T206 v Cracker Jack pricing

[mattjc1983]

Question that I'll try to make brief. I've only recently started to pick up some vintage cards (memorabilia/autographs before that), and am casually browsing what's out there for Cracker Jacks. Am I correct that on average, Cracker Jacks commons are more expensive to pick up than T206? If so, anyone know why? Are they just more desirable cards, or are they actually more scarce than the T206? Or put another way, I know the set itself is smaller than T206, but is the assumption that less were distributed as well?

Thanks in advance.


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[ullmandds]

Cj's, in general, are dramatically tougher than t206. 1914 cj were only issued in cj boxes whereas 1915's were available also by mail...so 14' cj's are tougher and more condition sensitive than 15's.

Both sets have scarcities which are exceptions.

[mattjc1983]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

Cj's, in general, are dramatically tougher than t206. 1914 cj were only issued in cj boxes whereas 1915's were available also by mail...so 14' cj's are tougher and more condition sensitive than 15's.



Both sets have scarcities which are exceptions.

Thanks for the reply. And I suppose the assumption is that a lot more cigarettes were sold to distribute 206's than Cracker Jacks were sold?


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[glynparson]

a regular t206 is produced in far greater numbers than an average CJ. Like has been mentioned 1914 harder than 1915. Now if you are concerned on which T206 back the card should have some of these are rarer than any CJ.

[rainier2004]

1914 CJs range from 20 - 100 examples of any given card, leaning on the former
1915 cjs range from 60 - 200 of any given card, leaning on the latter

A common no name in 1915 CJ psa 3 will run yeah $125-$150, maybe a little less. The tougher ones will be $200+. Other than the big 4 in the t206 set, the Jax, Cobb, 1914 Matty and Pratt and possibly Wagner will all be much more than any t206 HOFer. But in the end, CJs are just much cooler.

[Bruinsfan94]

Originally Posted by rainier2004

1914 CJs range from 20 - 100 examples of any given card, leaning on the former
1915 cjs range from 60 - 200 of any given card, leaning on the latter

A common no name in 1915 CJ psa 3 will run yeah $125-$150, maybe a little less. The tougher ones will be $200+. Other than the big 4 in the t206 set, the Jax, Cobb, 1914 Matty and Pratt and possibly Wagner will all be much more than any t206 HOFer. But in the end, CJs are just much cooler.

Wow do you really think that there is as low as around 20 of a lot of 1914 cj's? That seems very low. I never realized how rare Cracker Jacks were.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

I call them the "golden 26". There are 26 cards in the 1914 set with less than 30 graded examples between psa and Sgc. Not to mention most CJ set collectors think the pop reports are inflated by 20-25% due to crossovers and regrades.

[The Nasty Nati]

I'm not super familiar with cracker jack's, but why are they (including both years) so rare?

Were there not a lot originally printed? Were they just not a popular set for kids to collect and cherish back then?

[scooter729]

It's believed there may be 3,000-ish of each T206 card that has survived today; that's the highest number of any set from the era. It's much more likely that other sets from the 1910 timeframe have numbers more like the CJ estimates Steven gave, with very few other sets having populations even close to T206 numbers.

[yanksfan09]

Originally Posted by The Nasty Nati

I'm not super familiar with cracker jack's, but why are they (including both years) so rare?

Where there not a lot originally printed? Where they just not a popular set for kids to collect and cherish back then?

There were also likely far more smokers back then as opposed to kids eating caramel confections! Lots of kids even smoked back then. T206 also had numerous brands all using the same promotional cards. For a caramel set to have a much higher distribution of a set they would have had to collaborate with other caramel/candy companies and use the same cards as promo items also.

It's also possible I'd think that many sets like Cracker Jack could have only been distributed during the baseball seasons as opposed to all year long like some other sets (possibly T206)? Just speculation there, but there's countless variables that go into why X number of cards survive from any given set.

[MVSNYC]

I think the estimate of 3,000 of each T206 currently existing, is rather high, IMO.

[scooter729]

Originally Posted by MVSNYC

I think the estimate of 3,000 of each T206 currently existing, is rather high, IMO.

I used to think so as well, but it may not be that far off. Take for example a look at pop reports for a card where I would think a good number of copies have been graded - Ty Cobb. On the bat on/off and green portraits, there are ~1,000+ graded copies, and more like 2,000 red portraits. So maybe the number is 1,500 - 2,000 for many T206s, and 3,000 for cards like the red Cobb that were in all series?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by scooter729

I used to think so as well, but it may not be that far off. Take for example a look at pop reports for a card where I would think a good number of copies have been graded - Ty Cobb. On the bat on/off and green portraits, there are ~1,000+ graded copies, and more like 2,000 red portraits. So maybe the number is 1,500 - 2,000 for many T206s, and 3,000 for cards like the red Cobb that were in all series?

Half of those graded cards could be re-grades counted more than once. I think 3500 is high for any single T206. Heck, I think 2000 is a high number.