[Thebulldog55d]

Go with a prospect from your favorite team its fun because you actually care if they do well.

[baseball dad]

Growing up in Brooklyn the family were Dodger fans until they moved to L.A. so my childhood Idols were Duke snider, Gil Hodges, Pee-Wee Reese. In '62 when the Duke came back to New York to play with the Mets and the following year came Gil I was in heaven. But over the years I started to think about Franchise players more so I started following from the minors. Living now in Florida I go to St. Lucie and follow the players picked out a couple of good ones and I've been a fan from there. Also I go to Daytona Cubs games Followed Giovanny Soto, Jose Reyes (Mets) Matt Harvey, Lucas Duda

[petillo64]

If you're going the prospect route, I'd definitely recommend one of the prospects in my banner (I've also started collecting Christian Yelich). I'm pretty much loaded up on autos of these players to this point, so it won't hurt me any if you started collecting them.

Russell is a high character guy with a world of talent. He should always be affordable considering he is on the A's (until he is a free agent), and was deemed untouchable via trade by Billy, which is unheard of... His prices spiked a few months ago, but have come back down to earth since he is out for a month with a hammy issue.

Pederson is a beast. Another high character guy with a MLB pedigree. He is absolutely murdering AAA right now so his prices have spiked recently, but they should come back down to normal after his stat line settles a bit. He is clogged in the Dodgers organization with their crowded outfield, but this kid will be a solid, high-motor, high-character regular in the bigs at some point, with good tools across the board.

I started collecting Yelich after I pulled an auto of his from Topps chrome. Highly touted kid, and I was not sure why his prices were so low in comparison to lesser prospects so I started picking up more. Another high-motor, high-character guy, who has the potential to fill out and develop into a superstar. His prices have always been reasonable, but may be picking up since he is off to a hot start this year.

Bregman... You guessed it. High-character, high-motor... Won a crapton of awards last year as a freshman. He is struggling a TON with SEC pitching this year. He is a beast though and should pull out of it and be a top 15 pick in '15's draft. His prices were starting to go up in the off-season and the start of this years college baseball season, but they look like they're going back to normal now that he is struggling.

All-in-all, following these players has been a lot of fun, which PC'ing a player is all about IMO. All these guys are known to be high-motor hustlers, and high-character players which is a big plus for me. They will at least be fun to watch and cheer along even if they don't reach superstar status.

[mmahoney]

My PC players are from my favorite team my entire life - Minnesota Twins. Grew up with Rod Carew, then Kirby Puckett, now Joe Mauer. I had to expand to Mauer as it became more difficult to find Carew and Puckett cards I needed. I recently just went to all Twins cards. That has left me a lot of options. Especially if just trying to trade base for base.

I think a lot depends on if you want quantity to keep you busy or higher end cards that will be more difficult to get. In today's environment you also should consider someone who you don't care which team they play for and would want the cards even if traded. Otherwise you may find yourself with a large collection that you are trying to unload.

[nolan5000]

I think a lot depends on if you want quantity to keep you busy or higher end cards that will be more difficult to get. In today's environment you also should consider someone who you don't care which team they play for and would want the cards even if traded. Otherwise you may find yourself with a large collection that you are trying to unload.

+34 Very astute observation!!

[sfreinker]

If a player is drafted/signed by my team and has never played for anyone else, that individual is up for consideration in my PC. You'd be surprised how small your list of choices gets with this one criterion. From there, I make the decision based on everything from position to personality. That's what makes me happy, and I'm sticking to it.

+1, it's a good way to whittle down the options.

[alfredoleal2001]

I just started a willie mays vintage collection from 1952-1974. i'm 5 cards short of all his topp's regular issue cards.

i'm sure you have already have all the mike Schmidt's but if not, he would be awesome.

Im sure youll enjoy seeing these then!!!

1964 Topps Venezuelan




1967 Topps Venezuelan





As for deciding on a player collector my first one was Cal Ripken Jr but on a very low end as I was a teenager when I started and couldnt afford most of the cards. Then I realized theres just too many of his cards so its almost impossible to have every single one. Try to decide on a player you like and that also fits your budget and may be reasonable and not have a gazillion cards!!!