Editor’s Notes (May 2020)

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Pre-War Cards

Each month, content gets updated on the Pre-War Cards site. However, while you see the regular articles that are posted, plenty of stuff is always being added behind the scenes. Much of this has to do with the updating of set descriptions and checklists in the database and each month, I’ll be posting to alert you to stuff that has been added or updated from the previous month.

Here are the items added/updated from the past month.

So, about a year ago, I said that the site would be adding sets up through 1945, the end of World War II. While I still firmly believe a pre-war card is a card produced only through 1939, the reality is that collectors want information on other sets in the same era. Additionally, while there can be some flexibility on determining exactly what a pre-war card is, one other thing is simple. And that is that 1948 really marks the start of substantial post-World War II collecting.

Now, a card produced in 1946 is definitely not a pre-war card. World War II ended in 1945 and, well, there’s no disputing that. But what I do think is fair to suggest is that 1948 was really the start of a new era of collecting with Bowman and, shortly thereafter, Topps. With that in mind, I have decided to add not only sets through 1945 to the site, but also sets from 1946 and 1947. That will definitively get us to the ‘modern’ era of collecting and really cover all the bases.

The good news is that while there are significant number of sets in the 1940s, it is not an overwhelming number. I am starting with the key sets and them will be hitting the others. This process has finally begun as I now have set reviews up for Play Ball, Goudey, and Double Play sets, probably the most popular ones of that time period. Others will continue and with any luck, I will have all of the new set reviews added in the next month or two.

In terms of hobby news, not too much, other than the whole Coronavirus wreaking havoc on just about everything. I have not seen much effect, personally, on the hobby. Prices continue to be healthy and with people even getting stimulus money, plenty is still being spent on cards. That is not to suggest people are not suffering. They are. Other collectors, certainly, are doing a bit of selling off during this time. But as a whole, prices for sports cards do not seem to be suffering as there are plenty of buyers around. That could change as time goes on but for now, it’s been mostly business as usual.

One minor note was an article I wrote recently about a 19th century pencil box that could possibly contain a missing pose from the 1887 Buchner Gold Coin set. An intriguing item for sure and one that collectors of 19th century cards might find interesting.