19th Century Team Cabinets - Your Thoughts

[Bosox Blair]

Hi Folks,

I've dipped my toes into new waters with the recent REA - bought my first 19th Century Cabinet (or 19th Century photo of any kind, except some N172s). See image below of the 1896 Orioles Cabinet I won.

Having never explored this market before, I went in a bit blind. I had my own ideas about what would make a piece special, but I had no idea what characteristics are most important to those who are true collectors of these pieces.

So I'm hoping for your feedback on my "rookie" notions, set out below.

Here are the things I felt were important in such a piece - roughly in the order of importance I put on them. Please feel free to tell me if you (or the community of collectors for these pieces) see things differently:

1. Subjects/Team - is this an important team or special image of a player?
2. Quality of image - technical quality including contrast/tone of photo
3. Condition of the piece - including tears/trimming/staining of the photo or mount
4. Rarity of the piece - how many such pieces are known to exist
5. Size - bigger is better in general!
6. Provenance - was this owned by a player, or a notable collector (Halper, etc.)
7. Uniforms vs. street clothes - I think uniform photos are probably more desired, and game equipment in the photo is even better

What do you experts/collectors think of this list? I'm here to learn if you are willing to teach!!!