Player collecting 70s-90s vs present day, which is more enticing?

I was actually thinking about this line of reasoning last week. It's impossible to attack player collecting of a current guy with the "completist" mentality of a 70's to 90's player. With those guys, you could hope to be a supercollector with 80-90% completion. Now days, 50% completion is pretty dang remarkable. That takes away something in my opinion. I don't think we'll see player collections like some of the ones on FCB again, like the Erstad, Gwynn, Griffey, Jeter, Bagwell, Belle and Grace collections. Those 90's guys that stretched into the early 00's have some pretty remarkable inserts and then autos and game used cards.

There are certainly some amazing GU cards these days, but I think everyone agrees too many parallels. I think alot of the modern stuff looks pretty much the same design-wise, which to me makes less interesting PCs. Triple Thread and Topps Base looks the same year after year. The 70's - 90's cards really varied year to year.

It has to be really expensive to be a modern player collector. I haven't started a modern guy PC because I know I'd just be frustrated at all the card options, price points and knowledge that I couldn't even afford 1/2 the cards of a decent player. So I've gone in the opposite direction, collecting vintage players. I also think I'd be frustrated with a modern player because they are likely to play for 3-4 teams over their career, and I like guys that stick with one team. Plus after watching so many modern star PC collections loose appeal when it was revealed that player took PEDs, I'd have a hard time investing in a modern player. At least with the retired guys, you usually know what you are getting.

The better the player, the more they become featured in more sets, that harder it becomes. This was true back in the day too, but to a much lesser extent. However, as more and more retired players are being inserted into sets, even the so-so players can end up with dozens of 1/1 cards when a set has press plates and the likes.

One of my favorite player collections I ran across was Jon Matlack. The person who compiled it had all but 2-3 cards i believe, but at the time Matlack only had about 110 cards too.

Steve Garvey was my favorite player growing up and the real hunt was finding those oddball regional issues, especially before the internet. From his retirement in 1987 until 1999, new cards were few and far between. Since then, it has been hit and miss if he'll be included in various sets, which could be good and bad. Still, it was not long before the total number of cards issued during his entire playing days was eclipsed in a single card year. I held on, even through 2005 (which I believe it still the most insane card year ever), but it just keeps getting harder and harder to continue paying a premium for the same stuff over and over, even if the designs vary. GU swatches, patches, autographs, etc. It's all the same year after year and as someone noted here or in another thread, the cards won't hold their values, so you must be willing to do it as a labor of love. Even the images tend to repeat, as there is a finite amount of playing day images for any given player.

My opinion doesn't matter in the end, but I'd like to see a limit to the number of cards any single player could have issued in a given year and the percentage would have to be more even with regard to print run and availability. 115 different cards with 75 being 1/1s is not cool.

Oh, and hell no would I ever try to collect a new active player in the same manner I have done with player collections in the past or even retired players. Those that do, I salute you.

I'm in the burnt out phase of current player collecting. It's a no win situation it seems. If my guy does poorly I'm less motivated to collect. If he does well, then I can afford less of his stuff. Even for a guy like Upton that hasn't reached his potential, I still can't afford a fraction of what's available. I haven't picked up anything in months.

The current card market makes it tough too. There's just too much out there and a lot of it sucks.

I find with my kids growing, and my bank account staying largely the same, I have no extra cash anymore to splurge... And then taxes come around, and I can't spend the money on myself like I used to..

I enjoy collecting cards of the era when the player played. I don't think I'd really like collecting, say, Frank Robinson or Mickey Mantle's current cards. I don't even like collecting Frank Thomas's post-2008 stuff, although there are some nice items out there. TBH, I don't really go after many cards of his after he left the White Sox. Too many, and they'll never stop making them. But if you stay in their career years, you have a defined goal that is really challenging in itself. Sure, with the right amount of money you can find their base Topps/Bowman cards easily enough, but how about all the other stuff? Team issues, regional issues, food/candy premiums, etc. Even the inserts Topps had endless experiments with in the 50s and 60s, like 1964 Stand-Ups, are sometimes really hard to find, especially in good condition. That's equivalent, in my mind, with chasing endless new inserts #/25 or less.

But on the other hand, collecting someone like Cabrera or Trout, you know you'll never be finished if you try to be a completist, it's just impossible. However, the endless variety of stuff means there's always something new to add, you just have to pick what it will be.

I have a few players that I collect very seriously: Gary Carter, Roger Staubach, Bernie Williams. I have a few others that I work on but at a much slower pace: Andy Pettitte, Curtis Martin, Ron Guidry and a few others. About 10 years ago I decided to only collect cards from their playing days and see how it would go, for me it was the perfect decision. I am basically done with Gary Carter, every few months something that I never heard of or saw before will show up but by and large I have everything from the Beckett and SCD lists. Bernie Williams played through 06 and Pettitte just retired so I have been able to stay involved with current releases but haven't felt overwhelmed by them.

I focus mostly up until 2003 when Rickey retired as well, although I dabble in 04-05- but mostly for items that are eye catching or I just like collecting, others I avoid like the plague(Diamond Kings) I have some odd 06-11 cards, but I've shut down with all the new redundant releases.

I'm very happy to collect Bonds who has cards issued from `1986-2007. Bonds has owned rights to his brand since 2004 so there are no cards of his past his playing days. With the 90-00's in mind this still gives me many cards to chase but without a never ending stream--that is unless he signs a contract with Topps, Panini, etc. in the future...

I personally collect Brooks Robinson's playing years in particular. Even though he's retired he still has more cards coming out in one year than all this Topps issues during his playing days. I really don't collect for the resale value, but if I was actively seeking his newer cards I don't think I could justify the money for the newer items. Like others have said I don't see them retaining their value. Once in a while I try to pick up a card that catches my eye, but that's about it. I like a lot of the recent players, but couldn't see myself collecting an active player.