General Forum

A recent comment about the benefits of just looking up old cards online opposed to collecting reprint sets got me thinking.

Ever since we pretty much all but completely converted over to the internet after the start of the new millenia (or millenium?), there were still a few things that I never really been able to completely adjust to.  One of those things that hasn't change for me is the way I read books.  I find what I need online, but if extensive reading is involved, I'd rather print the thing off and read it (sorry paper savers).  I like the feel of being able to actually flip through the pages of a book and mark it up or tab it the way I like.  I know much of what you can do in reality can also be simulated online, but I'm just not a simulation type of guy.  I need the tangible.

When it comes to those old cards that I can't afford, I wan't to still be able to sort through them the same way kids did back way back when.  I don't collect pixels, and I certainly can't afford to complete any Tobacco sets.  Reprints certainly aren't the same as having the real thing, but they sure are a lot better than pixels.  I can flip through my old reprint cards.  Organize and reorganize them.  I can pull a few of them out for further study, or mix them up with other sets as I see fit.  I feel like I really get to know those vintage sets this way.  Eventually, I begin to replace reprints with originals as my old sets become more and more interesting.  

My oldest complete set is 1950 Bowman.  It started out as a reprint set, and is now 100% original.  I almost thought that I'd be missing the Jackie Robinson card forever, but got lucky one day last year and found a decently priced original to finally complete the set.

Nothing wrong with buying/owning reprints.  My complaint is cataloguing reprints on our database.  Only the original company can legally produce reprints.  What's the added value of having every reprint set listed of a single original set?  Do we need a hundred reprints listed for say, 1911 T205?  Just because every ebay scammer prints and sells them?

I agree, and have not complaint.  I think the only 1 or 2 non-licensed sets that I'm guilty of listing are the 1887 Buchner Gold Coin and maybe the 1895 Mayo Cut Plug.  If there were big company reprint sets available for those, I wouldn't have put them on or gone after them. 

Well, I think Fritsch made the 1895's actually, but I can't remember why I didn't go after those instead.  I know that some of the Fritsch reprint sets are incomplete.

Nothing wrong with collecting reprints sets. Just not my thing. (I've never read an on-line book in my life.)

I also have  problem with cataloguing the reprints sets here, especially since some seem to be catalogued under the year of the original cards, rather than whatever year they were reprinted. They should be something like "1995 T205 Reprint Set" and listed under 1995 in the overall database and in individual collections.

But I don't really care that much. Because they're not my thing.

Unauthorized reprints are "Counterfeits". They should not be listed on this site and they should be illegal to sell. I feel like reporting every seller on EBay who is selling a "Reprint" or even worse a "RP", as a counterfeiter. Only licenced manufacturer's can issue a "Reprint".

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but the "reprint" issue is a pet peeve. 

I fully agree, there are people with no morals who are trying to make money off of someone. When it comes to reprints, I bought a couple of the rare T206 when I first started buying real T206 but those were the last reprints I picked up knowingly. I am not a fan of reprints, even the current ones that show up in a dozen sets each year.