Mendelsohns in LOTG results--surprising

[GregMitch34]

Since this was the largest group of them in one spot that I've seen, thought it would be worth getting comments. Prices seemed low to me. Because so many at one time? Or cooling? Was nice variety to judge--in grades, and in level of players.

[Leon]

I think it comes down to the demand side of the equation. They aren't impossible to find as a type card and how many folks are doing the whole set? There might be a few but probably not too many, And many of them were more common players....(no disrespect meant to them )

[nolemmings]

I sold almost all of mine a couple of years ago, including at least 5 of the nicer HOFers in last night's auction before they were encased in those monstruous paperweights. I thought they all under-performed except for Sisler, which was about at the break even point to maybe a little low. I know I sold all mine for MORE than that except for Sisler.

Most of the commons had pinholes, and collectors can be fickle with those regardless of presentation. The commons like Stanage and even the oft-seen Holke went low, I thought, but again my market knowledge is stale. If things were looking a little more flush over here, I would jump back into m101-6 in a heartbeat, as it is one of the coolest sets out there, IMHO. I'm hanging onto my Hornsby, which I consider a rookie card, as long as I can.

[Baseball Rarities]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

I'm hanging onto my Hornsby, which I consider a rookie card, as long as I can.

I do not know very much about the M101-6 Felix Mendelsohn set. What year was the M101-6 Hornsby issued? I always considered one of his 1917 issues (E135, H801-8, etc.) his rookie card.

[nolemmings]

M101-6 was issued beginning in 1917. It is believed to have been issued into 1920, although it is unclear how many and what cards were added over the years (except of course the Ruth Yankees card almost certainly did not issue until 1920). FWIW, Hornsby is shown in his (probably) 1917 uniform.

P.S. It should be noted that the original ad in 1917 offered "100 Stars" and the entire set of m101-6 is less than 125 subjects including team changes, so it is likely only a few updates followed over the subsequent years. Given that Hornsby had become fully established after the 1916 season, it seems very probable he was part of the 1917 production.

[the-illini]

I was able to win 13 of the Mendelsohns Al had for sale - I have been collecting this set for years and this is the second largest grouping I have ever seen for sale at one time. Prices have definitely dropped on these, but I think there is a little more to it.

Leon is correct, the number of set collectors for this issue is pretty small - I only know of one other person other than myself working on the set and he is very close to complete (not counting the checklilsted cards that have yet to be discovered).

While this was a very large offering of M101-6's, there were a lot of "common" cards in the grouping. I am not referring to common players, but cards that have appeared for sale relatively frequently for a set this tough. These cards were issued over a period of 4 years and in collecting them for close to a decade I have come to realize some were issued in much higher quantities than others.

Sam Rice, for example, is about as easy a HOFer to find as there is - that is a big reason it sold for 338 dollars. If it had been Dave Bancroft - a similar tier HOFer - you could add another zero to that price, easily. The "tougher" commons available in this auction (Shawkey, Groh, Wingo) all pulled pretty strong prices; over 650 each.

IMO this grouping suffered from a narrow collector base who had a majority of the cards being offered. The set has definitely cooled, but if cards like Ping Bodie, Bancroft, Buck Herzog and Sam Crawford were to hit the market, I think the prices would be very very high.

[timn1]

Many of the players in this grouping were on the easier side - in fact, I already had so many of them (or had and then traded them to Chris over the past few years) that I wondered if they were the same copies I had - but they weren't.

Demand is always an issue for this set as others have mentioned. I only know of one person trying to do the whole set, and if he already had these cards, which he did in most cases, the demand would be a lot lower.

[GregMitch34]

Note: I won three and was only looking for ONE. So if anyone would like the Bagby SGC 1 (wonderful but pinhole) or Doak SGC 1.5 (also wonderful but pinhole) let me know, I would sell for what I paid, about $165 plus shipping....