And to all the major collections we don't know a hoot about. I know of 2 collector's who will not reveal their collections/habits. I had the privilege of seeing one of the collections first hand and it was spectacular to say the least.
It was assembled mostly in the 40's and 50's and includes some of the hobby's greatest treasures and rarities. I can tell you it includes a complete T206 set minus the Doyle variation--with many rare backs, hundreds of T210's with a Joe Jackson (and a Stengel), complete T202, T207, T205 sets'; a Cobb with Cobb back, a 1933 Goudey Lajoie and complete set, an apparent complete Old Judge HOFer set, several Victory tobacco's including a Cobb, Coupons galore--all 3 types, some Mino's, Pirates, ...complete Topps baseball and football sets through 1972, all the Bowman sets, 1914 & 1915 Cracker jack sets, etc, etc, etc....
The collection is heavy in 1930 through 1950's stuff. Many of the "older" cards are "kept in the back" as the collector is most proud of the cards of his day. Not one of the cards is graded--at least none that I saw. The T206 Wagner is likely a strong 4. He likely has 10000+ tobacco cards of all sorts--what I found most interesting is that he does not have a single duplicate of any of his cards.
I viewed the collection in the mid 1990's.
I know another guy who won't show me his collection. What I do know is that when I "called him out" by asking him to validate his claims of having a Super Collection he came over to my office with a small box. In it he had a a few gems--1952 Topps Mantle, 1933 Goudey Ruth, 1934 Goudey Gehrig, and some E Wagners and Cobbs. This was supposedly just a sample (kinda of convincing at that) of his 'vast' collection in which he claims to have many more spectacular specimens--including the T206 Wagner. He claims to have assembled his collection in the 1970's.
I've heard of other super collector's in the South as well, but you know how that can go. I just believe there are many spectacular collections out there that go unknown by the mainstream collectors and dealers.
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