When will the Titus-Itus end?

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by CMIZ5290

+1, We don't agree often Pete, but I'm with you on this one....

To hell with T206 Titii...the world is coming to an end!!!!

[glchen]

I think this is just something that some collectors do. I have a customer who only collects 2 different issues of Babe Ruth cards. (They're relatively rare, but not particularly expensive like some Ruth cards.) Whenever he seems them for sale at a reasonable price, he buys them. When I asked him why only these two cards, he said that he really likes the images on the cards, and it makes it easier for him to focus on what to buy. That is, rather than searching and looking at hundreds of different types of Ruth cards, he just has a couple of search criteria on ebay that he uses, which he checks every now and then. This is practically all he collects.

[1880nonsports]

does it have an impact for the set collectors? I follow the sales of the N162 Beecher as there is someone with 17 or more examples. There are far fewer cards from this set than the T206 set. The market has clearly been impacted by the reduced availabilty of the card. I have followed this card for about 20 years. 17 cards is a LOT in a 19th century set. Seldom offered except at very high prices (out of line with similar status cards) - the "hoarding" has skewed the marketplace. Occasionally the owner offers the ENTIRE GROUP for an ever increasing amount in many multiples of early historically derived prices.
Given that there are probably many more Titus cards for the potential set collector - is this having a real impact on the prices for the card? I gave up the monster about half way complete so I don't follow these "newer" cards :-)
Personally I hate the guy standing between me and Beecher!

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by 1880nonsports

Given that there are probably many more Titus cards for the potential set collector - is this having a real impact on the prices for the card?

So the cards are definitely still out there. It's no longer as easy as searching for "T206 John Titus" on eBay. I found one browsing boxed lots on eBay and basically paid for 75% of the box I bought by just selling back the Titus. Sell a couple more lots of the modern relic cards I'm not a big fan of to break even, and I end up getting these for free:
1978 Topps Eddie Murray (NM)
1982 Topps Cal Ripken (NM)
1972 Topps Carl Yaz (NM)

As to the price, I started started watching, but he's considered a PSA 1 $20 common in Beckett's first ever "Graded Card Price Guide" which came out within the last year. I sold my SGC 10 for $155 and that's because the paper loss was near his wondrous moustache. So an 8x premium over last year.
But since Titus is a common for the series and there are literally thousands of them, I don't understand the griping from the guys that still need one. They'll get one. They just have to dig through the "collections" on ebay to find ones that others might not find.