Posted By:
Mike (18colt)Had a thought about the EPDG population.
IF estimates of the total number of T206 cards in existance today number say, one million cards, and if based on the research on this thread roughly 1% of cards are found with an EPDG back, then by doing the math one could conclude then that there are about 10,000 T206 cards floating around in the world with an EPDG back (note - as stated, based on an assumed million card population). IF the estimate of total T206s in existance sounds reasonable, the number of EPDG backed cards doesn't sound like they'd be that hard to locate (as opposed to Drum backs, where it's likely under 100 exist).
Plus, if we go on the 10,000 cards with EPDG estimate, and for the sake of easy mental math we use 200 as the number of subjects possible with this back, then there could be around 50 of each subject with this back still floating around (again, easy math using 200 and not the actual amount).
So, in terms of total cards available, EPDG sounds plentiful. In terms of total cards per subject (front pose), acquiring one of each would prove difficult.
Just my two cents.
Mike (18colt)
PS: One thought about the primacy theory that bugs me -- explaining the Wagner, which is mostly Sweet Caporal (this was noted earlier in the thread by another poster but not commented/responded to). Perhaps Wagner is an example of some odd marketing technique copied today by the shiny card makers (Piedmont is most prevalent, and if a collector wanted them all, they'd have to branch out to other brands to increase the likelihood of getting Honus).