Rarities and Scarcities as of lately

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Posted By: peter ullman

So I'm bummed I missed the nat'l this past weekend after reading all of the stories and aquisitions from you all! It sounds like there were lots of vintage cards available. Obviously, as previously stated, this is due to the crazy prices some of these cards have been commanding lately.

So my question is: Are some of these caramel/tobacco issues more common than previously thought...having just been hidden away until prices warrant their sale?

pete ullman in mn

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Posted By: Josh Adams

Peter,

Interesting question. I think caramel cards are still as rare as people have thought. In fact, more people are begining to realize how scarce E cards are, in relation to T cards. I estimate, based on observation and talking to others in our hobby, that there is 1 E card for every 300 T cards. The ratio increases with the harder E issues, such as E100, E103, E99, etc.

I noticed a handful of E cards at the National. I was able to pick up 3 E93s for my set, and saw a few E104s, E92s, and E102s floating around.

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Posted By: Marc S.

The E-104s...were they type 1s, 2s, or 3s?

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Posted By: Josh Adams

Type 1's

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Posted By: Brian

<<that there is 1 E card for every 300 T cards>>

There is ALOT of variability within T cards. Certainly, I agree with the previous statement if we are talking T206s. But the same ratio might apply to T206 compared to T209 or T212...

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Posted By: peter chao

I agree that E cards are rare in comparison to the T cards. However, that has been known in the hobby for 10-20 years and not a recent development.

Peter C.

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Posted By: Josh Adams

Brian,

You are right, I'm sorry. I should have stated in my original post that I was only talking about T206s, in terms of the 1:300 ratio.

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Posted By: Brian

No worries Josh. Of course, if you didn't agree, I was ready to buy any and all of your more obscure Ts at T206 prices

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Posted By: Kenneth A. Cohen

I've been trying to build an E120 set for some time. I have no idea where they would rate in the hierarchy of E-card rarity, perhaps not very high. It's a bit of an apples and oranges comparison though since many E-card issues are comprised of 25 or 30 cards, whereby E120 consists of 240. In any case, the recent price run-up appears to have drawn more of them out. Several dealers at the National had some, at least more than I've ever seen at Ft. Washington.

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Posted By: peter ullman

i don't question that caramels are exponentially tougher than most tobacco...esp t206's etc...but...cards that maybe recently were thought to be 1 of a kind...or 1 in a handful...in actuality maybe more like 1 in 20 to exist...or even 1 in 50?

pete ullman

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Posted By: barrysloate

There are still a lot of old time collectors around who have put together signifcant collections and have managed to remain below the radar. When prices are high, like they are today, some of them will be inclined to sell.

I think rare cards will always be rare, but we may not know all of the examples out there. I always assumed if I knew about five different examples of a rare item, that there were at least ten known. I never assumed I knew where everything was, as some collectors are very private.

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Posted By: Bob

The E94s were still slim pickings at the show as were the E98s, although Tony Arnold bought a highest graded registry set and broke it up. One collector really knew what he was doing and bought the Walsh, Coombs, Vaughn, all the toughies. He paid for it though, prices were not cheap.