Quote:
Originally Posted by iwantitiwinit
Don't know if I agree with this. There are a limited number of collectors that are able to purchase these very high dollar cards. Private sale or not, its what someone is willing to pay that is the true issue. Is it really price manipulation when there is only a single seller, I think not. There is only a single source of supply so it is truly and solely a function of supply and demand. It might be price maximization but I don't think it's price manipulation.
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Robert, a most observant point in these proceedings. Our hobby has been so immersed in the mentality of "the best way to sell a card and get the most money is through an auction house" that the concept of a private sale is eliminated without thinking.
Emphasis on the last two words.
And how DID our fellow collector, Diamondbacks owner Mr. Ken Kendrick, acquire his breathtaking T-206 Honus Wagner?
The Lucky 7 Ty Cobb find was a legitimate find. Try to remember the Mr. Mint find of the 1952 Topps high numbers and semi-highs in 1986, I believe it was. The far, far, far majority of these he simply sold. Granted, he had not begun his major phone auctions as yet, but he sold them through SCD, shows, and perhaps personal visits to his office. Many in the hobby were skeptical of the find, for they wondered if there were actually more cases of those precious 52 high numbers the owner had not divulged to Alan Rosen. Comments like some of yours---too good to be true.
When collectors "finally" figured out this was indeed a find of a lifetime, and a chance of a lifetime, they were in a major uproar to buy these cards from Mr. Mint. The cards from the case then got gobbled up quickly. The Johnny-come-lately-s were banging their heads against their drywalls, leaving indentations and craters.
Guys, cards from finds are in a class all their own. You know much better than I how serious of a scarcity a T-206 red Cobb with the Ty Cobb Tobacco backside was before the find. The Lucky 7 Cobbs blow the others away, condition-wise, just as the Mr. Mint 1952 Topps high numbers blew away those existing in collections at the time. They were so distinctively pack-fresh MINT. Obviously, in the years to come, they weren't all technically MINT, but they were the source for virtually all of the eventual PSA 8s, 9s, and the 3 10s.
It would seem the high end collectors have read the national news stories, done their research, and decided that kind of item fits their type of exclusive collections. They will work with the smart dealer handling the cards, and pay his price. It cannot be denied, the dealer handling the sale of the Cobbs for the family very much knows this is perhaps HIS once in a lifetime boo coo sales opportunity, and he shan't scotch this opportunity!
He hasn't, has he??????
---Brian Powell