Posted By:
Bruce DorskindThis has been an interesting thread with a wide range of perspectives.
Our original comment on rare ultra high grades was limited to pre World War II
cards. Whilst many Topps cards command very high prices- the population is always
changing and, in some cases, an event will occur which will affect value- such as a
player being admitted to the Hall of Fame or a "find"
This is generally not the case with pre-war high grade type cards.
In our view, T 206s are a world on to themselves Whilst there are
probably more than 1000 collectors of the T206 set, there are probably less
than 10 who collect PSA 7 and above. At least 15% of the cards in the
set have only 1 or 2 examples that grade 8 or above.
Unlike other sets, there are dozens of T 206s of minor leaguers who have very few name
recognition and completing the set is a massive exercise. For type collectors, regardless
of the grade T 206 is easy.
When large group of cards appears at once (i.e. Steve Novella earlier this summer) and many of the cards
have unrealistically high reserves it is not surprising to see a negative impact on pricing.
Cracker Jacks, to a lesser extent, are subject to flat or downward pricing because there are large number of high grade cards available- most 1915 CJs, even in PSA 8 are not rare.
Other sets like E 93, E 94 R333, R328 are rare or relatively rare i ultra high grades.
When a HOF is auctioned- prices almost rise with each subsequent auction.
Finally, the "through the roof prices" that certain HOF cards realize can often be traced to the three whales
and a dozen other specialized collectors. As long as this "special population" of $1 million a year
spenders remains in the 10-25 person range, prices will remain very strong. If two-five whales and baby whales lose interest the way Copeland and others have then you may witness a very different scenario.
Enjoy whatever you collect
Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List