old judge players league cards

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Posted By: scott brockelman

old judges are not my area of expertise. exactly how rare are players league old judge cards? a quick scan of a dozen or so mastro/oser/lifson auctions from recent years had only one mentioned, in a large group lot, are they common enough not to be mentioned normally or so rare that is all they have encountered? what kind of pricing premium would exist for commons and hofers?

any ideas?

scott

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Posted By: leon

Hey Scott,
Jay would be the one to ask but my thinking is they are scarce but not too rare (from the discussions I have had). It is the PCL cards that are almost non-existent. As far as mentioning them in a group, I could see them not necessarily being mentioned, although if I were selling them I would. I think they would be valued a little above a common. I am sure I will be corrected but those are my thoughts. best regards...

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Posted By: Jay Miller

Leon, my friend, I hate to differ with you but they are very scarce. I think if there was a PL card in a Mastro lot, and they noticed it, it would certainly be mentioned. Unfortunately, they usually come in lousey shape--ofter very dark. A decent VG card that isn't overly dark should command about $1500-$2500. An Ex card should easily command $2500. I would estimate that maybe as few as one out of every 1000 Old Judge is a PL card. A PL HOFer, in the current market, should command at least $5000.

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Posted By: Jay Miller

After a cold shower I think maybe it is one out of 500, not 1000.

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Posted By: scott brockelman

jay, while i knew they were not of PCL magnitude, i was hoping/thinking that a vg/ex common would command $1,000+ and a hofer at least 3-5x's that, you are correct, they are very dark as a rule. are they always marked (PL) or do you have to match up names with team changes to differentiate all of them.

scott

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Posted By: Jay Miller

They are always marked PL, either printed or written in, although it is sometimes hard to see as it can be in the picture.

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Posted By: leon

I knew it was the "PL" or PCL" that was that scarce. Guess I had them backwards......10-15 more years and I should have them straightened out.....thanks for the correction, Jay....best regards..

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Posted By: Jay Miller

PCL is scarcer than PL, although both are scarce. Probably only about 25 PL cards exist in total.

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Posted By: Brian Hodes

My understanding is that the Old Judge cards are 1887-90. The Players' League lasted but one year -- 1890. Surely this ought to account for some of the scarsity of Players' League Old Judges...?

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Posted By: scott brockelman

jay, are you saying 25 different players exist with PL designations or that the know population of PL cards is about 25? i would think there are more than 25 PL cards in collectors collections.

scott