honus wagner is in my hall of famer collection

honus wagner was a member of the first hall of fame class, elected in 1936.  here's the card that represents his membership in my hall of famer collection:

it's a bat relic card from 2001 topps tribute.  here's the back:

 

this is another card that i pulled from a pack and have held on to for 18 years or so even though it didn't really have a spot in my collection.

my first understanding of honus wagner came from 'the card'. at some point early on in my collecting i learned of the 1909 honus wagner t206 card. my dad bought me the book of 1977 dover reprints for christmas in 1978, and i learned about goudey and delong and the old tobacco cards.  included in that book of perforated reprints was the wagner card.  i recall separating it and trying to age it a bit.  i wound up trading it to a neighbor (he was fully aware that it was a reprint) but have since found another set of the dover reprints in my collection (maybe my brother's?).  so, i still own a reprint of the most famous card ever produced.

as for wagner's career, he was the second man to reach the 3,000 hit milestone, and retired as the all-time leader in hits (ty cobb would pass him in 1921). he is still 8th all-time in hits, to go along with his status of being 10th all-time in doubles, 3rd all-time in triples, 10th all-time in stolen bases, and 23rd all-time in rbi.  he was also a member of the class of 1936 - the first hall of fame inductees. not a bad career!

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relics

bob feller - 2001 topps archives

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autographs

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autographs

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame