Pre 1930 cards, tobacco cards

[Bogeysave82]

I'm looking for advice on how to buy this era of cards. I have never collected this era before but recently found a couple of Reds players at a store. They seem to be in decent shape though I am out of my element here what do I look for? What do I offer or the value on the common guys? Any advice would be greatly appreciated... Thanks
David

 

[jay1065]

Do you have a picture of the cards you are interested in, or a description of what they look like? Oldcardboard.com is a great reference site to get you started. This link will bring you to their listing of Tobacco (T) cards:

Old Cardboard: Vintage Baseball Cards


The prices listed aren't set in stone, but they, along with the set descriptions, checklists, images, etc, are great. I visit the site multiple times a week.

 

[Bogeysave82]

Do you have a picture of the cards you are interested in, or a description of what they look like? Oldcardboard.com is a great reference site to get you started. This link will bring you to their listing of Tobacco (T) cards:

Old Cardboard: Vintage Baseball Cards


The prices listed aren't set in stone, but they, along with the set descriptions, checklists, images, etc, are great. I visit the site multiple times a week.

Thank you for the awesome input... Now I'm not in the dark... I did pick one up today not in the greatest shape but I liked it I couldn't walk away from it
Thanks again!!!

 

[jay1065]

Excellent pickup! With one in hand, you are officially addicted. Congrats!

 

[Bogeysave82]

Thank you!!! I am addicted I plan on picking up all the Reds I can find that should be a great start. My only concern is the size. The cards are beautiful but small, how to display them? I'm thinking about grading would give them a sleek look... Any thoughts???

 

[jay1065]

Keep them raw and put them in a binder. Ultra Pro makes 15 pocket tobacco pages.

 

[JoshShef01]

I have some pm me

 

[fkw]

if you are seeking Reds players only, you picked a good direction (team collector) to start a good low cost collection....

but Pre1930 is a very generic description, for common (Reds) players you can get cards that are $7-$15 ea like the T206 you posted, all day long, or also very very rare cards that are thousands of dollars each like a T214, T215 Pirate brand, T216-3 etc. or many other high value "type' cards.... and to a newbie, they look the same ....old!

also Id say PreWar (pre1941) is better, because there are many great popular sets in the 1930s, with a few 'all Reds players' sets (team issue) in late 1930s as well.

if you have limited funds, go for 'collector grade' of the very very very common issues ie T205, T206, E90-1, E92, E95, E120, E121, W512, W513, W514, W515 (all the subsets, W516 (all the subsets), W517, R311, R312, R313, R314-1, R314-3, R315, R316, R318, R319, R320, R321 etc. etc. etc. these can all be found in 'collector grade' (like the T206 cards you picked up) for under $20 for common Reds players, all the time....

buy low grade commons before you jump into buying more expensive cards.. Its good to inspect the cards in person and really look at how they were made (ie T206 cards are lithographed), and how they wear naturally... so you can buy raw and save big $$ in future. The more wear that shows the easier they are to authenticate and see there is no obvious tampering (ie trimming).
good luck, happy collecting Frank