My question: Are we talking about the 5-10 most famous cards or the 5-10 most valuable cards?
If we are talking about famous, iconic cards, I think T206 Wagner, T206 Plank, 33 Lajoie, and 52 Topps Mantle should remain the most famous 4 because they are all major names, all have 70-110 years of being legendary cards, and strike the right balance between being available to more than a handful of people but rare enough to drive demand. They also hail from the three most-collected issues. All vintage card collectors know these cards, as do many (most?) modern card collectors.
If we are talking straight hammer price of the top examples of each, then all of those other cards enter the conversation. But I don't think they will attain the same status because (almost) nobody builds those sets and there are so few of each that not enough people are able to own one. Not all vintage card collectors are familiar with these and most modern card collectors have never heard of them.
I also think that the Plank belongs in the top 10 no matter which list is being considered. If a PSA 7 150 series Plank came to auction it would sell for as much as or more than a lot of stuff on that list. The last nice 150 Plank, a 3 at HA, sold for a quarter of a million dollars over two years ago, and we all know what has happened to the market since then.
|