Some helpful suggestions for new collectors

[Leon]

A few weeks ago I was at a local show. I saw a dealer who I now well and he had 2 T206s and a 1935 Ruth 4 in 1. The Ruth was raw and in a screwdown holder. It had a huge stain all across the back of the card. I asked the dealer if he had taken the card out of the holder and he said no he had only gotten it a day ago. The stain on the back would have made it a nice front but very poor back card, and it would be relegated to a 1 holder. We made the deal for all 3 cards. When I got home, a few days later, I took the Ruth out of the holder and there was no stain at all on the card. It was all on the holder. I think it will grade a 3+ and maybe a 4. I told him about it at another show yesterday (Klein's local show) and we both laughed. He still made money and now I will too, if I sell it.

Originally Posted by Jcfowler6

1. Take the card out of the sleeve and examine it before buying it.
2. Be careful who you share your collection with.

Two things that I did wrong early on.

Have fun!


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[DaClyde]

For an absolute beginner, on the subject of autographs, I would also recommend someone learn to tell real autographs from facsimile autographs that are simply printed as part of the card.

--Learn which sets already have facsimile autos on them. Pay special attention to those team-issued photos that might have a blue facsimile signature on a black & white photo...those seem to trip up a lot of sellers.

--Find some resources for knowing what various players autographs look like (Google images at the very least).

--Be able to tell the difference between an real autographed baseball and one of those team-issued printed facsimile auto baseballs (that have all the signatures nicely lined up, all in black, all the same relative size).