What's Hot and What's Not at the National

[tbob]

Feel free to chip in your thoughts, these are mine and granted I didn't see all the sales but this was my take. I have an interest in the following cards and therefore watched these cards more closely.
What's Hot- HOFers in nice condition (regardless of grade) in certain caramel sets such as E93, E94 (almost non-existent though), E97, E98.
Zeenuts. The 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914 and 1918 cards have really dried up and any available sold in a heartbeat. Not many offered. They have become very popular.
T213-1s and T213-3s are on fire. If you can find any. T207 Cycle backs were also hot, I saw several sell for higher prices than I ever remember.
What's Not- T204 Ramlys. Several board members commented on the falling prices on Ramlys and the prices soft. This was evident at the Show.
D310s and D311s Pacific Coast Biscuits. I hate this because I have a number of D311s but they were not selling at the old prices and some sellers stubbornly were holding on to trying to get near the "old" prices and they were just sitting there, especially the D310s. One seller of D310s commented that they had plunged more than almost any set he had seen.
Old Judges. The tough ones did sell but the majority didn't. A previous thread noted prices on OJs on ebay have really fallen and they are readily available on ebay for much less than dealer prices at the Show and their sitting there in the showcases was evident.
E99s and E100s. Wow, these cards have really turned cold and I didn't see any selling at the Show. At one time these were really hot but not now.

Anyone else want to comment?

[HOF Yankees]

Mickey Mantle, and pre war looked very plentful, and post war was also plentful but I was quite supprised no T206 Honus Wagners, unless I missed it

[freakhappy]

I saw one 206 Wagner and it was an authentic example at the Heritage booth...that was the only one I believe.

Mike

[Bosox Blair]

I saw one 206 Wagner and it was an authentic example at the Heritage booth...that was the only one I believe.

Mike

That was in the live auction and passed (bid did not meet reserve). The card had been restored and later un-restored.

Cheers,
Blair

[Bosox Blair]

Hi Bob,

Somehow I missed you at the show - wanted to say hi. Lots of people there!

I guess I can't really say for certain what was hot or not at the National in terms of sets. Though I was there for pretty much every possible minute of the show. My observation - you'll love this pearl - is that fair prices were hot, but inflated prices were not. :)

I did not see many tough T207s at all (maybe someone beat me to them). I went through stacks and stacks in dealer inventories and every tough one I was after was not there.

Never saw anyone buy or sell a '33 or '34 Goudey.

It has been noted before that T3s are recently very cold in auctions. I found most dealers at the National were still asking the old prices (or more), which looked very silly given recent prices realized at auctions. I did not see anyone buy or sell a T3 at this show.

I think M101-4 and 5 in their various forms with various backs are buiding steam. Dealers seemed to have good stocks, which were getting collectors' attention.

Seems that T206 rare backs are still raging on.

Again, these are only comments based on what I saw...that is a very limited percentage of what happened at the show.

Haggling was hot :D. Now I like a deal as much as the next guy, but some very fair dealers expressed to me on Sunday that they have never gotten such a hard time from customers as at this National. It seems some are walking into the show intending to tell each and every dealer they are "way too high". I agree that a good many dealers - perhaps the majority - deserve such comment (and often the biggest ones do). But certainly not everyone.


Cheers,
Blair

[Donscards]

Thanks for the great update---Hard to believe that Ramlys and Old Judge cards are cold--I love the Ramlys---I sold a sgc 40 Walter Johnson Ramly for $8200 4 months ago---I hope the Turkey Reds are not cold--Beautiful cards--thanks, DonFeel free to chip in your thoughts, these are mine and granted I didn't see all the sales but this was my take. I have an interest in the following cards and therefore watched these cards more closely.
What's Hot- HOFers in nice condition (regardless of grade) in certain caramel sets such as E93, E94 (almost non-existent though), E97, E98.
Zeenuts. The 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914 and 1918 cards have really dried up and any available sold in a heartbeat. Not many offered. They have become very popular.
T213-1s and T213-3s are on fire. If you can find any. T207 Cycle backs were also hot, I saw several sell for higher prices than I ever remember.
What's Not- T204 Ramlys. Several board members commented on the falling prices on Ramlys and the prices soft. This was evident at the Show.
D310s and D311s Pacific Coast Biscuits. I hate this because I have a number of D311s but they were not selling at the old prices and some sellers stubbornly were holding on to trying to get near the "old" prices and they were just sitting there, especially the D310s. One seller of D310s commented that they had plunged more than almost any set he had seen.
Old Judges. The tough ones did sell but the majority didn't. A previous thread noted prices on OJs on ebay have really fallen and they are readily available on ebay for much less than dealer prices at the Show and their sitting there in the showcases was evident.
E99s and E100s. Wow, these cards have really turned cold and I didn't see any selling at the Show. At one time these were really hot but not now.

Anyone else want to comment?

[kcohen]

When certain sets go "cold" I think it's primarily the commons. I doubt if the WaJos, Mattys, Cobbs, etc. have slacked off.

[Big Ben]

I overheard a lot of dealers talking possible trades yesterday. It seemed to me that the dealers wanted Ruth's, Cobb's, and Gehrig's. That sounds right, but wonder what the input would be on this board.

[jcmtiger]

Sure wish I could find some of those cheap Detroit Old Judge cards. I don't think so.

Joe

[Bosox Blair]

I hope the Turkey Reds are not cold--Beautiful cards--thanks, Don

Hi Don,

I agree T3s are gorgeous, but I can definitely assure you that in multiple auctions at different houses over the last year the prices realized on T3s in general (and definitely incuding Hall-of-Famers) are way down from prior prices - in some cases thousands on a card. Check out auction results and you'll see. Even at the top grades for those cards (like PSA 5), prices are way down now.

There are multiple references to this in an earlier "not hot" thread from June:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=138118&highlight=hot+cold&page=3


Cheers,
Blair

[Pup6913]

I know I wipped out a massive chunk of HTF backs at the national. I wont say what they were but it was a final count of 20+ gone for good:D:D:D:D I snagged about 30-40 low end T206's for my daughter Melody thanks to Mr. Ted Z. Sold a bunch of T205's also. The following was strong.

T3's were crap. I had one to sell for $100 and came home with it. LAst sale was about $130:( A lot of the others I seen didn't have good prices.

[tbob]

I forgot to mention that John Rogers was doing a booming business selling his photos from the newspaper archives which he acquired. I saw several collectors buying original photos of pre-war players, especially those from the era before WW1. They were extremely nice and of course, all 1 of 1s. I managed to buy a few including one of Joe D. and Marilyn. I had seen the image before but as Joe D. collector it was nice to have the original with all the provenance attached.

[DixieBaseball]

Hi Bob (Good to see you at the National/Wrigley) - I generally concur with your thoughts, and was able to score a few OJ's at reasonable prices. (Hogan SGC 50 - $250), but would have bought more but prices were a bit sticky with dealers. I picked up a few Buchner's at reasonable prices from Leon, and OJ's from Jay as well as a nice T210 in a trade with a dealer, but my favorite acquisitions came from the John Roger's Archives - Sporting News, etc. collection. I will post separate a pic of the 2 photo's... Really cool stuff on the photo's....

[theuclakid]

sales were solid....sold all my 33 Goudeys (about 8 hofers in grades 5-6.5 range)...I passed on a few I should have bought
...quality 50's hofers, and pre 1920 sold good also, people are looking for 8.5's big time in 50's hofers

I wish the lighting would be better for everyone in the Hall...some booths were very dark if they were unlucky to not be under an overhead light...we had carpet in our booth and it really helps on the feet after 6 days...I wish most if not all whole hall would be carpeted like the 1995 St Louis national...I would pay more for that upgrade

this security issue has to improve...I only saw one security officer with a gun walking around, but this was after all the thefts...Dealers have to be more diligent and careful with their material if not in a locked case..

I would say the crowd was good overall...I hope everyone did well but from the feedback I received, I know that is not the case

Bruce Perry

[Exhibitman]

Prewar Exhibits were virtually non-existent at the show. I saw only a few dealers with them and only 1 place yielded any significant SPs or other rarities. Though I did knock one off my list for the PC back set and upgraded one other:

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibitman/miscellaneous2/websize/001.jpg