Has anyone here bailed on their post-war cards to fund a pre-war collection?

[mintacular]

I'm assuming most folks here collected during the 50s onward and was wondering how many of you bailed on those cards to fund your pre-war buys? How did you do it? Trade? One big sale or bit by bit? Any regrets, i.e. did you have buy back these cards you sold at a later date? Tell your story if you don't mind

[timn1]

About ten years I began selling off my postwar stuff to fund prewar purchases; basically I did it set by set. I would say that was better than trying to sell it all in one huge go.

I still have a few postwar sets or near-sets, mainly 1953 Bowman, which I have considered selling but haven't done it yet.

I hate to get rid of any cards, but I did it by telling myself I could always build those postwar sets again anytime I wanted to, which is still true, and maybe now for less than I sold them for, so I don't think it was a bad decision at the time. Now, with postwar values iffy as I understand, it might be a little trickier time to sell...
Tim

[ChiefBenderForever]

Yes,bit by bit. Regrets,yes I've had a few but its been a very good year.

[Leon]

I used to do the "rookie card HOF'er" thing. Then it didn't interest me any more and I sold them off (many 50's-60's) and have happily been a type card collector ever since....which is maybe 10 yrs ago. They were sold card by card...no regrets at all. If I wanted to I could go buy every single one of them (not the exact card) back again, today.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I once sold off everything post 55 including a 65 set and all the key RCs all the way up through Clemens (ebay mostly) but gradually added back a few select cards up through 65 (a sentimental favorite). I would have had a much harder time selling off the early 50s cards which are among the greatest ever produced.

[Howe’s Hunter]

I have complete sets of Topps from 1972 to 2009. Since 1984, they have been a gift from my mother every year for Christmas. But honestly, I just don't care as much about the "modern" player, and have even made some basic contacts about consigning to an auction to sell them all at once, which I think would be easier than year by year on eBay or anything. But I've not figured out how to break the news to my mother ):-/

[teetwoohsix]

I didn't have complete sets, just single cards from 50's and 60's that I traded off for T206's,,,,,,,and am very happy I did.

Clayton

[Republicaninmass]

When I was a kid waaaay back in 1992 I swore I would buy any cards made after 1976. Although I did accumulate crap, I have set the bar at keeping nothing after 1955

[tbob]

I sold off many of my 1954-1965 sets to buy pre-war cards. I did it set by set. I've since re-purchased the 55 Bowman set, a personal favorite and bought some of the HOFers in the 1956-1961 sets in slabs. Like Tim, I felt I could always get those postwar sets again if the mood struck but many of the prewar cards and sets are too tough not to strike while the iron was hot.

[steve B]

Not specifically. I've sold off a bunch of duplicates of modern stuff, and the money usually gets spent on something more interesting. No regrets yet on the modern stuff I've sold which was mostly junk.

I did sell a 48 Bowman set I built to help finance a ski trip back in maybe 86.
Not much of a set, Musial had paper loss, Berra had been partly colorized - yellow uniform- and a couple other cards had been waxed and used for flipping so much they were round. Oddly, I still regret selling it.

Steve B

[Exhibitman]

I would definitely part with most of my postwar cards if the price was right. I've tried a few times to wholesale a lot of them through dealers but for what I was offered I'd rather just keep them. I have gotten rid of some of them via auction consignments but that too has been a break-even proposition at best given commission rates. I do not have the stomach to sell them individually on fleabay--not worth going through that many hassles to lose money...

[Tim Fritz]

In the last few years I've sold off most of my 70s and 80s sets on ebay. Used the proceeds on a few pre-war purchases and have no regrets.

The sets were just collecting dust and taking up space. Now I have more storage room for other stuff.

[tbob]

I got some really good prices on my postwar 50's and 60's sets on ebay a few years ago, at the current time I don't know that I would try it again on ebay with a minimum of $99.99 for EXMT sets. Might be brutal.