My favorite player of all time is Hall of Famer Willie McCovey. I
have amassed a collection of over 1200 different McCovey cards since I
started collecting him in the late 1980s. I will show off one of my
favorite cards every Monday. Stretch was one of the most feared hitters
of all time and I am excited to show off my collection.
One of my biggest disappointments in the 2014 collecting cycle was Panini's exclusion of a Cooperstown set in its line of releases. In 2012 and 2013 they released sets that featured all Hall of Famers with solid base designs and a variety of nice looking and unique insert sets. I collected both base sets including their short prints and several of the insert sets. When I found out they wouldn't have a set and would replace it with a high end set with just a few cards per box and a high price point I was really bummed out.
On the bright side, there were some McCovey cards in the set and that has given me something to chase. They are kind of confusing in nomenclature and of course have tons of parallels but my new attitude in player collecting over the past 2-3 years just gets me excited to have more cards to pick up and doesn't get me down that there are too many to get all of them.
I typically reserve my McCovey Monday posts for a single card but I have switched it up a couple times and decided to today as well. Here are 5 pickups from the 2014 Panini Hall of Fame set. I like them all - they showcase my favorite player so why wouldn't I - but I thought I would share them in reverse order of how well I like them.
5.
There are some cards that aren't serial numbered in the set but cards /75 are the highest serial numbers that exist. This card is solid, I like the inclusion of the induction year on the front. The HOF's 75th Anniversary logo is nice. This is a picture I have seen used quite a bit in recent Willie Mac card releases.
4.
I really liked the Elite Series inserts in the Donruss release this year and was very happy Willie got one in this release. The background colors pop and it has a semi-Xfractor type of finish. Another recycled photo but it looks great on this card.
3.
Here is another card /75, this is where the nomenclature of the set gets fuzzy for me. I see little difference in the front of this card and the other card with the exception some fonts and obviously the photo used. The backs are very different but both are card number 63. I don't get it. What I do like, and why this one is rated higher, is the photo they used. It isn't the prettiest photo of McCovey but it hasn't been used to death and for that it gets a higher ranking.
2.
This card is my most recent pick up of the 5. Even though it is the same photo as #5 above, I love that McCovey has this Diamond King card. The white border makes the card pop and I like the package of the color, the HOF logo, the font used for the city and position, etc. It all just comes together as a great looking card.
1.
My top card is this Crusade Die Cut cards. This one uses the newish photo and I am a sucker for Die Cuts. The cool lion design makes it look so regal. To top it off, this card is serial numbered 07/10 which is awesome. I probably overpaid a bit but I am very happy to have this card in my Stretch collection.
McCovey has almost 40 cards in this set and these are only 5 of the 6 I have in my collection. I need to be on the lookout as I would like to push that have figure into double digits.
We have the same attitude when it comes to player collecting. I'm always excited to see my favorite player, Robin Yount, included in sets, even if the only cards are super low print auto patch relics that I'll never own. Second, in the 75th HOF Anniversary set each feature player in the base set has 3 variations, kind of like the Topps High Tek, and as far as I know each of those variations has all the associated parallels. What that means is a lot of cards to chase!
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