This Week's Picks
Updated Week of September 20
The cards and lots I've got my eye on right now. Fresh picks every week. Tap any one to see it live on eBay.
1968 Topps Nolan Ryan Rookie
The Ryan Express before anybody knew what was coming — burlap borders and all.
Topps put Ryan on a shared rookie card with Jerry Koosman in 1968, back when he was a wild kid with a fastball nobody could time. Twenty-seven seasons and seven no-hitters later, it's one of the most chased cards of the era. Well-loved copies still turn up at prices that won't wreck the month, and even a beat-up one tells the whole story.
See it on eBay →Graded Vintage Hall of Famers
Slabbed vintage stars, for when you'd rather let the grade do the arguing.
Nothing wrong with raw cardboard — most of mine is raw — but a graded vintage Hall of Famer takes the guesswork out of centering and corners. Mid-grade PSA and SGC holders from the fifties and sixties are where the value hides. The 7s and 8s get all the attention while a solid 4 sits there looking almost as good for a fraction of the money.
See it on eBay →1972 Topps Set Building
The wildest design Topps ever ran, and the commons are still pocket change.
787 cards of psychedelic orange and yellow. 1972 is a big set, and that's exactly what makes it a friendly one to build — commons come by the stack for next to nothing, so you can knock out three hundred slots in an afternoon and save up for the tough high numbers later. Start cheap, chip away, and you'll have a '72 binder before you know it.
See it on eBay →1957 Topps Hank Aaron
Aaron in the year Milwaukee won it all, on the first set Topps shot with real photos.
1957 was the year Topps went to the smaller format and actual color photography, and it still looks better than most of what came after. Aaron hit 44 that summer and carried the Braves to a title that fall. It's a card every vintage collector ends up wanting, and honest lower-grade copies are far more reachable than his '54 rookie.
See it on eBay →Vintage baseball nostalgia meets modern collecting.
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