I think a lot of that goes back to Beckett.
Their stock answer about printing problems is that they're curiosities with little or no added value except maybe to player collectors.
For some of the typical mistakes and minor mistakes that's about right.
But for the more spectacular examples it's really not.
I think for T206 collectors some of it is that the set can be "completed" -at least to 520 or 518 fairly easily if you've got the money.
Backs can be had fairly easily too, at least to the level of around 12-13 of 15 brands, (Or 13-14 of 16 if you count the Ty Cobb back ) And 31 of 35 if you go by series and factory.
But misprints are a lot tougher, and add some interest.
I think eventually some errors will get attention in postwar cards. The trick is that some errors are more available for some years/companies than others. 71s missing the black on the back are more common than the same error for most years. Blank backs are pretty tough until about the mid 80's, late 80's early 90's they're common. That makes figuring out a value more difficult.
The ones I regret passing up were a handful of 72 Baseball printed on the wrong sides of the card - so fronts on the cardstock back, and backs on the white finished front. I only saw them mentioned in one small auction in SCD years ago. But the minimum bid was something like $200 each which was just way too much at the time.
Steve B
|