A few months ago I posed a question to the boards about spending some extra money I had coming to me and was looking for the best bang for my buck. Several posters offered great suggestions and I weighed each of them carefully and decided to buy some lower grade hall of fame T206 cards as well as some mid grade stars of the '50's. When those cards came in I marveled at my new Sam Crawford and I wondered just how many people have owned this card since it was "born" and was curious about it's origins. I bought a Carl Lundgren because he is a local legend where my in laws grew up in Marengo, Illinois which was also near where I grew up and it was cool to have a card of the hometown boy in my collection. But it was the cards of the players from the 50's that have swayed me to focus on this era of baseball. I grew up seeing many of these greats play at the end of their careers and heard my father talk about them as he grew up so it was a natural for me to gravitate to the players of this era.
While I still desire to own a card of the BigTrain, of Cobb and Plank, I have found my allegiance lays with those cards of players I saw play, in many cases met personally and give me the greatest ability to remember a time that was awesome in my life. I do intend to add many of these pre-war greats to my collection as I LOVE baseball history and they will, no doubt have a treasured place in my heart and mind but the 50's and even the '60's currently do it for me.
In short, collect what you like and what gives you the most meaning.
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