It's officially time to start buying pre-war cards again

[tbob]

As far as selling goes, as always, it's hit or miss on ebay. Having a notice in the ebay section of the BST definitely helps as a lot of my buyers in my recent sale were from the Board. The E93s (all graded) went for decent prices which I was ok with although there were definitely some real bargains there. Strangely, the 1961 Fleer basketball near set I sold card by card brought more than I would have thought. Perhaps the lack of reprints and other crap cards in this section means buyers are navigating through sections other than pre-war much more easily.
I set all my pre-war cards as auctions and not BINs and that seemed to work fine but you always hold your breath when you do this.

[mybuddyinc]

Boxing cards have dropped to very low lows ....................

[Exhibitman]

Some have, Scott, some haven't. Run of the mill stuff is way down. Rarities are still breaking records.

Bob's right, though, there are some definite deals on Ebay. I was pleasantly surprised this a.m. to find I'd won an 1889 baseball currency White Sox piece for 40% of what I'd seen a comparable one for at the National two years ago.

[alanu]

It seems to be a good time to buy in comparison to the past few years, but a year from now prices could be half of what they are today. Doesn't seem possible, but when a $350K house in Las Vegas dropped to $250K, who would have thought they would be $150K a year later.

[nolemmings]

As usual, I'm behind the curve. The sets I collect are not going cheaply at all. M101s are stable if not high. An m101-5 blank back common Zinn Beck SGC 60 went for $213 last week, three times what the card is worth, with three separate bidders over $150. I have not seen prices lowered on anything mid grade or higher in these sets for some time. Also, I posted in another thread how Worch commons--minor leaguers no less (which are traditionally less highly prized)-- were going for about $200 in SGC 40 and 50.

By contrast, I dabble in T202s, and notice that they have gone down in price.
Maybe collectors have filled many of the more "popular" prewar sets and are now expanding into other areas.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

By contrast, I dabble in T202s, and notice that they have gone down in price.
Maybe collectors have filled many of the more "popular" prewar sets and are now expanding into other areas.

T201s and T202s have really taken a hit the past year or two. Prices are sometimes half what they were then (except for the ones I buy).

[Rich Klein]

With Joe Jax in the middle doing

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Maybe collectors have filled many of the more "popular" prewar sets and are now expanding into other areas.

Could be. My suspicion also is that many collectors are leaving the mainstream cards for another time because they would prefer to spend their money on the suddenly more affordable more difficult cards. I know I haven't bought a T206 in a few years but have acquired several type cards that I'd not have bought had the prices not come down on them.

[Orioles1954]

I sold my 1933 Delong Gehrig SGC 40 in 2008 for $1500. I bought the same card in April for $900. Conversely, I'm making a ton of money in the shiny card market right now.