My son's National epiphany

[kailes2872]

I gave an account of our experience in the live National thread. It was our first trip and it was a couple of great days with my boys.

My son is a modern/auto/patch type collector. I don't understand it. I can't wrap my mind around how expensive some of those cards are. But, he spends his time, money, and energy collecting those - especially autographed pirate prospects.

While at the show, he was enthralled with the pre-war cards. He really dug the '33 and '34 Goudey's. He also liked the T-205's with gold borders. And, like me, he gravitated toward the beautiful T3's. By Saturday, I could see him going to the pre-war tables and just admiring inventory.

One dealer had an awesome display that included a $75k+ 1915 Cracker Jack set, two other early candy complete sets in the 75k+ range, as well as a range of very nice high end singles.

Yesterday, on the way home from church, Conner told me that he was going to start collecting pre-war. He makes $25 every two weeks in allowance (with part going to offering and part going to savings). He also dog sits and referees for youth soccer. So, he has a few dollars on him at any given time, but, in the end, he is a 15 year old with a 15 year old budget.

He told me that he is going to start looking on Ebay for some cheap low grade cards just so that he can say that he has them in his collection.

Being that I am a post-war set collector (for now), can anyone give advice on where he should start? Would he be better off looking to secure low grade Goudey's or T206's? Should he only buy slabbed (A, 1, 1.5, etc) cards to avoid counterfeiting? Is there a pre-war vintage set that is easily attainable and affordable that he could be begin to chase - (perhaps without the HOFers)?


He did an ebay search on 33 Goudey on a raw beat up card yesterday (Bill Jurges) that went for $7. However, it was ungraded and he wasn't sure if he should buy raw pre-war or if it would be a fake.

I think it is pretty cool that the National inspired the change in his collecting habits, but I want to make sure that he is wise and goes after the right stuff.

I appreciate any feedback and thanks for being such a solid resource!
Kevin