Have caramels cooled off a little?

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Posted By: tbob

Maybe collectors are looking elsewhere with the soaring caramel card prices but I have noticed that the E93s, 94s, 95s, 96s, 97s and 98s appear to be leveling off or coming down a bit. Still stout prices but maybe coming down some.

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Posted By: Anonymous

Perhaps ..the jig is up on those overgraded GAI and PSA numbers

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Posted By: tbob

SGCs are slipping a little too though IMHO.

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Posted By: robert a

tbob,

i think that you are right sir!
caramels have cooled off.
wierd how that happens, huh?

robert

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Posted By: John S

It might be the price of gas....seriously. That and other economic woes have pinched or eliminated the budgets of many collectors. I count myself amongst those that have been pinched a bit. I have cut back card spending about 25%-50% over the last three months in anticipation of a tough winter season (had natural gas bills approaching $300 last winter and it is suppposed to be worse this year). I have noticed the leveling that you describe relative to caramel cards and picked up a couple "bargains" recently myself.

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Posted By: Don J

Bob,

I think you may be right on the low to mid grade caramels but I strongly disagree on the nicer Hall of Famers and high grade cards. They are as strong as ever if not stronger.

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Posted By: Lyle

Please show me a reasonably priced Carmel Ty Cobb .

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Posted By: Lyle

here is a caramel Cobb for a great price - only $495!

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Posted By: leon

My E101 Hartsel in an 80 holder that went for around $860, about a week or two ago, should show the market is stong for nice quality. For average 1-3 grades there seems to be enough supply to meet demand...hence maybe a little lower prices than the really high ones of a year or so ago....AND this can be taken with a grain of salt as at any given time 2 people could want a lower grade card and it (itself) can do well.....all imho....regards

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Posted By: Anson

I have a theory....I don't believe that the caramel craze is anywhere near taking a turn down. However, it seems to be more "peaky" than the stock market or other investments. If you consider low-mid grade cards, it all comes down to timing. Are the right people looking when it's up for sale; who's working on sets. Some folks will complete their sets or fill the vacancy of a particular card. But, others will decide to build sets later and might be looking for specific needs.

As you all know, I've been working on the E101 set. I've found great deals on many of the cards, and paid top dollar on many others. But, I don't think that there's been a major correction with the cards, as much as it's jumping like an EKG. Just a few days ago, an SGC 30 E101 Lajoie went for close to $400. I would consider that a very solid price.

There might be some softing up of more common caramels (E90-1, E91, E92, E93, E95, etc). But, the slightly tougher to extremely difficult sets are stronger than ever.

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Posted By: robert a

Lyle,

A board member picked up an e98 green cobb the other day on ebay that went the distance for under $400 I believe. This would NOT have happened a few months ago. Even though the example was graded a 1 I think, it was solid with no major damage.

Robert

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Posted By: Brian E.

$525, but I was prepared to go higher. I was fortunate that another board member didn't push my bid higher. This is the same price as the two GAI 1.5s went for in the July 19C auction. Those were red and blue.

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Posted By: robert a

ahh, $525. Thanks for the correction Brian.

If I would've noticed it before the bidding ended, it would've been higher though.

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Posted By: Paul

I saw a green E98 Mack go for about $600, graded a 3. A few months ago, a green E98 Mack graded 3 sold for $1200.

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Posted By: Don J

That's true but that was largely due to the person bidding on the card a few months back. They collected Mack and were willing to "go the distance" to pick up the card.

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Posted By: tbob

Don- I agree with you the higher graded caramels appear to be climbing right along. My reference was to the lower and midgrade caramels, although an SGC 40 or 50 is actually closer to high than middle grade on some cards in some sets. Until Scott Mosley had his super green E98s graded, I know I had the highest graded E98 of one player (think it was Vaughn) and it was only a 50. The PSA 7s and 8s and SGC 80s and 84s in the E94 set, for example, are still bringing mind-boggling amounts.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

the oranges are almost ripe on my tree, it's 75 degrees and my home heating bill for the winter might be $300...for the whole winter.

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Posted By: Brian E.

I think this thread influenced some board members and lurkers.

As as this morning, I count 10 Caramel Wagners and 2 Cobbs on Ebay auctions. Several other Caramel Cobbs sold in mid and late October. There were significant less when the market was jumping in August and September.

Maybe it's just me, but if I owned a Wagner, I'd think twice about selling it right now. Obviously if the price was right, I'd let it go.

Brian E.

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Posted By: Charlie Barokas

There is a lot of talk about cooling off but everytime I try and buy any of these cards from people, they quote 10 times book. I think these cards will have cooled off when my phone rings off the hook with Caramel cards for sale at a reduced price. So far "TBOB" I have not heard from you with your discounted Caramels for sale. I believe there are many people on this board myself included that would snap up any Caramels that were offered at a discount. I think if people are waiting for these cards to turn down like 89 Upper Deck Ken Griffey PSA 10's they might be waiting for awhile.

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Posted By: tbob

Charlie- and you won't hear from me with discounted caramels because all the E94s and E97s and other caramels are going right in to my collection and will stay there. I have sold my duplicates when the selling was good, to buy more cards. If you look on ebay the last 2 months, there have been several E94s which just ran out of gas, PSA, SGC and GAI and either sold for a lot less than they were 6-9 months ago or didn't even get an opening bid.
Bob

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Posted By: warshawlaw

It is the free market at work. Demand escalates price, owners decide to sell, supply increases to meet demand, prices fall to an equilibrium level as the supply meets the demand. Now, if we could do something that buyers would see as potentially cutting off the supply of caramel cards, all our friends and cronies with hordes of caramel cards could make lots of money...hmmmm...

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Posted By: tbob

A well known collector recently decided not to continue his pursuit of a master set of E94s and sold many of his cards on the BST thread and off-line and the prices were not cheap and the cards sold quickly. Maybe this is more of an ebay phenomenon?

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Posted By: robert a

Charlie,

No you're not going to see an e95 wagner vg for $300 ever again.
But, at the same time, I don't see any e98 Bridwells in good condition selling for $300 anymore (maybe coombs ) and even lower grade e94s and e97s have definitely cooled.

By the way, I didn't think there was any other caramel lovers in Seattle?

robert a

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Posted By: Darren J. Duet

NO

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Posted By: Charlie Barokas

I think eBay is a great price to sell new to the hobby items. Fresh, totally original pre-war cards brand new to eBay, still bring unbelievable prices. And I expect that to continue. The cards that you are referring to that seem to run out of gas, have been sold and resold many times. The perception being that the particular card has some sort of flaw or flaws not visible virtually. In fact, the card may be high-end, but the perception is that it is a "hot Potato".
An analogy would be a virgin vs. a ... well you know. I think a card that has been bounced around from person to person on ebay, should auction for less. However, any seller that brings a find of new caramels to ebay whether it was 6-9 months ago or 6-9 months from now, the prices will be astounding. And then people will be saying caramels are on fire again.

Charlie

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Posted By: Charlie Barokas

1909 E95 HONUS WAGNER SGC 5.5 IN GOODWINS AUCTION IS AT $5434.41 OUT THE DOOR. I WOULD SAY WAGNER CARAMEL CARDS ARE ALIVE AND WELL, NOT MATTER HOW SLOW THE CARAMEL MARKET ON EBAY IS.

http://auction.goodwinandco.com/displayitem.php?item=17&category=Live%20Auction

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Posted By: Darren J. Duet

That Wagner looks like a 7--someone was buying a card without regards to its prison--PROPS!