BY MARK A. LARSON
I have a confession to make. Readers of Baseball Hobby News and all the world will now know. I admit it. I plead guilty. I know that better quality cards appreciate more in value, but yes, it’s true. I’m a VG-EX collector.
There. It’s finally out in the open. Getting a matter of such magnitude off of one’s chest is a gigantic relief. I feel much better now. And you know what? I’m not ashamed to admit it: I COLLECT VERY GOOD TO EXCELLENT BASEBALL CARDS! Blasphemous as it may sound to the mint collector, no matter what anyone else says, I’m proud of that fact.
Why, you ask, when all the big-time, so-called advanced collectors settle for nothing less than Ex-Mint, Mint, Gem Mint, Super Mint, DoubleMint, SpearMint, and Mintier-Than-Mint? First of all, a baseball card – especially an old one – was meant to be held and enjoyed to the fullest, not imprisoned in a plastic sheet.
The feel of that piece of cardboard can bring back a hundred memories of years past when, as a kid, you studied, traded and felt those cards in your very own hands. The warmth of those bygone feelings can turn any moment, in any day, in any place, into one of almost total, innocent bliss.
Ever smell a card that’s been housed in a plastic sheet? And what does it smell like? Plastic, of course. Baseball cards weren’t meant to smell like polyethylene. Yet they were meant to be smelled by people.
Go ahead, get down that box of 1955 Bowmans or 1961 Topps – each has a unique aroma all its own. That’s the pleasant scent of baseball cards. And the newer Topps cards still have that delicious gum smell to them. Even Topps, Fleer and Donruss cards are all ever so slightly different in smell. But one thing they don’t reek of is plastic and chemicals. They smell like baseball cards should.
1955 Bowman
1961 Topps
An older baseball card that’s in VG-EX condition is a sure sign of a card that’s been loved and relished – perhaps by dozens of collectors. The photo on the front has been admired many times, and the biography, statistics and cartoons on the back have been read over and over. Each time a new detail may surface and strike the hobbyist like never before. After all, baseball cards are, in a way, a love affair with the past, aren’t they?
Perhaps most important (or least important, depending on how you look at it) VG-EX cards are less expensive. They’re usually about 40 percent of the cost of mint ones.
Personally, I’d rather have a stack of 100 VG-EX 1950s or 1960s cards than 40 in mint condition. And then because I like to handle and study them, I don’t have to worry about accidentally creasing the card and devaluing it drastically. For some, that would be tantamount to the stock market crash of 1929, World War II and a nuclear holocaust all rolled into one.
In addition, I’m a set collector – the way baseball cards were meant to be collected – and I’d rather have a complete set of VG-EX cards than one full of holes because the flawless mint specimens cannot be found. The way some collectors talk about having to have mint cards, it’s surprising they don’t wear surgical gloves and carry a 10-power microscope to shows to make sure the cards they’re buying don’t have any imperfections.
I don’t collect baseball cards for their potential value. I collect ’em ’cause it’s fun. As long as my cards pretty much retain the value I paid for them. I’m happy.
Everyone has his own idiosyncrasies about collecting, and I don’t begrudge the hobbyist who collects mint only – that’s his choice. But to me, collecting VG-EX cards is O.K., nothing to be ashamed of, more fun, and not so antiseptic. If you don’t agree with me, go ahead and hit me over the head with a mint 1952 Topps Wayne Terwilliger. But, God forbid, don’t bend the corner!
1952 Topps
• • • • • •
• Originally Published in Oct. 1985 “Baseball Hobby News” •
THIS ARTICLE FROM “BASEBALL HOBBY NEWS” MAGAZINE IS REPRINTED WITH THE PERMISSION OF BOTH THE EDITOR/PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR. IT HAS BEEN RETYPED, BUT NO CONTENT HAS BEEN CHANGED (EXCEPT FOR VERY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS, CORRECTIONS TO TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND CHANGES TO GRAPHICS). COMMENTS OR INFORMATION IN THE ARTICLE MAY BE OUT-OF-DATE.
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