Quote:
Originally Posted by JustinD
There are likely more than people know of now sitting in closets in Florida retirement communities.
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I agree.....not long ago, my parents (who are in their mid 70s) asked me to take a look at a friend's childhood collection. In an old shoe box he had recently retrieved from his deceased mother's home, were several hundred 52-55 Topps cards. No, there was no 52 Mantle or other 52 HI#s, but there were 2 53 Mantles, 2 near complete runs of 55 Hi #s (no Clemente though), some 53 Hi#s and a number of semi stars and HOFers. Most of the cards were in the 5-6 range grade wise. This guy could not remember why he even collected 60+ years ago, but he thinks because his best friend at the time did, so he collected too. Even today this guy would not know the difference between Mickey Mantle and Mickey Grasso.
I could have offered him a few $100 for the box and he would have gladly taken it....since he is my parent's friend, he is now well advised as to what he has and will one day, when he is ready, consign on my recommendation.
The point is there are likely still a good number of $10k+ collections, with 52 Mantles, lurking out there in shoe boxes belonging to people who have no idea of their value, just like my parent's friend. Maybe the T cards finds have become few and far between, but early post war card finds will continue for years to come as they are possessed by those still alive original owners (unlike the T cards).
Quote:
Originally Posted by rats60
1775 grades. How many cards? 1000? 1200? Maybe even lower. I would say the majority of 52 Mantles are graded and in the hands of collectors. This isn't a card that someone is going to have and not know it. It is like the t206 Wagner. People know what they have. I would say 2000-2500 and maybe even lower depending on how many times these cards have been regraded.
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As far as re-grades for bumps, this card would be one of the more unlikely candidates for this. Two reasons, first the cost. Second the fact that this card, more than any other post war card I can think of, experiences the more visually appealing (no matter the grade) copies of this card selling for premiums over the less appealing. Visually appealing "Authentic" copies of this card sell for more than some o/c 3s....to me, not worth spending the $700 for half a point and no added value as buyers have proved with this card, they will pay for the visual appeal over the grade.
While there are some examples for sure out there (I just have not seen any), I doubt that 500+ copies of 1775 total graded have been bumped and now have abandoned serial numbers showing up in the population reports.