The commonness of rare cards is less perplexing than the rarity of common ones

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Posted By: davidcycleback

In the autograph hobby, there are many early obscure player autographs that are rare or at least rarer than others. Many of these players played for perhaps a year or two in the league, and even many people on this board wouldn't have heard of them. However, to autograph collectors rarity is a quality in and of itself, and they will pay more fair money for the autographs ... Many autograph collectors are team collectors, and when a rare but obscure Yankee or Cardinal pops up, they will want it. They may have even been looking it for a long time.

As someone who deals with baseball autographs, I find that obscure or lesser player signed personal letters and official documents can be as interesting as those signed by famous players. You get to do a little research on their careers, where they were from. Jason Giambi and Nolan Ryan signed white baseballs with holograms can be so Shop at Home in comparison.

One of my favorite letters was from a player who's entire Major League career consisted of one game as a Detroit Tiger. However, that one game was when he was replacement for Ty Cobb when Cobb was suspended for beating up the fan in the wheel chair. As described in the letter, the Tigers team skipped the game in support of Cobb, and the Tiger management had to recruit local amatuer players to fill in for one game. By chance, this player was put in at Cobb's position in the outfield and he went down in history as Cobb's replacement. Whether or not anyone knows the player's name off the top of his head, this letter was more desirable than a Peyton Manning signed T-shirt.