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Julieunless you are already famous--like Joe Jackson, who never will be in the HOF, I fear, or Pete Rose, who many admire for his accomplishments, and maybe for his sins as well. The scarcity of old cards depends on two things: how many cards of the player were originally produced, and how many have been preserved? Obviously, 1880s card producers knew there was a market out there for Ewing, Kelly, Radbourn, Anson, and others. Whoops..what happened to Anson? Anyway, SOME popular players, who we have later judged to be great, had a lot of cards. And as Jay Miller has told us, NONE of the scarcest Old Judges are HOFers. Those who retained their aura of greatness long after their deaths had their cards preserved. THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN GET A KELLY OR A EWING for ther price of a Williamson. HOFers--even if they are plentiful, command, automatically, a high price. HOF cards will always be in demand, whether they are easy or hard to get.
It seems that Bid McPhee was NOT thought to be worth making extra cards of at the time, nor have his cards been particularly well preserved. So his election to the HOF--was a shock (much like Selee, who WAS a great manager--but nobody noticed...). These two lacks create scarcity--only an average number of cards made, and not many people thought to keep them. Plus: election to the HOF--creating an immediate and lasting demand from HOF collectors.
Stovey seems to have been a popular player, and stories about him continue to linger--which makes his cards in demand, without being especially plentiful. But probably moreso than Selee's, or McPhees!