Prewar v. Postwar & Big Names...?

[hcv123]

My focus for about 30 years had been postwar till I got my kids involved. To get them interested I had decided we would collect Pirate team sets from 1952-1973 (Clemente is the focus of my collection) which would include the early Topps sets through Clemente's last year of inclusion. After going to a bunch of card shows - my older son said "dad can we collect the old cigarette cards - they are really cool". I think my biggest hurdle was being very unfamiliar with all the nuances, pricing and variations in pre war - I didin't know the marketplace like I know post war. I used his request as an opportunity and quickly started learning. We now have a complete 33 Goudey Pirates set and are on our way with T206 (minus Wagner), T205, T207 and 1914-15 Cracker Jack. I have also decided that I really want to own a Ruth and Gehrigh card (maybe Cobb). I'm in no hurry, continue to watch the market and will pull the trigger when the time is right (right card for the right price).

Your question intimates that you don't put "new" money into cards as your example states you would sell off what you have for the potential new purchase? Is that true? If not, why not just save till you can buy the post war card (s) you speak of.
As others have mentioned numerous times - we should always collect what we enjoy! From your posts it sounds like you are enjoying post war right now a lot more than the thought of prewar.
Regarding grade - I echo the sentiment already expressed - eye appeal vs scarcity! In the case of certain rarities I am not very picky about condition. All of the cards you are speaking about are readily available any day of the week. I would hold out for one with great eye appeal - let the 3rd party grade be secondary - in the lower to mid grade ranges, Eye appeal varies widely!

Happy collecting

[Exhibitman]

I feel for the Millennials. I was lucky enough to become aware of vintage cards as a kid in the late 1970s and to go to shows every weekend and collect prewar cards in the early 1990s when I was just out of school, still living like a student, but had a job that left me a lot of disposable income, so most of my valuable cards have been with me for decades. Most in slabs were self-submitted. As an Exhibit collector I also got lucky with some purchases in the late 1990s and early 2000s when I thought that Cobb, Gehrig, Johnson and Ruth were underpriced and bought a bunch of them. I honestly don't think I'd have the stomach to pay the prices of some of those cards today. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that cards I own have risen in value so substantially, but I have trepidations spending $500 on a card, so I get real indigestion over a four-figure purchase, which is where so many prewar HOFers are.

All that said, I don't know that I would sell cards that are stagnant and plow the money into cards that have skyrocketed of late. I might instead sell off as much as I wanted and establish a cash reserve either to go after well-priced auction lots or to buy on the downturn when the economy craps the bed again. Patience in this regard may be the real virtue.

[mq711]

In line with this conversation, wondering How many actual collectors put a lot of “new” money into purchases or mainly just sell in order to purchase more desired cards.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by mq711

In line with this conversation, wondering How many actual collectors put a lot of “new” money into purchases or mainly just sell in order to purchase more desired cards.

This is a fair point. I was putting new money into my collection for years. However, I have been in the process of retooling. By the time the process is over, it will have taken a year or a little more. I am selling off sets, including a bunch of 60s football, and plugging that money back into baseball card stars and rookies. This is going to enable me to pick up a few significant names that I have always wanted to own. It will also make my collection far easier to handle and view. Plus it is fun spending that money all over again!!

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[bnorth]

Originally Posted by mq711

In line with this conversation, wondering How many actual collectors put a lot of “new” money into purchases or mainly just sell in order to purchase more desired cards.

To this great question. I was gifted a few handfuls of mainly 60's cards as a little kid. They sat untouched till the mid 80's when I got into collecting. From those cards I now have a room full of a few 100k cards plus several bats and a lot of miscellaneous odd ball items. I have never spent a penny out of pocket for anything I now have through trading and selling of items I already had.

As to modern, post war and pre war collecting. I have collected all of it at one time or another as my focus is always changing. I am currently trading/selling off stuff to add to my Eddie Mathews collection and Wade Boggs bat collection.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by mq711

In line with this conversation, wondering How many actual collectors put a lot of “new” money into purchases or mainly just sell in order to purchase more desired cards.

I've been on a kill-eat basis for several years. College costs are really high.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I feel for the Millennials.

I'm 42, so technically at the tail end of Gen X, but feel kind of in that boat. I missed out on 70's and early 80's shows when things were somewhat reasonable. By the time I got into old cards it was the early 90's, and while certainly cheaper than today - price trends were already outlined and generally on the rise. I never knew a "cheap" Mantle card, and the same can be said for many of his contemporaries. Things like Goudey and tobacco cards were rarely seen outside of shows when I was a kid, and of course there they were not in line with my budget as a teenager.

[jchcollins]

Just as an FYI - my "stopgap" to this dilemma with prewar right now, is that if I can't go after the biggest names, I will go after my favorite team, the Cubs. This has worked out nicely so far, even though as basically a huge type collection, I have almost an unlimited amount of things I can go after. I picked up a nice 1915 Cracker Jack Hippo Vaughn for Christmas...

Time will tell I guess if this proves as fulfilling to me in the long run as postwar stars.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

I'm 42, so technically at the tail end of Gen X, but feel kind of in that boat. I missed out on 70's and early 80's shows when things were somewhat reasonable. By the time I got into old cards it was the early 90's, and while certainly cheaper than today - price trends were already outlined and generally on the rise. I never knew a "cheap" Mantle card, and the same can be said for many of his contemporaries. Things like Goudey and tobacco cards were rarely seen outside of shows when I was a kid, and of course there they were not in line with my budget as a teenager.

I’m 43...I often say “I’m not a millennial, I’m a bicentennial” (not many laugh).

But I hear you...I feel like we were late to the game. And the money we spent on junk wax? Ugh!

My collection has gone through a number of transitions over the years, plus plenty of quite times of inactivity.

I don’t put a lot of “new money” into my collection. Of course, I don’t often spend more than $50 on a single card (and over $100 only a handful). My ‘76 and ‘77 projects are exceptions, but most of what I’ve been doing the last few years is selling off ungraded stuff and buying graded.

The “new money” I put in is mostly paying my eBay monthly fees and buying some stamps for shipping small lots. Other than that I *try* to only buy out of sales.

So, for 30+ years of collecting, I don’t have a super collection to show off, but it’s been a lot of fun and I’m constantly consolidating and getting more and more cool stuff.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Mike D.

I feel like we were late to the game. And the money we spent on junk wax?

Oh, tell me about it. I'm still waiting for all those Jose Canseco, Gregg Jeffries, Todd Van Poppel, Jerome Walton, and Kevin Maas cards to suddenly skyrocket in value so I can payoff my mortgage and retire early. Fraud! The only thing our generation really got to show for our efforts was the '89 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.

I'll be 43 next month, so right there with you. I was lucky growing up to have a mother who indulged my vintage card habit, even if that meant making my father mad at the money she would spend on me. Back then that was beat up 1950's and 60's cards, but there were some Mantles and Aarons and the like in the mix just the same. That's part of the reason this type of decision is so hard for me. I grew up that way, and honestly am just very invested in a lot of the classic postwar cards.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Oh, tell me about it. I'm still waiting for all those Jose Canseco, Gregg Jeffries, Todd Van Poppel, Jerome Walton, and Kevin Maas cards to suddenly skyrocket in value so I can payoff my mortgage and retire early. What a gyp! The only thing our generation really got to show for our efforts was the '89 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.



I'll be 43 next month, so right there with you. I was lucky growing up to have a mother who indulged my vintage card habit, even if that meant making my father mad at the money she would spend on me. Back then that was beat up 1950's and 60's cards, but there were some Mantles and Aarons and the like in the mix just the same. That's part of the reason this type of decision is so hard for me. I grew up that way, and honestly am just very invested in a lot of the classic postwar cards.

Along with my vintage efforts, I have gone back and picked up some of those 80s cards/sets (like '84 Fleer Update) that were out of my reach back then.

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[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by vintagebaseballcardguy

I have gone back and picked up some of those 80s cards/sets

Oh I know, me too. I finally got an '84 Donruss Mattingly this year. And for like 20 bucks!

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by vintagebaseballcardguy

(like '84 Fleer Update)

Robert, speaking of which -

I have been after an '84 Fleer Update Kirby Puckett for some time. I love that card. Haven't pulled the trigger on one yet. That was always one of those "out of reach" 80's cards for me.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by hcv123

Your question intimates that you don't put "new" money into cards as your example states you would sell off what you have for the potential new purchase? Is that true? If not, why not just save till you can buy the post war card (s) you speak of.

I do, it's just not a ton. Recently I used part of an inheritance to pickup some higher priced postwar cards that had always been on my list - and this is not a regret, as I said it's my first love and there were some things I wanted to take care of there first. But in terms of my normal spending, it's maybe a couple hundred dollars a year on cards. I could do more, but don't really want to make my hobby any large part of the family budget or anything like that. As a result, in my normal spending mode it's rare that I will spend more than $100 on a single card. Saving is of course an option, it just feels like such a long shot.