What the hell am I talking about?
Let me 'splain it to you.
I'm looking for images of cards where there is a marked discrepancy between the cost of the card and the career or value of the player.
Ironically I am choosing a HOFer as the benchmark to explain the concept.
Honus Wagner, the "Grail" himself, had his card been published in comparable numbers to Mr. Cobb should be of comparable value, but
a "good" Wagner (T206) is worth $1,000,000 &
a "good" Cobb (T206) is worth $1,000
so the card value is inflated x1000 due to
card rarity.
Slow Joe Doyle is even worse with the even rarer variation being linked to a player with a mediocre career. I would classify him as a
variation rarity
In the bubble gum era Andy Pafko is an example of a journeyman outfielder whose 1952 Topps card is inflated in value because of the #1 and its interface with the dreaded rubber band. This card is therefore inflated due to
condition rarity. Condition rarity pricing is skewed to the NM end of the scale.
In the modern era the variation rarity that comes to mind is the 89 Fleer Billy Ripken
variations. Even if one of these were worth $20, the normal base card in that set for a player of his caliber is one penny. Going back to the Wagner ratio calculation, a similar ratio for Ripken would be 2000 to 1.
Finally another classification should be added. The T212 Obak set contains what I would classify as a
name rarity. Mr. Million, which is believed to be his correct last name, was named Ten by his mother so that he would stand out. Well, his baseball career fizzled after 4 mediocre seasons in the Northwest League, but his card valued appreciated simply due to his name, Ten Million. I would note that there are manner mediocre players in the T212 sets, especially the T212-1 set, but none stands out from the field as much as Mr. Million.
I am not going to make an effort to list all qualifiers for this thread, but if you have an expensive card (a holy grail) of a mediocre player, please post it. I'm sure that I do not have a card in the 1000 to 1 category, but will post an example none the less. I look forward to seeing examples of
Hoblitzell "no stats" (205)
"suffered" Wilhelm (205)
Milt Bolling (53T)
Lloyd Moore (39PB)
Benny Bengough (33G)
and all the other
"Holy Grails of Mediocrity"
Let's see 'em.
