Editor’s Notes (October 2020)

Posted on October 5, 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.

There was a bit going on with the site this month, but definitely a slower one. I only got to nine articles and definitely hoping to do a bit more than that. The reality is that this time of year is usually a busy one. In addition to all sorts of other stuff, I do some college football writing and, well, it’s college football time. Things will hopefully pick up in October now, though, that I’m a bit more in rhythm to accommodate for all of that.

News-wise, the Honus Wagner T206 card again showed its strength. Low-grade Wagners could be bought a few years ago for around half a million. A PSA 1 sold about a month ago for a record $1.1 million.

I planned on an article about the Wagner card when word of the Mike Trout Superfractor started spreading but never got around to it. Instead, though, let me at least say a few words here.

Yes, I know all about the Mike Trout Superfractor rookie breaking the record for a sports card price but allow me to provide a bit of context. The Wagner card that set that record was sold four years ago — well before the recent sports card boom of 2020. That could, almost certainly, would sell for significantly more today than it did then. And second, these Wagner cards are, compared to today’s cards, in far worse condition. Even that Wagner was ‘only’ a PSA 5 (MC), which, to most collectors, would be the equivalent of a PSA 3.

I think it’s also fair to ask if the Trout card continues to climb in value as steadily as the Wagner has. My guess, if I had to hazard one, is that it would not. This is a tremendous time for sports cards right now and modern cards are in the middle of a revival. But if you look back through the course of history, most modern cards have hit speed bumps. Even post-war vintage cards have not climbed as steadily in value as pre-war cards have. I think we’re bound, at some point, to see the fascination with modern cards come back to earth a bit. Some pre-war cards, too. But I think the gains achieved by pre-war cards are simply more sustainable than those of modern cards just because that’s the way cards have always been, to be honest.

Look, this site focuses on pre-war cards and, as a pre-war collector, obviously, it’s pretty clear where my allegiances lie. I’ve said it before when high-grade Mickey Mantle 1952 cards were selling for record prices but it bears repeating — pound for pound, short-term or probably even long-term, nothing touches the Wagner T206 right now, save for something like the Babe Ruth 1914 Baltimore News card. End of story.

Not too much added to the site, either, in terms of new sets (though, it’s worth pointing out that I’ve got a few for October I’m already busy on). But you’ll find the two that were added to the site below.