[jchcollins]

Robert, we talk so you know my dillemma with this well - but for the others I'll post my thoughts:

First and foremost I'm a postwar collector because of when I started collecting in the 1980's. Back then, cards from the 50's and especially the names like Mantle, Mays, Aaron, etc. were super hot, and I spent a lot of time scheming on how to get my hands on them. Plus the players were all from the era in which my Dad grew up, so he could relate and tell stories and knew who the players were. By the time I graduated to looking at old cards in shops, antique malls, and shows over and above simply buying wax packs at the 7-11 - again these were mostly 1950's and 60's cards and newer. Once in a blue moon you would see a T206 common or something like that, but those were rare occasions and thus those cards never really got a hold on my psyche like 1950's Topps cards did. As I got older I became more aware of and informed on pre-war cards - but all in all I think I was just born too late. Had I been born in 1957 and started collecting in 1966 instead of 20 years later on both accounts - I think I would have stood a much more decent chance of getting into tobacco cards and Goudeys as well simply because they were so much more affordable back in the early days of the hobby. But by the time I was an adult and had any kind of real money to spend on cards - a common T206 in nice shape with decent corners and no creases was generally a $75 item or more. (Today that figure would probably be closer to $200...) For that and a variety of reasons, I just never really got into pre-war when I moved into vintage cards.

All that being said - now that I'm older I do try to dabble in pre-war now. The history is too rich and the sets too nice not to. But I've had to make the consious decision for the most part to do commons and type-examples in certain sets over stars, just because of the price. I'm a Cubs fan, so if I can't have a HOFer out of a certain pre-war set, I'll go back and try to make sure I at least get a Cub. Recently picked up a 1915 Cracker Jack Larry Cheney using that philosophy. Even with Cubs - tobacco era HOF'ers can get ridiculous quick. I can't see myself paying $400 for a PSA 3 version of a T206 Johnny Evers or something like that - when the same amount can get me a PSA 5 or better card of a big-name 1950's star.

At the end of the day I think it's about smart decision making if you are a collector on any type of a budget - which I imagine the vast majority of us are.