Posted By:
Ted ZanidakisJay
Much of what you are saying is quite true. But, there is
much more to the story. I was very fortunate since most
of my BB cards from youth (1947 - 1953) were saved by my
dear Aunt. From my first 1947 Hom. Bond Bread card to my
last 1952 Topps Hi#.
And, why I tell you this, is because I had a huge base of
valuable cards to trade with in the pursuit of completing
sets. Actually, at the begining I was narrowly focused on
completing favorite sets from youth, namely 1949 Bowman BB,
1948 Leaf Boxing, and 1949 Leaf BB. And, as you well said,
by concentrating primarily on these sets, I became a so-
called expert. The '49 Bowman in particular was a myster-
ious set back in the '70s. There were strange variations
that even Beckett could not properly identify. I and Ralph
Triplette (a good buddy) published our theories in Lemke's
BB Card Mag. in the early '80s and resolved this set's con-
fusion.
Then, I branched out to pre-War II sets, then pre-WW I sets.
A decent common T206 cost less than $10 and across the board
Tobacco cards were really undervalued, while a Rose Rookie
was selling for $250....those were the days !