How many of you also collect postwar pre 1980

[goudey1933]

I just got back into the hobby having always had an interest in pre-war.Current focus is the T210 series 2 subset, but also started a 1972 Topps baseball set in higher grade.The Topps set takes me back to when I was a kid. How many of you collect both?
Scott

[insccollectibles]

I did collect as a kid. I stick to 1912 or before now.

[ZachS]

My main focus is T206 portraits and pre-war Louisiana stuff but I do have some post-war side projects going on: 1953, 54, and 55 Topps sets.

[glchen]

I'm doing this also. I've been focusing on some a few tough, small prewar sets (like W590) in addition to select Ruth and Gehrig cards which be very expensive. Therefore, in the meantime, I've been looking at sets that I collected when I was a kid, like the currently cheapo 80s sets, which I've basically completed. Then I moved onto a 1970s Topps set run back to my birth year in raw EX+ condition, which is basically now done. Now I'm looking at some older 50s and 60s Topps sets, which I thought always had really nice eye appeal like the 57 Topps set.

[Luke]

I sold all of my post-war stuff a couple years ago and haven't regretted it at all. I keep expecting that I'll someday have the urge to start a 50's set, but so far I haven't had any such urge.

[VoodooChild]

I do collect some postwar, but I don't spend a lot of money on it. I collect all era's of Pirate cards. I'm only missing 3 cards from a Topps PSA 6+ Clemente run. If I do buy some more expensive non-pirate HOFers, I prefer '51 Bowman, '53 and '56 Topps. When I get a little bored of prewar, I have a project going collecting all the Topps All-Star Rookie cards (with the trophy icon) from '60 to '78. Also when bored, I'll buy .99 cent singles from ebay of my favorite non-hof players from the late 70's like Bake McBride, Greg Luzinski, Dave Kingman, Ted Simmons, J.R. Richard, etc.

[Jayworld]

I collect postwar, with an emphasis on 1951, 1952 Bowman cards (love the artwork). I also am drawn to several postwar sports/non-sports issues that use artwork rather than photography, i.e. 1955 Topps Double Headers, 1960s Topps Batman, etc.

[Bocabirdman]

When I got back into the hobby a few years ago, I did the 48-55 Bowman and 51-69 Topps blitz. I hit it hard for a couple years then stumbled into a good deal on a mixed Pre-War Lot. In it was a T206 Dougherty Portrait. I immediately stopped all Post War activity and switched to T201/T202/T205/T207/T210/T212/E90/M116 and M101-4/5 as back-up options to T206. After a few months I realized that I, in fact, was no longer collecting Post-War. I BST-ed my entire Topps/Bowman collection, somewhere north of 10,000 cards. I never looked back.

[the 'stache]

I collect a little of everything, pre-war, vintage and modern, with modern representing the majority of where my money has gone since I came back to the hobby about four years ago.

I've debated whether or not I should sell my Bowman Chrome auto collection. The influx of cash would allow me to knock off several of the pre-war and vintage cards I want right away, but it would be a lot of work for me, and that's not something I can do easily. Plus, there's a part of me that really enjoys the modern cards, and prospecting, and doesn't want to get rid of my cards.

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I collect a little of everything, pre-war, vintage and modern, with modern representing the majority of where my money has gone since I came back to the hobby about four years ago.

I've debated whether or not I should sell my Bowman Chrome auto collection. The influx of cash would allow me to knock off several of the pre-war and vintage cards I want right away, but it would be a lot of work for me, and that's not something I can do easily. Plus, there's a part of me that really enjoys the modern cards, and prospecting, and doesn't want to get rid of my cards.

Bill, I did weigh the pros and cons. For me, it made sense. My collection now is 490 T206 and maybe a total of 1200 Pre-War cards. Since I have no heir to leave the collection to (at least no heir that would give a damn about it except as a sellable thing), it means that my inevitable sell-off will be more manageable. Not to mention, once you go Pre-War you never go back

[bunst]

My primary focus right now is T206 and '34-'36 Diamond Stars. I have recently completed 1954 Bowman, 1956 Topps and 1970 Topps. Am getting close to completing 1957, 1959 and 1961 Topps, and am picking away at 1952 Bowman and 1965 Topps. I know that at some point I will need to sell some post-war cards in order to finish T206, but don't want to let go yet. I enjoy collecting post-war almost as much as pre-war. No interest in modern (1980 to present) however.

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by bunst

My primary focus right now is T206 and '34-'36 Diamond Stars. I have recently completed 1954 Bowman, 1956 Topps and 1970 Topps. Am getting close to completing 1957, 1959 and 1961 Topps, and am picking away at 1952 Bowman and 1965 Topps. I know that at some point I will need to sell some post-war cards in order to finish T206, but don't want to let go yet. I enjoy collecting post-war almost as much as pre-war. No interest in modern (1980 to present) however.

I tried to serve two masters but eventually the tobacco cards won. It only hurts for a little while.......

[insidethewrapper]

I love the history of the pre-war cards, especially 19th Century and the Dead Ball Era, but I really enjoy looking at the cards I collected as a kid from 1958-1962 Topps. These still give me the most enjoyment. It brings back the memories of riding my bike to the local party store and buying packs . I also received in the mail throughout the summer , Topps Series by Series. I checked the mailbox everyday waiting for the next series. Does anyone know who sold sets back in the late 1950's by mail ? I think my dad ordered them thru an ad in The Sporting News.

[Sean]

My main focus is on the T206 set, but I also collect the 1965 Topps set. It was my first set as a child, so I'm trying to put it back together now.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Bocabirdman

Bill, I did weigh the pros and cons. For me, it made sense. My collection now is 490 T206 and maybe 1200 other Pre-War cards. Since I have no heir to leave the collection to (at least no heir that would give a damn about it except as a sellable thing), it means that my inevitable sell-off will be more manageable. Not to mention, once you go Pre-War you never go back

Hi Mike,

Ya, I've thought about all that. The modern cards feels like I'm trying to keep up with a rat race. Every 4 months, oh look, new Bowman Chrome cards. And the top guy in AA is going for $300 right off the bat. I've only bought one of the 2014 Chrome autos, Maikel Franco, a power hitting phenom for the Phillies. $28 for his auto w/ shipping.

A friend of mine just sold a Kris Bryant Bowman Chrome gold refractor auto redemption for almost $2,000. The guy just moved up to AAA after hitting .355 with 22 home runs in under 300 ABs at AA. Ok, very good prospect, but that's a stupid amount of money to spend on a guy that hasn't even sniffed the Majors. I could get a really nice Ty Cobb T206 portrait for that amount.

[25801wv]

I like cards from 1869 Peck & Snyder to 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas. I usually change my mind on what I want to collect every couple of weeks and have a sell off, lol. Currently I am trying to think what cards may be more valuable in 20+ years before I make a purchase.

[Leon]

I collect a few misfits...(love the Gordon holder)..

[JakeStahl'sGloveSHows]

I have a '72 raw held over from my youth. Am presently working on another '72 raw in ex-mt. Have a '61 graded PSA 7.50 about 2/3 complete and a '61 raw ex-mt short 8 cards. I have a complete '69-70 NBA Tallboy all PSA graded with 1/2 dozen to improve. I'm working on Jim Rice Basic & Master Set s(a few short on the basic) and I'm completing 1969, 1970 and 1971 NY Mets sets.

That's my post war.

I've been bitten HARD by the pre-war bug in the last few months and am playing around with T206, T3 and T202's. I also am slowly building a 1933 Goudey in PSA 4-5 shape.

Of late I've found myself particularly drawn to the T's. I love them....

[RGold]

I never collected any cards past 1965, the year I quit collecting as a kid. My primary interests are in 1930's sets but I have completed 1950's Red Man and Red Heart sets.

About 8 years ago, I started collecting George Brett cards whose career covered 1975-1994. These are years that I had never followed or had any interest in collecting. I buy these cards usually when I get bored or there is a lull in my main collecting activities.

I thought it would be a nice goal to find 100 different George Brett cards, breezed right through that number, and now am up to 230. There are probably a few thousand, but I do not even keep a want list because this is one collection I have been succcessful in keeping myself from obsessing about getting every card. I have found this to be a fun way to learn a little about modern cards.

Most of the cards, even in gem mint, are affordable. I have been able to resist spending $5,000 for the rookie card.

http://imageevent.com/rgold/rgoldscollectiongeorgebrett

[the 'stache]

Leon, I feel like we should send Giraldo into your vault. Something tells me he'd find a lot better stuff than the last time he tried that.

[itjclarke]

I started getting into post-war vintage as a kid then got into pre-war progressively as I got a little older. It started with a few small pre-war purchases in my teens and that led to bigger ones as I've aged. I now find myself alternating back and forth, with no specific reason other than something from either era may catch my eye. I like it though because while moving around freely, I never get tired of anything in particular. Pick ups have definitely been more weighted to pre-war the past 5 years (prob- 70-30), but have been about 50-50 the past few months, as seen in pickups like these...

1957 Topps Jim Bunning signed.jpg1957 Topps Whitey Herzog signed.jpg
T202 Cobb Jennings close.jpg
T205 Frank Baker.jpg

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by goudey1933

I just got back into the hobby having always had an interest in pre-war.Current focus is the T210 series 2 subset, but also started a 1972 Topps baseball set in higher grade.The Topps set takes me back to when I was a kid. How many of you collect both?
Scott

I have completed Topps '54-'57 & '64-'80 sets and am currently working on '58

I also have all the HOFers from 1960 Leaf & 1963 Fleer- and a smattering of cereal cards.

[Vintageismygame]

I buy HOF cards from the 1950 - 1990s in football and baseball when I am not chipping away at the t206 portrait set. I limit my self to 1 binder page for each year so as go not get to out of hand. I also collect Steve Young cards from his playing years 1984-1999. I am up to 1,457 different cards.

However, I recently have been collecting Mustangs. I have a 1967 fast back and a 1969 GT. I am looking for a 2013 Shelby GT 500 at the moment.

Matt

[KCRfan1]

I tend to collect a bit of Pre and Post War. I pickup t207's from time to time, and collect 1952 Topps. The set I am working on now is 1973 Topps, and as mentioned by previous posters, this set takes me back to being a kid.

[Exhibitman]

The cards that got me jazzed up about collecting as a kid were the classic Topps and Bowman cards from the 1950s and 1960s so I collect them too. I have conscientiously downgraded from slabbed high end specimens to lower grade cards because I can get so many more of them for the same price, and I can own cards I always wanted but never could afford in high grade.

[toppcat]

Right now I am almost all post war, although I have a couple of pre-war sets in mind. My bigger focus now is on non-sports and the prewar T baseball is not in my sights as it once was.

[dabigyankeeman]

I am a TEAM collector, I collect Yankees, so this lets me collect ALL years.

I have cards as old as 1904 and as recent as 2014. I try to get all the cards I can from 1980 and older, and for 1981 thru now I get a representative sample of Yankee cards from each year as there are too many to collect all of them plus I only want cards I like from recent years. But I do love the old pre-1960 cards best.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

The cards that got me jazzed up about collecting as a kid were the classic Topps and Bowman cards from the 1950s and 1960s so I collect them too. I have conscientiously downgraded from slabbed high end specimens to lower grade cards because I can get so many more of them for the same price, and I can own cards I always wanted but never could afford in high grade.

I love your approach to collecting now, Adam. I really do.

[stewbacca]

Sold my post war collection of 80,000 cards to a local brick and mortar to help them out just last summer. Have not really looked back. Narrowing my focus to 3 things and may cut that down with a kid entering college. T206 in low quality which I am at 160 of the set, a 1976 topps set of which 350 are autographed, and the "topps 40 years of baseball" book which I have gotten neary 700 autographs in it since I bought the book back in 1990.

[GehrigFan]

I'm in the vast minority in that I collect pre-war (all HOFers, a few Black Sox and should-be-HOFers), post-war vintage (recents completed sets include 48 Bowman, 52 Red Man, 54 Topps, 60 Topps, 64 Topps Giants, 69 Topps, etc.) - just starting to collect the 50's and 60's HOF RCs like Killebrew, Jenkins, Perry because they are so cheap in low to mid grade, then I also still collect modern a little. For modern, I used to be heavy into autographed high end prospects. I have kept a few of those (George Springer, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Joc Pederson, Joey Gallo and others I believe will be superstars for years to come), but sold most to fund more pre-war. In modern, I also collect non-sports autographs and original sketch cards from James Bond, Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, and other entertainment properties.

I just see the value in all three genres. By far, the modern rookie prospecting is the most dangerous. For every hit I've had, I probably have another 25+ that didn't pan out. Pre-war is the most wise in terms of returning my investment, and post-war is just kind of semi-interesting to me. But all three still hold my interest.

[Theoldprofessor]

My T206 collection is currently in the top 20 on the PSA Registry. I also have a nice set of Salutation Exhibits, complete sets of ('50 & '52 Bowman, '52, '55 & '56 Topps) and partials of '53 and '54, partials of 70s and 80s football and for fun a complete set of '52 Topps Look 'N Sees and a start on B18 blankets.

I love 'em all.

[bbcard1]

I dabble in a lot of things, focus on pre-war but I do not really have any projects going except periodically upgrading my T206s and working on a couple of runs, mainly Davidson, which I have gotten most of the easy ones out of the way. My big project is slowly working on a nice Exish 1961 set, my birth year. I also get one of most everything I can of Marshall alums...which is mostly limited to Aaron Blair and Dan Strailey and football players.

[novakjr]

My main focus is HOF rookies, so it allows me to dabble in all eras of the game. For a while, I kinda played with the idea of the complete Topps run, but lost interest shortly after starting. I'll pick up HOF non-rookies occasionally if the price is right, usually in the beater range. The Bo Jackson master set, and AUTO rookies of the guys on my fantasy team are really my only other focuses now... The only part of my collection that really takes me into pre-war anymore seems to be the HOF rookies, and beaters..

[ValKehl]

When I resurrected my childhood 1955-1960 collection in the 1980's, I first worked to complete these sets and started 1952-54 sets and various 1960's sets. And, I also picked up various football & basketball cards. But, the more pre-War cards I saw (which I never knew existed when I was a kid), the more I became drawn to them. By the early-mid 1990's, I was pretty much totally into pre-War cards, and have been ever since, although I am always looking for very scarce cards of Pete Runnels & Mickey Vernon (my childhood favorite players). I keep telling myself that I should sell my post-War cards to fund more pre-War, but I just can't bring myself to do this because I still like them and because of the childhood memories. But, at least I'm starting to part with the football & basketball cards, which no longer interest me.
Val

[tonyo]

I'm working on a hofer run.

48 thru 79 bowman and topps regular issue hofers inducted as players in "G/VG" grade.

I've gotten most of the "easy" ones in the 40's (23/33) and 50's, (320/337).
While focusing on 40's and 50's, I picked up 60's (229/340) & 70's (247/343) as the mood struck me over the last few years. About ready to actively fill in the 60's now.

Also completed a 52 bowman set and 73 topps set, both G/VG, a couple of years ago. Also finished the 72 set I started as a kid (my first year collecting). That's it post war pre 1980 for me.

[ullmandds]

As a child...I think the cards I coveted the most were the "oversized" cards from the early-mid 50's...which I could never afford! So I have a small collection of 50's cards I never had as a child...but always wanted!

[Tiger Eye]

I started collecting years ago by collecting HOF players rookie cards. I also decided to collect cards of the few major leaguers that attended the same high school I did, Jesuit High in New Orleans.( Tookie Gilbert, Rusty Staub, Will Clark are examples). So I have some post war, pre1980 cards. I now have focused my collecting purchases toward building a T206 portrait set, a Scrapps set (really liked the mystery around these and the way they look), and pre war HOFers I can afford, while keeping my postwar HOFers.

[tbob]

I always steered away from anything post 1919 but lately I have put together Topps sets I had as a kid- 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 and getting ready to go after 1962. That's it. I discovered girls in 1963

[MattyC]

I go for players I love and admire from Ruth all the way to Trout.

[Tomman1961]

I have Topps 1972- complete. Als0 1953,1955, 1961. Hoping to get back into the hobby to complete 1956, and 1958 Topps. While also 3/4 done with Diamond Stars, and a big interest in 1934 Goudey.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I love your approach to collecting now, Adam. I really do.

Thanks, Bill. I'll take ten to one every time. Just picked up a collector grade near set of 1971s to replace the slabbed 7, 7.5 and 8 cards I am getting rid of. Selling off the remaining slabs will likely pay for the whole thing. I kept only two slabs from my partial high grade set, Aaron and Ryan, both 7s. They don't fit my goals but I have had them for over 20 years [bought both raw before slabbing existed; the Ryan was a freebie grade back in the days when PSA used to make good on its turn time promises--loved those blue slips!] and I am somewhat attached to them. I have a collection of cards that I bought raw 20-40 years ago and had slabbed and I just can't bring myself to liquidate them.

I bought this one about 25 years ago then got it slabbed:



Pulled this sucker from a pack in 1976 that I bought at a candy store on the corner of 84th and Lexington in NYC. Aaron was a favorite player and I remember the pack bust vividly. I carried it all the way across the country to L.A. and somehow kept it in great shape despite moves all around the state for school and even an earthquake in 1994 that nearly took down my building:



I not only know that I've had this for nearly 30 years, I know the exact date I had it autographed; how fun is that?



Obviously isn't from the 1970s but this is the only good insert card I ever pulled from a modern pack, and it turned out to be a pretty nice one to have in retrospect:



Finally, a few more childhood wish list cards that I picked up well-loved:

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by tbob

I always steered away from anything post 1919 but lately I have put together Topps sets I had as a kid- 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 and getting ready to go after 1962. That's it. I discovered girls in 1963

And yet here you are, back collecting cardboard.

[E93]

I have a run of '70's Topps sets out of nostalgia for the years I was ripping packs. And I collect odds and ends, mostly iconic HOF stuff from the 40's-60's that I like - nothing more systematic than that.
JimB