T206 Cy Young Hammer

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Posted By: RayB

As I'm building a humble low grade T-206 set I watched with interest this particular Cy Young Portrait (A card I need) at eBay auction this morning.

Is anyone else surprised that this card, this rough, could garner $255?!

I was thinking that $150 would be aggressively appropriate early on but evidently I was way off.

This adds credence to the statement that demand is very strong across all grade ranges for this set; especially the important HOF'ers.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230004888997

RayB

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Posted By: T206Collector

...is very tough to get for under $200 in any condition, especially the portrait version. The two Young non-portraits were two of the last cards I picked up to complete my set precisely because I felt that paying $200 for a beater Young was outrageous. I finally got the "glove" as a beater for about $150 and the "without glove" in better shape, but with some staining, for $200 even. I bought them both raw, the former on ebay the latter at a show. I had them graded as follows:

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Posted By: joe brennan

I'm not surprised at all by the price. I to have been tracking Young, Johnson and Matty portraits to add to my set. Prices are double what they were at this time last year. I paid $900 for a SGC 40 Cobb Red Portriat in August and at the time the 3 other were selling in SGC 50 and PSA 4 for about half of that. Not any more. They are selling for $800 and lesser grades have jumped up as well.

A scared man can't gamble and a jealous man can't work.


Edited SGC 50 and PSA 4......

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Posted By: John S

T206 HOFers have gone through the roof. Bidding is extremely competitive for the lower grade examples because many of us cannot afford cards graded above VG. I purchased this example two years ago on ebay for $172. It was a prime-time auction with at least fifteen bids. How things have changed.

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Posted By: nbrazil

as a current T206 collector, i have a dilemna. Should i buy now with the expectation that prices will continue to rise? Or should i buy later with the hope that prices will fall to pre 2006 prices? Most collectors have advised me to go after the big cards...cobb, mathewson, et al,...but that's hard to do given the prices for these cards are increasing at a rapid rate.

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Posted By: T206Collector

....anyone has the right answer to your questions. Going after HOFers first was wise for me, because of all the money I saved. I was hurt by the few HOFers I left til the end. I figured Cobb Red was so prevalent I could save it for last, passing on SGC 50/VGEX/4 Cobbs for $800-1,000. Now they go for $1,500, so I had to buy a beater to fill the hole -- and even that cost me over $200! One thing is relatively certain: the value of T206 cards will not always be going up or at the rate that they are going up. But when if at all they will go down (in our lifetimes) is anyone's guess.

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Posted By: Josh K.

Im not surprised by that price. I felt I did pretty well to pick this one up a year ago for $330 (both cards are the same - I just think the difference between it in the psa slab and the sgc slab is amazing - IMO it looks much better in the SGC slab).

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Posted By: nbrazil

ive gotten "some" of the big ones out of the way, but yet to crack the cy youngs or any of the cobbs beside the portrait. the cobb bidding sometimes get way out of hand. my snipe prices are basically dwarfed by the bids others put down even a day before the auction ends. right now, i've been trying the Josh K method...looking for low grade examples (because of paperloss or a mark on the back) that have great eye appeal. it takes a certain amount of dilligence....continually tracking all T206's to ensure you dont miss one.

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Posted By: dd

It's my belief that in 3-5 years T206 HOFers will exceed the current price for OJ hofers. I have noticed a dwindling supply over the last 3 years.

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Posted By: joe brennan

Just in the last week I went after a Matty portrait in a SCD holder!!!! I know, I know!!! I was willing to take a chance at it figuring $450 might land a SCD 5. After the hammer fell at $802, I was reminded of a saying, if it was meant to be.

A scared man can't gamble and a jealous man can't work.

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Posted By: T206Collector

...in a PSA 6 holder in the year 2000 for about $800. That may have even been overpaying a little at the time. But it's the nicest one I've ever seen...

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Posted By: Sean

What a great looking 80! Would you like to make a $200 profit??? I have $1,000 in cash waiting to be sent out FedEx overnight

LMK,
Sean BH

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Posted By: joe brennan

You may have over payed at the time, but it was a wise investment. Joe

A scared man can't gamble and a jealous man can't work.

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Posted By: peter ullman

That's portrait is a beauty...that matty'd look good next to mine!

pete in mn

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Posted By: Joe D.

beautiful cards.

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Posted By: Steve M.

Here's my Portrait....

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Posted By: nbrazil

T206...that is a nice buy with that matty portrait. do you think you will ever sell that to, say, use the profit to upgrade one of your other cards?

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Posted By: Brian

I realize that T206 HOF cards are fetching high prices in general, but is there any ostensible explanation for the behavior of Matty, Johnson, and Young portraits, in particular, which have skyrocketed lately? Is it due to their stature, the popularity of portraits or both? Any insights?

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Posted By: Lee Behrens

I would not hold back on buying if you think the cards will go down anytime soon. I got on ebay in Oct 2000, I could pick up lowgrade lots of commons for $5 apiece, now you are lucky to find them under $15. The Cobbs were stagnate for about the first 3 years of my watching but the last year has accelarated in price.The Young have really jumped up, Matty's getting tougher to find reasonable, occasionally you can find one around $100, the Speaker & Walsh seem to become really popular. Southern Leaguers went out of this world.

My advice is to target certain cards you would like to purchase have an idea what you are willing to pay for each cardbid, and follw the results if you need to adjust your bid higher give it a little time. there always seems to be slower times and you will be surprised when you are able to win a card at a price below what you were willing to pay. Be patient with your buying but also be realistic to what the actual prices are.

Lee

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Posted By: T206Collector

<<do you think you will ever sell that to, say, use the profit to upgrade one of your other cards?>>

They will have to pry this one from my cold dead hands. I have maybe half a dozen cards like that, maybe less.

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Posted By: RayB

Well, I decided to chase this one because I liked the front image. Seems there were a few bidders ready to press the price as this example eclipsed $300 and looks like a certain PSA 1 candidate when slabbed.
For me it's about the front image and I'm using the advise of others here. At some point in the future I will be glad I added this card to my set at this price.
Pleased.
RayB

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=003&item=130009003631&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

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Posted By: Joe D.

I put a bid on the card as well...

I think you got yourself a nice Cy Young portrait. Nice eye appeal for a low grade card.

Congrats.

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Posted By: Bill K

Holy moly that is a beautiful Matty portrait! I picked up my Matty, and more relevant Young in the last 6 months. Both portraits. They can be viewed at the link below.

Matty $300 (SGC20)
Young $525 (SGC40)

I don't think I did bad or good. Probably just about right.

Keep those portraits coming!

Bill

My personal collection - http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f176/fkm_bky/

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Posted By: Josh K.

Ray,

Nice looking Young.

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Posted By: Sean

Ray,
Well you beat me out...the front is really crisp and clear with the creases really not detracting from the card. I was guessing it would be a PSA/SGC 1 but they have been selling for $300+.

Nice card! One more eBay ID to watch for when I'm bidding.

Sean BH

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

It is not just t206s. Nor is it only t206s + e-cards. Prices are up sharply pretty much across the board in the past year.

I was looking at some old strip card prices two nights ago and thinking: it would have been good to buy cards faster than I have over the past year.

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Posted By: Anonymous

i started collecting in the 80's and forgot about baseball cards in the 90's until a few weeks ago when i bought a few t206 on ebay. i always wanted to collect them, but as a 10 year old, it was a difficult proposition at best. from the research i've done lately, it seems like there are a ton of people like me out there- though always loving t206s, suddenly obsessed with acquiring them. is there something in the water?