Zeenut 1912 prices falling?

[GregMitch34]

Not a Zeenut expert, but always wanted one from 1912 and a few other early years. They had quite a run at Brockelman last night of 1912s and I was surprised to get 5, all "highest graded" and a couple as ONLY graded. There was one SGC 60 (one of only six in entire set getting that high a graded), three SGC 50 and one SGC 40 (only one graded)--all for average of $87. What gives?

[edjs]

I'm with you, Greg. I had to resist bidding on some, I didn't want to go overboard. The super tough ones went well, though. I was real pleased to see the Bancroft was still strong (that is a nice Bancroft).

[RedsFan1941]

Many investors have commented about how they are bearish on 1912 Zeenuts.

[Leon]

Nice cards but no doubt there are far, far more ungraded '12 Zs than graded. I went over them this morning and the prices looked on par with market nowadays, imo. Quite honestly the "highest graded" on these doesn't mean a lot to me, no disrespect to the descriptions. I would want them the way they were written if I were selling them. Plus there are not a ton of 12z set collectors who STILL need a lot of cards. Again, just my opinion and yours might be different.

Originally Posted by GregMitch34

Not a Zeenut expert, but always wanted one from 1912 and a few other early years. They had quite a run at Brockelman last night of 1912s and I was surprised to get 5, all "highest graded" and a couple as ONLY graded. There was one SGC 60 (one of only six in entire set getting that high a graded), three SGC 50 and one SGC 40 (only one graded)--all for average of $87. What gives?

[brianp-beme]

Being a long time Zeenut collector, the overall demand for 1912 Zeenut cards has never been as strong as it is for the 1911 set. I can't speak for the recent auction prices, especially for the higher graded ones, but to me it is not too surprising that the cards in general didn't have as much bidding activity as the 1911 cards in Brockelman's previous auction.

Brian

[rhettyeakley]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Being a long time Zeenut collector, the overall demand for 1912 Zeenut cards has never been as strong as it is for the 1911 set. I can't speak for the recent auction prices, especially for the higher graded ones, but to me it is not too surprising that the cards in general didn't have as much bidding activity as the 1911 cards in Brockelman's previous auction.

Brian

What Brian says is accurate. Despite the fact that 1912's are tougher to find than the 1911's overall (and it isn't even really close, they are much tougher). All that being said, one of the reasons for the price difference is that the 1912 set is IMPOSSIBLE. There are about 75 cards in the set that are not that difficult, another 25 or so that are very hard to find, another 25 that are nearly impossible and the rest just simply never come up for sale. Even the most advanced 1912 collections I have heard about are missing some 10-20 cards for completion. Very different than the 1911's which is doable minus all the variatons and perhaps the Bohen card. Even then there are at least 10-20 cards in the 1912 set that are harder to find and exist in lower quantities than the "legendary" Bohen card but very few are in the know as to which cards those are. There is even a card or two in 1912 that may not actually exist anymore as the single known copy has been lost over time and may not have survived.

Personally, I actually like the 1912's more than 1911. I love the action shots

[bocca001]

Did anyone here get the 1912 Arellanes in the Brockelman auction? It wasn't me, although I tried.

I was just happy to see it. I am assuming that it is one of the very rare 1912 Zeenut cards. I collect several Zeenut players (and he is one of them), so I don't know as much about the especially rare cards in each set. I try to keep my eyes open for Arellanes Zeenut cards, but they are tough. I have his 1911 and 1917 Zeenuts, but not the 1912, 1913, and 1914.

Does anyone have the 1913 or 1914 Arellanes Zeenut cards? Or another 1912 to post?

[rhettyeakley]

Originally Posted by bocca001

Did anyone here get the 1912 Arellanes in the Brockelman auction? It wasn't me, although I tried.

I was just happy to see it. I am assuming that it is one of the very rare 1912 Zeenut cards. I collect several Zeenut players (and he is one of them), so I don't know as much about the especially rare cards in each set. I try to keep my eyes open for Arellanes Zeenut cards, but they are tough. I have his 1911 and 1917 Zeenuts, but not the 1912, 1913, and 1914.

Does anyone have the 1913 or 1914 Arellanes Zeenut cards? Or another 1912 to post?

Arellanes is definitely one of the tougher 1912's but not one of the absolute toughest. I still need him and I tried for that one but ended up focusing on the other two really tough ones and was able to pick up the Baker (vertical) and the McAvoy. That was the first McAvoy I had ever seen available. That was the one I wanted, i wasn't sure how high I would have to go there so I bowed out on the higher graded Arellanes just in case I needed to go a lot higher on those other two. I also upgraded a few others. Overall the prices as stated were a bit weaker than I thought, had the auction ended all at once I would have bid on more but i ended up in a bidding war that lasted a while on the two I really wanted and that prevented me from overdoing it on a few others I would have happily bid on at the next few increments. Another tough one that slipped through the cracks was the Fitzgerald (I was able to upgrade my copy a little), overall it was a fun and rare opportunity to pick up some great looking cards, the 1912's have long been one of my 2-3 favorite Zeenut series (I love those action photos so much more than the studio shots of 1911, although I admit that the 1911's are simply a beautiful set!)

[Vintagecatcher]

I picked up the Walter Boles 1912 zeenut in the auction. I have another which is my redeemed/punched copy.

I was tempted to pick up the Claude Berry 1912 zeenut which is the last catcher I need in the set, but I decided to wait until I could find one without creases.

I agree that prices seemed down a little as well. As mentioned previously in the thread, I think the prices reflect that collectors may be searching for a certain player or collecting the set by team, but not trying to complete the entire set.

I feel fortunate to have won the Boles, since I bid after I had been outbid, and I fell asleep. Truth be told I hadn't realized the auction was even ending that night.

Sometimes it's good to be lucky!

Patrick

[bocca001]

Looking over the Brockelman results, it is interesting to see what seem to be "common" cards selling for $300 to $550. I figured that the Arellanes would be expensive, but not quite that high. I see that the Baker and McAvoy also went for much more that what I would expect for a common/non-star.

Is the Baum card also tough? Or did it just sell well because he is a better-known PCL player.

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

Arellanes isn't definitely one of the tougher 1912's but not one of the absolute toughest. I still need him and I tried for that one but ended up focusing one the other two really tough ones and was able to pick up the Baker (vertical) and the McAvoy. That was the first McAvoy I had ever seen available. That was the one I wanted, i wasn't sure how high I would have to go there so I bowed out on the higher graded Arellanes just in case I needed to go a lot higher on those other two. I also upgraded a few others. Overall the prices as stated were a bit weaker than I thought, had the auction ended all at once I would have bid on more but i ended up in a bidding war that lasted a while on the two I really wanted and that prevented me from overdoing it on a few others I would have happily bid on at the next few increments. Another tough one that slipped through the cracks was the Fitzgerald (I was able to upgrade my copy a little), overall it was a fun and rare opportunity to pick up some great looking cards, the 1912's have long been one of my 2-3 favorite Zeenut series (I love those action photos so much more than the studio shots of 1911, although I admit that the 1911's are simply a beautiful set!)

[rhettyeakley]

Originally Posted by bocca001

Looking over the Brockelman results, it is interesting to see what seem to be "common" cards selling for $300 to $550. I figured that the Arellanes would be expensive, but not quite that high. I see that the Baker and McAvoy also went for much more that what I would expect for a common/non-star.

Is the Baum card also tough? Or did it just sell well because he is a better-known PCL player.

I mis-typed my earlier post and amended it, I meant to write that the Arellanes card IS one of he tougher cards in the set but not one of the absolute toughest.

The Baum card is not very difficult, probably just two people going after a more popular player I suspect. I may even have an extra in my duplicate pile (I'd have to check).

The other two you mentioned ARE very tough to find, I hadn't seen another McAvoy before and had only seen one other vertical Baker available. I'd probably rank both of them tougher than Arellanes but not by much. Those three were definitely the toughest of the group from Brockelman's.

Here are two VERY rare ones I have, the Lindsay is among the toughest 5-10 cards in the set (IMO). Both of these cards are as tough or tougher than the Bohen.