The old cards you mention definitely retain value over time, especially if they are in decent shape. Cards that I grew up with from 1989-2005 are pretty much worthless because the market was flooded with them. I’ve got autographed baseballs, cards, pictures and bats from most Sox players that were with us from 1999-2004.
I don’t know that I would collect a specific player unless I had some indication the value would hold like a James or Brady rookie card. Instead, I would invest in high end packs and hope for the best. A card local store owner opened up a box and one card he pulled was a Mac Jones 1/1 autograph card. He got $16K for it.
The market seems to be gravitating towards good cards in high end brands, but getting HOF rookie cards is a good investment.