.00

[Eddie Collins]

I haven't bought anything in about 6 years, but I have about 5,000 cards

[AutoMick]

Wow did that hurt me..... she did it when I was about 19 to some kid she was babysitting for. I had the entire Fleer collection of Ted Williams cards...... I had the Mays, Mantle, Aaron, Clemente, Ford, Berra, Wynn, Drysdale, Koufax, Pierce, Howards (Frank and Elston), Fox, Aparicio.......... ahhhhhh that hurts.

I didn't collect again till 1976 when my son was born.... but he never took to the game ..... at least yet and he's 27 now.

So I just kept it for myself.......... I did buy a few football cards and my prized possession there would be Walter Payton's rookie card.

So I've been buying some older cards and have amassed a huge White Sox collection........ as well as some very nice ones including the George Bretts, Nolan Ryans, Tony Gwynns, Sammy Sosa, Willie Stargell, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Roger Clemens, Cal Ripken,, Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Rickey henderson, Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciappara, Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez..... etc.

I alos have 20+ years of White Sox media Guides...... magazines, and newspapers. I have some posters, some bobble heads and autograph baseballs from Carlton Fisk and Frank Thomas as well as several souviner baseballs gotten from games at old Comiskey Park.

Great hobby....... great game....... but my sight is starting to fail me and it looks as though I will be selling these things in the not too distant future....... :(

[insanefishpossay]

20,000+, most i got from my dad/grandpa. Almost all are from 1985-1994, dont have much newer stuff, and I haven't actually bought anything for awhile. I have lots of rookies cards, I'll post some when I get the chance

[Zito75]

I used to work in a card shop when I was 16 to about when I was 19. I had around 30,000 cards at one point- but quantity means NOTHING. I am down to around 8-10K now, but have better "quality."
86 Fleer Jordan Rookie in MINT shape
59 Topps Musial
85 Topps McGwire Rookie
83 Topps Gwynn
82 Topps Ripken
'70 Topps Reggie Jackson & Nolan Ryan
89 Upper Deck Griffey

Lots of other various rookies.

[rudy]

I have thousands and thousands and thousands of baseball cards. I wouldnt have given up the hobby if they didn't come out with 650 different sets in each year. The fact that cards became worthless was only a good thing---the hobby became far cheaper. It was never about their worth anyway---it was about collecting all of the cards from your favorite players. I have every single Bo Jackson baseball card every printed, each one in their own case.

When my brother and I were young, about 15 years ago, we used to pick rookies and buy hundreds of their cards. Most of the times it didn't work out: Bruce Ruffin, Hensley Meulens, among so many others just did nothing. We did find one guy who turned out pretty good though: I have over 150 Sammy Sosa rookie cards, and he's not even, nor has he ever been, a favorite of mine.

I don't have any old-school cards...I think my oldest cards are George Brett cards from the mid-70's. My bro and I used to cleect certain player's cards: George Brett, Ruben Sierra, Darryl Strawberry, Eric Davis, and each of our two favorites, mine being Bo, his being Will Clark.

I still find myself dropping in to local card stores once in a while just to buy a few packs, and in some cases, I'll just buy boxes of cards, and spend an afternoon opening packs and making sets the real way. Ever since teh card industry went down, it has become so much cheaper to be a collector again! I'll stick to the late 80's and early 90's though....I still love the thrill of finding Bo cards!

[The Mick]

I've been a fanatical card/memorabilia collector for most of my life. I have thousands of cards - but over the last few years I have gone more team specific (Yankees-Steelers-Penguins-and autographed cards).

My sports memorabilia collection has actually gotten "out-of-hand" so to speak and it helps to have an understanding wife. I look at it as both a hobby and an investment. I figure my kids will be able to get several thousand for it after I am gone.

That may be a while though as I'm only 31. (haha)

[Chisox73]

I have most Topps sets dating back to 1973.I've only stuck with Topps.I'm one of the few who buy the cards for the sheer enjoyment of collecting.

Sometime next year,I want to start building my 1972 Topps set.I have all the White Sox players from that set,including Dick Allen.

I also collect team photo cards from the '60s and '70s.My favorite team card is the 1970 Topps Seattle Pilots team photo card(#713).The only Pilots team card issued.

[Utter Chaos]

I've been collecting non-stop since 1969. There were a few down periods like girls, high-school, girls, college and more girls but I still managed to buy some every year and keep my mom from throwing them out (even though she threatened to many times).

In the 80's I tried collecting everything there was but it got to be too much so now I just concentrate on the Topps regular issues. I have them all from 1963-2003 plus 1957 and 1960. I still need about 500 more to complete my goal which is the entire Topps run from 1952 on. I also have an Old Judge card from the 1800's, some T206's, Goudeys, Leafs, lots of old Bowmans, etc.

I'm guessing the total number of my collection is around 150,000. I collect for the enjoyment rather than the value. I enjoy reading the backs of the old cards to learn info like Dee received a purple heart for WWII or Archie is an English teacher in the off-season. Nowadays it's stuff like Joe and Dave share the same agent or Sam signed with the Yankees because they offered him the most money.

[Atlanta Braves Freak]

My card collection started at Camden Yards int 1998 when I bought 100 cards for a dollar. Now my collection has increased to about 550. I organize mine by team, and when my collection wasn't big I would go in depth, by last name!

:laugh :laugh :laugh

[4-Man_Rotation]

I collected as a kid ... and stopped buying through my teen years ... then got married and have spent probably TOO much money on them these last few years.

I collect only certain players. I'm a huge Randy Johnson fan and have 620 different cards of him alone. I also like Ichiro, Barry Zito, A-Rod and Mark Grace. I have several hundred of each of them ... among others pertaining to hometown heroes ...

Some of my faves are:

-1987 Topps Tiffany Rafael Palmeiro PSA 9
-2002 Topps Heritage Certified Auto Hank Blalock
-1994 Flair Alex Rodriguez (RC)
-2001 UD Victory Ichiro (RC) BGS 9.5

and one I got for my B-day last week ... a piece of Game-Used base from 10/22/00 when Clemens (accidentally) threw the bat at Piazza in the WS.

[trillian42]

I've only been collecting for about six months...mostly Twins cards...have about 2000 now...another 1200 or so coming in the mail any time now (*fingers crossed*)...I started out collecting my favorite player. Unfortunately this weekend I had to do the tragic...moved him from the 'Current' to 'Former' binder.

I like to get the huge lots on ebay...preferrably UN-picked through...but haven't really gotten anything fantastic yet.

Love flipping through the bargain bins in the local card shop during my lunch break. Don't go too often though--the boys always look at me a little funny! :laugh

[abolishthedh]

In 1993 I had about 4200, and then I decided to sell the most valuable cards off and keep about 10% of the collection. What I have kept includes the gritty gamer type players, because these are the players I most admire. These are the players who I will probably be reminiscing about years from now!

It turned out to be a well timed decision, I suppose.

Everything I own is Topps, because I never gave any credibility to the new kids on the block companies. Fleer and Donruss are legitimate makers because they have been around, but Upper Deck and the other me-too companies were the very reason I decided to sell in 1993. More companies in the market meant that the money factor was more important to collectors and the industry, and I couldn't relate to it so I got out. I haven't collected in several years. The current collection has remained in the 400s.

Yet, the players I have kept are stored because of the power of that small cardboard paper with a bad photo. The industry exists because of sentiment, not wallets. Money can be spent, but sentimental value is priceless.

[Jose_Reyes_Revolution]

I mostly collect MLB Showdown. I have almost every card of those (2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 sets). I have about 1,000 other regular baseball cards, and about 6,000 hockey cards. So all together I have just less than 10,000 cards (baseball + hockey)

[McNick]

My brother and I collected in the early 70's until he sold them at a garage sale. Back in '87 my 4 year old daughter found a beat up Will Clark rookie card and we started collecting together. She grew up learning the game through the cards and when she was 6 years old could imitate the swings of all of the good players, lefty or righty. She turned out to be a pretty good ball player, now a junior on a full softball scholarship at a great school getting a major in her chosen field.

Our collection went crazy, unfortunately during the years when cards were over-produced, therefore the value isn't there. But the time spent together buying and sorting was priceless.

A few years back, I decided to start buying unopened packs. I have about 2500 unopened packs now to go along with 100,000 plus cards.

3 years ago, I put together a 1960 set strictly off of eBay and gave it to my brother for his 40th birthday.

This year, I turned my attention to the 1963 set (my birth year) and am 60% done with every card PSA graded 7 or better.

[Etheridge2]

I started Collecting in 1985 and had literally thousands of thousands of cards but after several moves I had to get rid of almost all of them and as a result saved only some of my Cardinal Cards and a set of Cooperstown cards I boucght a few years ago.


I also have ALL of my OZZIE SMITH CARDS
that collection totals about 400 different Cards and Stickers and I still don't have them all

[uthminsta]

I began collecting cards with a little box set of MVP cards that K-Mart produced on 1982 - I was in 2nd grade. The cards replicated the player's Topps card from the year they were voted MVP. Remember those, anyone? I would read the backs of those 44 cards over and over and over. I still have those cards, although a few of them have had to be replaced because I lost them through the years.

I collected until 1994, my second year of college. The strike really disappointed me, I lost interest in the cards, first serious girlfriend, plus I was broke. I sold all of my cards dated after about 1990 or so.

About 1998, I began to take interest in the SPORT of baseball again, partly because of the home run chase. About 2001, I started reading about the 500 Home Run club and decided to dig my cards out and check them out again. Decided I would see if maybe I could complete a few of those old sets. Started making checklists. My wife should have known then - when she saw me making a checklist of baseball cards - that I was about to get into another time-consuming, painstaking, money-draining hobby. Too late now, dear.

Yeah, I'm a set builder. A rare breed these days, apparently. At all the local shops, no one's interested in anything that's more than a couple of months old... so I get pretty good bargains when I say I'm trying to complete EVERY Topps set, and I just want to see their commons boxes. There's even one local shop which has a box which holds about 6,000 cards all 1 cent each. And no matter how often I go there, it's always full. And it's always cards I want. And I always end up getting about 2000 cards for 20 bucks. Ah! It's easy to work on sets from the mid 90's to the present that way, or at least to find the commons.

I also collect cards of the 500 club members and all the players I think have a decent chance of making it there... plus all players with my last name (Shirley) and... anyone I know to be a Christian.

And I just love looking at those old T-205 and T-206 cards, Goudeys, PlayBalls... I have a few of each, but they're hard to come by in any decent condition without emptying my wallet. My wife actually casually collects the old 1948-1955 Bowman cards.

Oh yeah, the question. How large is my collection. About 50,000 in my collection proper, plus about 15-20,000 for trading. Of course the trading amount would change pretty often, and the collection rises steadily but very slowly now. I try to make a lot of my progress through trades with others who are also set builders. I am currently closest to finishing Topps sets from 1973-1983. So can I say I would love to work out a trade possibly with some other post-ers on here? I'm not sure if we're allowed to make such offers or not. If not, I'll delete it.

I thought this was going to be a brief post. But I just love baseball cards. I love that I can still trade, even though I'm almost 29 years old, because it's not just a kids' hobby. Millions of people love the sport, and many, many grown men still love to open a pack or build a set or... just the thrill of the search.

[Etheridge2]

Originally posted by uthminsta
I I also collect cards of the 500 club members and all the players I think have a decent chance of making it there... plus all players with my last name (Shirley) and... anyone I know to be a Christian.


Surely you can't be serious...heehee...do you collect Trot Nixon cards?? Jesus sometimes controls his bat...I assume by Christian you are talking about Dale Murphy like and not the I would like to thank God for all he ahs done but now I have to go cheat on my wife and beat my girlfriend types that seem to clutter the sport


Anyway I couldn't resist the surely line...gotta love Airplane..good luck on building those sets up.

[uthminsta]

Originally posted by Etheridge2
I assume by Christian you are talking about Dale Murphy like and not the I would like to thank God for all he ahs done but now I have to go cheat on my wife and beat my girlfriend types that seem to clutter the sport

I guess it's pretty hard to really figure that out. I prefer people like John Olerud, Gary Carter, Albert Pujols... I've read or heard all of them tell their testimonies. They have all publicly talked about a real relationship with God and are not ashamed to tell how He has changed their lives.

A lot of people who profess Christianity one day, don't even live like it that night... I know, and it is really disappointing. And it gives Jesus a bad name. Gives people a bad taste in their mouths. It just plain sucks. I guess some can't really handle the pressures of being a public figure and a positive role model.

Yeah. So anyway.

[4-Man_Rotation]

Orel Hershiser is another guy who's had a positive Christian attitude throughout his career ... I read a great essay written by him in Chicken Soup for the Baseball Fan's Soul.

[4-Man_Rotation]

Originally posted by Jose_Reyes_Revolution
I mostly collect MLB Showdown. I have almost every card of those (2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 sets). I have about 1,000 other regular baseball cards, and about 6,000 hockey cards. So all together I have just less than 10,000 cards (baseball + hockey)

I love those MLB Showdown cards!!

Their pretty pricey as singles ... I have most of the Randy Johnson cards from those series ... I think ...

Lot of card set and cards out there these days!!

I try to focus on getting all the RJ's from one set at a time (including parallels, G/U, SP's, etc) ...

ANd I LOVE and constantly pursue Donruss/Leaf/Playoff SAMPLES and GOLD SAMPLES of RJ cards found in Becketts ...

eBay is my friend.

[BigRedMachine]

At least 10,000 cards. I plan to take an inventory of my card collection soon and hope to start back doing card shows again.
I've got several unopened cases and boxes.

Among my most prized cards are a 1961 Topps Mickey Mantle in excellent condition (not mint), a near mint Topps Eddie Murray rookie card and near mint rookie cards of Rickey Henderson and Barry Bonds.

Cards shows are a great learning experience. You can really have a lot of fun doing card shows and if you have kids, they can benefit from this learning experience as well.

In my opinion, it's important to have a well organized and high quality presentation of your cards at card shows.

[robbgessner]

my card collection is pretty extensive. a combination of my father and me, theres gotta be well over 25,000 cards prolly many more, dating from 1981 to 1995. i got many sets and speciality sets. i'm looking to get rid of some of them if anyone is interested. will sell at fair price.

[dgarza]

23-25+K
mostly from a 6-ish year period 88-93 of activity
expansion and a flood of gimmicks from the industry drove me off. Started back with a bit with a focus on obscuro-type stuff.

[O'sDude#25]

I dont have many old rookie cards but i have plenty of old regular cards, but i have over 3,000 baseball cards, 4,000 football cards, ,1,200 basketball cards and 9 hockey cards lol. And over 250 rookie cards from baseball, football and basketball.

I used to buy packs and packs but i quit that and either by the full sets or jersey/memorablia cards.

My most prized cards are....
Barry Bonds rookie
Brett Farve rookie
Terrel Davis game used jersey card.

I have many others but they are mostly all football.

I also have an autographed Cal Ripken Jr card, he signed it for me when he came down to Virginia, and i have a 2001 MLB Showdown Luis Gonzalez signed card that i got for free.

I am also a huge fan of Griffey JR, i have about 5cards that are worth over $20 of his and many others, the sucky thing is when i bought my Barry Bonds rookie, my brother went behind my back and bought the Ken Griffey JR rookie, still havent been able to get that from him.

[Yanks4life]

I have close to about 10,000 cards. i am a huge fan of them. i have gotten so many great cards i have lost count. its crazy.

[CrewChief]

My card collection has gone to hell. Once including close to 25,000 cards, it now sits at about 5,000-10,000. The quality of my collection has gone down as well. For some reason my collection includes over 30 Al Kaline cards, who was my dad's favorite ballplayer growing up. I used to have a solid 1950-1970's collection, but now the majority are "stars" from the 80's and 90's. I haven't bought a pack of cards in 8-10 years. Those were the days.

However, my buddies father is a card dealer in his spare time, and his collection is absolutely fantastic. If any of you are looking for anything 1930-1960, this guy has it ALL!

Happy collecting.

[serumgard]

About 60,000, including basketball, football and hockey cards. I've also got every Topps or Topps Traded regular issue set from 1984-2003. I stopped at '84 because it's when the Tigers last won the World Series, and I wanted a memorably starting point. If I wanted to pick it up again, I'd probably have to shoot for 1977 (the year I was born) or 1968 (another Tigers championship).

I've got about 8000-10,000 cards from '84-94 that are just duplicates that I'm looking to unload if anyone's interested.

[jhwinfrey]

I have about 15k cards, like most of you, they're mainly from 1985-91. I got hooked on collecting them when my local grocery store sold topps packs--15 cards for 25 cents, plus that tasty gum! I could always count on talking my mom into buying me a pack if I was good during a trip to town (I was 6 or 7 years old.)
My dad always admonished me to take good care of my cards and keep them picked up. My grandmother threw my dad's cards from the 60's into the stove one day when she got fed up with him leaving them out on the floor. He says he had a Yogi Berra rookie card, among others. A few years ago I found a few of his old cards stashed away in a recipe box. I "liberated" a Steve Carlton rookie, and didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I found a 1966 Topps Sandy Koufax with the word "retired" written across the face in ballpoint pen, and in my dad's handwriting. I showed it to my dad and he just grinned.
I got the Classic set every year, usually for my birthday, and the 1986 set had a Bo Jackson card with him in his Auburn jersey and football pads that was worth something like $800 around 1987. I remember a friend offered me $100 for it and I turned him down, sure it would be worth thousands some day. Now it's listed at eight bucks or so. I do have a 1987 Classic McGwire that's still worth a little...

[rip8fan1]

I have over 100,000 baseball cards from every brand, and every type I can imagine. I stopped buying cards for many years, but now my son is 'into it', so I have started buying them again. I can't believe how many different products are on the market!!

I also have a good collection of football cards, and some basketball cards, and hockey cards. I also have racing cards, and 'magic: the gathering' cards, and many other variety of cards that takes my collection near 200,000 total.

[baseballgeek]

I've been collecting since 1975, when I was 6. I was an avid collector from '75 to about '81, when I started to develop a stronger interest in girls.

In '91, I got back into the swing of things.

I would say that my collection includes 100,000+ cards.

My favorite cards in my baseball card collection are:

(a) PSA VG-3 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson rookie
(b) 1951 Duke Snider
(c) PSA-10 '86 Bonds Topps XRC

If I include other sports, I would add my PSA-8 '86 Fleer Jordan.

If there are any folks who are interested in trading, I'm game... just email me at rob@baseballgeeks.com.

[The Dude]

My collection is huge ... probably over 30K. I've been opening packs since I was lets see .. 6. Used to go to the pharmacy after school with my dad and buy a couple packs. Then my dad and I busted open a bunch of wax Upper Deck 94. I don't know .. I have to have 4 or 5 EC sets from 94. Then we went nuts again in '97 with Fleer Showcase. I remember every friday going to the shop and buying 1-3 boxes. After 97 we cooled off as only one of my parents was working. We still bought and made topps every year. Then in 2001 I started hanging out at the local card shop. My dad has known the guy for 20 years, since he used to work in Milwaukee (WHere I used to live). I've been working/hanging out there since I was 13 almost every day after school. Most of the regulars are good friends of mine now, and my collection of cards amassess as I buy more and more... anyway ... no idea why I posted this 'biography' of my card collecting.

Here are the highlights of my collection in $$ wise ... I have other cards that are priceless to me on a personal level.

-A-Rod '94 Upper Deck-$40 PSA Mint
-Jim Abbot '89 Topps Tifanny-About $10-15
^That one is more personal to me than the others I'm listing
-A-Rod '99 Finest Refractor-$28-30
-Barry Bonds '87 Donruss-$20
-Mike Piazza Leaf Rookies & Stars: Great American Heroes-$ Unkown
^ Only Mike Piazza Marlins card.
-Ken Griffey Jr. Upper Deck '87-$60


This is from July 2003 Beckett.

[cmuderek]

I've got between 50 and 60 Thousand Cards. I started Collecting in 1988 and bought scores of cards until the mid 1990s. I started collecting when i got to college. I now focus on high-end rookies. I have a large collection of graded cards and many cards featuring pieces of game used equipment. Last Summer i started the long process of organizing the cards. My estimated value of the collection is in the neighborhood of 35 thousand dollars.
The individual players that i focus on are Greg Maddux, Vlad Guerrero, and Michael Jordan.

If anyone has cards that they are looking for, I may have them and I'm willing to sell them for half of the appraised beckett value.

[Elizabeth17]

I have over 300,000. my bro collected from the age of 12 to 18 he had around 500, he gave them to me. my other brother collected at the age of 15 to 20 with 3,000, which he gave me too. i started collecting when i was 7 up till now being close to 18. until my bros gave me their collections i had from my dad and myself 20,000. going out and getting more cards almost every day of a year for around 12 yrs was our hobby. now i'm not sure of who all i have and don't have. my collection dates back to the 20's. so after getting my bros' collections and adding my dad and mine's in, after 13 yrs of collecting cards starting with my dad, at 35 yrs old, going all the way down to me, which i'm the youngest at 17 yrs old, the collection is finally all mine with over 300,000 cards.

[Fick's BP Target]

I started collecting in 1976 (I remember a sale at a grocery store in 1978 unloading packs of Topps for 10 cents and my dad only gave me a quarter...) and all told would have an utterly huge collection. My earliest prize was a 1969 Nolan Ryan. I had all Topps sets from 1980-1990, and 1977, even 1985-1986 Donruss and Fleer and oh yeah - some late 1980's Fleer and Score sets too. I eventually had a 1969 Mickey Mantle and some other notables. About 1991, I decided to sell some of my old cards ( the Ryan and Mantle were sadly gone...) and with the money, I got some newer cards. One of them was a 1991 UD Nolan Ryan autographed card (which at the time was very valuable) and I sold it a few weeks later for $600. I figured that I couldn't top that so, I stopped collecting for the most part. I still have @ 10000 cards that my son will get someday, I doubt they will be worth much in value, but if I'm lucky they will mean as much to him as they did for me.

[Utter Chaos]

Originally posted by baseballgeek
I've been meaning to start a card collector website, run like ebay - in a sense - with card trader ratings and such.

I'm wondering if there is any interest here in such a site...

The prime purpose - for me, at least - is to try to find like collectors who can help me fill incomplete sets. There are already a few good trading groups out there. OBC (Old Baseball Card) and VCT (Vintage Card Traders) are groups where the members specialize in pre-1980 cards. There's also Trading Bases which deals with newer stuff. If you want to learn more about any of these groups let me know.

[Rushfan_2112]

I have a desent size collection, about 5,000. Some highlights are...

-1993 Action Packed A-Rod (He's wearing a jersey that says Foxes; I don't know the number or if it's a subset or what not)
-1994 Upper Deck Michael Jordan rookie (he's cradling the baseball like a basketball; I don't know the number)
-1988 Donruss Jack McDowell Rookie Card (One of my favorite players of all time!)

[baseballgeek]

Speaking of interesting Michael Jordan baseball cards, I just came across an interesting one in my collection... and it isn't even a true baseball card.

The 1995 Collector's Choice basketball Jordan is a photo of him playing baseball. The interesting thing is that the reverse photo is of Jordan playing golf.

I am a BIG fan of 1994-1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice cards. The photography is excellent... I love the baseball set (which contains Jordan/Arod rookies).

[Dizzy]

I have been collecting for 6 years and currently have ten sets. I also have a countless amount of other cards, I can't even come close to estimating the amount. Also I have a few hundred cards from 1964 to 1967 that my dad gave me. Including several Mays, Mantle's, Koufax's, and Aaron's.

[U2ME57]

I am new here. Just read all the posts on this thread. Really interesting replies. My collection, I'm guessing, is around 30,000 cards.Maybe more. I've been collecting since the early 70's , even though I have a few cards from the 60's. I collect mostly Topps cards, which I think are the best. Main reasons I collect are the fun of it, and just the love of the game of baseball. My favorite team is the Phillies. I live in Tenn. And for some reason Ihave always followed the philly sports teams.

My favorite player is Jim Thome, not just because he is good but because he is also a class act. I didnt collect much from 1977-1986 but I started up again in 87 and have been going strong since. eBay is pretty cool, even though I have only won 1 thing on it. Just recently I started buying and trading cards on the Topps.com Board. The guys on their are really knowledgable about baseball cards. I've made several trades on there, and they have all turned out good. It's a cheap way to get the cards you really want without spending a fortune. And it's fun getting cards in the mail! Packs of cards these days are outrageous as far as the price goes. Went into K-Mart the other day and they were selling a pack of cards for 29.99 with 8 cards in the pack. NO THANKS!. I like to keep it simple and basically just collect Topps base sets. Fleer and Donruss are o.k., but I really dont care for Upper Deck. Thanks for listening.

[BagwellFan]

I do not have an actual estimate on my collection, but it is fairly large. I have 8 four-inch binders that are in pages sorted by team, then position, then player. Added to that I have 6 complete sets, and a couple of shoeboxes filled with stacks of unsorted cards. The main highlights of the collection are:
1971 Topps Thurman Munson
1988 P&L Cape Cod League Jeff Bagwell
1994 Upper Deck (Star Rookie - Electric Diamond Variant) Alex Rodriguez
1998 Pinnacle Mint (Nickel-Silver Artist Proof Coin) Alex Rodriguez

The pride of my card collection is the collection of Jeff Bagwell cards I own. Currently I have over 650 different cards of the Astros first baseman. I figure this is a good-sized set of one player being I have virtually stopped collecting cards in the past two years.

Other than Bagwell, I also enjoy collecting cards I have gotten signed in person. I am in the ballpark of 50 of those types now.

[4-Man_Rotation]

My Randy Johnson collection has grown to 718 different cards since I last posted about it in November...

[ci11829]

I still have some old cards from the 40's 50's and 60's including many rookies of great ballplayers. In all I would have to say including all sports, I have around 20,000 cards including a lot of completed sets. I stopped collecting in 1996 because the amount of sets and cards are rediculous. I'll probley get rid of most of my cards at auctions.

[Coal Cracker]

My baseball card collection is probably around 4,000 cards with 1/4 being Yankees. My overall collection of baseball, basketball, football and hockey is probably somewhere in the 8,000-10,000 range.

[vasportsfan]

I have approximately 200 cards. I focus on 2 categories: Ballplayers who are from Virginia (including Billy Wagner, Eric Owens, Michael Tucker, and HOFers Eppa Rixey, Ray Dandridge, and Leon Day) as well as players who are alumni of my hometown minor league team, Potomac Cannons. (Some of our famous alumni-Barry Bonds, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Mike Cameron, Magglio Ordonez, Albert Pujols.

[Utter Chaos]

Originally posted by bbfanatic
hi. this is my first time on this site. i was wanting to find out how to find out about this honus wagner card i have. i need to find out if it is worth anything. it has a gold background with white bordering. on the back of the card it has a red top describing the come about of the card. also listing the year of the card and the value.. it is called a tobacco card . if anyone can help with this, i'd really appreciate it thank you.:hp It is a worthless reprint (or maybe worth a buck or two). No original baseball card will list the value on it. A few years back there was a baseball card collecting kit that contained reprints of some of the early valuable cards (including the T206 Wagner). I'm 99.9% sure the card you have came from this kit.

[geminiman2131]

I used to have about 20,000 cards, but a move here & a move there & my collection shrunk somewhat...but I would say I have about 5,000 to 7,000 cards. I wish I had my 1986 Topps Traded set...oh well

[emstrem]

Alot of great post in this thread. As for myself I have around 100,00 cards, some new but mostly old.

I have these sets:
73-86 topps baseball
84 fleer and donruss baseball
89-92 UD baseball
73-91 topps hockey
79-86 o-pee-chee hockey
78-89 topps football
89 score football
and more I just cant think of them off hand.
I'm currently working on a low grade 54 topps set.

I have these rookies in NrMint or better
Gretzky Topps and O-Pee-chee
Lemiex, Roy, Yzerman, Shannahan, John Elway, Dan Marino, Farve, Joe Montana, Cal Ripken Jr, Trammell/Molitor,
and just a ton of other rook's from the 80's.

I have every Al Kaline card ever made (mostly 5-10 of each one) except the 55 topps, 71 topps greatest moments and some of the newer ones (I dont like new shiny, game-used, 1 of, auto'd, cards). My Al Kaline collection alone is unbelievable. I have everything you can imagine of him.

I have 33 goudy cards of Lou Gehrig and a few others. I have a few playball cards of Tigers (Gehringer, and others) from the early 40's. I also have a few T-205 and 206 Detroit Tiger commons, along with a few other turn of the century cards. I also have a lot of Gordie Howe cards anywhere from 54 to 79.

I'm now more into just collecting memorabilia. Bat's, balls, gloves(pre WWII), paintings, auto's, publications,etc., mostly of Detroit Tigers stuff, but I have some cards of Mickey Mantle and auto'd balls of Mantle, Ted Williams, Pete Rose, Frank Robinson , an '84 WS Alan Trammell, Kaline (statball and regular auto).

I haven't even looked at my collection in about a year so this is just off the top of my head

[126andy]

My main collection is NY Yankee Topps Team Sets. I have every Topps Card of any NY Yankee that had a Topps card made including World Series Cards and All Star cards from 1960-Present. I also have pretty much all of Frank Thomas cards from his college years to today.

[Kaline#6]

Emstrem: Wow, another Kaline fan! You can tell I am one just by my username! IMO they just don't make ballplayers like good ol' Number Six anymore. I only remember the last few years of his playing career, but I have always been impressed with him, not only as a player but more importantly as a classy and decent human being. Like Gordie Howe for the Red Wings, Al Kaline will always be so much more than just another player.

As for my collection, wow, too many to count! Actually the bulk of what I have is football, including complete sets from 1964 (the Philadelphia brand set, which included the NFL players), 1969, 1973, and 1976. Lots of Packers because they are my favorite team, and also any cards showing U of Michigan players in the Maize and Blue.

I have also gotten interested in women's basketball lately and so am trying to get some WNBA and other women's hoop cards. The U of M gave away a team issued set of this past season's team including new coach Cheryl Burnett.

I suppose I better mention some baseball cards that I have! Several Kalines, and other Tigers including the 1984 World Series team. I also have the entire 1975 Topps "mini" set that was only released in Michigan (where I live) and maybe one or two other states.

[The Mick]

Hi 126Andy, you posted:

"...I also have pretty much all of Frank Thomas cards from his college years to today."

Are you talking about Frank Thomas "The Original" (played with the classic Pittsburgh Pirates) or the other "modern day" Frank Thomas (CWS)?

The reason I ask is that "The Original" is a friend of mine and is trying to replace a collection that was lost in a fire (including his own.) For every person, that helps him out - he sends a personal hand-written letter and autograph that is probably worth more than the cards themselves.

Just wondering as I could put you in touch with him if you are interested in helping an old timer.

Email me. Thanks.

PS. Being a Yankees collector you might enjoy one of my websites showing some of the Yankee part of my collection: http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/thecollector/

[PumpsieGreen]

I probably have between 10,000-15,000 baseball cards. About 130 game used and 50 autographs(around 90 counting non-cards.) Some of my highlights:

Albert Pujols Auto
Vlad Guerrero Auto
Johnny Bench Auto
Bob Feller Auto
Jim Palmer Auto
Stan Musial Auto
Yogi Berra Auto
George Brett RC
Miguel Tejada Auto
Nomar Garciaparra Auto

I also have many RCs, about 200(WAY too many) numbered cards, and many interesting singles. I also have many hockey, basketball, and football cards, including a Tony Parker Auto/GU RC numbered to 25, an Earl Campbell Auto, and a Jamal Lewis auto.

Pumpsie

[DodgersFan1961]

I guess the number of cards is not that important since I have about 10,000 cards I could live without (you know, boxes of opened packs I just never organized). But my sets are original issue HOFers (90% complete), every Topps Dodgers team set from 1960 to current and getting close to every set of Fleer, Donruss, and others including Canadian sets (I will re-catalog this summer and see exactly what I am missing. I also have original cards from the first 25 blacks in modern MLB (from Robinson on), at least for those who had cards. I was unable to find such a list so did some research and developed my own.

I am still working on my 1959 Fleer sets of PSA graded cards (6, 7, and 8--three sets). If you know this Ted Williams set, you could guess which cards I am missing:-)

I also have a pretty comprehensive collection of Pete Rose and Maury Wills. Finally, for this post anyway, I am working in a full set of 1951 & 52 Berk Ross cards.

I've been collecting since I was a kid. Wish I would have known to collect high quality cards!

[cloakedarbiter]

i have about 1200 cards, a pretty modest collection though in terms of how valuable my cards are... started collecting at 7 years old (15 now)... you can't get baseball cards in hong kong, i'm the only one who knows they exist. here are my best, yet modest, cards (beckett pricing)

2003 Upper Deck MVP Celebration Barry Bonds MVP/2001
$4.00 - $10.00
1990 Topps Sammy Sosa RC
$4.00 - $10.00
1989 Donruss Curt Schilling RC (2 of them)
$1.00 - $2.50
A bunch of these 1997 Premier Power UD Collectibles
$4.00 - $10.00 each

i've been trading with my friends in LA for albert pujols cards, have about 7 so far, none RC though

my basketball cards ( have been more valuable, but only have about 100 of them... several MJs at $10.00 and Duncan, Iverson, Tmac, Dirk rookies.... i have this steve francis game worn WARM UP JACKET (not jersey) so far my most valuable $15.00

[DodgersFan1961]

Originally posted by julusnc
I have been a collector and dealer in sportscards since 1984.I love the old Berk Ross stuff.I have in my collection several unbroken panels and 30 - 40 singles.I love the early basketball and golf cards in the sets as well.

http://www.botn.com/images/52williams.jpg (check it out.)

I didn't like these when I first saw them, but now love the Berk Ross cards and have many. Even hope to have both sets (1951 and 52) soon.

[Ltrain100486]

id say i have somewhere in the area of 80,000... most of which are unsearched after i was given them by an uncle who was moving. I did find about 20 griffey rookies and probably 10 bonds, along with lotsa glavines and all those other mass produced cards, worth next to nothing :mad: stupid companies. oh well what are u gonna do? id say about 10,000 are somewhat modern, from about 1996-2000. 2000 was the last time i was a serious collector, because that was the last time that it seemed profitable. Now i just purchase a few packs here and there, never spending more than 20 bucks at one time. It's a shame how quickly they sapped all of the energy out of the market by flooding the whole market with vast numbers of sets... I long for the days of 1998 again, days where there was maybe 20 sets a year tops, those were the days.

[NY Yankees]

1 don larsen autographed card $35
1 bill skowron autographed card $30
1 derek jeter jersey card $25
1 don mattingly jersey card $20
1 bernie williams jersey card $15
1 jason giambi base card from Yankee stadium $15
1 jason giambi bat and jersey card only 50 in the WORLD$20
1 hideki matsui jersey card $15
1 jorge posada jersey card 50 in the world $20
1 Mike mussina jersey card $20
all the cards issued this year by topps $50
$265 total

[Dodgerfan1]

I used to be into my collection hot and heavy in the '80s and early '90s when the hobby was hot and BB cards were worth more than they are now. At least, that's what I assume, as I haven't paid much attention to my collection lately. I still have a lot of old cards in excellent condition from the old days and I also still have one or two big boxes full of factory sets from the '80s and '90s that I have no idea what they're worth. Admittedly, they've basically been fire bait for the past few years. I have sold almost all my '40s and '50s cards.

Here are some cards I am looking at right now, all in individual heavy plastic cases and in mostly excellent condition:

'56 Topps Killebrew
'60 Topps Aaron
'66 Topps Palmer (rookie)
'67 Topps Palmer
'61 Topps Mantle
'61 Topps Berra
'64 Topps Koufax
'61 Topps Koufax
'54 Topps Rizzuto
'64 Topps Aaron
'53 Topps J. Robinson (good cond.)
'61 Topps Yaz
'60 Topps Mantle AS
'61 Topps Billy Williams
'67 Topps Carlton
'65 Topps Joe Morgan (rookie)

Lots of others but too boring for a forum, but since you asked...

[Dalkowski110]

Certainly over 150,000. Not sure how much over, though, since I stopped counting around then and have acquired several thousand cards (possibly as many as 20,000) since "the big count." You have scattered cards from 1950-1953, constant cards from 1954-1992, scattered cards from 1992-1997 (albeit a full 1993 Topps set, plus Traded), and constant sets from 1998-2001. Then I started a big drought and lost out from late 2001-early 2005. Unfortunately, I never bought Bowman in quantity up until this year, and I've lost out on many a good player's RC...Jose Reyes, Albert Pujols, etc. Strangely, the only pack of 2001 UD Prospect Premiers I ever got netted me David Wright, Horacio Ramirez, and Jeremy Bonderman.

I have gotten some terrific inserts, though.

[AlecBoy006]

I have thousands of cards. 200+ signed. This includes the other sports.

[kearns643]

Mine is no that big as I send alot out to be signed...guessimate would be 10,000 but do have over 5'000 signed.

I'm the guy that Steve Verzzolo signs about in his song "My Mother Threw Them Away" and would be the one that Rockin' Ritchie Ray sings about in his song "I'm a Baseball Card Lover"...although the guy in the song definitely has some issues.

Interestingly, when I started the autograph pursuits I had about 50 cards....but friends in the hobby have given me more than 10,000...that is correct...my friends have given me moire than 10,000.

I have friends in the hobby that have over 3,000,000+ so when I enter thier baseball room I always have to sit down becasue I am in awe of what I am looking at. My card amount, including my autographs, pale to the friendships I have made along the way.

[bailiff]

I actually counted my collection last year. I send a lot of cards out for autographs, so last season I decided to organize all of my common cards by last name. I have all of my cards valued up to 100 bucks by player as well. All of my pre 1940 cards and cards valued over 100 are in a safe place :) . I have all of my autographed cards sorted by last name. My autographed pictures are in binders and by autographed helmets and baseballs are in boxes right now. So my collections sits at;

25,000 common cards
9,900 (approximately) cards between $1.00 and 100.
1950 pre 1950's cards and cards over 100 bucks.

Approximately 189 signed baseballs, 400 pictures and 8 helmets, and 29 bats and one home plate.

App. 5300 signed ballcards

App. 480 signed index cards

And last but not least 2 boxes in my closet of "crap" (as my wife would put it). I know there are programs and misc. junk in those boxes, but I don't feel like going through them today.:dance

[kearns643]

Mine is no that big as I send alot out to be signed...guessimate would be 10,000 but do have over 5'000 signed.

I'm the guy that Steve Verzzolo signs about in his song "My Mother Threw Them Away" and would be the one that Rockin' Ritchie Ray sings about in his song "I'm a Baseball Card Lover"...although the guy in the song definitely has some issues.

Interestingly, when I started the autograph pursuits I had about 50 cards....but friends in the hobby have given me more than 10,000...that is correct...my friends have given me moire than 10,000.

I have friends in the hobby that have over 3,000,000+ so when I enter thier baseball room I always have to sit down becasue I am in awe of what I am looking at. My card amount, including my autographs, pale to the friendships I have made along the way.

This is me in a heart beat:

I Love Baseball CD:

http://www.stevevozzolo.com/listen.html

[pesky6]

I guess it's pretty hard to really figure that out. I prefer people like John Olerud, Gary Carter, Albert Pujols... I've read or heard all of them tell their testimonies. They have all publicly talked about a real relationship with God and are not ashamed to tell how He has changed their lives.

A lot of people who profess Christianity one day, don't even live like it that night... I know, and it is really disappointing. And it gives Jesus a bad name. Gives people a bad taste in their mouths. It just plain sucks. I guess some can't really handle the pressures of being a public figure and a positive role model.

Yeah. So anyway.

You should consider collecting Dave Dravecky and reading his books. They're excellent. I'm not a Christian, but they're good reads nonetheless. Plus, if you write to him, you'll get some of his ministry materials as well. Just send a long SASE. You should also consider writing to Guy Morton, Jr. He only had one at-bat for the Red Sox back in '54, but he's a minister now and if you write him a nice letter, I'd bet that you'd get a good response back.

[Dalkowski110]

Elwin "Preacher" Roe didn't get his nickname for no apparent reason. Roe threw a spitball, but defended it by claiming it wasn't a sin against God. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure he was really on the up-and-up. And did you know Billy Sunday started out as a baseball player? He was an outfielder with the Chicago White Stockings (now called the Cubs) He has a couple Goodwin Old Judge cards from 1886-1890 if you can afford one. He was actually a great base stealer, perhaps the best of the era (some say Slidin' Billy Hamilton was faster, other contend Sunday was the top base runner/stealer). Then there's Deacon McGuire, a catcher for 26 years who had a T-206 card. He was another really religious guy. Branch Rickey had cards with the Browns in the 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jack sets if you're made of money.

[The Kid]

I've been collecting for about 5 years and have about 3,000 cards. Most of them came from my dad's shoebox's that had been sitting in the basement for 30 years.

My Favorites:

1976 Hank Aaron
Eddie Murray rookie card
Rickey Henderson rookie card
1974 Tom Seaver
1977 Reggie Jackson
1973 Brooks Robinson
Robin Yount rookie card

[Dalkowski110]

My all-time favorite baseball card is the 1953 Topps Satchel Paige. The Paige card was one of Dad's first, and he was just amazed by Paige's career. I also really like my HoF rookies, i.e., Willie Mays and Nolan Ryan. The first card I ever got that was a tobacco card, a T-206 Christy Mathewson for only $25 from a guy who had no idea what he was selling, is also one of my all-time favorites.

[RuthMayBond]

You should consider collecting Dave Dravecky and reading his books. They're excellent. I'm not a Christian, but they're good reads nonetheless. Plus, if you write to him, you'll get some of his ministry materials as well. Just send a long SASE. You should also consider writing to Guy Morton, Jr. He only had one at-bat for the Red Sox back in '54, but he's a minister now and if you write him a nice letter, I'd bet that you'd get a good response back.Plus Nolan Ryan, Mike Schmidt, Gary Carter, Andre Thornton

[Edgartohof]

I collected a bit as a kid, me and my brother together, but I wasn't that much into it, and didn't realize any potential value in them. My brother kept the cards (turns out we had some good ones...but that's the past), and has a good collection himself. But me, I got back into it about 4 years ago. I started out with a lot of Edgar Martinez cards, and other Mariner's, and have since expanded from that.

I have added a lot of Ichiro's, including a lot of his rookies and several of his cards from Japan. I also have the customary Griffey Rookies throughout the collection as well. I buy packs every once in a while but don't really try to make sets, I just like to open them and see what I get, but mostly, I buy singles, just whatever card strikes my fancy and fits into my budget.

My prized piece (not really sure what it's worth, if anything, not that I care), is a 1977(?) Kellogg's Rod Carew Holographic card still enclosed in the original wrapping. I don't know why, but I just really like the card.

[gosox55]

11,000 different White Sox cards, I've been collecting almost exclusively Sox cards since 1993, and have a whole closet full of late 80s early nineties stuff from when I was a set builder.

[ci11829]

started collecting about 20 yrs ago, and had many cards.I have about 50000 to 70000 cards. I have many sets that are complete. I no longer collect since they now have flooded the hobby with too MANY cards.

[19th Century Indiana Jones]

Nothing big, just a bunch of old stuff that I thought looks nice.

You can see them on my webpage (http://www.robsgallery.net/index.htm).

[brewers96]

I've been collecting for about 3 years,I have anywhere from 2,000-3,000

[milladrive]

Over 6,800 cards, mostly from -- but not limited to - the early-to-mid 70's. :)

[jakre]

I started collecting in 1970 and quit serious buying in 95. Have about 300,000 cards and about 15,000 signed cards.

[Sockeye]

Depends on which player.

Jeff Bagwell: 9000+ cards
Juan Gonzalez: 10,000+ cards
Sammy Sosa: 11,000+ cards
Rafael Palmeiro: 25,000+ cards

All of which are set to go on ebay in the coming weeks :D

[RuthMayBond]

Depends on which player.

Jeff Bagwell: 9000+ cards
Juan Gonzalez: 10,000+ cards
Sammy Sosa: 11,000+ cards
Rafael Palmeiro: 25,000+ cards

All of which are set to go on ebay in the coming weeks :DGee, I could give ya fifty bucks and you wouldn't have to pay the listing fees ;)

[Sockeye]

Gee, I could give ya fifty bucks and you wouldn't have to pay the listing fees ;)

:crazy I expect each player collection to bring in between $900-$1500 after listing fees. Of course Instead of selling each player collection as a whole I have to break each collection down into many smaller lots. Large collections like these wouldn't net such a large amount due to the amount of duplication.

[TRIPxCORE]

I have been a collector for a long time since I was a kid. I have lots and lots of cards but I only pay attention to the heart of my collection which are graded rookie cards mostly. They have to be graded man! Here are my most precious one's. Some I am willing to sell to any interested parties.

1987 Donruss Greg Maddux RC graded 9.5 by BGS.

2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres Scott Kazmir AU RC graded 9.5 by BGS with an AU grade of 9.

2005 Bowman Chrome Draft X-Fractor Justin Verlander RC graded 9.5 by BGS.

1991 Upper Deck Final Edition Pedro Martinez RC graded 10 by PSA.

2000 Finest Refractor Johan Santana RC graded 9.5 by BGS.

2000 Bowman Chrome Carlos Zambrano RC graded 9.5 by BGS.

2001 SP Authentic Ichiro Suzuki RC graded 9.5 by BGS.

2002 Bowman Chrome Francisco Liriano RC graded 9 by GAI.

2004 Bowman Chrome Draft X-Fractor Felix Hernandez RC graded 9 by GAI.

2002 Bowman Chrome Refractor Rich Harden RC graded 9 by GAI.

2000 Bowman's Best Francisco Rodriguez RC graded 9.5 by GAI.

2002 Bowman Chrome Matt Cain RC graded 9.5 by BGS.

The following I am willing to sell:

2002 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor Bobby Jenks AU RC graded 9.5 by BGS with an AU grade of 10.

1987 Donruss Greg Maddux RC graded 9 by BGS.

2000 SP Authentic Alex Rodriguez AU special insert card graded and certified Mint 9 by GAI. Only 332 of these produced. Very nice card!

If interested in any of these feel free to contact me at:

tripxcore@aol.com

Pics can be provided if you'd like.

[TwinsCards]

Collected as a kid starting in 1975 but abandoned the hobby in 1984 and got rid of everything. Started again in 2000 after my Twin boys were born and really have no idea how many cards I have.


Every Topps complete set from 1975-2006 = ~15-20K cards
An exclusively Minnesota Twins collection (including duplicates) = ~10-15K cards
Miscellaneous "other cards" = ~1-2K cards
Football/Hockey/Basketball = ~ 2-3K


So 30-40K cards...and growing. The only thing I collect these days are Twins and Topps complete sets.

[ttmman21]

at least 12,000

[Dalkowski110]

Approximately half a million.

[dabigyankeeman]

I had around 30,000 cards at one point- but quantity means NOTHING. I am down to around 8-10K now, but have better "quality."


Yes, this is similar to me. I had more than 30,000 at one point, now down probably to 10K approx now, but much better quality and mix of cards that i really like. Whereas I used to collect everything, now 90% of my collection is New York cards (and of them most are baseball).

The real essence of my New York cards is my Yankees collection, and of the Yankees, the most important to me are the old pre-1960 cards. As some of you know, I have been trying to get 500 different pre-1960 Yankee cards (not as easy as you might think), and as of today, my count is now up to 484 on these wonderful old cards. I am getting there! Of course, I have Yankees from early 1900's all the way thru 2008 Topps and Upper Deck already, but the old cards made before 1960 are my true love.