Once upon an "E" time....

[jimivintage]

Once upon an "E" time, we used Peter Calderon's site at http://www.caramel-cards.com/cards.html as a reference to help in our "E" card expeditions. For those who are too lazy to click the link or just want to see an overall chart, see below.

E90-1 The most commonly found.
E95 Commonly found.
E92 Dockman Commonly found.
E91 Commonly found.
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E96 Harder to find, not difficult.
E93 Harder to find, not difficult.
E101 A little harder to find, but not difficult.
E98 A little harder to find, borderline difficult.
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E92 Croft's & Allen Difficult.
E106 Difficult.
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The availability of the above sets as compared to the rest of the sets on this list is
rather pronounce. Even though E94 comes after E106 in this chart the
difference in availability between the 2 sets is quite dramatic.
E94 Very difficult.
E102 Very difficult.
E92 Croft's Cocoa Very difficult - almost as hard as Nadjas.
E92 Nadja Very difficult.
E103 Very difficult.
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E97 Extremely difficult.
E90-2 Extremely difficult.
E90-3 Extremely difficult.
E99 & E100 Extremely difficult.
E105 Extremely difficult.
E104 Extremely difficult.
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E107 Near Impossible - see one - BUY IT.
E97 Black & White Near Impossible - you don't buy it, I will.
E94 Overprints Near Impossible - you don't buy it, I will.

How accurate do we feel this list is now. Is it time for an update? I don't believe Peter has the time now-a-days, but maybe I'm wrong.

I can't speak for all of these sets, but I do see most of these available in either Auction Houses or in the BSTs. I can tell you that I put together an E98 set relatively quick last year (3-4 months, maybe?), but I didn't work on the master set. Tim Kindler can certainly tell you that it took YEARS to assemble the 120-card master set! ("Hey, Tim!")

Where are we at on this list? Thoughts? Are prices reflecting this list? Is it outdated?

Jimi

[Brian Van Horn]

Frankly I never thought the E97 set was difficult to find, but that I guess is just me.

[ullmandds]

one thing that was not discussed in Peter C's analysis back then was rarities within each set...so while e90-1 is easy to find...some cards are very tough. I think his guidelines still ring somewhat true today...although there are a lot of e97 black and whites on the bay right now...you'd better get em before Peter does!

[x2drich2000]

Part of this is going to depend on how you want to view the cards.

E92 Nadja's for instance, finding a single example is not difficult. Bresnahan is super easy, probably about the same as a regular dockman. But, I'm not aware of any complete sets. The highest on the SGC registry is still missing several cards. Plus there are some cards that have not been confirmed based on pop reports and threads here.

As complete sets, 97, e90-2, and e90-3 don't seem that difficult. Also seem like e103 seem to be popping up fairly regularly lately.

DJ

[ullmandds]

good points dj...additionally there are some collectors hoarding certain player cards...and in a comprehensive current evaluation of caramel difficulties...this needs to be addressed as well...as finding dots miller fielding cards has become much more of a challenge in many sets.

[edhans]

My random thoughts:

1) The E92 Nadjas need to be separated into the St. Louis and non-St. Louis players. There was a giant hoard of St. Louis players found a few decades ago and they've become failry common lately.

2) Similarly, E104 should be divided into the three subsets they're classified under. The -1s and -2s are just difficult; the -3s are nigh on impossible.

3) E102s are also rather more common than Pete's list would suggest. not sure if that's a recent phenomenon, but the E101s are now more difficult.

4) The rapid price escalation of 5-6 years ago brought many caramels out of the woodwork. As others have observed, E97, E90-2 and E90-3 among others are no longer as difficult as Pete's list would suggest.

I hope Pete can add his opinions to this discussion. There are few people in the hobby who are as well versed in these issues as he is.

[jimivintage]

I guess the availability of some of these comes down to whenever someone gets tired of looking at them and offers them up somewhere. Every time I see an E105 Mello Mint available, I click on the link.....and then cry when I see the price....and I realize that I will never own one! LOL

Is there anyone out there in Net54Land that is actively researching E cards at all that might be able to offer "a new perspective" on this list.

[Leon]

I pretty much concur with what my good friend, Ed, said above. And to add a bit more of what has been mentioned, a type from any of those sets listed is not too difficult. A particular player or variation can be super tough, if not impossible, though. And As someone who really enjoys trying to collect the rarest cards I think it's great, as how time has gone by, certain caramel issues are still rarely seen. Peter (hi Peter) didn't go into the really esoteric, mainly minor league issues, such as E221, E222 etc... but when I see one I always raise an eyebrow .

[jimivintage]

LOL.....nice, DJ! And just like that an E105 is now available in the BST!

[x2drich2000]

jimi, you mentioned it . I've actually had it on ebay a few times the last couple months with a few watchers but no one has picked it up yet. If you keep your eyes open, you can occasionally find a beater in the $125-$200 range (as long as Daryl doesn't need it). If you have any e92 Nadja's that I don't already have, I'm certainly willing to trade as well.

DJ

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by jimivintage

... Every time I see an E105 Mello Mint available, I click on the link.....and then cry when I see the price...

Mello mints will make you shed more tears than this guy, but I love 'em.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

Mello mints will make you shed more tears than this guy, but I love 'em.

Sounds like E221 or E222 when I see them I cringe....and the wheels start turning.

[jimivintage]

There are quite a few e97-2 listed on EBay right now for a lot of money. Blank back black and whites? Crazy!

And on a side note, only 15 e97s have been sold on EvilBay in the last 2 months.