1916 M101-4,5 Auction Prices

[Dead-Ball-Hitter]

Looks like these items continue to inch up in price, given results from GM2’s ebay listings ending yesterday. For those who missed it, Greg posted a large SGC graded run of M101-5’s. I still believe this set has room to grow as it has an unrivaled checklist, including Ty, Honus, Joe J, and the Babe (Ruth’s rookie card). Feels like more folks are starting to build the set as some hard to find commons go for strong prices. Any building this Mendelsohn set out there (besides me)?

[qed2190]

i have most of the commons plus a few HOFer's

[oldjudge]

I think the set, especially with scarce ad backs, has some of the best cards in the hobby. I believe there is plenty of upside for the stars, not sure on the others. I think set collecting is losing popularity.

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by Dead-Ball-Hitter

Looks like these items continue to inch up in price, given results from GM2’s ebay listings ending yesterday. For those who missed it, Greg posted a large SGC graded run of M101-5’s. I still believe this set has room to grow as it has an unrivaled checklist, including Ty, Honus, Joe J, and the Babe (Ruth’s rookie card). Feels like more folks are starting to build the set as some hard to find commons go for strong prices. Any building this Mendelsohn set out there (besides me)?

Yes. Although I will never finish, thanks to card #151.

Most of the GM commons that went high were either Red Sox, Yankees, or m101-5 only cards/variations. Still, I'm surprised at many of the prices for the condition/grade.

I am curious--are you building m101-4, m101-5 or a hybrid set? Nice Peckinpaugh/Cravath card, BTW.

[Dead-Ball-Hitter]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Yes. Although I will never finish, thanks to card #151.

Most of the GM commons that went high were either Red Sox, Yankees, or m101-5 only cards/variations. Still, I'm surprised at many of the prices for the condition/grade.

I am curious--are you building m101-4, m101-5 or a hybrid set? Nice Peckinpaugh/Cravath card, BTW.

Personally I focus on the slightly more plentiful M101-4s, but I do buy the 5’s that are specific to that set and others if they are fairly priced.

[boneheadandrube]

I bought 14 of the cards auctioned on a whim. They just seemed cheap compared to everything else I usually look for.

[Dead-Ball-Hitter]

Originally Posted by boneheadandrube

I bought 14 of the cards auctioned on a whim. They just seemed cheap compared to everything else I usually look for.

Nice move Greg. Which of the 14 is your favorite, if you have one?

[Rhotchkiss]

I don’t not collect this set. But I was just looking at Sterling and they have a ton of them in their current auction

[PhillyFan1883]

Originally Posted by Dead-Ball-Hitter

Looks like these items continue to inch up in price, given results from GM2’s ebay listings ending yesterday. For those who missed it, Greg posted a large SGC graded run of M101-5’s. I still believe this set has room to grow as it has an unrivaled checklist, including Ty, Honus, Joe J, and the Babe (Ruth’s rookie card). Feels like more folks are starting to build the set as some hard to find commons go for strong prices. Any building this Mendelsohn set out there (besides me)?

I have been collecting the set for years now- and I was fortunate enough to complete my m101-4 set and 1 card away on the -5s. I agree with all your points and Will continue to buy at value for upgrades, and more rare backs etc. some of the rare back hof combos to Jay’s points really should demand big premiums. I have always said the Ruth rookie may garner interest in the rest of the set- like the Wagner does for the t206 set. It’s starting to happen slowly but surely, I hope this progress keeps its steam.

[boneheadandrube]

Originally Posted by Dead-Ball-Hitter

Nice move Greg. Which of the 14 is your favorite, if you have one?

I'll know better when I get them but I went for interesting players. Avoided guys that also had T206 for the most part, more mid-teens to twenty's names. Hooper and Marsans were the two better ones, missed Coombs.

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by boneheadandrube

I'll know better when I get them but I went for interesting players. Avoided guys that also had T206 for the most part, more mid-teens to twenty's names. Hooper and Marsans were the two better ones, missed Coombs.

Nice job! The Marsans went for a good price, comparatively speaking. Coombs went high again, especially for a non Red Sox-Yankee.

"Personally I focus on the slightly more plentiful M101-4s, but I do buy the 5’s that are specific to that set and others if they are fairly priced."

Joe, does it matter to you whether you collect the ad backs? I ask because some collectors might collect only blank backs, and think that an ad back would clutter the presentation. Others want one of every back for type but still might focus on just the blank backs. I haven't seen a real spike in ad back m101-s this past year or so-just a gradual price increase that seems to prevail across the board. When I see a blank back common in grade 3-5 sell for about the same and sometimes more than the same card with an ad back I wonder. Maybe it's because these blank backs have been offered in such large groups lately that collectors started knocking bunches off of their want list all at once and are just continuing with the theme. Thoughts?

I am not sure I agree with either Jay or Connor about set collecting the m101s. I do not believe set collecting is waning overall in prewar, but haven't given it much thought. I still am curious why someone would jump into a set they very likely will not complete. Most Ruth collectors stick to the high-end, high profile players, and are not interested in a 200 card set. And I do not believe this is really analogous to t206, where most can comfort themselves in knowing that the Wagner was pulled from distribution and arguably may be deemed not part of the set. In m101, Ruth is just as findable as any other card-- perhaps moreso- and the set is numbered so that missing 151 would seem to present a noticeable hole to those of us lacking an extra $400K or more for its purchase.

Oh well, it's always nice to see an m101 thread. And since we need to see a card once in awhile, here are a couple of tougher players related to the m101-5 set:

[oldjudge]

Beautiful cards Todd!

[PhillyFan1883]

My favorite short print from this great set. The Doyle of the m101s. Probably tougher. Mr Oscar Stanage “Portrait to Thighs”

[TheBig6]

Another PSA snafu, but I wouldn’t let them touch it again

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by TheBig6

Another PSA snafu, but I wouldn’t let them touch it again

Maybe there is an upcharge that you failed to pay for them to look at/identify the back side of the card. Because as we all know, cards have blank backs until you flip them over.

Brian