1917 Boston Store H801-8 Pop Numbers

[Baseballcrazy62]

For a set with a couple hundred cards in it the Pop Numbers in PSA’s data base seem to be relatively low. Is it because it’s not a popular set and/or somewhat scarce or a combination of the two. Or maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about. Your thoughts.

[oldjudge]

Most are not graded so pop numbers significantly overstate rarity. While I'm on this topic, the pop numbers on Old Judges are pretty much meaningless as the VAST majority of Old Judges are ungraded. I always get a kick out of auction houses which use the pop numbers in their descriptions to indicate rarity.

[Baseballcrazy62]

Oldjudge: I don’t have a ton of prewar cards. Maybe this is a really silly question but why do some of the hardcore prewar collectors not get those cards graded? Just looking for a little insight.
Thanks!!

[brianp-beme]

And it appears that when they do get them graded, they choose SGC about 3 to 1 over PSA (1100 total SGC to 360 total PSA graded).

Brian (choosy mothers choose Jif)

[oldjudge]

One reason is size of collections. The largest collections are 1000 cards plus. The cost and volume of grading them all would be an issue. Second, the qualities that Old Judge collectors value(photo quality, etc.) are not accurately reflected in current grading standards. Third, most large collectors know whether the cards are authentic or altered better than the people grading them.

[Baseballcrazy62]

Thanks for the reply!!