Being new to vintage, what should I know? + Pickup

[yanksfan09]

As others have stated, take it slow and do your homework. I personally don't subscribe to any price guides and feel ebay is the best guide (auction prices not BIN's) Be careful with some of those overpriced Buy-It-Nows on ebay.

I try not to pay to much attention to prices altogether. As long as you have a general sense of the $ range of the stuff you're collecting you should be okay.
Just start out slow and collect what you like at prices you're comfortable with.

Of course if you're buying more for investment purposes, a very strong knowledge on accurate pricing would be more essential.

I would start slow and buy a card or two of a few different players, sets, eras, etc.... and see what you really like. If you're thinking of collecting a set buy a lower end cheaper version so that you can see one in person and decide if that set's for you. Make sure you have fun and don't be scared to take a brake for a while and then come back later.

[deadballpaul]

Leon is correct. I was a sprinter going after the Novelty Cutlery set. I got burned out, but have regained my footing. I now view it as a "marathon", & It feels good to take it slow and easy.

[B O'Brien]

Enjoy/understand the history of the game, the times, and the players.

If you don't understand who you are buying and the times in which they played, then cardboard is only an over priced commodity. The real fun comes from knowing about the guys, both on and off the feild and what was going on in the surroundings of the game.

Spoken like a true Ex History Major! When other folks see the things I buy and sell, all think is "you paid how much for that little piece of cardboard". Once you get the history of the players and the times, it makes the expense not really matter, as long as it is diposable income.

If you don't understand the history, then Walter Johnson (or one of the thousands of others that we collect) was just another guy that died a long time ago that liked to train dogs when he wasn't playing a game that most folks don't love or understand.

I have some pie charts and a couple graphs that the wife put together to try to pull me away from what I enjoy, if I need to share, let me know. I stopped golfing, gambling (sort of), and something else that needs not be mentioned here to justify the expense!

Case and point: I spent way to much loot today on a Cobb card. The wife says "who is Ty Cobb anyway". I says other than being played by Tommy Lee Jones is a pretty solid movie (relate to their knowledge), we live in Cobb County and you drink Coke every day, which he helped support in the early days.

This is just one man's opinion, and that man is,
Bob
upperhandisforemost@yahoo.com

[White Borders]

If you haven't done so already, download and read Scot Reader's "Inside T206" (it's free).

http://www.t206.org/dl/InsideT206-Ce...al-edition.pdf

Best Regards
Craig

[Brian Van Horn]

Seth,

Know what is out there of your player. I see you like Wheat. He is an excellent choice. The following cards from the E121, E220, W504 and W590 are not for sale, but offered as preliminary guideposts.

[tbob]

The only thing I can add to all the great comments above is to make friends with fellow collectors. They can provide a wealth of knowledge, find cards for you that you are looking for and help keep you sane.
tbob

[GrayGhost]

Buy what you can afford, not over it. Above all, enjoy the history behind the players and the cards. Baseball is the greatest sport of them all, because of its rich history. One can't help to get immersed in it, when they collect vintage stuff. Enjoy, and we look forward to more entries of yours in the pickup threads.

[steve B]

Learning all you can about the cards themselves is a good start. And buying inexpensive ones is a good way to do that. It's a bit tougher now, with everything at least in a holder if not slabbed. I learned by seeing the cards loose - or - rubber banded into small stacks (Yeah, that was a long time ago!)
But handling them loose gives you a feel for how something should be.

And don't worry too much about your mistakes, we've all made several I'm sure. One dealer I know told me something interesting after I was lamenting a purchase of something I liked at a pretty steep price for the time. " You didn't pay too much, just too soon"
Being budget conscious, most of my mistakes have been in not buying something.

And the comments about learning the history of the cards and the times they were made is a really good one. Anything made is a product of the society that made it at a particular time. The design of cards from any era tells a lot about our country at that time.
1880's -90's Photos! a relatively new technology to print them on paper, in quantity, and cheaply enough to give away combined with the beginnings of people being celebrities (aside from royalty, the very rich or powerful etc)
1910 ish - A nation gripped with a light and exuberant mood, having figured out how to toss off the heaviness of the victorian age, and with several new technologies aiding in liberating large groups of the masses. The T206s are a perfect fit, with their idealised scenes including sunsets etc often in sort of pastel like colors.

When I explain my cards to non collecting friends in terms of being bits of design and general history and how they represent more than just a tiny picture of a baseball player - That's when it makes sense to them.

Steve