Want Lists

What’s on your want list? Every card collector has a want list, be it carefully catalogued and written down or jumbled and kept loosely in one’s mind; every collector has a list of cards they are actively searching for. So, my question this week is what’s on your want list and why? I’m also curious as to how you decide what makes the want list. Here’s a peek at how mine is constructed.

Dilletante

I’m a bit of a dilettante. My collection can be described with the old adage of “jack of all trades, master of none.” I’m not a super collector by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, my collection consists of a variety of smaller collections. This means that my want list is big on variety.

The Core of the PC

The core of my PC is graded HOF rookie cards. I’m currently trying to get a PSA-graded card for all BBWA-elected HOF members who have been elected since 1989. I’m slowly expanding that time frame. I’ve got 7 left on my list currently, and all 7 will be on the want list until I successfully acquire them. Without a doubt, the pricy 1968 Nolan Ryan will be the last pickup.

Parallels, Inserts, and Variations, Oh My!

I’ve got several favorite parallels, inserts, and variations that are favorites. For each one, I choose a few players to chase. I seldom do full sets of these, but have done so in the past and will likely do so again.

Right now, the parallel list includes Finest Flashbacks refractors (2020, 2023), Topps Independence Day (2018, 2019, 2024), Topps Team Logo (2024, 2025), Stadium Club First Day (1992, 1993), and Heritage refractors (all years).

Topps has really been upping their insert game in the last couple of years. Anime, Home Field Advantage, and Ultraviolet cards have all found their way onto my want list. Depths of Darkness, Helix, Strokes of Gold, Planetary Pursuit, and Supernova cards are all very tempting as well, but I try to keep the want list more streamlined.

I’m also a sucker for variations. I limit the variations on my want list to Flagship and Stadium Club, but many products include awesome-looking variations.

For all of these, I’ve got a list of about 25 players that I narrow down based on the attractiveness of individual cards. I normally wind up with about 5 cards per set that I target.

Die Cuts and Holograms

As a geriatric millennial, I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for two mainstays of the 90s: die cuts and holograms. Holograms are few and far between these days, and die cuts aren’t that common either. Topps has some newer cool die cuts that make my want list, but for this category, 90% of the cards on my want list are coming from the 90s.

Upper Deck is the company most associated with holograms, and rightfully so. From 1991-1998, Upper Deck produced a staggering amount of hologram cards. Quite a few of those are on my want list currently.

What Upper Deck did for holograms, Pacific did for die cuts. They sliced and diced cards in increasingly bizarre ways to great effect. Their creativity is missed to this day. Pacific die cuts also provide a challenge for collectors in that they are very difficult to find even in a 9 grade.

For both of these, I target 9s and higher from any of the big graders, but often buy raw or lower grade copies as long as there are no glaring defects. `

Favorite Autos

I like autos, but have never really wanted to have a ton of autos from the same player for some reason. A few years ago, I decided to search for one auto with the best design for each of my 50 favorite players. I’m still undecided on quite a few choices, but half the fun is searching for the perfect auto. There are several cards on my want list from this category, but many of them have a “tbd” qualifier.

206 and Holiday

Set building is fun. For that, I turn to 206 and Holliday each year. I’ve built various parallel, SP, and insert sets for these two products since they’ve been making them, and I plan on doing so for the foreseeable future. 206 comes with the added bonus of having very active and amiable collector groups.

I’ve always got some cards on my want list that are intended for set building. Some of them have been on there for quite a while.

Team and Player Collections

I also like to pick up Braves cards and cards of the Greatest Show on Turf Rams. Team and player collections form the basis of many collections. I’m not immune to the charms of my favorite teams and players, and have a few small player collections going.

Hodgepodge

If a card doesn’t fit any of these categories, it doesn’t mean it is not making the cut. Several times a year, I see a card I just have to have, and on to the want list they go. Be it a Ginter Stained Glass, a Stadium Club Gold-Minted, or even a cool base card, I appreciate variety in my collection and try not to make my want list too restrictive.

Wrap Up

That’s how my want list is structured. What’s on your list, and how do you decide what to collect? Let me know in the comments.