When it comes to baseball cards, there are many different ways to collect them. Collections can be comprised of a favorite player, a favorite team, an entire set, only graded cards, a rookie collection, cards from a certain era, cards of players who have accomplished a certain feat (3000 hit club), autograph cards, etc. Some of these collections are becoming harder and harder to collect as card makers continue to produce low-numbered inserts that are hard to get a hold of.
I have dabbled in most of these collecting methods but currently, I am on a mission to collect every Ryan Roberts card ever produced. According to Beckett, there are 46 Ryan Roberts cards out there from companies like Upper Deck and Topps. I chose to start collecting Roberts cards because he has so few cards and I thought it would be a great place to start. Roberts is also my favorite player because I thoroughly enjoy his hustle on the field and the emotion he shows during all nine innings. So far, I have collected 13 of his 47 (I found a minor league card of his NOT listed on Beckett) cards, or 28%. I could probably own more than this but I haven’t pulled the trigger on the recent Topps card parallels from Wal-Mart, Target, and Toys R Us yet. That would easily add another 6 cards to my collection but they are easy to come by so I’m not worried. The hardest part of this collection is finding the low serial numbered cards. Roberts was first seen in 2006 Upper Deck (which I have) and he also has a 2006 Upper Deck Gold #ed/99 (which I also have). In 2006 Roberts also had a rookie card in the Topps 52 set that was designed to look like the old Topps 1952 set. In this set he has a base card (have), a chrome card #ed/1952 (have), a chrome gold refractor #ed/52 (don’t have), and a chrome refractor #ed/552 (have). I just missed out on the chrome gold refractor on eBay the other night. I believe it went for north of $7 and the auction ended while I was sleeping (dang it). The hardest cards that I am attempting to acquire are the 2011 and 2012 Topps Printing Plates. They were randomly inserted in packs and they are numbered 1/1. ONE OF ONE!?!? How the heck am I supposed to get these? What if the pack holding this 1/1 card is never even opened?!?! Anyway, I figure these will be the hardest to come by and will probably cost a pretty penny when I do find them. Over the last two years Roberts has averaged about 20 cards a year spread out over different sets. That said, if you have any Roberts cards, please contact me because I want them! Thanks.
I first started collecting cards by putting together entire sets. My dad gave me a partial Topps 1970 set that I absolutely love. It has some very obscure players in it but also has a great looking Roberto Clemente card and a few good roookies. I intended to put together two sets and give one to my little brother and keep one for myself. You can buy the whole completed set for between $900 and $1100 on eBay but I figured it would be much more fun to build it myself. I will be truthful and tell you that I soon gave up. There are so many cards in the set and putting it together piece by piece soon became very expensive and time consuming. Putting together more recent sets is easier and I was able to collect the whole 2012 Topps Series 1 set with a hobby box and a few blasters. If you are a set collector, I applaud you. I understand how hard it can be and I respect you for having the passion and patience to do it.
Now let’s talk about a much easier and fun collection that is quickly catching on. This set it called The Trifecta. The idea is to collect 3 cards of a certain player; a rookie card, an on card autograph, and a memorabilia card. Some people want the cards to all be signed, some people want them to all be graded, but that is what’s great about this way of collecting, it’s easy and customizable! Collecting a Trifecta will allow you collect cards from lots of different players and are easy to “complete”. Some players do not have game-used memorabilia cards (like Roberts) but most have at least and autographed card and a rookie card. This is a fun and easy way to collect some of your favorite players and allows for you to show off your collection very easily.
If you want to talk cards and collecting tweet me @Jared_Thatcher or leave a comment below. I’m always looking for Ryan Roberts cards and the rookie cards from Hall of Famers for my collection.
