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identify7I bought my first pre-war cards in the early 80s. There was a common OJ & Dockman. But they weren't cheap. Although a bargain by today's standards, they set me back about $50.
When I first bought cards in the fifties they also weren't cheap. Again they turned out to appreciate well, but increased value never occured to us. Heck we flipped them causing (what today would be considered) serious damage. But condition was never an issue. We traded based solely on whether we needed the card for set completion. Oh sure, Mantle, Williams, Campy and others were not usually traded 1 for 1 with commons, but they really did not demand much of a premium by todays reckoning.
This is when it was real fun. Not the eighties when you really had to buy 'em. I wonder whether in twenty or thirty more years collectors will recall "back in aught 5, when t-206's (in good condition, mind you) cost way less than a new car".