Another Player Collection Tiers Update

Over the last couple of years, my process of organizing and categorizing my player collections has grown increasingly complex, though it's also provided me with more insight as to where each player stands in comparison to all the others.

Initially, I started by creating a complete inventory of all the cards of players I collect on Google Sheets with one spreadsheet designated for each player. Each row lists the year, card number, set name/info, and the team name. This process is repeated for every card of all the players I collect, and that number can be anywhere from 8-460.

Next, I introduced the idea of player collection tiers roughly a year ago. Using this process, I list all of my PCs in one Google Sheet from largest to smallest and, along the way, sort them by 4 separate tiers: Platinum (200+ cards), Gold (100+), Silver (50+), and Bronze (49>).

Through the player collection tiers, I'm able to see where each player collection, by the total number of cards, ranks in comparison to all the others. For example, I know that Fergie Jenkins, a player collection with 81 total cards, is #74 on my list of PCs.

Last April, I wrote an update on player collection tiers in which I detailed the changes that occurred since I began this endeavor. Considering how much has changed over the last several months, I figured it was time to craft an update once again and that this could be a reoccurring post a few times a year.

Unsurprisingly, Nolan Ryan remains #1 on the list by a long shot and, to be honest, I don't believe that any of the other player collections will ever catch up.

Ryan's 482 total cards (excluding a small handful that I haven't added in yet) beat Ken Griffey Jr's 280 soundly for the #1 spot on the list. Since there's no real competition rivaling Ryan's #1 spot, I'm instead looking to make steady additions to the player collection.

Specifically, I'd like to have 500 total Nolan Ryan cards by the end of the year, a goal I set for myself back in January.

Ken Griffey Jr may trail Nolan Ryan by over 200 cards for the #1 spot, but there's always a fair amount of competition between him and Greg Maddux to see who will earn the "runner-up" position.

When I updated you all on the player collection tiers back in April, Maddux occupied the #2 spot on my tiers list, but he has since been usurped by Griffey.

At the moment, Maddux trails KGJ by just 3 cards to round out the top 3. After that, there's a pretty significant drop (~30 cards) before the #4 PC, Manny Ramirez.

Last time, the platinum tier, reserved for player collections with 200 or more cards. had just 7 players, but that number has grown by 3 in the subsequent months. Vladimir Guerrero and Randy Johnson have added their names to the list, cementing each of my top 10 player collections at 200+ cards.

With these two additions, the closest I am to adding another player to the platinum tier is both Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg at 180 cards. Even though I come across their cards somewhat often, it'll be a little while before the top tier expands to encompass 11-12 players.

The gold tier, featuring players with totals anywhere from 100-199 cards, has grown to include 35 members over the last few months. Specifically, I've seen a fair number of active players cross the threshold as of late.

The additions of so many active players to the gold tier are somewhat surprising, considering that it used to be Craig Kimbrel, Joey Votto, and Miguel Cabrera not too long ago. Now, that group includes Anthony Rizzo, Clayton Kershaw, Andrew McCutchen, and Buster Posey.

At any given time, there's always at least 1 player on the cusp of moving up to another tier, whether it's silver, gold, or platinum. At the moment, Evan Longoria is the closest to making this happen at 99 cards, just 1 away from becoming the 46th PC to reach 100 cards or more.

I thought this would happen following my previous trip to the card show, but the Longoria card that I picked up (shown above) was a duplicate. Thus, I'll have to wait a little longer before the 3-time All-Star moves up.

The more progress I make with this endeavor, the higher the bar is raised for players to achieve a certain ranking on my list of 260 player collections. For example, to make the top 100 out of all the players that I collect, a PC has to have at least 62 cards.

Still, players are moving up the list constantly, and players have been consistently reaching the silver tier mark of 50 cards since my last PC tiers update. Currently, 84 of my player collections find themselves between 50-99 cards.

Of course, the majority of my player collections (135/264) are part of the bronze tier, meaning I have fewer than 50 cards of that player. Since this tier encompasses more players than any other, there's an extensive range of players who are apart of it.

Some, like Wilbur Wood and Mickey Lolich, may never move up enough to join the silver tier simply because of how few cards have been produced of these 70s pitchers. 

Other guys' totals, like Alex Bregman's, have increased since I began collecting them, and it's only a matter of time before they reach 50 and maybe even 100 cards.

In fact, there are roughly 30 players within 10 cards of silver tier status, so needless to say, I don't think that the overall growth of my player collections is going to plateau anytime soon.

Well-Priced Oddballs Galore; Card Show Recap #24 Part 3

I didn't head into Sunday's Baseball card show with as high of a budget as I do when I head to the monthly or bi-annually shows in my area, but I ended up with a variety of cards that rivaled these larger shows.

After passing some time with the dealers that I chat with each time I'm there. I ventured back into the separate room where I bought the Prizm parallels and 3D cards at the beginning of the show.

The vendor made an excellent offer on that group of cards, and he had about a dozen 4-row boxes of cards that looked promising, so I had an idea of where I'd be spending the rest of my time and money.

Usually, boxes of mixed sports cards that aren't priced wouldn't draw my attention, but the prices and variety of the first purchase made me hopeful. These bins were one of the craziest things I've ever seen at my local show, and I couldn't wait to start searching through them.

There was no rhyme or reason involved in the organization, so I simply chose a bin and got to looking. This led to 1/2 of a row devoted solely to 2018 Topps Allen & Ginter hot box cards back when they were silver glossy parallels as opposed to this years' gold foil.

Though I purchased my fair share of '18 Ginter, both packs and individual cards, I never came across a single of these parallels until Sunday's purchase where I found a surplus to add to my player collections.

None of the cards were priced as marked, so I still have no clue what I paid for each individual card. Instead, I just made an offer on a lot, and the dealer accepted it, leading to some incredible deals.

For some reason, many of the hot box parallels featured Cubs and Astros players, 2 teams that are heavily represented in my active player PCs. Though I missed out on Rizzo and Altuve, I'd say I landed most of the big names from the 2018 Houston and Chicago teams.

Seeing this design in person only makes me wish that Topps brought it back for '19 Ginter as well. The gold foil cards are nice looking, but I wouldn't choose them over the glossy silver parallels.

I haven't found any information about this TCMA set from the back of the cards, but they were even more common than the Ginter hot box parallels. Because the vendor was reasonable and there were a ton of cards of players I collect, I picked up a reasonable number of these vintage oddballs.

It seems like the set is from the late 70s or early 80s based on the cardstock as well as the players in the checklist. Most of these guys stopped playing in the early 1970s, leaving a few years between their retirement and the release of this TCMA product.

Whenever it's from, these cards will be excellent additions to my retired player PCs, particularly the card of Lou Brock on the Chicago Cubs.

There was also a selection of green-bordered cards from what appears to be the same set, though pitchers and sluggers are included in this portion.

Most of the players whose cards resembled the ones above were legends from the early 20th century, but there were a couple of names from the 70s just like the 9 above.

When I hear other bloggers or card collectors talk about oddballs, Hostess and Kellogg's are almost always mentioned, but one of my personal favorites, Drake's, is often left out.

An annual release throughout the 1980s, Drake's Big Hitters featured the greatest sluggers in the game in 1 set, usually in a checklist around 30-35 cards. The designs differed slightly each year along with the selection of players.

Looking more closely at the Boggs card, I believe I already have it in his PC, but the Rickey Henderson from '87 is definitely a new addition.

One day, I'd love to find an entire bin, or at least a row, chock-full of these terrific 2002 Topps Archives Reserve refractors, but I'll take anything that I can get from this set for the time being.

These gorgeous reprints combine my 2 favorite things about baseball cards; vintage designs and chrome refractors. These 2 aspects are drastically different, yet when they come together, you can't think about Al Oliver's original 1982 Topps card without a chrome refractor finish.

Chrome cards were also one of my favorite parts of the 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen set as they appeared in a 3-card hobby exclusive box topper.

In addition to the one box of Gypsy Queen that I opened, I tracked down a few more of these singles for my player collections via the show, including the Joey Votto card above. The serial numbered versions, like the Miguel Cabrera blue that I pulled, are unbelievably beautiful.

Deviating slightly from the chrome cards that I had previously spoken of, I'm transitioning to the 2 cards of Ken Griffey Jr on the Chicago White Sox that I picked up on Sunday. After all, it's not every day that you land a card of a player who only had 131 at-bats for the team their shown to be playing for.

In addition to the base card from 2009 Topps, I found the Walmart exclusive black parallel which looks awesome with the Chicago home uniform on the foreground. Griffey Jr is one of my largest PCs, so this duo of White Sox cards will be excellent additions to an extensive player collection.

The Platinum Diamond Anniversary and Cognac parallels from 2011 Topps significantly upped the appeal that regular Series 1 & 2 had.

Though I understand it would be challenging to do something like this every year, I bet Topps could've figured something out for 150 years of professional Baseball instead of choosing a boring gold stamp and calling it a day.

I didn't buy any packs in 2011, so my selection of these terrific parallels is somewhat limited. I was, however, able to change that with the addition of these 4 cards, 1 for the Cubs PC and the rest for player collections.

Last but certainly not least, a want list pickup that was hidden amongst the vintage oddballs and shiny parallels; the Houston Astros team card from 1979 Topps, featuring the entire team in front of the Astrodome.

I don't think I could've ended on a higher note, especially considering the huge variety of different cards that these bins delivered.

Needless to say, I'll be visiting this vendor as soon as I run into him again.

First Dime Box Haul in a While; Card Show Recap #23 Part 2

Despite how much I prioritize my ~250 player collections as the center point of my card collecting habits, it's been many months since I've come back from the card show with a dime box haul.

Though they used to be a common feature on the blog, my card collecting habits over the last several months simply haven't allowed for a proper all-dime card purchase. I took many weeks off leading up to and following the National, and I didn't make the dime bins a priority while I was in Chicago.

I know I have access to terrific dime boxes at my local shows, so I wanted to branch out at the NSCC. Even upon returning, however, I found it challenging to return to my old ways. Thankfully, a trip to my weekly card show, much smaller than the one in Mansfield, allowed for just that.

After all, it's hard to beat coming home with a bag full of dime cards following a card show, just waiting to be sorted, categorized, and properly stored.

Within a few minutes of scanning through the dime boxes, I always get a reasonable idea of what player, on this particular day, is going to appear frequently. Almost right off the bat, while searching through the bins on Sunday, I concluded that one of those players was Ken Griffey Jr.

The 13-time All-Star currently trails Greg Maddux by 8 cards for the #2 spot on my list of largest player collections, and these cards will definitely help to close that gap. I did, however, pick up a few Maddux cards, so we'll have to see where the chips fall, though I doubt anyone will ever catch Nolan Ryan (474).

I don't know when or if I'll ever bite the bullet and add the iconic 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr card to my collection. I know that I either want the card to be graded or in good enough condition to come back at an 8.5 or above.

With that being said, my collection, per usual, is all over the place, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to commit myself to add this prized piece to my collection.

Following my complete reorganization of the Red Sox and Cubs PCs over the summer, I'm now able to actively collect cards of my 2 favorite teams besides my player collections.

I don't have a PC for Heyward, nor Ty Buttrey, but these refractors were only a dime each, and I figured they'd be perfect for the PCs. The way I organized the various binders allows me to find any card I want fairly quickly. The next step? Categorize them all online.

Another of my projects from over the summer was the creation of new player collections to add to my already extensive list. Most of the newcomers are rookies from 2018, like Ozzie Albies and Rhys Hoskins, though it also includes superstars like Alex Bregman, Freddie Freeman, and Javier Baez.

Though I haven't made these new player collections official yet, I'm working to accumulate as many cards as I can just like any other PC. For a dime each, these 2 rookies are a heck of a deal.

Though I try to sample almost every available retail product as it's released, I still miss out on the majority of player collection cards. As a result, I frequently depend on the dime bins so I can hunt these cards down, whether it's a set that I buy a fair amount of (Archives) or a product that I've never opened a pack from (Diamond Kings).

Even though I purchased and opened a fair share of 2019 Topps Stadium Club upon its release, I still missed out on a few key cards for my player collections. Before the show, I wasn't familiar with Rivera nor Bank's card from this beautiful set.

I can sufficiently say that if I had known of the Banks card back when I first opened 2019 Stadium Club in June, it would've been strongly considered for the top 10.

As I mentioned, some players are simply more common than others when it comes to a given dime box haul, and this trip to the show was no different. In addition to Ken Griffey Jr, Padres legend Tony Gwynn showed up several times.

I haven't been collecting cards of the 15-time All-Star for all that long, but Gwynn seems to show up in dime boxes no matter where I go. I've only been collecting his cards for a few months, but he's already surpassed 30, not bad considering my hiatus from dime cards.

There's something so drastically different about each of these Roberto Clemente cards that makes me like them all the more. On one end, you have a classic black and white photo paired with a simple design, reminiscent of a fairly high-end product.

On the other hand, you have a retro-style card all about the 1970s. The design, uniform, and even the set name emulate the era incredibly well.

Oddly enough, these 2 cards were produced by the same company, Upper Deck, in the same year, 2001.

After not making much progress for a little while, I'm back on track to reach 500 cards of Nolan Ryan, my largest player collection, by the end of this year. Taking Sunday's purchase into account, I should be hovering around 480 cards, leaving 20 for the next 3 months.

I hope, obviously, to reach this goal and reach the 500-card mark for the first time, but I hope to get there with something besides Texas Rangers cards. Though the best years of his HOF career were spent in California, Topps loves to depict the all-time strikeout leader with the Rangers at every chance they get.

Even with the surplus of Nolan Ryan cards on the Texas Rangers, it felt great to pay the dime bins a visit again. After all, I don't know if I can go this long without them ever again.

Frankenset Page #59

Following my 2-week absence from blogging, I've gradually been getting back into my regular posting schedule. However, I've yet to pick up where I left off with my 74-page frankenset series, so I'll be overviewing the 59th page today.

Featuring cards #523-531, this page dates back to the very beginning of the 1970s and continues through the mid-2010s. I don't want to ramble for too long about anything, in particular, so let's get started with the subsequent page. 

#523 2005 Topps Total Timo Perez

Initially, I had my hopes up after Topps announced the revival of the Topps Total set for the 2019 season, but I was extremely disappointed when I learned that it would be an online exclusive released in "waves." 

Making a product like Topps Total into an online exclusive is not only unnecessary, but it also goes against what the set used to be; an affordable release destined for set builders. Now, it's virtually impossible to complete the Topps Total set because of the new format.

For everyone's sake, I pray that Topps brings back Total once more in 2020 but changes how it's released. I'd love for it to be an inexpensive alternative to Opening Day, similar to Big League and Bunt, with a hobby box format as well.

#524 1987 Topps Bob Shirley

Although I've grown tired of the 1987 Topps set as a whole, there are occasional cards that draw my interest back into the wood-bordered product. There's something about the pairing of Yankee pinstripes with this iconic design that makes for an awesome card, no matter who the player is.

Other times, the set is so redundant and over-produced that I simply lose interest, for it's challenging to stay invested in a product when many of the cards look similar. Thankfully, Topps is finished with 792-card checklists, for the past Flagship sets have had 700 total cards.

#525 2005 Topps Total Austin Kearns

Although I've never opened a pack of Topps Total in my life, I certainly see the appeal of a set like this as well as Upper Deck 40 Man. Especially in today's card collecting world, most sets feature only the brightest stars and rookies, so guys like Reds outfielder Austin Kearns tend to be ignored.

Total should serve as an alternative to Flagship in terms of the number of players featured in the checklist and an alternative to Opening Day as it pertains to the price. One can only hope that Topps will accomplish both of these things in 2020.

#526 2014 Topps Avisail Garcia

Despite how bland some of the 2010s Topps Flagship sets can be, there's always some sensational photography in every one of these sets. A few cards tend to stand out with particular stellar photos, and as far as 2014 Topps is concerned, one of those cards is Avisail Garcia of the White Sox.

In 2017, Garcia hit .330 as was voted onto the AL All-Star team while still with the Chicago White Sox. This stellar performance still baffles me given that the 2nd best batting average in a full season of his career is .257.

#527 1992 Fleer Ultra Bobby Bonilla

Earlier this month, the Baseball world "celebrated" Bobby Bonilla Day, the day in which the New York Mets pay the 6-time All-Star approximately 1 million dollars. These payments will continue through the mid-2030s as part of an alteration of his contract.

I'm sure Bonilla can't complain about this deal, for he earns a million dollars each year without even being on the Mets' roster. To a certain extent, I understand the initial contract, for Bonilla had some stellar seasons in the early 1990s, including an MVP runner-up year in '90.

#528 1975 Topps Eddie Leon

In the case of numerous Topps Flagship sets, if you don't like 1 particular card, then you likely won't like the set as a whole. However, with a set like 1975 Topps, the color combinations differ across the 660-card set.

You may not enjoy the purple and green combo on Eddie Leon's card, featuring the red striped Chicago White Sox uniforms. However, that won't stop you from appreciating some of the other cards in this set, such as Bert Blyleven's red and light blue combination, for example.

It's somewhat rare, as far as Flagship sets are concerned, for the cards to differ so widely because of various color combinations. This typically, however, results in top-notch sets like '72, '75, and 2015.

#529 1970 Topps Bob Aspromonte

I've always loved the silver-bordered 1970 Topps set, but I fear I have too few cards from this product to collect and eventually complete it. In a perfect world, however, 1970 Topps would be the next set that I'd collect.

This year, Topps replicated this set extremely well, as they always do, in Topps Heritage. However, the odds of pulling special variations and hits decreased, resulting in a lackluster product from a value standpoint. 

I still pulled some great cards from the packs that I opened, but it failed to match the precedent that the 2017 and 2018 Topps Heritage releases had established.

#530 1989 Upper Deck Jack McDowell

One of the cards that I'd like to pick up at this year's National is Ken Griffey Jr's iconic rookie card from 1989 Upper Deck, easily one of the most iconic cards in Baseball history. I happen to have his Donruss rookie as well as a few oddballs from his freshman year. 

Obviously, the Upper Deck version is far more sought after. I've seen a few of them in person, but acquiring this card has never really been a priority of mine until now. Griffey Jr is one of my top tier player collections, and I'd love to add a graded version of this iconic card to my collection.

#531 1983 Topps A's Team Leaders

The fact that a .267 batting average and a 4.21 ERA led the 1982 Oakland Athletics team highlights how lackluster that particular squad was. Though they'd go onto have success later in the decade. the 1982 Oakland Athletics finished the year 68-94 which earned them 5th place in the 7-team AL West.

They were far from the worst clubs in baseball that year, for both the Twins and the Reds had 100+ losses. Ultimately, the 92-70 St. Louis Cardinals would go on and win the Fall Classic.

The New Player Collection Tiers

In an effort to have a complete list of all the players I collect in one document and know all the totals at once, I spent my day off today completing said list in what I call my player collection tiers.

The complete list, which can be found here, is complete with all 245 players I collect and the total number of cards next to them. Those numbers range from as low as 8 total cards all the way up to 447, one wide range if I've ever seen one.

As a way to make it easier to have these 245 names in one place, I developed 4 separate tiers, 1 tier for each player collection to fall into. In this post, I'll be explaining what each tier requires for a total number of cards as well as a brief description of some of the players in each tier and how many made the cut.

Tier #1 consists of just 4 players out of 245 and is the highest tier, for now, on the list. This is what I'll be calling the Platinum Tier, featuring my 4 player collections with 200 cards or more. 

First up, we have the largest out of all my player collections. At 447 cards, the total I mentioned before to be the highest, Nolan Ryan has a comfortable 200+ card margin between him and the next subject on this list. As soon as I find 3 more cards of his to bring the total to 450, the next task will be the once unfathomable feat of having a 500-card player collection.

Maddux recently joined the 200-card club, or I suppose I should say Platinum Tier, as recent as a month or two ago, but he's already catapulted past a heavy-hitter to become my 2nd largest player selection at a grand total of 238 cards and counting. Consisting of mainly Braves cards from the mid to late 1990's, Maddux's player collection is one that typically brings home 5-10 cards from a show.

With 234 cards, Manny Ramirez is anything but far away from the 2nd largest player collection spot that he held for a while, or at least as long as I've been counting PC totals. However, the lack of Ramirez cards in the dime bins and the abundance of Greg Maddux cards likely means the gap between these 2 is only going to increase over the years.

Finally, the newest member of the Platinum Tier just snuck in here after last weekend's card show which delivered 10 new cards for the collection. Ken Griffey Jr., whose player collection currently rests at 205 cards, has been extremely prominent in the dime boxes dating back well over a year. Given that it wasn't too long ago that he was just over 100 cards, it's clear that the last year or so has been good for the Griffey Jr. PC.

Don't worry, I'm not going to go that in-depth for each and every tier. I simply wanted to elaborate on the very first one, since it includes all my largest player collection and consists of just 4 players. Next up, the 2nd tier aka the Gold Tier.

Even if you don't count members of the Platinum Tier as Gold Tier members despite meeting the requirement of 100 cards or more, you still have a tier that consists of 32 members, 36 if the top 4 players from the Platinum Tier are added. From as long ago as Babe Ruth to as recent as Craig Kimbrel and Joey Votto, the Gold Tier is the level that I strive for each PC to reach. 

Within this particular tier, you have a few players closing in on Platinum Tier status. For example, David Ortiz who is just 9 cards away from becoming the 5th player to reach the 200-card mark in my collection.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have 2 members of the Gold Tier who have just recently made it in as they currently both sit at 100 cards exactly. After last weekend's show, Jeff Bagwell and Frank Robinson both obtained the necessary cards to reach the 100-card total, no more and no less. After them, you have a gradual increase all the way up to the top of the Gold Tier.

With 66 players included in it, Gold and Platinum Tiers notwithstanding, the Silver Tier is a mark reached by player collections on their way to higher status. By this point, a player collection has reached the 50-card mark, proving that this player collection is not stagnant but rather one that will continue to grow throughout the near and distant future.

Located directly below the Gold Tier, the player collection Silver Tier encompasses player collections starting at 50 cards and through 99 total cards. As for the players whose collections have yet to reach 50 total cards, their player collections are part of the 4th, final, and tier with most total members; the Bronze Tier.

Made up of all remaining players who have yet to be included in a tier, the Bronze Tier includes a whopping 143 total players, conceivably ranging from 0 cards all the way to 49. However, the lowest number of cards in any one of my PCs is 8, a total belonging to 2 players (Curt Flood and J.R. Richard).

While some players may be stuck in the Bronze Tier forever due to how infrequently I see their cards at the show, other members are young, current players who I expect to make it to the Silver Tier and beyond in the future. In fact, there are 33 total players who currently sit 10 or fewer cards away from the Silver Tier status, including 2 (Stan Musial and Madison Bumgarner) who are just 1 card away, sitting at 49 as I type this post.

When I was making this list today, I created it not with the intentions to become number-obsessed and only care about player collection totals but rather, as a way to have a complete list of all my player collections and their respective totals organized in one place. 

To have this new information on tiers and know who's close to a certain total, that's simply a bonus.