Tell us about great collections you've seen in person

Living in the great white north, I haven't had many opportunities to view any "great" baseball card collections in person. So, I thought it might be interesting to hear about other people's experiences in doing so.

- Have you had a chance to view any collections which you thought were truly impressive?

- What kinds of cards/sets did you see?

- How were they stored?

- What kind of condition were they in?

- When/where/by whom were they collected?


Looking forward to hearing your stories

I've been lucky enough to view the collections of Mark Macrae, Dick Dobbins, John Spalding, Mike Montbriand and many other top collections.

I actually just got back from viewing an absolutely stunning collection of signed baseballs. I didnt think of bringing a camera, but the guy said that he'd take a picture of the one ball that really stood out in the collection.

His great gandfather used to travel the country with a theatre company from 1910s-40s. During his travels, he would get baseballs signed by players he liked when he attended games. Some balls were single signed, but most had 2 or 3 sigs. Among the sigs were Ruth and Gehrig on single signed balls, Dizzy and Daffy Dean on the same ball, Sam Crawford, a single signed Chief Bender (his favorite player according the guy that showed me the collection) and what I think is the most stunning ball in the collection that is signed by....


Home Run Baker and Christy Mathewson.

Brief synopsis of the Macrae collection. AMAZING!!! I was always terrified as hell looking at his cards. They are stored in mylar sleeves which he keep in albums used by stamp collectors. For those not familiar with them, they sit loose on a ledge. I was always scared that when I turned a page that cards would slip out and get damaged. Fortunately, this never happened.

the last time I was at his place I for to see his e-card collection. Prior to that, I never knew e-cards could be so clean and white. He also collects more than just cards. He has a lot of great panaramic stadium shots that are always great to look at. Then there is the massive collection of anything to do with the PCL.

Jay