Factors (beyond the obvious) that drive T206 card values

[Belfast1933]

I am not a regular T206 collector like so many here are - I wanted to ask what tends to drive the popularity (and hence value) of a specific T-206 issue

Of course, player popularity, card condition, and card back tobacco issue rarity all drive card values

But in your experience, much does the objective aesthetic look of a card front drive desirability and value/cost?

For example, I was at a local MA show yesterday looking for my N28 King Kelly (fail! Still looking… &#129396 and came across a really great looking Ed Walsh portrait card. Such a beauty of a card and a HOFer. I believe it was a very common back and maybe 4 or 4.5 PSA

But I was surprised to see a practice of $700-800 for a fairly modestly graded card - I do know my baseball history a bit and am familiar with Walsh, of course. But I still figured he’s lower on the “popularity meter” for HOfers from that set.

Is there some rarity of that card that I may not know about? Is it just inflated (along with pretty much everything else) and riding the wave?

Or is the natural beauty of that card just desired by other collectors (like me!). Thanks for any lessons from experienced T-206 collectors

(And I’m happy to take a lower grade Ed Walsh duplicate off your hands if you happen to want to move one!)

Thx all -

Jeff