What makes a card rare

[steve B]

Originally Posted by arc2q

I am sure it has been discussed many times here and in other forums so I am saying nothing new. It would seem the most important facet of any such discussion would be to define the terminology. Rare, tough, popular, and highly-desirable all have different connotations to the hobby.

Vintage baseball cards are a wonderful example of a phenomen in economics called Veblen goods -- things that increase in demand as the price goes up. It is the perception of rarity that drives much of the market. The best example being Honus Wagner, of course. More people are willing to pay more money for something that, with each new discovery, is slightly less rare than previously preceived. Many on this board would lament the over-focus on T206 since it is clearly not as rare as many of its contemporary sets. But the barrier to entry for those sets is so high it precludes many of us from joining. T206 is sufficiently rare as to be novel but common enough to be available to the average person. So we pay more than we should for common examples because they are seen as obtainable luxury items.

The danger is that goods of this nature are bound to reach a second hump in the supply curve. Once the price reaches a certain point enough people will cash out, supply will be flooded, and there will be more sellers than buyers. Good if you just want the cards and want to build a collection. Bad if you are collecting for the value.

The biggest thing that bugs me about rarity in the baseball card field is the idea of artificial rarities. I guess modern card companies have to do something to drive sales. But I personally put little value in artifically-limited items. Modern card sets include so many artificial rarities -- 1 of 1 autographed chrome specialties and the like -- but the demand may not quite be there. They are certainly rare in the sense of being 1 of 1 but not as tough to get because generally the person who finds one in a pack wants to unload it. They have no intrinsic value -- merely inflated value by contrived rarity.

So........You don't like ..............

R300 Ivy Andrews
US Caramel Lindstrom
33-4 Goudey Lajoie

And probably a bunch of others like most prewar cards with coupons for a redemption that still have the coupon.

If you get any of those artificial rarities feel free to send them to me. I'll even pick up the postage.

Steve B