How did you get into pre-war card collecting?

[SyrNy1960]

Being that I'm not a pre-war card collector, I'm curious to know your stories of how and why you got into pre-war card collecting. Did a family member or friend get you hooked? Is it the look and the rarity of the cards? I'm genuinely interested in knowing. Thanks, Tony

[cannonballsun]

It's sounds like you're talking about pre-war collecting, rather than just vintage.
I'm a post-war vintage collector. I started buying when I was a kid. That was back in 1962. So the players were current to me. I did see them play, and I grew up with them.
I never did get into pre-war collecting. I thought it was too expensive for me. In hindsight, that was a big mistake on my part. Anything I could afford back then, it has now greatly increased in value.
While a collector didn't grow up with the great pre-war players, they are legendary, and most baseball fans are very familiar with them.

[SyrNy1960]

Originally Posted by cannonballsun

It's sounds like you're talking about pre-war collecting, rather than just vintage.
I'm a post-war vintage collector. I started buying when I was a kid. That was back in 1962. So the players were current to me. I did see them play, and I grew up with them.
I never did get into pre-war collecting. I thought it was too expensive for me. In hindsight, that was a big mistake on my part. Anything I could afford back then, it has now greatly increased in value.
While a collector didn't grow up with the great pre-war players, they are legendary, and most baseball fans are very familiar with them.

Thanks for sharing. You’re correct, I meant pre-war.

[Mark17]

I read "The Glory of Their Times." A half dozen times (so far.)

[cannonballsun]

Originally Posted by Mark17

I read "The Glory of Their Times." A half dozen times (so far.)

I also read "The Glory of Their Times". It's a great book, but I only read it once. Maybe it's time to pick it up again.

[ullmandds]

I grew up a big yankees fan...had a neighbor who was a sportswriter for the herald trib. He told me stories of the past...I was really interested in baseball history...I read a lot. I sold my childhood collection to buy a car in the late 80's which consisted mostly of 50's-present. I kept my prewar which was maybe 2-3 cards.

When I got back into collecting a few years later I didn't want to re-collect the cards I used to have so I decided to focus on prewar...they were much more interesting to me.

I've since re-accumulated many of the more modern cards from my original childhood collection...but to me these cards belong in binders...not slabs!!!

[birdman42]

In the early 80s I was working in a coin and stamp shop. The owner let a fellow set up his baseball card inventory in a display case. I've been a baseball fan all my life, especially Washington, so when Wayne Miller put his cards out I was interested. The oldest cards I had were Post off the back of my mom's Raisin Bran boxes. One thing led to another, and I was hooked. Wayne had a seemingly endless supply of T-206s among other fabulous items. The only regret is that I didn't buy more.

Bill

Some cards from Wayne:
Maybe the last five-buck T-3

Walter...

...and his battery-mate

[EddieP]

I got into pre-war vintage because the cards mimic the popular art forms/ theories at the particular time. The cards are also a fascinating representation of the socio-economic of that era.

[T205 GB]

An older gentleman named Joe P. He helped me out the most in the beginning. He has since passed away and resides at Arlington Cemetery. RIP Joe.

Another major influence is Ted Z. We have a shared interest in research and tobacco so its always been a great conversation and learning experience.

[Hirbonzig]

Met a dealer in Milwaukee called the Wise Guys in the early 1990’s that had pre war cards that caught my eye. After talking to Joe and John I became very interested in t206 and the many different back varieties. After the mid nineties I rarely bought a modern card and focused on vintage cards.

[fkm_bky]

I've always loved baseball cards starting as a 7 year old in 1980 and completed most sets in the 80's through pack purchases. In the late 80's we were helping my grandma and grandpa move out of their home into a retirement community and these two items were stored in his garage and he gave them to me.

1. First edition Pride of the Yankee's book (published in 1942 w/ lesser quality paper due to WW2 - it even states it in the forward)

2. My Grandpa's baseball bat from his semi-pro days in St. Paul, in the 20's. It is a Rogers Hornsby model.

I read and re-read that book many times and still pull the bat out just to look at it. Anyway, it really got me hooked on the early days of baseball and once I graduated college and began earning some spending money I started collecting in around 2000/2001 through eBay and eventually Net54.

Great thread!

Bill

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

I think for me I got back in to it when I realized I could now actually obtain what had once been "unobtainable".

I collected cards as a kid with limited means in the 1980's. But since baseball cards in the 1980's were extremely abundant, I could collect cards of all the current stars relatively cheaply (Bo Jackson was my favorite players, and even in his prime, you could pretty much buy any Bo Jackson card for less than $10.00). But the vintage cards listed at the FRONT of the Beckett price guide, guys with names like Ruth, Cobb, Mays, and Mantle had all those EXTRA ZEROS at the end of their prices. They became sort of sacred in my mind because I figured I would NEVER be able to afford cards of those guys.

Fast forward 30 years and I was browsing the magazine section at Barnes and Noble and came accross a Beckett Vintage magazine, and I thumbed through it. Yeah, those guys all still have extra zeros (even more then when I was a kid) but life has been good enough to allow me enough disposable income to buy some of those. So I dove back in, and have enjoyed owning some of those IMPOSSIBLE cards from my youth.