Topps buyback premium?

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Posted By: Pete Z.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5221840463&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RSCC_Pr4_PcY_BID_Stores

Is this T206 Tinker portrait G-VG selling for the ridiculous price of nearly $300 solely due to it being in a Topps buyback holder? If so, what's to stop somebody from taking a common out of a buyback holder and replacing it with a HOF-er and practically tripling the sale price of the card? Could I get $900 for my PSA 2 T206 Cobb red portrait if I were to list it for sale in a buyback holder?
Thanks.

If this is O/T, feel free to nuke. I didn't see a past thread that addressed this specific issue.

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Posted By: jamie

there are several collectors specializing in t206 buybacks. beckett even did an article on one guy who had managed to amass something like 500 of them. hall of famers were seeded at a far less amount than commons in the buybacks so yes there is a definite premium there. as far as inserting a different t206 in one of the cases, well you'd have a very difficult time doing it without destroying the holder- they are sealed and packaged fairly well.

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Posted By: JudgeDred2

Pete,

Off topic? - NO, this is a neat topic!

I picked up a few of these cards but each one had something special (premium back, interesting player, T205 or T207). I couldn't imagine someone piecing an entire set or near entire set together. It would be really interesting to find out the official population of Topps 206 cards are in circulation. It would be even more interesting to find out if they put a Plank or another tough card out there. Only Topps knows. It would be nice if there was a comprehensive article on this.

What would happen if someone submitted one of these cards to PSA or SGC? Would they provide a grade of the Topps 206 card holder or the actual T206 (T205 or T207) that was encased in the Topps holder.

Has anyone ran across anything besides a T205, T206 or T207 encased in one of the Topps 206 holders?

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Posted By: Richard

I had a t205 matty sealed in a t206 buyback holder. At first I was a little skeptical due to the t205 in a t206 holder. However, after doing a little background work, I found that topps did insert them in the holders. As someone previously mentioned, the hofers were seeded with rediculous odds.

The buyback holder itself is very well sealed - basically a frame with the card inside and then a thick plastic sheet glued down front and back providing a window to see everything. It would be difficult to take a card out of the buyback card without destroying it.

I actually paid about what I thought a raw copy in that condition would go for (about vg to vg-ex). I didn't want to pay a premium as I was planning on cutting out the card to have it slabbed properly. I ended up buying an SGC slabbed matty soon after and sold the buyback for about what I paid for it.

If I can find a scan of it I will post it tonight.

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Posted By: Chris

I had a about 10 of these buybacks. Thought they looked cool, but after seeing the prices they were going for I sold them (all commons) and bought 20 or so raw T206s in comparable grades for the cash I raised selling the buybacks. I didn't see the added value of keeping the cards in the buyback holders.

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Posted By: Charlie O'Neal

I purchased one of the buybacks just so I new I had a real t206 so I can compare to other t206's to make sure they were legit (the feel of the card and all). I cut the card out of the holder and really didn't have a problem getting it out. I should mention though that the card did move around in the holder before trying to remove it.

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Posted By: Anonymous

I don't know about the premium paid for that card but I always thought this was one of the better "chase" type promotions I have seen. The reinsertion of vintage material in packs sure seems like a nice alternative to some of the game used and numbered insert cards.

I actually got a nice VG Hugh Duffy for less than comparible raw versions I had been seeing with the idea of breaking it out for grading. I'm pretty much at the point now where I like it well enough in the buyback holder to keep it that way (I must confess that the thought of getting a nice premium for it on resale has entered my mind).



Adam B

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Posted By: robert a

Don't understand why these cards demand a premium.
I think the most interesting thing about them is the stories that I hear from folks/dealers/contributors to this board that have actually supplied Topps with the cards.

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Posted By: Richard

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Posted By: Bob Rousseau

the cards get a premium because of the people trying to build the sets. In that sense, though it may be a common, to the people trying to get as many as possible, they're just about 'one of a kind'.

I bid on some RPPC postcards taken in photo booths in the 10s and 20s- and while most people wouldn't be interested (thankfully), I realize just about every time I'm bidding on a one of a kind thing. Like Jerry Garcia said about Grateful Dead fans "Our fans are like people who like licorice- not everyone likes licorice, but the ones that DO like it REALLY like it."

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Posted By: davidcycleback

A key for a modern card collector is he knows the card is genuine. A 9 kid may have no idea how to identify a real T206, other than he knows that one he pulled from a Topps pack is genuine. When he goes to trade it to a friend, the friend knows its real because it's Topps sealed.

It's like T206 collector who buys the Topps certified autograph card pulled from a pack. He may be well aware that he's paying extra money, but he's no autograph expert and may think the extra coin for a Topps certified card is worth it.

If the alternative for a modern card collector is a 50/50 chance of purchasing a counterfeit, paying extra for one of these Topps sealed cards is a good idea.

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Posted By: dennis

do kids still collect baseball cards? i thought they were priced out of the market?

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Posted By: James Feagin

Kids stopped collecting baseball cards years ago. They are Yug-i-oh or however you say it now.