Most overrated pre-war card?

[MattyC]

Originally Posted by Sean

Tom Reed started a thread on the post-war side that asks for the most overrated card (most people voted for the 1952 Mantle). I liked the question, so I'm asking the pre-war guys: what's the most overrated pre-war card?

My answer is the T206 MAGIE. It is essentially a typo. The player isn't famous and his card is plentiful. But the error somehow makes the card more valuable than cards for C. Young, Speaker, Mathewson, W.Johnson, or even Cobb (unless one of those cards also features a rare back).

I know that the MAGIE is rare, but so are other cards that don't sell for nearly as much. So I guess my point is: if this error card was in a set other than T206, would it be an iconic card? That's why I consider it overrated.

So what do you guys think? What other pre-war cards do you think are overrated?

Actually, in that post war thread, the most votes were for the Pafko and for high graded cards, but there was no clear consensus. Rookie cards were also brought up, as was the Herrer and the George Bush card.

I couldn't disagree more with anyone saying that Ruth or Mantle, as players or their collectibles, are "overrated." That term in itself is also a slippery one-- overrated. How is it being defined, exactly?

Ruth is a legend. Mantle was a hero and icon to so many. True, Mantle could have even been so much more if not for his character flaws. But the admission of those flaws as an older man endeared him to so many people, and that is an intangible that goes beyond mere statistics. On a bum knee and hungover, at the very end in 1967, the man still posted a .391 OBP while batting only .245. That was the man at his worst. As to his peak-- few who played the game had one higher.

Ruth and Mantle performed on the game's biggest stage and delivered thrills to millions. There is just no debating this. The demand for their cards will always be great, no matter the pop reports. Those two names will always be among the very top in the baseball card collecting world. And finding eye appealing examples of their cards makes the collectors' hunt even more challenging.