Editor’s Notes (February 2021)

Posted on February 3, 2021 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.

Happy February, folks —

January around these parts has been pretty dull in terms of news. I did get a fair amount of writing done last month but in terms of ‘news’ stuff, it was pretty limited.

The biggest thing in that regard was the very cool Mel Ott card that was recently discovered in Australia. As I wrote then, it has the look of a potential rookie card, although that is up for debate. One thing not up for debate, though, is that it is the only one known in hobby circles right now.

The Ott card is part of a rare set believed to be from the 1920s for a confectionery product called the Goblin Merrymints.

Other news around hobby circles is that card shows are again starting up. Word is they are doing incredibly well with folks looking to spend. This is notable, of course, with Covid shutting down most shows last year. It seems, though, that 2021 will have its share of shows starting back up.

Collector interests in shows these days is somewhat remarkable to me. Buying online is so easy and mostly pain free, as long as you do your homework. There’s a certain camaraderie in meeting collectors in person and dealing with sellers where you can instantly take a card home. But I’ve also found that prices at shows are generally higher than what can be found online. I’ll go to a show if it’s close enough but those are few and far between. In other words — I won’t be rushing to one just because they’ve been nonexistent in the Covid era.

Another interesting news bite that I didn’t get to here is that fake Beckett slabs are being encountered. Fake slabs of graded cards are nothing new and it’s a way for sellers to pass of cards that are fraudulent. But it goes beyond that. Sometimes the cards are completely authentic but do not deserve the grade in the fake holder.

This sort of stuff obviously strikes fear into collectors that purchase graded cards, relying on the credibility of the grader. While the number of ‘good’ fakes out there is minute by comparison, it’s just another thing to try to take into account when buying a graded card.

Finally, you’ll find a link to the new set preview for that Goblin Merrymints release added to the site below.

Stay safe, friends —

New Sets Added