PSA 8 Old Judge cards in Goodwin auction now?

[CW]

Originally Posted by cyseymour

To each his own, maybe some people want to collect high grade cards with faded images, not I. But I believe that the high grade cards with outstanding images have been taken down as well as a result of the grading snafu. I say this because a T206 PSA 8 "1of1" will go for over 7.5k, but an N172 PSA 8 with a strong image is still in the 2.5k range, that is only 1/3 the value.

Originally Posted by cyseymour

Also, I think that (not faded) high-grade 19th Century cards are major condition rarities, just because they are so old. A high-grade OJ is far more rare than a high-grade T206, for instance.

If you are going to compare OJs to T206s, you simply cannot expect comparable prices. Despite the fact that it makes more sense to you that high grade OJs (with good images) should cost about the same as high grade, "low pop" T206s, it just is not the case -- we're talking apples to oranges.

While both are popular sets, nothing in the prewar realm compares to the popularity of T206. Thrown in the set registry competition, as oldjudge mentioned, and the demand increases, despite the abundant supply of T206s compared to OJs. Rarity should play a role, but I think popularity and demand will often trump rarity.

[Matthew H]

I'm going to politely disagree with everything Cy has said so far. Neither of those PSA 8 OJs in Goodwin are rare, scarce, or tough. Every single serious OJ collector already has a nice Del Darling card, IMO one of the most common cards out there. If a seriously advanced collector picked this up it wouldn't be because they needed it, it would probably be because it went cheap and would be more of a novelty... I've been told that there are a few guys out there that only care about technical condition, but it's just a few.

The reason, in my opinion, the condition "rarity" phenomenon doesn't exist in the OJ market is because the set it self already rare, most of the cards are scarce. If you are going to go for PSA 8s, you will have a very small collection. It has nothing to do with "snobs snubbing". The last time I recall anything similar to what CY is suggesting, is when that "highest graded" Harry Wright came to market. It was PSA 8 with almost no photo left, and yes, some did speak against the "best in the hobby" claims made by the grade itself.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by CW

Rarity should play a role, but I think popularity and demand will often trump rarity.

Nail on the head.

[E93]

I don't think anybody has ever accused me of not being condition conscious, but with N172s (of which I have about 140 different), I could not care less what the technical assessment of the grading companies is. It does NOT match with my personal concerns regarding condition on this set. So I have everything from "A's" to "7's".
JimB

[wonkaticket]

Wow Jim!

[barrysloate]

Jim- I'm always impressed with your Old Judges and I agree completely that the photo quality is what's important. That Dalrymple/Denver looks like it's a tough card- is that considered a scarce one (notice I singled out the SGC 10 among the whole group)?

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Jim- I'm always impressed with your Old Judges and I agree completely that the photo quality is what's important. That Dalrymple/Denver looks like it's a tough card- is that considered a scarce one (notice I singled out the SGC 10 among the whole group)?

I noticed, that's because of the anti-high grade bias I was talking about earlier. The Gaffney is a sweet card, though also great images on the Freeman and Robinson. Nice OJ's can be found in any grade, in fact I collect in much the same way JimB does. They are just very rare to find in high grade.