[Kenmarks]

Just reading this thread and certainly interesting. Thought I would throw a few thoughts which will echo a lot of what has already been said.

First, certainly see some good advise in the thread related to going after these cards and the wild price fluctuations being referenced. The market, as Wayne notes, is very hot for these cards. This is due to the addition of a number of new set collectors, several of who are very aggressive in the pursuing of the 62 Jell-Os cards. As a result prices have risen significantly on perhaps the 50 toughest cards. I too feel the prices will fall some in the future ... back towards more historical norms for most of the cards in this set and patience likely will be rewarded. While this advise is good for most of the cards in the set, the really tough cards appear so infrequently, patience is of no value related to those cards. This would primarily be the cards listed on the 21 toughest list as those cards show so very infrequently and there is so much demand for them. The rest of the cards in the set would be expected to be seen on eBay periodically and at least once every year for a few of the tougher remaining cards. Not so for the super tough 21 cards as you can go years without ever seeing some.

Related to how may complete sets may be in existence, doubt anyone knows for sure. But it is pretty low. Personally I know of only three other people besides myself with a complete set --- and each of us have probably pursued these cards for at least 30 years. There are a number of very serious Post Cereal/Jell-O collectors also that are just a handful of cards away from being complete (the two closest I am aware of is one card missing for one collector, and three cards missing for another -- but they have been that close for a long time). I do believe that there likely are a few other sets salted away by some of the old-time baseball card collectors who have built enormous collections over the years and a 62 Jell-O set may be included in their collection. Would be good to know.

Related to card backs with paper stuck to them, that probably can be lumped into a general condition comment. First of all, finding these cards in nice condition is not that frequent. And if you want a card that will get a PSA number grade -- good luck. I would think that percentage might be something like of all the cards around, maybe 1/4 of 1 percent could get a number grade. This is due to the difficulty to cut the card off the box. Back then cards were squeezed on the back of the box you were trying to cut it off making it a tough cut to do nicely. Plus the PSA standard to get a graded number is very tough to meet. So it kind of comes down to the collector and their preference in terms of condition issues, be it the cut, back of the card issues. or other problems. For me, if it is a card I need, I would grab it especially if I was aware it was one of say the 50 toughest.

The 1962 Jell-O set is my favorite for several reasons. One reason is the difficulty of collecting these cards is significant. Additionally, little historical documentation exists to help collectors fully understand the set and it intricacies, causing all of us to have to work together to figure it out. Not sure there are too many sets that this can be said of. It does seem the set has been slowly beginning to get significant recognition the last few years. Nice.