Pre War PSA Sets
RayBShotz
Posts: 1,088
Just polling the "board" members to see if anyone out there is collecting pre-war sets? Seems that there are many neglected card sets in our hobby which present baseball history in an important and unique form; through the trading cards of the time.
Many of the older sets are small and quite collectible. If you put aside your preoccupation with PSA8/9 example material and appreciate the cards for their historic value, and vintage rarity you can easily become comfortable with low to mid grade examples. You may even have a serious shot at actually accumulating the necessary cards to complete the set.
Just curious if anyone out there feels this way. If you pick up the "Standard Baseball Card Catalog" and browse those pages I am sure there are some sets that would tickle your fancy.
Poll: Would you rather own a PSA 2 Ty Cobb (Circa 1920) or a PSA 9 Rod Carew 1967? (no disrespect intended for Rod)? Its an interesting thought.
RayB69Topps and I have my sights set on a few pre-war sets as you might guess. Thanks for your personal thoughts in advance.
Many of the older sets are small and quite collectible. If you put aside your preoccupation with PSA8/9 example material and appreciate the cards for their historic value, and vintage rarity you can easily become comfortable with low to mid grade examples. You may even have a serious shot at actually accumulating the necessary cards to complete the set.
Just curious if anyone out there feels this way. If you pick up the "Standard Baseball Card Catalog" and browse those pages I am sure there are some sets that would tickle your fancy.
Poll: Would you rather own a PSA 2 Ty Cobb (Circa 1920) or a PSA 9 Rod Carew 1967? (no disrespect intended for Rod)? Its an interesting thought.
RayB69Topps and I have my sights set on a few pre-war sets as you might guess. Thanks for your personal thoughts in advance.
Never met a Vintage card I didn't like!
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Comments
Supply and demand drives everything. That PSA 3 Ty Cobb cards from nearly any of the E90s cards set very much outsells many PSA 9 examples from the 1960s says something for the hobby.
I think you have a few things going on here, though. First off -- most vintage card collectors (tobacco, caramel and candy era) are generally not into the PSA thing. There are quite a few that are. But most of the collectors with whom I correspond are not. They use PSA and SGC primarily as a second set of eyes for authentication and to better ensure that cards are unaltered. These collectors are typically well-versed enough in the hobby that they can easily tell a card's grade without the help of PSA or SGC. Remember, these cards are generally available in VG/EX or lower. There may be a handful of people to try and put Near Mint or higher sets together, but that is a rare bunch. Nearly every major set in PSA 7 or PSA 8 from the vintage era because a six-figure set -- something most cannot afford. And people just have not yet believed there to be a huge market for a T204 PSA 4 set.
One of the positive aspects of collecting "modern" sets in PSA graded form is their availability. Every card from 1968 is availabe in high-grade, for example. Perhaps not PSA 8 or PSA 9 -- but there is not a card that is not easily found in PSA 6 or better condition. Or, if it is not easily found, an ungraded example that is just as strong can be picked up in a matter of months. Most tobacco-era sets are loves of labor. They can take years to find a nice VG/EX example of a particular card -- with many cards existing in the single digit category.
Me -- I prefer the tobacco-era sets, but haven't the money. I collect a 1955 Bowman set and a player (Mike Schmidt). One day I would love to try and put together a complete E94 set, with all the different background colors, and examples of each overprint. But even if I had unlimited funds, that would be a 5 to 10 year project. At least.