1952 Topps Mays vs 1953 Topps Mays - why the price gap

[raulus]

You mentioned "in all grades", but I'm not convinced that's true at say PSA 8.

Part of the challenge these days is that we don't get many data points at that lofty level, particularly for the 53T in PSA 8, with really just one coming onto the market since the pandemic.

From what little data we have, my analysis suggests that the premium for a 52T PSA 8 is not going to be 2x over a 53T PSA 8. Maybe 25%-50%. And maybe even less in some cases, potentially even parity, depending on the card, the auction, and the day to day economic environment.

To get back to your original question, I'm not sure that there's much more here other than:

1) 52T is more in demand than 53T when it comes to set collectors.

2) While I don't want to get into a raging debate about whether 52T is Mays' rookie card, if you assume it is, or at least the Topps equivalent, then I think you also have the argument that the rookie card is in greater demand than the 2nd year card.

And if you want to argue that 52T is his 2nd year card, then you still have a similar dynamic with a 2nd year card generally being in greater demand than a 3rd year card.