FYI: Which T206 Backs Are the Toughest?

[clydepepper]

Feature article in May issue of SMR- discussing rarity and pricing.

[wonkaticket]

http://www.psacard.com/Articles/Arti...ifferent-backs

Neat to see an old card of mine used as the example, interesting article.

[ullmandds]

interesting they still consider the cobb w/cobb back a t206.

[Cozumeleno]

Any speculation why they value Drums at like 2-3 times more than Uzits if Uzits are rarer (or at least on par in terms of rarity)?

I know that rarity isn't always a price driver, but in this case where we're comparing cards in the same set, that seems weird to me.

[Jobu]

Popularity might play a role but I suspect that part of it is due to the fact that BL 350 and BL 460 have been combined into a single category here and BL 460 bring really big bucks so accounting for that raised the average price for each grade. Most of the contributors are board members so perhaps someone can confirm my guess (or tell me why I am wrong!).

EDITED TO ADD: Thank you for posting this, a very interesting read that I probably would not have stumbled across otherwise.

Originally Posted by Cozumeleno

Any speculation why they value Drums at like 2-3 times more than Uzits if Uzits are rarer (or at least on par in terms of rarity)?

I know that rarity isn't always a price driver, but in this case where we're comparing cards in the same set, that seems weird to me.

[ullmandds]

there are a few guys + David Hall going after cycle 460's...which has driven the price up dramatically on these backs.

Honestly David Hall has single handedly dramatically raised prices on a lot of t206's that he has needed in the past...take him out of the equation and beware of falling prices.

[wonkaticket]

Bryan, according to the article this is not a "blend". The tougher variations such as 460 series cards, color variations such as Red Hindu, Brown Lenox and Old Mill as well HOF players with tougher backs will be addressed in "Part 2" if I read the article correctly. At least that's what I took away from this article. I also was curious about how Uzit is considerably lower compared to Drum.

All in all a few holes here and there and some questions raised, but a nice article chock full of information and worth the read.

[Jobu]

Thanks for pointing that out John, that is what I get for doing a quick skim while at work. Here is the exact sentence I missed: "And these prices are for the most common variation of the specific back."

[Cozumeleno]

Thanks guys, much appreciated -

[JerryTotino]

I have thought about the pricing disparity between Drums and Uzits in the past and the following is my best guess as to why this has happened.

1- If you look at the PSA and SGC population reports you will notice that even though there more possible subjects that can be found with a Drum back an extremely high % of them have 1 graded example. I took a quick look at PSA and found that out of 108 graded Drums 71 had only 1 graded example. That's almost 66% of the total PSA population. The SGC population for Drums is 81 and 62 are the only graded examples on their population reports.

On the other hand, Uzits have less available subjects, but a higher count per subject. Taking a look at the PSA population for Uzits it shows 106 total graded, but only 11 subjects have 1 graded example. That is only about 10% of the total PSA Uzit population. The SGC population for Uzits shows 109 graded with 29 having only 1 graded example.

2 - If you have several master set collectors going after the only known graded example of a Drum the competition for that card will be much greater than a typical Uzit having a higher graded population per subject. In theory, if you are trying to build a master set and you think this might be the only chance you have to win that specific combination you will bid accordingly.

3 - A master set collector will take more of the overall population of Drums off the market than Uzits. For example, assuming 50% of Drums have only 1 graded example then the master set collector will be removing 50% of all the graded Drums from the market plus all the remaining subjects they need with a population > 1. Thus, this creates a very high demand for Drums because the master set collectors will be pursuing a large % of the examples that come to market and drive up the prices.

Just my thoughts.

Jerry

[Pat R]

Excellent observation Jerry, seems like a pretty good explanation for
the price differential between the two.