if you started collecting pre war in your 20's (not 1920's)

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Posted By: Steve Dawson

I began collecting T206s in 1979 when I was 16 years old. My first three were 3-Finger Brown, Roger Bresnahan and Willie Keeler, $10 for all three. By 1985, I had all the hall of famers except Plank and Wagner, plus the Demmitt, Smith, Dahlen, Elberfeld, Kleinow and Browne rarities. Back then, you could get the HOFers for $15-$30 each, and the Cobb's cost me $80-$100 each. All of them were in today's professional grading terms, vg-ex or better. I have to thank my mother, who really was the major player in me being able to collect, as she funded my habit until I got a job, and NEVER threw any of my cards away. In fact, one year for my birthday, she bought me 1933 Goudeys of Ruth and Gehrig

For some reason, I just really loved the pre-WWI cards. I also had a Mike Kelly N28, N162 and N172, a T227 Cobb, N28s of Clarkson and Keefe, an e90-2 Wagner and T205, T207 and T3 Walter Johnson. Unfortunately, I sold all of my cards in 1991, and have just begun re-collecting them within the past 3 years.

The most amazing thing is that 1933 Ruth (#53) that my mother bought me in 1979, and I sold in 1991. When I had it and then sold it, it was raw. In 2001, I found it on ebay, graded a PSA 1 (same condition that it was in when I owned it). It wasn't another example of the card, it was the SAME EXACT card! I remembered every crease, stain and mark on it. That card, I guarantee you, will never leave my possession!


Steve