M101-2 Supplements in Memory Lane

[Bliggity]

Originally Posted by BobC

Unless it is a set collector(s) who want to put a PSA registry set together and figure to work on a set that no one else really has even started on yet. I guess that way they would be assured to have a top rated registry set just by having a PSA graded one when no one else has.

Just took a quick look at PSA's pop report for M101-2 supplements, and I was stunned again. They show only 102 graded supplements, in total, with none being graded higher than a 3!!!!

So if some not-so-well informed investors are paying those kind of prices for M101-2s they think are literally the highest grades out there, based on PSAs current pop reports, they may be in for a surprise as I have to believe there a lot more, higher condition M101-2 supplements out there in the hands of collectors that couldn't care less about having them graded. Of course, with recent auction results like this for the M101-2 supplements, I guess that could start changing quickly.

Bingo. And I found the info I had been looking for before.

In June 2020, Lelands auctioned a near-complete set of 96/100. All of the main stars were included and were graded PSA A; the rest of the set was raw. This was the first time I'd seen any in PSA holders, so PSA must have just started grading them not too long before that. The set sold for $12,998.40. The buyer immediately split the set and put each of the supplements for sale individually on eBay, with BIN prices on the graded ones about 3x or more of comparable raw versions (and the raw ones were also priced about 2.5x other raw comps). I thought they would sit forever in the eBay museum, but one collector immediately bought the Jackson and Cobb/Wagner and posted them here and on other sites. He noted with pride that the Cobb/Wagner was a "POP 1" and was the first and only copy that PSA had graded. I was floored.

Since then, PSA A and 1 copies have continued to do unreasonably well. Meanwhile, around the same time I bought an absolutely beautiful Eddie Collins in BVG 4.5 for $160. BVG cards in grades 2-3ish continued to stay around $125-250 for mid-tier HOFers, while PSA 1s were sometimes pulling $300 when there were better raw or BVG copies available. And now we have a PSA 1 Jackson alone going for $12,700, which was basically the price of the entire 96/100 set that sold 13 months ago.

Unlike most other prewar cards where the highest-quality examples are already in TPG holders, 99% of the highest-quality examples of M101-2s are in raw collections, along with tons of examples that would probably grade in the 2-4 range. Whoever is buying these either has no knowledge or understanding of the series, or is a registry addict, or both. As BobC mentioned, if the people holding the 99% of the nice raw M101-2s start grading them, the people who are paying $12K for a PSA 1 Jackson and $10K for a PSA 1 Wagner are going to be hurting.

But who knows, we'll probably look at this thread in 3 years and think they got the deal of the century.