I'm wanting to get started in pre-war cards

[todeen]

Welcome. Ungraded cards can be had here on BST. It's a great place to get your feet wet.

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[donmuth]

Suggest you look into acquiring a hall of fame player to start. You can find raw (or graded) HoFers from many pre-war sets inckuding T206 for a reasonable price. Jyst watch the Net54 B/S/T forum and start there. You can always expand from there if you like, but uf not then you at least have a HoF player which is always a nice add to a collection.

Good luck!

[drcy]

Lots of great Pre-War cards, lots of variety Nothing wrong with buying a variety of cheap, low grade, ungraded cards.

[pawpawdiv9]

Sign up with REA. Get their Catalog in the mail.
And when you do-- You must at first SMELL EVERY PAGE!!!!
Thats after you dropped the 50lb catalog on your foot of course.
REA will get you hooked and you wont get rid of this disease- no cure for it.
Read all the write-ups as they are informative and the photos are just icing on the cake.
(no disregard to the many other Ah's i use.- i just think of REA as Xmas)

[wdwfan]

Okay another question. I think I've decided to start getting my feet wet in grading, and I think this era would be good for that. But here's my concern.

I really, really like the look of the SGC slabs with the black background against the cards. But from what I can tell, they don't hold value to nor are worth as much as PSA. Is this correct? Is one better than the other when it comes to buying vintage?

I like the eye appeal of the black background on the SGC versus the glassy look of PSA, but I don't want to be losing money if/when I try to sell in the future.

[drcy]

If it sells cheaper and costs you cheaper, what's the financial difference?

I'd most be concerned with authenticity and accuracy in grading, not the ephemeral nature of "What this holder goes for this Tuesday."

If you like SGC better, buy SGC. It's also not an either or. You can buy both graders.

In fact it may be the most prudent longterm investment to buy the card that is currently undervalued vis a vis it's holder over the "latest and hottest grader." For longterm investment, "buying at the height of popularity and price" obviously is not a good move.

Though I'd still recommend buying from a trusted dealer or auction house a nice assorted collection of raw Pre-War cards to really enjoy and enjoy handling them.

[Touch'EmAll]

T206's are classic - would make very nice acquisitions. Demand is always way up. HOFers even more so in demand. Just don't see how you can go wrong with a nicely centered T206 HOFer. EX 5 and graded by either SGC or PSA is wise choice. But be careful within the grade, not all 5's are created equal - pay attention to the boarders, the fatter the better. Lots of slop in a PSA case wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. For instance, last night a major ebay auction had 2 T206 W. Johnsons - one had nice fat boarders, the other not so much - be very careful here. And of course get a player you really like with a picture that you really like - eye appeal to you goes a long way to your enjoyment.

[x2drich2000]

Originally Posted by drcy

If it sells cheaper and costs you cheaper, what's the financial difference?

I'd most be concerned with authenticity and accuracy in grading, not the ephemeral nature of "What this holder goes for this Tuesday."

If you like SGC better, buy SGC. It's also not an either or. You can buy both graders.

In fact it may be the most prudent longterm investment to buy the card that is currently undervalued vis a vis it's holder over the "latest and hottest grader." For longterm investment, "buying at the height of popularity and price" obviously is not a good move.

Though I'd still recommend buying from a trusted dealer or auction house a nice assorted collection of raw Pre-War cards to really enjoy and enjoy handling them.

Very well said!