1964 topps Curt Flood #103

[Harliduck]

Probably means nothing but in my initial 64 Topps lots I purchased for my set #57 Tim Harkness was no where to be found. I had to purchase on Ebay, which for set builders sucks on any 1st Series commons...

[savedfrommyspokes]

Unlike the 64 Flood, the demand for 64 Topps Harkness cards appears to have subsided....currently on ebay there are 20+ copies available in the $1-3 price range.

For whatever reason, the demand (and thus the price) of the Flood card IMO was dictated by one collector(hoarder) of this card. Several years ago before the typical asking price of this card went above the $20 mark(now very few, if any of the 50 or so copies currently on ebay are priced below $20) the hoarder of this card was a buyer...as the asking price of this card has escalated, he is not buying as many copies of this card and the supply (at $20+ asking price) has grown due to overall reduced demand.

Another example of this type of hoarding by a single collector of one copy of a card is the 1961 Topps 242 Hal Smith card. One collector has been buying copies of this seemingly $1 common (as most midgrade, lower series 61 Topps cards sell for) for $4-5. There are typically very few if any copies of this card available due to this one collector purchasing them.

[Collectorsince62]

Before EBay changed the search feature, you could follow the activity of a buyer. I watched the '64 Flood hoarder buy every nice copy he could get . . . spending a small fortune. The more I watched, the more he bought. The more he bought, the more would be auctioned, and the cycle continued for a long long time. It's just not a scarce card - even after the hoarding. Think of the great vintage collection that money could have purchased.

[1963Topps Set]

I did not have any problems finding any of the 1964 Topps cards and finished the set with relative ease...no high number issues with this set at all!