My Rickey Collection: By the Numbers

UPDATE 9/13/08: It's been awhile since I've updated my collection numbers, and since I have a bit of spare time, I figured now would be as good a time as any. The updated figures can be seen below. In the six months since I first created this list, my Beckett listed collection has grown from 1,066 to 1,330 cards, with a majority of those coming from the last few years.

My total card count now stands at 1,673, up from the 1,279 that it was at in March. I am most proud of the early part of my collection, as I now have at least 90% of his cards from each individual year from 1980-1995. I always enjoy adding any Rickey card to the collection, but adding one from these early years always feels much more satisfying.

Year Have/Total Percent
1977-1980 2/3 66.7%

1981 14/15 93.3%

1982 20/22 90.9%

1983 40/42 95.2%

1984 37/39 94.9%

1985 25/26 96.2%

1986 34/35 97.1%

1987 52/57 91.2%

1988 42/45 93.3%

1989 47/51 92.2%

1990 77/79 97.5%

1991 108/119 90.8%

1992 67/74 90.5%

1993 48/52 92.3%

1994 64/67 95.5%

1995 65/70 92.9%

1996 73/91 80.2%

1997 54/78 69.2%

1998 71/112 63.4%

1999 61/124 49.2%

2000 59/116 50.9%

2001 55/143 38.5%

2002 67/272 24.6%

2003 59/538 11.0%

2004 42/846 5.0%

2005 41/1,055 3.9%

2006 5/250 2.0%

2007 1/36 2.8%


1977-1998 940/1,077 87.3%

1977-2007 1,330/4,457 29.8%



Total Non-Beckett Cards 343

Total Rickey Cards 1,673

3/16/2008: Ever since I started this blog, I've wanted to go back and figure out exactly how many Rickey cards I actually had. I had a list at one point in time, but it was more a list of Rickey "items" as a opposed to "cards," so I knew the card number was slightly inflated.

I've been working on this list in my spare time over the past few weeks, and I think it's finally complete. I know there are probably a few more cards that I missed, but this should be fairly accurate. I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures, and the mathematical nature of this post, but I'm a numbers guy (I majored in Economics), and just can't help it.

I'm going to list the total number of Beckett recognized cards that I have each year, as well as its corresponding percentage (I can't get it to format like I want it to in Blogger, so I apologize in advance if it's a little confusing).

Year Have/Total Percent
1977-1980 2/3 66.7%

1981 13/15 86.7%

1982 17/22 77.3%

1983 37/42 88.1%

1984 30/39 76.9%

1985 22/26 84.6%

1986 30/35 85.7%

1987 47/57 82.5%

1988 38/45 84.5%

1989 42/51 82.4%

1990 66/79 83.5%

1991 95/119 79.8%

1992 64/74 86.5%

1993 44/52 84.6%

1994 60/67 89.6%

1995 63/70 90.0%

1996 70/91 76.9%

1997 54/78 69.2%

1998 69/112 61.6%

1999 59/124 47.6%

2000 52/116 44.8%

2001 49/143 34.3%

2002 19/272 7.0%

2003 19/538 3.5%

2004 4/846 0.5%

2005 1/1,055 0.1%

2006 0/250 0.0%

2007 0/36 0.0%


1977-1998 863/1,077 80.1%

1977-2007 1,066/4,457 23.9%



Total Non-Beckett Cards 213

Total Rickey Cards 1,279



I've split my total collection up two separate ways, with one total ending in 1998, and the other in 2007. The first split corresponds to my graduation from high school and the start of my first job (when the time I had to collect started to dwindle), and also marks the beginning of the insert/parallel craze that made it practically impossible for a player collector.

As you can see, my collection declines drastically from there, and is practically non-existent from 2002-2007. It's pretty sad to see that during the years that he was actually playing the game (1977-2003) Rickey had a total of 2,270 recognized cards. But, after retiring, there have been a total of 2,187 "unique" cards produced. The division gets even worse if you make the split beginning in 2003 (since he actually only played in 30 games), with 1,732 cards produced from 1977-2002 and 2,725 from 2003-2007.

I'm still interested in completing my collection through at least 2000 or so, and would like to get at least the base cards, and maybe one of each type of insert for the remaining years. This list includes all of the cards that I currently have, and will be added as a link to the top of my page. The list itself has 3 separate parts. The first part includes all of Rickey's Beckett recognized cards from 1997-2001. The second part includes only the cards that I have from 2002-2007, eliminating everything that I don;t have. The final part is a list of the non-Beckett cards that I have, as well as a few that I don't have, but that I know they exist.

If anyone is interested in trading, please don't hesitate to let me know. I have a lot of cards from 1987-2000 (like most everyone else), but very few from since then. I also have a large collection of Tim Hudson cards (almost every one produced from 1999-2002), that I'd be willing to part with in trade for Rickey's that I need.

I've given up on my childhood dream of getting every Rickey card ever produced, but if I could complete the collection at least through 2000, then I would think of it as a great accomplishment. Once again, sorry for the rambling post, but I hope you were at least able to pull something interesting out of it.