w600 vs e107

[terjung]

I think W600 vs. E107 is a great example for comparison. The photos are both B&W and in many cases are the same. Though I am primarily an E107 guy, I also admire the W600 set now that I have owned one and have developed a new-found appreciation for them. Perhaps that is what has happened… people have overlooked them due to their size. Since they are so rare (and so big) people don’t pay as much attention to them as they do T3s because there aren’t as many of them around.

Both sets are quite beautiful, imo. I am a bigger fan of E107s for a few reasons. Among them is that there is no debate as to whether E107s are cards or not. There is little debate as to when they were issued (though it carried over into a second year as evidenced by team name changes) and they are widely regarded as the first set of the 20th century. Given that so few sets are around it (time wise), the player selection is fantastic and the only place to find such a 19th c to 20th c transition.

Both sets have a similar supply (population-wise) at least of HOFers, but I haven’t researched the W600s so I can’t truly speak to how plentiful (or not) they are. They may actually be more scarce than E107s. I would imagine that the commons are more scarce, but I’ll touch on that in a minute. So, for arguments sake, let’s say that they have a similar supply in that one isn’t grossly more plentiful than the other. None of us needs a refresher course in econ, so the price difference comes down to the demand and why there is so much more demand for one over the other. A few of these items have already been documented previously (size and debate as to whether they can be accepted as a “card”). There are a couple other factors that play into the demand as well.

The first is related to the time in which they were issued. As stated previously, E107s are perceived to be limited to 1903 and 1904. The W600s were issued over a much larger period of time and while that may not matter to some, it affects those who are trying to get the “earliest known rookie issue” of a player. I’m sure that some discount them because of the 1902-1908 range in which they were issued. Advertising pieces have narrowed “which ones were offered when” and the type of mount also sheds some light on the dates they were issued, but in some cases, it is still a wide range. This may remove them from the “RC” discussion in some people’s eyes since some particular W600s could have been available before and/or after the E107 and others only after. This too would tend to hurt demand for W600s.

It would be interesting if the ACC #s varied with their mounts. Perhaps, that would have placed more emphasis and significance on the early ones, and thereby increased demand for those (ie. made them more valuable). Perhaps as people learn more about the differences, the value of the early ones will skyrocket like the E107s did a few years ago. Alternatively, if a prominent and well-funded collector decides that they are worth a ton and decides to hoard them at all costs, then others may start to look at them differently too.

In general, though, with pre-war vintage, part of demand comes from mystique. Case in point, T206 Wagner. Why is the demand for it so high when it isn’t his rookie or anywhere close to his rarest card? Mystique. I think I could argue that if the Wagner never existed, the T206 set would not be as popular as it is today. I think in some ways, the two need each other. Regardless, there is little mystique associated with the W600 set.

It’s tough that the answer to your question is an intangible, but such is life when considering demand. People want E107s because other people want them, and thus they are placed on a pedestal of sorts. W600s are not placed on the same pedestal. Having a monster trade like happened a couple years ago only added to the mystique of E107s. “Somebody traded away what for those?” Perhaps a future trade similar to that one, but centering around W600s would do the same for that issue.

Another item that may play into it as well is that W600s were premiums and were not a standard issued card. Since they were a premium and one could pick the player they wanted, why would someone choose a “common” when they could choose a Wagner, Young, Matty, Lajoie? Granted, today’s view of players doesn’t necessarily mirror the views of that day, but they knew who the special players were. This would result in fewer “commons” being issued and fewer “commons” surviving to this day. In the absence of more “commons”, those cards are less collectable and, in fact, may have never even been released despite being on some sort of monster checklist of cards that were potentially available. That hurts the set’s ability to be collected and that hurts demand. So, the fact that they are a premium may also factor into it as well.

Finally, some type collectors focus on getting one of every kind of card, yet other type collectors do not chase a W600 cabinet for their collection for one reason or another. This too decreases demand. That’s enough for now…