Posted By:
Adam J. Baxter
Well, being something of a newbie to 19th century cards compared with most on the board and being one who collects the N172 Old Judge issue, I can say that I find that both Jay and Scott each have some good points. First of all, I understand Scott's position regarding availability of certain cards from the authentic N172 set. There are many players and poses that most of us simply will never own,whether due to scarcity or price and I can certainly understand the desire a collector may have to come as close to owning the real thing as they can, even if that means buying a reprint. However I also see Jay's point that there are already too many reprints and fraud is a HUGE problem in this hobby. Reprints have,unfortunately, to some extent played a role in that. Personally, I don't like reprints and I myself wouldn't collect them as I prefer the real cards, but I don't mind them being around so long as they aren't being sold fraudulently. I think that a reprint using some type of really difficut anti-fraud technology such as holograms, etc. is the best way to go, especially when you're dealing with cards as expensive as Old Judge. I for one think for one that buying a reprint set like this is nice for someone who can't get the real thing, but I'm not wild about the idea of new collectors using it as a reference point to see scarce poses for the first time. I don't know, honestly it's kind of a difficult arguement either way. It's interesting that Old Judge is the topic of conversation, because I have a thread I'll be posting later tonight about this very set and I expect to hear some very mixed opinions about my ideas.