[Exhibitman]

Interesting issue. I'd add the idea of perceived rarity. T206 is ubiquitous; everyone's got them and anyone can get them, which means that a T206 HOFer is nice, but meh. So how to differentiate your T206s from the rest and get that ooh-aaah from the collecting crowd? Get a rare back. It's an ego boost. We then get the micro-variations having huge monetary impacts. I mean does it really make a difference if a 460 Piedmont was factory 42 instead of 25? When I was buying T206s (a million years ago) to fill out my HOFers, no one cared about that stuff. Factory variations and overprints were ignored or were, at best a "huh, how about that?" comment. Now, you flip over every T206 you see and scrutinize every detail. Does it have a factory variation? Is there a plate mark? A ghost? A misprint? Did some kid rubber stamp the back (looking at you, McCormick)? Did someone prominent own it (I have a Burdick-owned and stamped E card, and paid a premium to get it)? Anything to differentiate it from the pack.