Crazy CJ prices??????

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Posted By: Bob

OK, am I missing something here? A PSA 3 common for over $400? What's going on with the frigging prices on ebay lately for caramels AND tobaccos? I am tempted to dump some cards at these prices but sure as fire I wouldn't have this kind of luck.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8828661773&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEDW%3AIT&rd=1

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Posted By: Spencer

I lost 2 different PSA1 1914 CJ's, they went for over $200 each.

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

The last CJ I bought (about 6 weeks ago) I thought went a bit high. But there were 3 bidders over $400. on the Doolan, which is a desireable card, but not that desireable to me. Too bad, I was starting to pick them up slowly, I thought. But if this is where prices are, I'll find something else.

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Posted By: Jeff P

Set builders on the Registry competing for CJ cards. I used to be one of them.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I just picked up my 3rd CJ in SGC 30 for less than the commons you are referencing but I had to BIN it quickly. The deals are out there, you just have to find them.

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Posted By: Bob

Apparently there are scarcities among the CJ cards (I am aware there is a "high number series") which is known to only CJ regular collectors as some PSA 1s of seeming commons sell for more than some PSA 4s of other seeming commons. It is always interesting that the guys trying to "set-build" different sets have a shrewd knowledge of the scarcities in a set. For instance guys like Jay know which Old Judges are the tougher ones and Tim knows about the T207 toughies (even among Recruit backs) while I know a little something about the E94s and Obaks sets.
I am assuming Doolan is a very tough card to go for over $400 in PSA 3 when several other PSA 3s of cards in the same series who are not HOFers go for about 1/3 of that amount. I guess we live and learn...

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Posted By: Jeff P

Exactly - in the 1915 CJ set there are quite a few tough common cards (not just in the high numbered cards)... The toughest card of them all is also a common - #28 Jack Barry. Good luck finding a nice centered example!!!

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Posted By: Griffins

The 23 cards that are variations between the 2 sets go for a bit more as well. Matty and Chance are the most notable, but there are a few players that only appear in 1 set and the '14's bring a bit of a premium- the team affiliation variations less so.
Overall CJ prices have about doubled in the last 18 months- '14 or '15.

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Posted By: James Gallo

I think a lot of the price spikes are in the 1915 set. I have had little to no problems picking up SGC 40/50 1915 commons in the $75-125 range. However I am down to the last 16 cards so these will be the tough commons to be sure.
I have seen very few Wagners, Carey's, and Hooper's.

Barry does seem to be tough as a few others.

I think the lower pop 1914 commons spike from set builders, but the more common ones do sit.

Prices do seem to vary a great deal on CJ though.

James Gallo

Looking for 1915 Cracker Jacks and 1909-11 American Caramel E90-1.

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Posted By: Jeff P

Really? I didn't think Carey, Hooper or even Wagner were very tough. When I was set building last year, the Carey and Hooper were two of the first HOFers I was able to locate and then also saw them come up on ebay a couple times after that. Same with Wagner, I've seen him on ebay a couple of times in the past year and also in the major auction houses in various grades.

In terms of difficulty, I think Rousch and Plank are the toughest HOFers in mid-grade and above (Brown and Alexander are no picnic either). Barry is the toughest card in high grade as almost all are found OC (even the one in Scott Ireland's collection is an 8OC). There are currently only 2 PSA 8's with none higher and PSA 8 is actually the most common grade for CJ's that have been submitted (1922 of the 7216 graded by PSA are 8's - 26.6%).

Sorry, don't know if anyone really cares about this but I like talking about Cracker Jacks.

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Posted By: Griffin's

On the '15's I've found Alexander, Mack and Rickey being the tough ones, along with Barry. Smokey Joe Wood was tougher than most of the HOFers as well. Carey, Wagner, Hooper were among the easiest HOFers when I was looking, and the high numbers actually were a whole lot easier than the ones below #145.
I'll agree with Jeff that sometimes finding them in NmMt is a whole lot easier than in 6's and 7's.

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Posted By: Bob

I have sure seen some wide swings in grading CJs- I have seen some which look vg graded as PSA 1s and cards which looked fairly well thrashed being PSA 3s. It is hard to tell from the scans but I see more condition variance in grading CJs than in any other set. Also the staining from the cracker jacks seems to have very little effect when it comes to grading, which I have never understood as some of the PSA 4s and 5s have horrible eye appeal with all the staining. I guess to each his own...