Resource(s) for 1962 Jello?

[Promethius88]

Originally Posted by LeftHandedDane

I am a set collector and have completed, or 99% completed, virtually every post-war set (excluding test issues). I think the 1962 Jello set is the most difficult set to complete that I have gone after in all my years of collecting. At this point I have exactly 100 (about 50%) of the set. There are a group of about 50-75 cards or so that are readily available for purchase, but after that it gets tricky. There are another 75 or so that come up periodically (1-2x/year). And the rest are just never even available for sale. I doubt that I will ever complete this set - that is the first time I have ever believed that about any set from the past 90 years or so.

I believe the experts' list of the 21 toughest, and somewhere I read about a second list of maybe 9 more that are next toughest. Given prices overall, I would guess all of these would bring $500 or more each, and several well into 4 figures. Since Beckett and other price guides are completely worthless on this, I manually track sales of these cards to try to understand the relative values.

I have found another 12 cards that I have seen sell for excess of $100 that are not even on either of these lists. These include 31 Brandt, 43 Perry, 44 Held, 59 Buddin, 77 Wagner, 87 Green, 98 Archer, 105 T Davis, 132 Pagan, 161 Warwick, 175 Virdon, and 198 Roberts. (most of these are listed in Beckett as $6-10 cards). And we are not usually talking about anything better than VG condition.

There is still another group of cards that I have never seen up for auction on eBay in the past 4-5 years: 3 Boyer, 4 Kubek, 12 Arroyo, 16 Boros, 28 Breeding, 68 Veal, 96 Posada, 169 Stuart, 177 Face, 195 Demeter, and 199 Mahaffey. So I have no idea of their selling price should they come on the market.

Given the prices the rarer cards are getting (63 Pagliaroni just sold for $1500+), there is clearly more demand than supply - which is why I believe this set is more difficult than any other I've run across (post-war). Even pre-war - I completed 33 and 34 Goudey, Diamond Stars, and Play Ball sets with far less difficulty (albeit some high prices).

Interested in others' perspectives on this set and would love to hear any different input on relative scarcity/value of the named cards - as well as others I may have missed.

I will preface my comments by telling you that I've only been collecting this set for about 5 years now. I believe I am around 15 cards short. Has been very slow going for me for the last couple of years and haven't added many to my set.
There are guys on here that have an incredible amount of knowledge about this obscure set. At this point, I don't think you will find anyone with more background than Ken. His detail has been amazing and I'm sure I'm not the only one that is waiting/hoping he will someday write a book on it. It would be a travesty to see all of that research and knowledge lost.

So here's what I can tell you... there are a few guys that have a lot of the cards you have listed above. Keep in mind, some of these guys have been acquiring these cards for 30+ years. Typically, the super rare sp's only come up for sale if someone that has had them for a long time decides to let one go. Sometimes you will see them passed around in the pretty small circle of guys collecting the set so they won't come up for sale. A lot of times when you see the ultra rare ones, it's because someone has no clue what they have and they just list it on Ebay. There have been a lot of them picked up that way in the last couple of years. In the early stages, I picked up a Stan Williams on a BIN and I had no clue how difficult that card was until Ken educated me

Prices and values... well, that's a whole other ballgame. Cards will full borders are always going to bring a premium because there's just not a ton of them out there for sale. Factor in the rarity of the card and you will have to be prepared to spend a small fortune to try and get one. There were several sp's that sold earlier in the year that were VERY high end examples. A handful brought more than $3k each.

I think that right now, there are several more people chasing the set than when I started 5 years ago. The people I've had the good fortune to get to know in the Jell-O community are great guys. Ken, Wayne and Stew have all been a big help to me and I can't thank them enough. I have expressed my thoughts of giving up on the set a few times with Wayne and he has talked me out of it... whether he knows it or not.

So, in conclusion, it is possibly THE toughest set to complete post-war and has to be close to the top of all-time, in my opinion. Other sets might just be difficult to complete because of the cost of a card or two... but you can typically find the card. 62 Jell-O... doesn't matter how much money you have, certain cards just don't come up for sale.

Best of luck in your pursuit!

Tim

[LeftHandedDane]

Tim,

Thanks for the message. Clearly you are a better detective than I, finding so many of these cards!

Your comments about the inner circle of Jello card collectors is interesting to me. I have read most if not all of Ken's posts (pun intended!) and find the effort to match the players to the flavors fascinating. But I did not know that the set collectors themselves were connected like that.

Hopefully one or more of them will read this and consider adding me to the group - I would love to pick their brains about this set (and the other Post/Jello sets)

Ed

[Promethius88]

Originally Posted by LeftHandedDane

Tim,

Thanks for the message. Clearly you are a better detective than I, finding so many of these cards!

Your comments about the inner circle of Jello card collectors is interesting to me. I have read most if not all of Ken's posts (pun intended!) and find the effort to match the players to the flavors fascinating. But I did not know that the set collectors themselves were connected like that.

Hopefully one or more of them will read this and consider adding me to the group - I would love to pick their brains about this set (and the other Post/Jello sets)

Ed

There are a lot of collectors of this set that keep it quiet and rightfully so. The competition for some of the highly sought after cards can get fierce and to let the others know what you need can be a double edged sword.

When I first got involved, it was like going up against the Illuminati, lol. Felt like a secret society and I was just an outsider. I think with all the information that has been shared, most specifically on Net54, it has become a lot more open. As I said before, I have dealt with some really great guys in regards to this set and several of them are on here. There is also a lot of information about this set that is still unknown and may never be unlocked. Ken has done such a great job and Dan previously dug up a lot of info prior to my coming onboard.
I'm 52 and am really regarded as one of the "kids" collecting this set. From what I gather, the majority of the other guys exceed me in age. I still have to pay my dues.

[skil55voy]

Incredibly tough set to complete and I would agree that it may be the hardest Post War set to finish. To complete one with borders intact, well near impossible. Between Ken, Fred and others we have been trying to identify which boxes each card was produced on. The information for the 1963 Jello set exists. Currently (without checking with my colleagues) I believe there are 67 players who have not been identified to a specific flavor, regular or pudding. We have also not determined exactly where the cards were released other than vague "Chicago area, Wisconsin etc." From a personal standpoint I believe they may have been released in the Cincinnati area. There seems to be Red Leg cards available in higher numbers than others. But, this only an opinion. If anyone is interested I have a breakdown of known players and their boxes and which players have not been identified. The data is in excel spreadsheets and I would be glad to send on request.

[cannonballsun]

Originally Posted by Promethius88

There are a lot of collectors of this set that keep it quiet and rightfully so. The competition for some of the highly sought after cards can get fierce and to let the others know what you need can be a double edged sword.

When I first got involved, it was like going up against the Illuminati, lol. Felt like a secret society and I was just an outsider. I think with all the information that has been shared, most specifically on Net54, it has become a lot more open. As I said before, I have dealt with some really great guys in regards to this set and several of them are on here. There is also a lot of information about this set that is still unknown and may never be unlocked. Ken has done such a great job and Dan previously dug up a lot of info prior to my coming onboard.
I'm 52 and am really regarded as one of the "kids" collecting this set. From what I gather, the majority of the other guys exceed me in age. I still have to pay my dues.

Hi Tim, we both know how tough this set is, but we and other collectors of the set have tried to help each other out, when possible. Thanks to Tim, Ken Marks, Rick Johnson, Stew Jones, and some others.
I did my Post cereal sets around 2002. I used to love to buy large lots. The price per card was usually cheaper that way.
By the time my Post cereal sets were complete, I had picked up about 75% of the 1962 Post Canadians and the 1963 Jell-os. I had only picked up about 60 of the 1962 Jell-Os.
I didn't know if I wanted to do any of those 3 sets, I knew they would be tough and expensive. I left them alone and moved on to other things.
In 2019, I decided to return to those sets. I guessed the 1962 Jell-O set would be a 10 year project, at a minimum. So I'm now in my 6th year. I have made a lot of progress, but I still need some toughies. Will I make it ?

[Promethius88]

Originally Posted by cannonballsun

Hi Tim, we both know how tough this set is, but we and other collectors of the set have tried to help each other out, when possible. Thanks to Tim, Ken Marks, Rick Johnson, Stew Jones, and some others.
I did my Post cereal sets around 2002. I used to love to buy large lots. The price per card was usually cheaper that way.
By the time my Post cereal sets were complete, I had picked up about 75% of the 1962 Post Canadians and the 1963 Jell-os. I had only picked up about 60 of the 1962 Jell-Os.
I didn't know if I wanted to do any of those 3 sets, I knew they would be tough and expensive. I left them alone and moved on to other things.
In 2019, I decided to return to those sets. I guessed the 1962 Jell-O set would be a 10 year project, at a minimum. So I'm now in my 6th year. I have made a lot of progress, but I still need some toughies. Will I make it ?

Lol, YOU will make it Wayne. You are sneaky good at finding cards out there that are listed incorrectly.
I am still half-heartedly considering selling off my set. It's hard to say that knowing I'm only about 15 cards away. Is that right?? You know better how many I need than I do, lol.
There are a couple higher dollar items that I've had my eye on and selling my Jell-O set would be a pretty quick way to fund the other purchases. As you probably know, I moved out some of my graded Post Canadian. They had been sitting there in a box since after I got them from you and had those graded. I hadn't done much to work on that set or upgrade it. I have so much stuff laying around and I need to consolidate... or so my wife says.

[cannonballsun]

Good luck on your sales with those graded Post Canadians.

[Kenmarks]

Originally Posted by cannonballsun

Hi Tim, we both know how tough this set is, but we and other collectors of the set have tried to help each other out, when possible. Thanks to Tim, Ken Marks, Rick Johnson, Stew Jones, and some others.
I did my Post cereal sets around 2002. I used to love to buy large lots. The price per card was usually cheaper that way.
By the time my Post cereal sets were complete, I had picked up about 75% of the 1962 Post Canadians and the 1963 Jell-os. I had only picked up about 60 of the 1962 Jell-Os.
I didn't know if I wanted to do any of those 3 sets, I knew they would be tough and expensive. I left them alone and moved on to other things.
In 2019, I decided to return to those sets. I guessed the 1962 Jell-O set would be a 10 year project, at a minimum. So I'm now in my 6th year. I have made a lot of progress, but I still need some toughies. Will I make it ?

At the rate of progress you are doing, pretty sure you will make it. Probably not at the speed you might hope, but certainly really quick compared to most guys. You and Rick just have the knack of coming up with SP cards very regularly.

[hoot-owl]

I'm hoping to pick up one of my last twelve every two years. I have been in a long dry spell. Rick has been on a roll......

[ricktopps]

It certainly is an amazingly difficult set. On the one hand the pursuit is so challenging because of its difficulty. On the hand at times it just feels like it beats you up as the search can be fruitless for months or even years. I don't know if I will be lucky enough to finish this set or if at some point I acknowledge defeat and walk away beaten by a set of Jello cards cut from the back of Jello and Pudding boxes 60 years ago. Time will tell, but I have been so encouraged over the years from the like of Peter, Wayne and Ken that have taught me about this crazy set. As for now I sit 8 cards away from completion. Time will tell if I can complete this set or if I end up like so many climbers of Everest, just a little short, but oh so close.

Rick Johnson
Duluth, MN