General Forum

Many collectors define themsevles as either a set collector or a player or team collector. However, in following many blogs over the years  and in trading there are many collectors have their own special collecting niches in addtion to their set collecting or hometown team, or fave player. On another thread someone asked about "sun set" cards which are the last card(s) produced during (or the year after) a player's final playing year. Some people collect those. Basically any specialty you can think of someone proably has a special collecting "niche" for:

Players with certain names or the collector's name, Players born on the same day (or year) as the collector, Players from a collector's hometown, Cards with players blowing a bubble (bubble gum), Players in throwback uniforms, Cards with a certain card number, Defunct teams, Night-time cards, Pitchers batting or running the bases, Players with oversized gloves or bats, players holding several bats, Players holding trophies, Hall of Fame players, Catchers (or goalies) in full padding, miscut cards, and so on and so forth. AS I said there are many of these little oddball subjects and sub collections that people have.

Personally I have several niches I collect including Mascot cards. I somewhat also do my birthday April 4.

What special niches do you collect?

Syracuse alumni in the NFL and NBA
Short-lived Teams (Seattle Pilots, Cleveland Barons, etc)
Funny/Cool Nicknames (Mudcat Grant, Whammy Douglas, etc)
One card from each set ever produced (baseball, football, hockey)

I collect everything. That includes all niches.

My main project is trying to get every set and every person with a NBA or NASCAR cards into my collection.

I have a running list of which sets and people are missing on Cardboard History.

Throwback uniforms in baseball. Stadium cards (wrote about that in my blog) Canadian born players..

In hockey, players from Terrace Bay

Baseball HoF, even those that shouldn't be there!

Ha...if you don't know by now, Bob collects:

*Errors & variations

*Oddball Cards, Sets and Different Small Box Sets

* Fleer Team logo stickers

* 1950s-60s Non-Sport [TV shows, Westerns, Flags, Hit Stars etc.]

Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland A's

>>always trading, selling, buying<<    ~BOB~

Baseball:

• Complete sets (33-card boxed sets to 700+, including MiLB team sets)
• Phillies
• HOFers
• Current Stars
• Retired players that may or may not make the HOF
• My son collects Darren Daulton

Hockey:

• Complete sets
• Bobby Clarke & Bernie Parent
• Manon Rheaume
• My wife collects Steve Yzerman, Martin Lapointe, Darren McCarty, and to a lesser extent Chris Osgood

I collect two things only ..... you should be able to figure them out by my nick and my pic ............ LOL.

I don't think I have a niche. I collect anything of my teams, players, and NASCAR drivers. I am not a set collector, unless I happen to get the whole thing from one or more boxes OR if I get close enough that I decide I want to complete it.

On second thought, I might have two of them. #1 would be NFL cards of other players that prominately feature someone I collect. Examples - 1996 Collector's Choice # 286 Trent Dilfer (the back has a pic of him talking to Brett Favre), 2008 UD #87 and UD 1st Ed. #70 (both are Reggie Williams, but Chris Gamble of the Panthers is in the background). I'm sure I have several more like that but those came to mind first. These are hard to acquire b/c you just have to know they are pictured on the card.

#2 would be astronomical cards. These mostly come from A&G products and UD's massive 2009 20th Anniversary insert set. I have cards of planets, comets, galaxies, space probes, and astronomers.

If you asked my wife this question, she'd reply, "Way too much."

I grew up in NJ as a Mets, Devils, and Giants fan, and lived in WI for nearly 9 years, so I add the Milwaukee Braves & Brewers and Green Bay.

I went to Cornell, so players from there (Ken Dryden, Joe Nieuwendyk) and the rest of the Ivy League (Brad Ausmus, Ron Darling)

Underrated players that are nearly (or truly) Hall-Worthy (Rusty Staub, Alan Trammell)