Quote:
Originally Posted by tbob
I bid on the 62 Jello Stu Miller tonight but was sniped on my $260 bid. I think this is a much harder card to find than collectors think. It's not in any top 20 most difficult cards threads and yet it and the Twins cards of Versalles, Green, Tuttle and Martin are very scarce and hard to find, at least that's been my experience.
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Bob--In building that list of 21 that I have posted several times on Net54, there is always an issue of where one draws the line of the "toughest". It is not like the 22nd toughest is way easier to find than number 21, because it is not. As Wayne says, clearly Miller and Martin are very tough. Others I would add to the top of the next tier would be Burton, Hoak (you saw the price he got the other night on eBay), and K Boyer. But these players you see at least once a year on eBay without question where as not the case with the super tough cards. Two others who seem pretty tough, but the ability to know exactly how tough is kind of masked due their superstar status are Clemente and Yaz. You do see them out there. The fact that likely there are Yaz and Clemente collectors that drive supply down making them seem tough. Tough call.
A couple of other things. I was telling Wayne the other day that I felt it was likely Stu Miller only appeared on a large box of Jell-O in 1962. Was basing that on the fact that in all my time collecting these things, have only see well cut ones (and have verified this observation with a couple of other collectors who have a Miller card such as Dan Mabey). That being the case, it just seems likely Miller had to come from a large box of Jell-O solely where it is just is easier to get a nice cut on a card. If that is truly the case, then goes a long ways to see why he is a tough one.
Second, just a note on the top 21. I do not believe that those are out in the hobby in equal numbers. Not a chance. There is clearly a ranking of some sorts within that group. My last card to complete the set was Alex Grammas. Johnny Hustle told me that his last was Gene Freeze. And I know a third collector's (whose name I am not comfortable saying on this website as not sure he would want that) final card was Hal Smith. So it is tough to say which player is the "toughest". But in my mind within the top 21 there are easier ones. Jim Pagliaroni and Curt Flood would fall here. Surprisingly the card the price guides say is the most valuable falls here too in my mind. Bobby Richardson. He simply is not as tough as many of those at the top of the list and not sure why is given such a big value in price guides (this did not use to be the case, but at some point years ago he enjoyed a massive increase in his guide value). A dampening effect on Richardson scarcity is that he appeared on two different jello flavors, whereas with most of the others, there is only one known flavor the players card was on.
Over and out. Have a good day.