M116 Sporting Life cards Underappreciated, Undervalued and Tough

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Posted By: Bob

There are about 25-30 SLs which make it on ebay from time to time but either there are very few of the remaining cards out there (especially the very scarce 300 back subject series) or anyone who buys them never sells them. I am not aware of more than 3 people on this board who are pursuing the set so what gives? You see a gadzillion T206s, tons of T201s, 202s, 205s and the other tobacco cards and even many caramel cards have surfaced with the exploding market, but not the SLs. Granted they are all portrait shots and only 2 guys are wearing hats, but the pastel and blue backgrounds render the cards very attractive. The odd thing, I guess because of the means of distribution, is that cards in 4, 5, 6 and 7 holders are seen more frequently than low grade cards. Very odd. One thing which makes collecting the set very annoying is that when a rare card surfaces, it is probably going to be in a 6 or above holder and you have to fight all the registry guys to win it.

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Posted By: BruceBabcock

Great cards, under appreciated, IMO, and a set I don't collect, except for a couple of examples. I agree that they seem to be very scarce currently. I don't remember them being so scarce, relative to other similar issues, 10-15 years ago, but my memory about most things is rather dubious. Still this thread gives me an excuse to post a scan of McGraw. I agree that among those you do see, I high percentage are in really nice shape.

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Posted By: andy becker

me thinks the mid and high grade availability is a result of distribution...as bob said. the cards were not inserted with any product and were only available by mail in a series group. lots have surfaced in their original mailing envelope.

nice set, and it is underappreciated imo.

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Posted By: Richard Masson

I agree with distribution as the reason for a much higher percentage of higher grade survivors, which explains why nice examples are still reasonably priced.
It was a set issued to baseball fans, rather than kids.

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

I think the same thing about availability of Colgan's. A year or two ago, you could find 15-20 Colgans on ebay most of the time. Today, you rarely find any of the SOTD (Stars of the Diamond) and even fewer still of the Red Borders and Tin Tops. I think it's that there are so many more people collecting in OUR space and that, as Tbob said, they aren't friggin(c) sellin em..........

all rights reserved to 'friggin' reference to Tbob (royalty check on the way, T...)

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Posted By: jay behrens

I've noticed the same thing with M116s and Colgans. I remember in the 80s that cards from either of these sets were tough to find and dealers were thrilled if you were interested in buying them. Now they seem to have dried up. I have a lersonal preference for Colgans and finding cheap low grade lots has gotten hard over the past year.

Jay

I like to sit outside, drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home, I would be arrested. So, I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: Paul Stratton

I think the fact that there are very few low grade examples may have something to do with the underappreciation. I collect the set when I can(especially the blue backgrounds), but it seems they are all "high grade". It's too expensive to only buy 8's, 7's and 6's. Where are all the 5's and 4's and 3's? I guess they don't exist because of the way they were distributed.

It seems odd that collectors seem to love the t206 portraits but when it comes to m116's they complain it is only portraits in the set.

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Posted By: robert a

This set is for true collectors and has been since it was issued.
As stated before, the cards are found in nice condition because "collectors" sent away for the cards and were able to pick the one's they wanted. The cards came nicely packaged....separate from slimey caramels and stinky tobacco products....and were kept in collections unlike other issues that might've survived for a while and then were kicked to the curb or chewed on and spat out.

The same can't be said for the small packages that the cards came in. I gather that many of those were kicked to the curb with the caramels since they obviously weren't collectible back then. Yet, some survive and they were probably used as checklists.

To me, this set proves that most of the damage that is found on vintage cards happens much closer to the time of production. These cards were preserved early on and many of them stayed that way through the generations.

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Posted By: joe

I collect only the Detroit players, they seemed to be in great condition, not like the caramels.

Joe