Why are pre-war postcards suddenly so popular?

[tbob]

I'm just curious. I know there is a hard core group who have always collected them but lately they seem to be more popular to run of the mill pre-war collectors. My own personal opinion, for what it is worth, is that the boom in interest escalated when the grading companies started slabbing and grading them and they became a more tradeable and sellable commodity. I would also opine that a number of collectors have finished collecting sets and are turning to other projects. Thoughts?

[Leon]

The only reason I can think of is that you started collecting them .

[tbob]

Originally Posted by Leon

The only reason I can think of is that you started collecting them .

LOL. For once, something has become popular and collectors going after something which I don't collect. I am tickled to death to see collectors going after them and spending their disposable income for something other than what I DO collect.
But seriously, no one thinks the fact that the grading companies have started slabbing and grading them has resulted in any increase in popularity?

[Bicem]

Depends on what time frame you're talking about Bob. The grading companies have been grading them for awhile now. It no doubt helps their popularity! But as for the more recent spike in popularity, I think Barry hit it on the head with the Legendary comment. That auction was epic in terms of postcards and the best I've seen in a very long time. I think it attracted a lot of new pc collectors.

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by tbob

LOL. For once, something has become popular and collectors going after something which I don't collect. I am tickled to death to see collectors going after them and spending their disposable income for something other than what I DO collect.
But seriously, no one thinks the fact that the grading companies have started slabbing and grading them has resulted in any increase in popularity?

I think you're correct, Bob, in saying professional grading has played a part. I also think it's pretty ironic, because a lot of postcard collectors I know don't pay much attention to the numbers on the flip. Postcards get hammered for writing on the back, but many collectors welcome correspondence on the cards, especially if it's baseball related.

I love finding great-looking postcards that are on the low end of the TPG scale.

[alanu]

It could be that the mail delivery is so slow that a lot of the pre-war postcards are just being delivered and becoming available. I shouldn't joke, my father was a mailman.

In addition to the grading, I think with some of the good prices being realized, some collectors holding on to them are starting to let them go.

We have collected rare pre-World War II baseball postcards for more than 25 years. Many of the wonderful examples in our collection are one of a kind.
We limit our effort to the rare, expensive and unusual- and only are interested in player and team photos- albeit we own four different Federal League stadium post cards- a great companion to our Federal League tickets, programs and sheet music.

We attribute the dramatic increase in popularity to

(a) Grading- if it's not graded it's difficult to obtain large money
(b) Recent Legendary as well as the Iowa Auction
(c) Availability of significant Negro League Hall of Famers
(d) Provides accomplished collectors with an additional opportunity.

We have over 30 such post cards in our collection. Since we recently obtained the two ultra, ultra rare Harrison Studios post cards we are focusing our efforts on the Winthrop Motion Picture Post cards (less than 8 are known)

We look forward to adding to America's most significant type card collection
in the days and months ahead.

Bruce Dorskind
AMerica's Toughest Want List
bdorskind@dorskindgroup.com

[barrysloate]

There have been a huge number of them for sale lately, particularly in the most recent Legendary Auction. That usually draws alot of interest.

[esd10]

i think that there are such great imgs and you can get whole teams and they have such history like the cards

[Bicem]

what Barry said, a lot of nice ones in Goodwin too.