What's the REAL definition of "rare"?

[Exhibitman]

Rarity is like obscenity: I know it when I see it.

I'd entirely omit condition rarity from the discussion because it is based on assumptions about a pool of cards [those cards that have been slabbed] that is not a comprehensive measure of all cards out there and that I don't think is all that objective in the first place. I tend to look for items that simply aren't found with any regularity. I saw this at the 2011 National, passed on it, kicked myself all year, then stumbled across it again and bought it in Baltimore:



That's rare. It is also obscure, like this one [European seller of a set over Ebay of late notwithstanding]:



I find those items infinitelu more interesting to collect than one of these, even though it sells for more:



Boring to me, catnip to others. That's the beauty of collecting.

[sbfinley]

My easy, and personal, definition of rare is any card that independent of funds cannot be easily purchased relatively immediately. I know that this is not mutual for all collectors, but it fits within the scope of what I collect. If I decide that I want or need an item and it cannot be found for sale after, say, a couple of weeks of earnest searching then to me it is rare.

[T206Collector]

I think about this a lot in the context of autographed T206 cards. They are exceedingly rare, particularly if you want someone that didn't appear in Larry Ritter's "The Glory of Their Times."

A reputable autograph dealer once told me that Bresnahan signed like 40 of his T206 cards. But, I have only seen a scan of one, and have never seen one come up for sale or auction. How can that be?

Can there be 40 of something baseball card related, where the value is well into the $1,000+ range, and never have it come up for auction?

[jhs5120]

"Rare" is not a universal number. It is relative to the era/subject matter. Because this is a pre-war card forum and we are all (I'm assuming) talking about pre-war cards, I would say "rare" can be 1-5 subjects. However, I would consider certain t206 oddities and variations "rare" even though there may be 10 known. This is because t206 is such a large set and, comparative to other cards within the set, this card may be rare.

I agree, the term "rare" is used way too liberally, but to assign an exact number to the term "rare" is just silly IMO.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by sbfinley

any card that independent of funds cannot be easily purchased relatively immediately.

That's a good one.