Who decides value? Is Beckett the only?

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Leon

Welcome to the forum. Everything David said is true. Did your first car stereo have an 8 track with Stereophonic? I am sure many of ours did. My first car was a 1971 brown Pinto I got when I was 17, but I digress.

If you haven't delved into vintage you might pick up a few cards to handle and get to know them. The best way of course is buying them raw from someone/somewhere you trust. Most of my expensive cards are graded and a lot of my lesser ones are raw.
Our own Buy/Sell/Trade area is very good but it's still always caveat emptor. If you are doing any deals with folks you can look at their amount of posts, time on the board and also check for references. If I can ever help just let me know....happy collecting!!

Maybe we should have a first car/first card thread.

1958 Chevrolet DelRay/ ??????probably a 1953 Topps card when I was 6. Now why would some one remember their first car and forget about that 1953 Topps Willie Mays card that made their bicycle spokes rattle and roar.

Sorry, off topic, just reminiscing. Agree with above advice. If you focus your collection, you will learn that portion of the market. Price guides are arbitrary. My average prewar card cost about $50-60. The median card would be less.