Comparison of perceived scarcity/value of E90-1 cards - Now vs. 1982

[brianp-beme]

I dragged out my 1982 copy of The Sport Americana Baseball Price Guide (4th Edition) the other day, and for fun I checked what were the listed prices for cards in the E90-1 American Caramel set, as that is a set that has had a fair amount of reevaluation of scarcities in the past few years. The prices in the 'Mint' column (in my opinion a wholly fictional category for this set before the proliferation of Card MD's) for a common was $6.50, with a top of $200 for the well-publicized, even back then, scarce card of Mike Mitchell.

I decided it would be interesting to compare the current E90-1 Kraken list (here is a link to the thread):

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=247839

to the prices in this 1982 guide to see how the perceived scarcities/values of the cards in this set have changed over the years. The Kraken list I have pasted below was derived by my perception of the relative scarcity/value of the cards, with the input of many N54 members as well. For simplicity sake I decided to not get too crazy with the point system...there are quite a few cards currently in the '1' category that are less common/more popular than their friends, and probably could have been classified as being '2' in value, but hey, what can you say.

I have left the Kraken values of each listed card on the left, and have added the mint price listed in the guide on the right. To the end of the list I have added cards that were given higher than $6.50 values in the book, but only rated a '1' on the Kraken scale.

I think you will find the differences in perceived scarcity/valuation interesting. Enjoy, and discuss if you must!


20 Joe Jackson $40

10 Tris Speaker $75
10 Honus Wagner (throwing) $40

7 Hugh Duffy $75
7 Mike Mitchell $200
7 Honus Wagner (batting) $40
7 Cy Young (Cleveland) $25

5 Fred Clarke (Pittsburgh) $40
5 Ty Cobb $75
5 Willie Keeler (portrait - red) $25
5 Jake Stahl $40
5 Bill Sweeney (Boston) $135
5 Ed Walsh $75

4 Peaches Graham $75
4 Christy Mathewson $40
4 Eddie Plank $18
4 Cy Young (Boston) $18

3 Bob Bescher $6.50
3 Patsy Dougherty $6.50
3 George Gibson (back view) $25
3 Harry Howell (wind up) $12
3 Ed Karger $25
3 Willie Keeler (throwing) $40
3 Addie Joss (throwing) $40
3 Nap Lajoie $25
3 Tommy Leach (throwing) $7.50
3 Hans Lobert $18
3 Larry McLean $18
3 Dots Miller (sunset) -variation not in guide book
3 Orval Overall $18
3 Dave Shean $12
3 George Stone (left hand showing) $7.50
3 Jerry Upp $12

1 each for the rest of the 88 cards, including the below with more than the $6.50 common pricing in the 1982 guide. On the left I have indicated either their current Kraken value ('1'), or a value of '2' for those I think could have been originally listed as such:

2 Frank Baker $12
1 Chief Bender $12
1 Kitty Bransfield (blue background) $9
1 Kitty Bransfield (pink background) $12
1 Roger Bresnahan $12
2 Mordecai Brown $25
1 John Butler $9
1 Frank Chance $18
1 Hal Chase $7.50
1 Fred Clarke (Philadelphia)
2 Wally Clement $12
2 Eddie Collins $12
2 Sam Crawford $12
2 Ray Demmitt $12
1 Art Fromme $12
1 George Gibson (front view) $7.50
1 Roy Hartzell (green background) $7.50
1 Roy Hartzell (pink background) $7.50
1 Harry Howell (follow through) $7.50
1 Hugh Jennings $12
2 Addie Joss (portrait) $18
2 Willie Keeler (portrait - pink) $18
1 John Knight $18
1 Tommy Leach (batting) $7.50
1 Rube Marquard $12
1 Stuffy McInnes $7.50
1 Vic Schlitzer $18
2 Johhny Seigle $18
2 Jimmy Sheckard $12
1 George Stone (no hands) $7.50
1 Jesse Tannehill (Chicago NL) $7.50
1 Lee Tannehill (Chicago AL) $7.50
1 Ira Thomas (Philadelphia) $7.50
1 Roy Thomas (Boston) $7.50
1 Joe Tinker $12
1 Bobby Wallace $12
1 Hooks Wiltse $18

And finally cards listed in 1982 as $6.50 commons, and on the Kraken as '1' point, but probably deserve to be '2':

2 Harry Bemis $6.50
2 George Davis $6.50 (not a HOF in 1982)
2 Paddy O'Connor $6.50
2 Vic Willis $6.50 (not a HOF in 1982)


Brian