That T206 Life: "Does the Huge Price Tag for the T206 Magie Error Make Sense?"

[T206Collector]

++Tell me something I don't know -- like where one can find another Magee portrait with an Old Mill back.++

Here's what happens. I have lots of Old Mills in my collection. No idea who the fronts are. I may be sitting on a gold mine I guess.

A "Generic Collector" finds Magee card in his collection. Looks up value. Sees he has he common Magee version. Puts it back in the shoe box. Did it have an Old Mill back? Who knows. Most people don't care very much and so they never find their way to market.

A lot of this kind of scarcity to me is based on indifference / ignorance.

Piedmont Factory 42 is the best example.

[steve B]

That's a pretty good look at things. Yes there's a lot of indifference but enough cards have been graded and enough people have studied the cards they've handled to get a rough idea of what's actually common and what's not so common.

I can say that for years I tried to get one of each back without bothering with factories. I probably would have bought one of the lighter piedmont 42s if I saw one because it would have been "different". I still don't have one after almost 40 years. (I count from Sept 1977 when I moved to a town with a card shop) I'm convinced it's the last back I don't have that I could actually afford, the rest are just too much.

So figure that one as confirmed as being pretty difficult.

Steve B