It's officially time to start buying pre-war cards again

[Leon]

I picked up a D311 Melchoir (sp?) for my collection recently, in a 40 holder, for about $265. I picked up another Crofts Candy HOF'er in a 30 holder for about $150. Both of these are about half of what they would have brought 2-4 yrs ago. It is a good time for collecting, however, anyone that bought for resale 2-4 yrs ago, with that inventory....is not in a good spot today. I am glad I am a collector at heart.

[36GoudeyMan]

.. it would seem.

[tbob]

As far as selling goes, as always, it's hit or miss on ebay. Having a notice in the ebay section of the BST definitely helps as a lot of my buyers in my recent sale were from the Board. The E93s (all graded) went for decent prices which I was ok with although there were definitely some real bargains there. Strangely, the 1961 Fleer basketball near set I sold card by card brought more than I would have thought. Perhaps the lack of reprints and other crap cards in this section means buyers are navigating through sections other than pre-war much more easily.
I set all my pre-war cards as auctions and not BINs and that seemed to work fine but you always hold your breath when you do this.

[mybuddyinc]

Boxing cards have dropped to very low lows ....................

[Exhibitman]

Some have, Scott, some haven't. Run of the mill stuff is way down. Rarities are still breaking records.

Bob's right, though, there are some definite deals on Ebay. I was pleasantly surprised this a.m. to find I'd won an 1889 baseball currency White Sox piece for 40% of what I'd seen a comparable one for at the National two years ago.

[alanu]

It seems to be a good time to buy in comparison to the past few years, but a year from now prices could be half of what they are today. Doesn't seem possible, but when a $350K house in Las Vegas dropped to $250K, who would have thought they would be $150K a year later.

[nolemmings]

As usual, I'm behind the curve. The sets I collect are not going cheaply at all. M101s are stable if not high. An m101-5 blank back common Zinn Beck SGC 60 went for $213 last week, three times what the card is worth, with three separate bidders over $150. I have not seen prices lowered on anything mid grade or higher in these sets for some time. Also, I posted in another thread how Worch commons--minor leaguers no less (which are traditionally less highly prized)-- were going for about $200 in SGC 40 and 50.

By contrast, I dabble in T202s, and notice that they have gone down in price.
Maybe collectors have filled many of the more "popular" prewar sets and are now expanding into other areas.