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JoshHamilton
Well-known member
- Aug 7, 2008
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As most know, I collect Marlins cards. Before a few months ago, I didn't really have a direction for my collection. Sure, I had some player collections, high end inserts and team sets, but I didn't really pay attention to how I was collecting. I recently got a new laptop and I've gone crazy making various checklists. It's a helluva lot easier doing it in Excel than an iphone notepad. While organizing and notating everything, I realized I had NO IDEA what direction my collection was going, if any. I'm pretty horrible at organization as it is, but this helped me focus and decide which way I wanted to take my collection.
It's a blessing and a curse collecting a team that started playing in 1993. There's no such thing as vintage Marlins cards, but 1993 was the year premium brands, inserts and parallels really took off. I'm kind of glad I avoided the junk wax Topps/Donruss/Fleer era, along with the rare regional and test issues of the late '80's. But with that comes a TON of sets and inserts.
While sorting everything, I noticed I've never really paid attention to team collectors and their habits. Sure, player collectors go after everything. But what about team collectors? For simplicity's sake, I'm more interested in how people collect from the early 90's-present.
1. Do you focus on certain players?
I assume most do, since I've never met a collector who likes all players equally. What if you had a chance to pick up a semi-rare card of your favorite player vs an ultra-rare (think Crusade Red) card of a player you don't particularly like?
2. Do you build team sets?
Team sets are cool and cheap, but holy hell there are a TON of products out there. And recently, many sets are small, making a team set consist of only 6-8 cards (3-4 for crappy teams like Miami). I enjoy 15-30 card team sets, but the ones with 4 cards aren't really worth the postage. Which sets do you build? Large comprehensive ones or smaller ones?
2. Do you build insert team sets?
I'm in the middle of building several - 97 Leaf Limited Exposure, 96-97 Finest Refractors, 98 Donruss Collections Prized, and a few others. As long as the set is different than the base set (IE, not just a gold foil stamp), I enjoy them. I also focus on stuff from the two years they won the World Series, and avoid random years. There's nothing special about a year they lost 102 games. Not really worth commemmorating
3. Do you collect type sets?
This is the main question I have. With so much stuff out there, not to mention so many low numbered parallels, it's impossible to collect everything. I've been trying to focus on type sets. For example, I'm collecting one of every Marlins mini. I don't care about the backs or border color, just one of each. I also collect Tek (every pattern), dufex, acetates, die-cuts, and refractors. Doing a Refractor type set is a pain in the ass. I have around 200 out of 650.
I just started a type set which seems easy, at least for the 90's - one card from every set a Marlin has appeared in, including subsets and inserts. I'm too poor to build a Crusade Red set, but just one card? That's doable. It's easier on the wallet to pick up cheap players from expensive sets, instead of buying Stanton and Cabrera stuff all the time. Plus, I plan on putting everything in a binder. It'll be a neat representation of most sets from the glitzy modern era.
4. How do you collect game used and autographs?
When I started collecting Stanton, I decided to go after only one version of each auto and relic card. There are just too many parallels to justify paying $40+ for different colored borders, but one of each is feasible. I think my next checklists will be type sets of game used and on-card autos. Just one from each set, and I'll probably include any parallel versions to count as one from the set.
Feel free to share any other tips or ways you enjoy team collecting.
FYI, baseballcardpedia.com is a LIFESAVER. I don't really know what's out there other than what I have. I certainly don't know the names of all the 1995 Fleer Insert sets, let alone who's in them. In my free time, I usually have baseballcardpedia, COMC and Ebay tabs open trying to make sure Quilvio Veras is pictured in a Marlins uniform. Without those checklists and visual verification, I'd be lost. Not to mention it'd be 2105 by the time I finally got to notating stuff from 1995
It's a blessing and a curse collecting a team that started playing in 1993. There's no such thing as vintage Marlins cards, but 1993 was the year premium brands, inserts and parallels really took off. I'm kind of glad I avoided the junk wax Topps/Donruss/Fleer era, along with the rare regional and test issues of the late '80's. But with that comes a TON of sets and inserts.
While sorting everything, I noticed I've never really paid attention to team collectors and their habits. Sure, player collectors go after everything. But what about team collectors? For simplicity's sake, I'm more interested in how people collect from the early 90's-present.
1. Do you focus on certain players?
I assume most do, since I've never met a collector who likes all players equally. What if you had a chance to pick up a semi-rare card of your favorite player vs an ultra-rare (think Crusade Red) card of a player you don't particularly like?
2. Do you build team sets?
Team sets are cool and cheap, but holy hell there are a TON of products out there. And recently, many sets are small, making a team set consist of only 6-8 cards (3-4 for crappy teams like Miami). I enjoy 15-30 card team sets, but the ones with 4 cards aren't really worth the postage. Which sets do you build? Large comprehensive ones or smaller ones?
2. Do you build insert team sets?
I'm in the middle of building several - 97 Leaf Limited Exposure, 96-97 Finest Refractors, 98 Donruss Collections Prized, and a few others. As long as the set is different than the base set (IE, not just a gold foil stamp), I enjoy them. I also focus on stuff from the two years they won the World Series, and avoid random years. There's nothing special about a year they lost 102 games. Not really worth commemmorating
3. Do you collect type sets?
This is the main question I have. With so much stuff out there, not to mention so many low numbered parallels, it's impossible to collect everything. I've been trying to focus on type sets. For example, I'm collecting one of every Marlins mini. I don't care about the backs or border color, just one of each. I also collect Tek (every pattern), dufex, acetates, die-cuts, and refractors. Doing a Refractor type set is a pain in the ass. I have around 200 out of 650.
I just started a type set which seems easy, at least for the 90's - one card from every set a Marlin has appeared in, including subsets and inserts. I'm too poor to build a Crusade Red set, but just one card? That's doable. It's easier on the wallet to pick up cheap players from expensive sets, instead of buying Stanton and Cabrera stuff all the time. Plus, I plan on putting everything in a binder. It'll be a neat representation of most sets from the glitzy modern era.
4. How do you collect game used and autographs?
When I started collecting Stanton, I decided to go after only one version of each auto and relic card. There are just too many parallels to justify paying $40+ for different colored borders, but one of each is feasible. I think my next checklists will be type sets of game used and on-card autos. Just one from each set, and I'll probably include any parallel versions to count as one from the set.
Feel free to share any other tips or ways you enjoy team collecting.
FYI, baseballcardpedia.com is a LIFESAVER. I don't really know what's out there other than what I have. I certainly don't know the names of all the 1995 Fleer Insert sets, let alone who's in them. In my free time, I usually have baseballcardpedia, COMC and Ebay tabs open trying to make sure Quilvio Veras is pictured in a Marlins uniform. Without those checklists and visual verification, I'd be lost. Not to mention it'd be 2105 by the time I finally got to notating stuff from 1995