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.

PC Overview; Johnny Bench

Back in the early months of 2019, I vowed to add the PC overview posts to my list of reoccurring series here on the blog, the others being frankenset pages and top 5 cards. Despite this wish, it has been over 3 months since I wrote one of these posts with the most recent being Cal Ripken Jr at the end of June.

In case you're unfamiliar with this type of post, PC overviews are a chance for me to discuss one of the many players I collect by going more in-depth.

Usually, I only get the opportunity to showcase my 5 favorite cards, but when it comes to PC overviews, I can show off cards and memorabilia that relate to the player at hand.

In the past, I've written about Ripken, Roberto Clemente, and Reggie Jackson. I find it easier to talk about retired players, since there's usually more material for me to work with, hence why I selected Johnny Bench for today's post.

Following last Sunday's trip to the Baseball card show, my Johnny Bench player collection rose to 159 cards. This includes the oldest card in the PC, a 1969 Topps All-Star rookie card that I purchased at the Mansfield show a few months back.

Bench only has 2 Topps cards from the 60s, his iconic 1968 Topps rookie and the 2nd year card above. Ideally, I'd love to acquire his actual rookie card once of these days, but I'm pretty happy with this card for the time being, especially because of what I paid for it.

The 159 cards that I have of Bench is good for 20th on my list of largest player collections, though the order is constantly subject to change. The modern products make up a significant portion of the inventory, meaning I appreciate the vintage cards from the 1970s even more.

Aside from the rookie cup card, I'd have to rank Bench's 1973 Topps Flagship card above as my favorite as far as vintage is concerned. I don't have all that many Bench cards from this decade, something I'm willing to change if I come across 70s cards for a reasonable price.

The majority of my Johnny Bench player collection is made up of "modern" cards (after the 1970s), most of which are from the 21st century. Thanks to the '69 Topps card, I have something of Bench from every single decade since his major league debut.

Back when Donruss, Fleer, and Upper Deck were around, Bench was featured in Baseball card sets left and right as one of the game's legends. Though Topps does the same thing, to a lesser degree, nowadays, it was completely different when there were 4 companies making sets.

The one area where my Johnny Bench PC is lacking is when it comes to serial numbered cards. Unlike active players, there aren't many numbered cards out there of the 13-time All-Star, so I have to do some closer looking if I'm to find any.

The one numbered card of Bench in my collection is a base card from 2010 Topps Triple Threads (#/1350). It appears that if I want to add to this part of the Bench PC, high-end products are the way to go.

In addition to cards, there are a few pieces of Johnny Bench memorabilia in my collection, the first of which is an oddball oversized print from the 1990s. I also have one of these featuring 5 members of the 1975 Boston Red Sox team, so I assume there's some reasoning behind the Cincinnati Reds' version.

Bench, Morgan, Perez, and Foster are expected choices, but the inclusion of Don Gullett intrigues me. He was respectable for a few years, but most of the others were Hall of Famers, and Foster was an MVP award winner.

There's no MLB license on this oversized photo, so there's nothing preventing Spectrum from choosing Pete Rose, though there's something cool about Gullet being featured instead.

Back when I first attended the Mansfield show, I picked up a set of 9 McDonald's glasses, paying tribute to some of MLB's legends. Out of the 9 spots in the checklist (I still haven't found the regional Carl Yastrzemski version), there were 2 players from the Big Red Machine, Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench.

The promotional pieces came in a set for a very reasonable price, and I've kept them together ever since. I can't say I've been actively looking for the Yaz glass, but the last time I checked eBay, it was fairly expensive.

Honestly, even though I'd love to add some new 70s and numbered cards to my Bench PC, I don't really have to, because nothing can compare to this breathtaking piece of memorabilia. 

What you see above is a framed 1970s program from Wrigley Field, signed by Johnny Bench in the top left corner of the front side. It's not authenticated by any company, but my Aunt got this at a Cubs game back when Bench and the Big Red Machine were dominating the National League, so I have no reason to question its legitimacy.

There is a reasonable number of awesome autographs and memorabilia pieces in my collection, but I don't think any of them can compare to a signed program of the greatest catcher to ever live.

PC Overview; Cal Ripken Jr

It's been over a month since I've written one of these PC overview posts when I wrote one for Roberto Clemente towards the middle of last month.

That's not to say that I don't enjoy these posts. Frankly, it's quite the opposite; the PC overview posts allow me to go more in-depth regarding some of my player collections. 

While a top 5 cards list only highlights a few select cards, PC overviews include cards and a ton of memorabilia that I otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity on the blog.

I started this series with a post dedicated to Reggie Jackson back at the beginning of May in an effort to have another continuous series for the blog. I realized that I needed something in addition to the top 5 cards post and frankenset pages, so I began analyzing some of my player collections at a closer level.

Today is the 3rd installment in this series, and I've selected a player who I've acquired some unusual memorabilia of over the years. I'm talking about the Iron Man himself, Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr.

Just like Reggie Jackson and Roberto Clemente, the actual cards make up most of my Cal Ripken Jr player collection, followed by the various pieces of memorabilia. Out of the 3 players whom I've written PC overview posts for thus far, Ripken Jr has the most cards in his player collection at 166.

Those 166 cards span just 4 decades (the 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s), all of which are represented above. Unlike the previous 2 players, Ripken Jr played at a high level throughout the entire 1990s decade. As a result, there are far more cards available of him than most other players that I collect. 

In fact, he has the 5th most cards out of any player in Baseball history in terms of what's listed on COMC, trailing only A-Rod, Ken Griffey Jr, Derek Jeter, and Albert Pujols.

Not included in the 166-card Cal Ripken Jr are some unconventional cards that I've chosen to display on my card collecting table instead of with the other Ripken cards in my collections. My reason for this is simple; these aren't traditional cards of the 19-time All-Star. 

The cards included in the box above are metal cards from a tin that my Dad and I purchased at a card show many years ago. You can see some other memorabilia which I will get to later, but for now, let's stick to the 10-card metal set that commemorates his achievement of 2,131 consecutive games played.

This isn't the only tin with metal cards in my collection as I have similar sets for Ken Griffey Jr, Roberto Clemente, and even Mickey Mantle. While the first 2 tins on that list were produced by the same company, Ripken's tin, and metal cards strongly resemble the 10-card Mantle tin aside from the actual player featured.

Both Mantle and Ripken's tins are produced by the same company and include 10 total cards and a large box as opposed to the 5 cards and smaller boxes for Clemente and Griffey Jr. I don't recall exactly what I paid for any of these collector's items, but I can't imagine it was anything outrageous.

I'm a sucker for the design of each of Ripken's 10 metal cards, for they all feature a vibrant orange and black border and Ripken's name embossed at the bottom of the card. Each card features a different picture and highlights from his career up until his 2,131st consecutive game which he achieved in 1995. 

While I could technically count these 10 exclusive cards as part of my actual Ripken Jr player collection, it's a no-brainer for me to leave them inside the tin. If I'm going to categorize a card as part of a PC, it better be with that PC physically before I add it to the inventory.

Like the 10 metal cards, I could also count this 23KT gold card in my Cal Ripken Jr player collection as well, but I prefer to display it with my other memorabilia of the 2-time AL MVP instead. Another Baseball card show pickup, this card features roughly 17 square inches of genuine gold and has some information about Ripken's streak of games played inscribed into the card.

The front of the card features a brief synopsis about Ripken's streak after he broke Gehrig's record and achieved the world record for consecutive games played at 2,216. 

Before he willingly ended his own streak, Ripken didn't just break the record of 2,130 straight games played, set by Lou Gehrig, he exceeded the mark to earn a world record which is commemorated with these intricate designs on the back of the card. 

Among the many details is a stamp, dated June 14th, 1996, honoring when he earned the world record.

Among the numerous unusual pieces of Cal Ripken memorabilia in my collection, the most unique one would have to be the Wheaties box above, complete with a full bag of cereal inside the sealed box.

While I likely should get around to throwing out the 20+-year-old cereal and keeping the box itself, my Dad and I, somehow, acquired this cereal box at the Baseball card show and never bothered to take the actual cereal out.

We simply placed the new memorabilia with the other Ripken items along our card collecting counter, and I never thought twice about it until I started writing today's post. 

The cereal inside may be a little odd, but the box design is a special piece of memorabilia that also commemorates his legendary streak.

As much as I cherish all the oddball pieces of memorabilia, I've definitely saved the highlight of my Ripken Jr player collection for last; this simple yet beautiful plaque, again honoring his 2,131st consecutive game, which was, you guessed it, acquired at the Baseball card show.

The plaque, complete with a picture and inscription, is hung directly above the other pieces of Ripken memorabilia. I love seeing all the various Ripken items near one another, especially when so many of them honor his 2,131st straight game.

Like all the oddball memorabilia that I've featured in this post, the picture above was an inexpensive Baseball card show pickup that contributes something unusual to my Baseball card collection. 

I don't own a lot of collector's items that I can hang on the wall, so I thoroughly appreciate the Ripken plaque in addition to all the other memorabilia that I own. 

After all, these items, along with the actual cards in the PC, help make the Cal Ripken Jr player collection what it is.

An Update on Player Collection Tiers

Last November, I developed a new method to help better organize the main focus of my Baseball card collection; my 250 different player collections. 

Given how many PCs I have, it's become rather difficult to keep track of all the different players that I collect. Thus, I created player collection tiers, separating my PCs into platinum, gold, silver, and bronze tiers according to the number of cards in each collection.

A complete list of all the players that I collect and their respective placements on the tiers can be found here. Now, in addition to adding PC additions to my online inventories, I also adjust the player's rankings on the tiers list.

Of course, because I dedicate lots of time and resources towards boosting my various player collections, the card totals and rankings have changed quite a bit since I created the tiers in mid-November of 2018. 

Because so many changes have occurred, I thought it'd be worthwhile to do an update on the progress that each tier has made, something I could see myself doing twice a year or so. 

Since I created the player collection tiers, many changes have been made regarding player collection totals and rankings. In what has recently a vital part of my card collecting habits, let me update you on the player collection tiers.

Unsurprisingly, Nolan Ryan is still my largest player collection with an almost unreachable total of 461 cards. Perhaps more impressive than the number of cards in Ryan's PC is the 197-card lead that he holds over my 2nd largest player collection, Greg Maddux.

Going into 2019, one of my Baseball card collecting goals was for my Nolan Ryan player collection to reach 500 total cards. At this rate, it's going to be a close call, so we'll have to wait and see what happens. 

Still, even if Ryan's player collection doesn't reach 500 cards this year, I highly doubt that Maddux or any other PC will come close to rivaling the 461 cards that I currently have of Nolan Ryan.

As I explained in November, the very top tier on my list is called the platinum tier, and the only PCs eligible for this tier are those that have eclipsed the 200 card mark. Certainly, only a select number of player collections will achieve this total, yet 3 players have done just that since I created the tiers list.

Recently, Rickey Henderson and David Ortiz joined Ryan, Maddux, Griffey Jr, and Manny Ramirez and officially became members of the platinum tier. I focus more on my player collections than any other aspect of my collection, yet very few players have achieved the 200-card mark.

This proves that, although we are arguably living in a neo-over-production era, how difficult it is for any player collection to achieve 200 total cards. At the same time, there are currently 3 players within 7 cards of that total (Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, and Vladimir Guerrero).

The 7th and final member of the platinum tier also reached the 200-card mark in the 5 months since I created the player collection tiers. Ichiro has since passed Ortiz and Henderson to inch his way to the #5 spot on my list. 

Although there's a sizeable gap between Ichiro, Griffey Jr, and Manny (who are tied for the #3 spot), there are a few gaps in my Ichiro PC that I could potentially fill to boost his total more so than I currently am. For example, out of the 213 cards that I have of the future Hall of Famer, I have just 2 from 2013-14. 

Not including the 7 players who have reached platinum tier status, the gold tier encompasses 33 players with 100-199 total cards. As I mentioned when I introduced the PC tiers in a blog post, the 100-card mark is what I would like each player collection to eventually achieve.

Although some gold tier PCs are closing in on the 200-card mark, I've seen a respectable number of player collections achieve gold tier status over the last few weeks. In particular, star players from the 2000s and 2010s have reached the 100-card mark, including the 4 players above.

Anthony Rizzo and Miguel Cabrera are just 2 of a few active players whose PCs have reached 100 total cards. Other players featured on that list include Craig Kimbrel, Albert Pujols, and Joey Votto.

If you count the platinum tier, I have 41 player collections with 100 cards or more. In addition, there are 9 total players who are within 10 cards of reaching gold tier status.

If a player collection achieves the silver tier mark (50 cards), there's a high chance of that same player reaching gold tier status in the future. Because of that, I don't expect certain players to remain in the silver tier for long. One of those guys is Mookie Betts who just recently reached the 50-card mark.

In addition to Mookie, active superstars like Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Justin Verlander, and Giancarlo Stanton are all members of the silver tier. There is also a wide range of retired players who also encompass part of this tier as well. 

Typically, members of the silver tier are commonly found in the dime boxes, meaning it's easy to boost these player collections whenever I go to the Baseball card show or my LCS. Thus, I fully expect many of my 75 silver tier PCs to eventually reach gold tier status, especially Harmon Killebrew who is currently just 1 card away.

Speaking of 1 card away, Bernie Williams' player collection currently sits at 49 cards, 1 card from the 50-card mark and silver tier status. The final of the 4 tiers is the bronze tier, encompassing the most players out of any PC tier with 134 members. 

Theoretically, any PC with as few as 1 card qualifies for the bronze tier, but the lowest total out of any of my bronze tier players is 9. While the range of player collection totals isn't very large, the bronze tier features tons of different players from various eras of Baseball history.

Some of these guys, like Curt Flood, may stay in the bronze tier for as long as I collect cards. Others, like Xander Bogaerts and Jacob DeGrom, will likely reach silver tier status in no time. 

A wide range of factors contributes to whether a player will remain in the bronze tier for years to come or reach silver and even gold tier status. However, it's unlikely that current players, such as Kyle Schwarber, will stay bronze tier PCs so long as I actively boost my various player collections. 

Thanks to Topps' emphasis on rookie cards and the availability of the veteran base cards, I can easily add to player collections like Schwarber's without much trouble. On the other hand, I don't come across cards of Andres Galarraga very often, so it'll be much more difficult for his PC to reach 50 total cards.

Out of the 134 bronze tier player collections, a whopping 36 of them are within 10 cards or fewer of achieving silver tier status. As I have recently discovered, my player collection tiers run in a cycle. 

There's always going to be a player on the brink of platinum, gold, or silver tier status, and I like that quite a lot. While they haven't necessarily changed the way that I collect, player collection tiers have helped make being a player collector much easier.