Anyone know the relative rarity of E-98's?

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Mathewson 

I just saw this on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2709399143&category=31719

I'm just curious about a few things. At the time of this posting, there are still 2.5 days left and the bid is up to $81.00, even with all the damage to the card. Are these pretty rare? I have one myself, in relatively nice condition at grade-5, and it's the only other one I recall seeing up for auction, now that I think about it. (Remember, I'm talking ONLY about Matty cards...LOL)

Also, mine has a vibrant Red background. This one looks orange. Are there different colored backgrounds of this card? How many? Or, is this a color error, or maybe fading over time? This one's color is really quite different from the vibrant Red that my card shows.

I also notice a common chipping of the color on the edges, like you'll see on T205's and M116's -- not necessarily "wear" but chipping, even ever so slightly. I notice where that characteristic is common with a few types of cards, but not with others. For example, I have an M116 (pastel back), that has slight chipping of the color off a corner, but the corner is still razor sharp even under magnification. The blue back also exhibits some chipping, but has a little bit of corner wear, where the pastel has virtually no corner wear but slight chipping on one corner.

Comments?

-dan