[mouschi3]

Every now and then I'm asked "What is your favorite card?" I am split in my mind 6 ways. Is it my knob auto? Dynasty logo patch? Red Crusade? My custom that Jose personalized to me? 89 Topps gold border? Wood Museum auto? I've narrowed down my absolute favorite to a little under items in my collection seen here: http://www.tanmanbaseballfan.com/my-have...number_0=1 LOL

This got me to thinking. What would be the absolute perfect card? I guess for me, I don't really know. I have some ideas though.

Back story - A card with a fabulous back story is hard to beat. I love the stories on the 89 Blue Chips, 90 Aqueous, 88 Topps Cloth, 90 UD Buybacks - any card with a mysterious / good story & history can many times beat an autograph or patch card in my mind.

Design - While a story completely trumps this for me in terms of desirability, the design is huge for me. Ever since I have started creating my own cards, I've been more inwardly critical of cards that hit the market. I sometimes look at cards now and say "UGH! Why did/didn't they put foil on those cards?" or "What a horrible cropping job! What were they thinking?"

Photography - This is especially true for cards nowadays when retired players oftentimes have the same picture over the course of 20 different cards. A great, unique picture makes a card more appealing to me.

Scarcity - Having a feeling of being a part of an exclusive group (or the only person) that owns a certain card adds tons of desirability. Like it or not, knowing that a card is coveted by others helps.

Player - (DUH). It would be hard to call any card of Mickey Hatcher better than any card of Mickey Mantle....UNLESS you are a die-hard Mickey Hatcher collector. In that case, the perfect card for you could definitely be a Mickey Hatcher card, when put up against ANY Mantle.

Autograph - In a world where players are paid to pump out hundreds of autographs on cards and stickers, some can get sloppy and thus affect the sale value of a card. I've seen a wide swing of sales price between two cards just because a part of the signature was slightly off the sticker, (or heck, on sticker as some hate those), streaky, etc. A good, clean autograph looks great, while a junky one can ruin the aesthetics of a card.

Relics - A nice patch can really set off a card, as can a nameplate, bat knob, etc. These pieces can really make a card stand out nicely, compared to regular bat chips & plain swatches. The whole idea of having a piece of a jersey or bat embedded into a card gave us collectors a feeling of being closer to the game. When the market was flooded with them, the premium patches/knobs/etc. gave many of us the same feeling again ... though at a much heftier price tag.

To me, the backstory and relic pieces used are most important, I think. Unfortunately, these cannot be married together, as time is needed for a backstory and the premium relic pieces are fairly new to the game.

What is most important to you? What would absolutely make you melt? Describe your perfect card!

[REDdad1]

My absolute favorite card is still the first one I ever pulled from a pack. It was the Topps 2007 #40 Derek Jeter card w Mantle and Bush. I have had it graded and even though Jeter is not someone I actively collect, I just can't see myself parting with it.

[Phillies_Joe]

I'd be lying if I didn't say the perfect card would be the one I found in the 25 cent bin (or behind a wall board) that was worth $1,000,000....neither has happened...........yet.

I agree with everything you said above except an in person auto trumps any other auto.

I'm not so greedy that I want the card to be too scarce (maybe a #/10), however, I want to be the only one with the possibility of receiving a BGS Black 10 grade on the card.

[kerryandbeth]

The Perfect Card is one that a collector works hard to find, shakes nervously while making an offer, and then can't stop smiling when the card is finally in hand and then safely stored away.

[REDdad1]

I'd be lying if I didn't say the perfect card would be the one I found in the 25 cent bin (or behind a wall board) that was worth $1,000,000....neither has happened...........yet.

I agree with everything you said above except an in person auto trumps any other auto.

I'm not so greedy that I want the card to be too scarce (maybe a #/10), however, I want to be the only one with the possibility of receiving a BGS Black 10 grade on the card.

I agree with you on the in person auto being more important. My son's favorite card in his PC is one from Gosuke Katoh. He is a single A 2nd basemen playing for the RiverDogs but he spent about 10 mins before a game in Rome GA talking with us and asking my son questions. That personal interaction made the autograph even more special to him.

[zeprock]

The "Perfect Card" can mean different things for different people.

Some may think four sharp corners, perfect centering and defect-free would be the perfect card.

Some may think a 1/1 of their favorite player.

Some may think that an in-person autograph on a card gives it special meaning and makes it the perfect card.

Those scenarios may all be correct but for me, it is the card that fell out of my Corn Flakes box into my cereal bowl 46 years ago. It was 3-D, something I hadn't seen since the old 3-D viewers.

It was fascinating. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I wanted more. It set off a chain reaction that kept me searching for baseball cards. I went to stores and bought them. I traded with my schoolmates. I begged for them for my birthday. 46 years later I am still clamoring for them. I have 1/1s. I have autographed cards from more than 100 different Hall of Famers. I have bat cards of Mantle, Aaron, Mays and Ted Williams. I have in-person autographs on cards, some I met in person, some through the mail. I have cards with jersey swatches, pieces of outfield walls, dugout benches, baseballs, bats, spikes, caps, stamps, medallions, etc. I have cards that are CDs and contain highlights. Ihave metal cards, plastic cards, wood cards, mini cards and giant cards. None of them make me feel like I felt when that 1970 Kellogg's 3-D Willie McCovey literally fell in front of me. That card sent me on a 46 year obsession that I have enjoyed most every minute of. That will never happen again.

Perfect.