t206 Hofer's w/rare backs vs. Commons w/rare backs

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I'd say that if a card has a big back multiplier for a common then you are typically not going to see a commensurate multiplier for a HOFer with a rare back. While there are a lot of people who will pay $300 for a $30 card with a rare back, there just are not that many people who will pay $2,500 for a $250 card because of the back. The back collectors would prefer to devote the bucks to other rare backs and the HOFer collectors normally don't care enough about the backs to go gaga over them. My selling experience has been that a typical HOFer (i.e., not Cobb, Johnson, Young, Matty) with a tougher back fetches a premium that is a relatively small percentage of the multiplier you might see for a common. I've never been able to double or triple the base price of such a card simply because "book" on a Cycle or Tolstoi is more (examples only; I don't know what the multiplier for these brands is, so don't jump all over me). That being said, I would never be surprised in any given context if a nice card of a HOFer with a rare back at auction went at some ridiculously high multiple over the "normal" version because of a bidding fight.

Personally, I think it is kind of cool to end up with a tougher back HOFer or star and I know I have paid extra for the few I own (Duffy w/American Beauty 460, Chase 460 factory 42) but never a full multiplier.