Originally Posted by brian1961
Hello, Mike. Thanks for posting a very interesting topic, to which those who take the time to respond will offer you all sorts of opinions and options. Personally, I never refer to non-mainstream as "oddball". There are oddball non-mainstream to be sure, but the name "oddball" has a connotation for nonentity, nondescript, a "lesser than" collectible, and obscure.
With the postwar regional / food issues, they are all over the map when it comes to attractiveness, obscure or popular, important and unimportant. I was aware of only one of the three Val mentioned. Just because something is rare does not mean very many people will care about it. It depends.
Recently, I wrote a book on the postwar regional / food issues, entitled NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN. You will only find one chapter devoted to a Topps product, the 1959 and 1961 Bazooka baseball issues, one of those you mentioned as having a deep appreciation. Since you have the good taste to relish these sorts of items, I would highly recommend my book on a CD. PM me if you're interested.
Back to the OP, rarity may come in diverse ways. For instance, on the beautiful and elegant 1953-55 Stahl-Meyer Franks baseball cards, I asked long-time metropolitan New York dealer David Festberg about them. His short, terse reply was "they're around." To elaborate in a meaningful way, I would add this. Yes, they're around, but nearly all of them are around PSA 1 or PSA 1 with a dreaded qualifier, or Authentic. Low high grade commences at PSA 2. These cards are the quintessential condition rarity.
So I can deal with other things, I would add a definition from the much more advanced coin world. Ultra rare would dictate a population of five pieces or less. Recall my phrase, "it depends"? Suppose among those five, several look rather bedraggled, smashed, stained, creased to smithereens, with perhaps a pin hole, tack hole, or tape residue? A PSA -5 so to speak.
If it's rare and ugly, I don't care---to own it. You mention Johnston Cookies, made by the same folks who produced the aforementioned Stahl-Meyer Franks. Gorgeous cards, particularly the '53s and '55s. The over-sized Macgregor photos are terrific, especially if displayed with cards. Opposites attract in this instance. It's taken the hobby a generation to appreciate and get off the de-valuing of over-sized cards. A large gang of tunnel-visioned dim-wits could not understand how they would be valuable, along with Exhibits, sports coins, team-issue photos, et al. As a collector advances, sometimes his mind matures.
The PSA Master Set Registry considerably helped with a deeper appreciation for the non-gum items as well. To wit, as the serious, motivated registrants began hunting down the truly scarce and rare pieces, their perception, appreciation, and respect for those toughies began slow-cooking to their tastiest best, a la the precise place reserved for the prized pieces. Combined, of course, along with the premium prices they had to pay when they found one for sale, or had to keep raising the ante until the guy they found who had one would finally be willing to part with it. Money talks in many ways, but sometimes its takes a lot more money than previously thought to talk someone into letting go of a piece they likewise prize themselves. The combo of beauty, quality, and rarity do not come with a discount.
Gotta go. Hope this helps or at least stimulates the thread.
Best regards. Don't forget about my book on a CD if you're interested. It's not an exhaustive treatment, but a fine selection. Google the title and you'll find the press release written by then-SCD editor Tom Bartsch, who kindly included how-to-order details. ---Brian Powell
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