[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

You should start by buying inexpensive cards from well known sellers.

Bingo!

I would never collect fakes, especially as a learning tool. Would a handwriting expert learn how to authenticate George Washington's signature by studying forgeries? Of course not. And with baseball cards, as mentioned before, there are just too many different variables. You could have ten different reprints of the same card, and they could all be different. The stock, the inking, the printing technology, and the cutting technique could all be different, and look nothing like the real thing.

When I first came to Net 54, and expressed my interest in collecting pre-war and vintage cards, some members of the forum were good enough to send me a few commons from the years I mentioned I was first looking at.



Whenever I do end up buying the '56 Topps Ted Williams I have wanted for quite a while, Mr. Mass and Mr. Pascual (thank you again, Conor!) will be waiting next to my black light, my 10 x jeweler's loupe and magnifying glass, and my ruler. I will compare the Williams to these under natural light, my halogen lamp, and black light. I will examine the card stock, the surface, the corner wear, and the edges. I'll also scan the Williams at 1,200 DPI, and compare it to the scans of my commons. If there's anything not right about the card, I'll spot it.

It costs very little to build what I call a "control set." These are commons for each year and manufacturer that you will be collecting from. They are essential tools for anybody learning to collect non-modern cards.