How we look at our cards...and what is old?
 

I've been a collector of mostly prewar cards for over 25 years now...as a kid collecting in the mid-late 70's I always coveted cards from the 50's-60's because they were "older" and cooler imo.

Now the cards I collected as a youth...bought in packs...completed sets...are now over 40 years old...but I just can't consider them "old?"

And the thought of grading them seems preposterous to me!!!! Similarly junk wax cards are now 30 years old...but I still consider them junk!!!!!

My rookies from the 80's-90's are in binders and I could not image wasting the $$$$ to have them graded?

I suppose this is common...as we age...the denial of aging...that I'm "not old?" I suppose it's all relative?

Do others feel similarly??

I agree Pete. When I started in 1983, 1953 Topps seemed ancient. Now cards 30 years old (1992) don't feel old to me at all. I'm an age denier too. LOL!

Here is a recent similar discussion on "Vintage"

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=319665

"I believe the age of a person has a lot to do with its interpretation as well. As we age, our frame of reference tends not to shift easily. In 1980, I considered 1920's coins and 50's to 60's cards to be OLD. Today, I would not consider 60's coins or 70's to 80's cards in the same context. "

In the same vein, the 'old people' I vividly remember in my youth at family gatherings were not much older than I am now. Whaaaaaa? :eek::eek:

I am older than the old people I used to talk about :eek:.

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Pete, I also grew up collecting in the mid/late 1970's.

I would walk to the store after school with friends to buy packs. Would ride my bike to Toy City to buy the 3 pk cellos. Go to a local show and ohh-ahh and marveled at all the cards. Traded at school lunchtime with other kids. Go over what we had waiting at the bus stop.

At the time, 1970, 71 & 72 cards seemed old, almost ancient.

Now, old to me is pre-1952.

But back to the more important note - old ? I'm not old, er, am I ? Sigh.

I collect post-war cards that had some significance to me as a kid in the late 60's early 70's, really have no interest in anything younger than that so they're all old to me. My pre-war bug was planted back then with the Kelloggs all time greats 3-d set (curse you Mr Kellogg) and dabbled a little bit of pre-war when I was 21.

Now I need to attend weekly "pre-war anonymous" meetings at the local church to control my habit...

Every thread needs a card so here's a couple of oldies.
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As a kid, I collected from the late 60's to the early 70's. Never got rid of my cards.

Fast forward to the late 80's, and my nephew brought me a price guide. This was my first inkling into the hobby as an adult. I was shocked at the prices on single cards that I had paid 5-10 cents for a pack (a dollar a card or more).

I was quite surprised that cards I collected as a kid were considered old.

Well this is a depressing 3:00 am read... 40yrs old in October. As a 90's kid, cards never started feeling old until about the 70's.

For me it's always been roughly this. If your age is x, an old card is one that is at least (1.25x + 10) years old.

Several of Rihanna's most popular songs ("S.O.S.", "Umbrella", "Don't Stop the Music"...) are now older than my parents' Beatles records were when I listened to them as a kid 40 years ago. Whaddya gonna do?

I guess old cards, to me, are from the 1950s back.....since that is right before I was born. I don't want to have old cards be younger than me LOL...

This is an old card.

https://luckeycards.com/n184d.jpg

Think how collectors of 19th century material must feel.

To the original question, I collected in the late 60s to early 70s as a kid so those just don't feel old to me.

This one does and with an interesting miss cut back.
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Watching The Wonder Years in the late 80s, a show that took place in the late 60s (only 20 years before), felt like watching ancient history. Stranger Things takes place in the 80s, and that was 35 years ago, and it doesn't feel nearly as ancient to me as The Wonder Years did. Of course, in 1987, when I was in 4th grade, I traded 10 cards for a 1982 Topps Johnny Grubb, thinking how else could I get a card that old. When my brother got a shoebox of 1978 football cards from a neighbor, I assumed most of those guys were dead.

I realized I treat different sports differently. A 1972 hockey or basketball card seems way older than a 1972 baseball card. 1960s cards in any sport but baseball might as well be from the 1930s. But I know much less about the history of those sports and their cards.

This sounds like the best standard to me. An old card can't be younger than I am.

It can be an interesting thing at times.

my first year collecting cards older than the current year was 1977

Did the math, and 1933 Goudeys were a year newer in 1977, than those 1977 cards are now.