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#1
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As a collector of scarce cards I often wonder if some cards/series are too rare for their own good? They seldom get play time on the board or in discussions.
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Leon Luckey www.luckeycards.com |
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That's an interesting point Leon. With so few cards available, most of us don't try to collect them.
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I imagine the red border Colgan set is nearly impossible. Anyone ever seen another red border Unglaub/Lincoln?
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Looking for Nebraska Indians memorabilia, photos and postcards |
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As someone that deals with Japanese cards, I run into this all the time. I find issues that are extremely rare like this 1934 tour of Japan Series A set that includes Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Connie Mack, Lefty Gomez, Earl Whitehill, Charlie Berry and Japanese players Masao Date (HOFer) and Nobuo Kura. There are only three Series A sets known (including this one). One of the three resides in the Japan Hall of Fame so it will never be available to collectors. The only other set envelope known also resides in the Japan Hall of Fame. This set was sold to a collector in April and is not available.
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Robert Klevens www.prestigecollectiblesauction.com eBay Store: http://stores.ebay.com/Prestige-Collectibles-Auction You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/prestigeco...llcards/videos My personal collection: http://yakyukai.com/ |
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it's frustrating when you are looking for some of these "too rare" cards. The few in existence seem buried in collections never to see the light of day.
On a good day a google search may reveal them from an old auction sale...but besides this...they are just unicorns!! Last edited by ullmandds; 11-05-2014 at 08:21 AM. |
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Looking for Nebraska Indians memorabilia, photos and postcards |
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Here is a Babe Ruth card from a different set issued in 1934. Only about three copies of this card are known to exist.
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Robert Klevens www.prestigecollectiblesauction.com eBay Store: http://stores.ebay.com/Prestige-Collectibles-Auction You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/prestigeco...llcards/videos My personal collection: http://yakyukai.com/ |
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Thats awesome
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Successful transactions with: Drumback, Mart8081, Obcmac, Tonyo, markf31, gnaz01, rainier2004, EASE, Bobsbats, Craig M, TistaT202, Seiklis, Kenny Cole, T's please, Vic, marcdelpercio, poorlydrawncat, brianp-beme, mybuddyinc, Glchen, chernieto , old-baseball , Donscards, Centauri, AddieJoss, T2069bk,206fix, joe v, smokelessjoe, eggoman, botn, canjond Looking for T205's or anything Babe Ruth...email or PM me if you have any to sell. |
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvindog/sets |
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I paid almost as much for my third Alegeheny as I did for my first two combined. Of course, the purchases were several years apart.
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. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on others lives" - Jackie Robinson “If you have a chance to make life better for others and fail to do so, you are wasting your time on this earth.”- Roberto Clemente |
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Great thread topic, Leon. Here's my match for your Jennings and Doyle. I think I've seen a Dooin, but I've never seen a Jacklitsch.
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The cards that are most talked about are the ones that are the least rare- the T-206's, of course. A card has to be accessible for it to be of general interest. How many discussions have we had about Four Base Hits? Maybe two over the last decade. If it's too rare to be collected, it can fall off collectors' radar.
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#14
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Looking for Nebraska Indians memorabilia, photos and postcards |
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Those Alleghenys are a great example, Greg.
I have these E121 Henry Johnson Confectioners cards: ![]() Finding one isn't such a big deal; sometimes you'll see one hiding in a group lot of E121s or W575-1s, and you can also find them on eBay pretty frequently. I have 60 of them, and will eventually complete the set. I'm not aware of any complete sets in the hobby, though I suppose its possible, but the issue is so tough I'm not sure that a complete set will have much collector value (besides the Ruth). It's just rare enough that a lot of people don't care. I asked a prominent auction house owner once what he thought a complete set would be worth, and he said "Nothing, because you're the only guy who collects it." -Al |
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Damn Mello Mints. I don't know who in their right mind would collect those!
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. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on others lives" - Jackie Robinson “If you have a chance to make life better for others and fail to do so, you are wasting your time on this earth.”- Roberto Clemente |
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In answer to Leon’s original question—No. Rarity does not depress price. If there is one Four Base Hit of player X, the card would be worth more than if there were 10 cards of player X. However, as was pointed out above, supply is only half of the value equation. If there is little demand for the series the card is in then even being rare may not translate to much value. Being part of a collected set, especially a really popular set, translates rarity/scarcity into significant value. The T206 Wagner is not a rare card; it is just a scarce card of a popular player in a heavily collected set. Virtually every Old Judge pose is scarcer than the T206 Wagner, but there isn’t one, except maybe the Anson in Uniform, that is in the same zip code for value as the Wagner.
Some cards can be hyped to create enough demand to overcome seemingly adequate supply. The ‘52 Topps Mantle is the poster boy for this. This card isn’t rare; it’s not even scarce. However, the hype, and the registry disease, have made it one of the top few cards in the hobby. Go figure. In some respects, this is a hobby of sheep collecting cards. |
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In 1989 or 1990 I was at a flea market near lambertville NJ. I found a group of T5 pinkerton cabinets. A few common Philadelphia players A complete Toledo Minor leauge team including Joe McCarthy I think the only card issued of him so Rare. And one C. Winger numbered 1613. A complete outlier. next highest number in set is in the 1100's So numbered 500 after next known T5. Only one ever seen I sent in picture to Beckett and had it cataloged. Value... very little compared to Rarity.
Last year I see a 1949 Sacramento team picture I look close and see it was issued by Sunbeam bread. It was the team giveaway that went along with the 1949 sunbeam postcards also of the Sacramento team. Sunbeam team cards have been in catalogs since the 70's but I had never seen a single one. I asked a number of west coast collectors they said as rare or rarer than bishop team cards. It is in REA now but I don't expect much. But it is as Rare as a card gets. Jonathan |
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Great description! Thanks for the chuckle.
Since this thread originated, marketing has been ever more the driver of prices on cards with good sized populations. Look at the manipulation/bubble we had on so many postwar rookie cards or the way the 1952 Mantle has gone into the stratosphere. Hell, PWCC is one big marketing engine, with its certifications of graded cards.
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Read my blog; it will make all your dreams come true. https://adamstevenwarshaw.substack.com/ Or not... Last edited by Exhibitman; 10-22-2018 at 12:05 PM. |
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That's a beauty Raymond.
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My new found obsession the t206! |
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Thanks Lou
There's been one on EBAY for a while. The regular Play Ball PSA-9 is listed at $4K, but the paper version, which, I've been told, is significantly rarer, can't seem to be sold for a fourth of that. https://www.ebay.com/itm/20-off-SMR-...UAAOSwldRaH2U6 I paid $1 ,500 for mine...guess I'll hold onto it for a while...and then some... .
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. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on others lives" - Jackie Robinson “If you have a chance to make life better for others and fail to do so, you are wasting your time on this earth.”- Roberto Clemente |
#24
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One of my dream cards would be a T216 VE Wagner. I've seen mino's in both poses but don't think I have ever seen a VE in either pose, not sure if any have even survived. Can anybody confirm existentence of a T216 Wagner with VE back?
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#25
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First of all, this is a really interesting topic, I think. I've never considered whether super scarcity could potentially be a negative, but here's where I come down on the topic at hand after a little reflection. I think I'm closer to the "no" side on this issue. I don't think there's anything inherently bad about the existence of some cards with incredibly low populations. While it's true that the super scare cards may sit permanently in somebody's private collection, and never see the light of day, that doesn't necessarily preclude those cards from being discussed here, or on any hobby-oriented website. In a way, there's something romantic about cards that are so scarce that the chance of ever seeing one in person, let along owning a copy, are slim to none. Obviously, I don't mean romantic in the most commonly used sense of the word. But I don't think there's anything wrong with pining for that white whale card that would take one's collection to a level that was previously considered unattainable. Suffice it to say that some of the greatest collections ever assembled are owned by current Net 54 members. I can completely understand the reluctance these people might have to discuss their most valuable pieces. Not everything has to be on display for the world to see. I've been told in no certain terms that some of the pieces I don't know about would blow my mind. And, I'm ok with not knowing. Who knows, maybe some point down the road, many years from now, perhaps one of these collectors will contact me to show me some of their most prized possessions. If I will have earned their trust, then I will be happily browse through whatever they have to offer. Leon, I would also think some of these rarer pieces would fuel collectors like yourself. I'll own some really nice cards in my life, but I don't know how many truly rare pieces my collection will ever include. However, for an advanced collector such as yourself, would these pieces drive you more? I would expect pursuing that kind of a card would be an entirely different exercise, one that required the help from other friends and contacts within the hobby. Maybe I'm off base here, but I would expect the thrill of the hunt for that rare card would be pretty exhilarating. Quote:
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Building these sets: T206, 1953 Bowman Color, 1975 Topps. Great transactions with: piedmont150, Cardboard Junkie, z28jd, t206blogcom, tinkertoeverstochance, trobba, Texxxx, marcdelpercio, t206hound, zachs, tolstoi, IronHorse 2130, AndyG09, BBT206, jtschantz, lug-nut, leaflover, Abravefan11, mpemulis, btcarfagno, BlueSky, and Frankbmd. |
#26
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But what is there to talk about? With 1 or 2 in existence...we don't know much of anything about them? If there were only 1 or 2 T206 ghosts out there...would there be numerous threads devoted to them...NO WAY! If 1 T206 set were ever produced as a prototype that never went into production...would it be the focus of this board...NO WAY! |
#27
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Tackling the Monster T206 = 213/524 HOFs = 13/76 SLers = 33/48 Horizontals = 6/6 ALWAYS looking for T206 with back damage. |
#28
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There is a feeling that comes from having a true 1-of-1 - knowing that no one else has exactly what you have - and that feeling is priceless. I know that there are a few members who own Alegehenys and that's the feeling I'm talking about.
I probably will never be able to purchase another one, but what I have is always 'emitting' that 'golden fleese' vibe. I occasionally purchase modern 1/1 cards for the same reason, though it is different when it's 'artificially rare'.
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. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on others lives" - Jackie Robinson “If you have a chance to make life better for others and fail to do so, you are wasting your time on this earth.”- Roberto Clemente |
#29
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And you actually helped me to get that one at a reasonable price. I believe it was the weekend just before the National that you had put an Allegheny card up on Ebay for sale, and I used that price to negotiate with the dealer. He even said he remembered selling you several Allegheny cards, and pretty much confirmed to me that your Ebay sale was at a loss. This sort of confirms what Leon was bringing up about these rare cards not getting as much interest (or value) because they are so rare. You would have expected this dealer to have sold out the ones he had at the National pretty quickly had there been a lot of interest in them. Word of mouth would have gotten around the National fairly fast if these were really desirable. I had only been that aware of them because of that recent Ebay sale just before the National, which caught my eye and piqued my interest. Still, they do not go cheaply in relation to most other cards from the early 1900's. You can also compare these 1904 Allegheny cards to the 1921 Herpolsheimer cards, which are also all 1 of 1s, though the Herpolsheimers appear to go for quite a bit less. Possibly due to the fact they are more recent than the 1904 Allegheny cards and that most all of them have a written dollar amount on the backs in pencil, but still all 1 of 1s. If either of these issues were to trade a little more often, they may start to see a bump up in value. Otherwise, unless it is a type card collector looking for an example of that issue, or a specific player collector looking for that card of the player he collects, most mainstream collectors go right past these auctions/sales of such ultra-rare cards when they do come up. Last edited by BobC; 10-21-2018 at 07:26 PM. |
#30
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I suppose it depends on where you draw the line for "rare" If you use a card like the Wagner as the benchmark chances are you already own a rare card. I'd guess that every OJ and certainly every OJ cabinet are more rare. Figuring it as < around 60 known. I probably forget a couple, but I'm probably at a bit over 20 baseball cards that are tougher than a Wagner, a bit under 20 if OJs don't count. And I'm not counting modern numbered inserts at all.
Add in non-sports and that is at least 20 cards more. Collect long enough and with little enough focus besides going for the strange and likely under appreciated and you'll get there pretty easily. Taken all together there's got to be thousands of rare cards to be had. I don't think the rarity is in any way "bad" in any way other than financially. As others have said, without the buzz and popularity they just aren't as valuable as the stuff with better PR value. What if .......... the Wagner was a common? I think our entire hobby would be very different. Maybe the Plank takes over as the driving force to popularity? Maybe not, the old story of a broken plate isn't as glamorous as the story of a player refusing because of kids and Tobacco. Even if neither is true. Other than the sheer number of modern numbered cards, I don't buy the manufactured rarity argument. Or, maybe I should........Yeah, send me all those cheap manufactured rarities - Ivy Andrews R300, 33 Goudey Lajoie. (HEY very interesting parallel for another thread) The US Caramel Lindstrom (And McKinley) They're obviously all junk ![]() Steve B Quote:
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Same things happens if you follow sports. Watch Sportscenter pretty much any night of the year, and you'll hear about some incredibly rare feat that just happened in a sporting event earlier that day. Rare events happen all the time, which is to say rare events are pretty common. Any occurrence is rare is you specify enough criteria that have to be met. And same thing (once again) with baseball cards. That's where the ACC has the big influence. It gives us a standard means of categorizing the cards so we can compare degrees of rarity without each coming up with our own arbitrary criteria. |
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Steve Birmingham eloquently brings across some pivotal forces and catalysts that, historically, have transformed some rarities from pipe dreams or virtual unknowns into a frenzied fight for the few. Distilled to four words, the crucial driving force, as Steve worded it, is "the buzz and popularity".
Even then, that has not always worked. Specifically, there needs to be strong buzz AND popularity, a weakness or absence of either one usually spells, "ehh, so what." Starting out with a famous case where the cards were anything but unknown, in 1985-86 when "Mr. Mint" Alan Rosen bought the case of 1952 Topps high numbers, before which time those were considered impossible dreams to own in near mint or better. The Mint Man did not have to do very much to create a frenzy for those cards, except "prove" he only had the one case, and no more was forthcoming. Twas indeed a brief window of opportunity, for which some collectors still smack their heads at their initial skepticism, and now forever wish they had jumped on this chance they let slip through their fingers. In the mid-80s, Joshua Evans I believe found the long unknown no. 16 of the 1932 U.S. Caramel set --- Fred (Lindy) Lindstrom. Josh gave it the moniker, "The Million Dollar Card", representing his stated price. Enormous interest and speculation ensued. However, there just wasn't enough interest from the wealthy collectors. He tried very hard in the pages of Sports Collectors Digest, using well-done full-page advertisements. After all, Fred was a Hall-of-Famer; but he, along with everyone else, was not Babe Ruth. I felt very bad for Josh, because I sensed he really had an outstanding card with a superb background story. It was as if hobbyists wanted to punish the man for trying to capitalize in such a big way on his find. Then there's the 1933 R306 Butter Cream missing card that finally turned up, and sure enough, it WAS Babe Ruth. The resultant furor over this Sultan of Swat gem consisted of excellent hobby coverage with loads of prognostications among vintage collectors. At about this time or so, millions of other collectors were obsessed with stock-piling their Greg Jeffries rookie bricks, and could not care less. The Butter Creams are neat slender cards and the Ruth was a decent pose. The card has sold for big, big bucks. Sadly, it really is genuinely rare, period. Perhaps there's three known, and one was tragically thrown away by a major hobby figure; by accident of course. Should another example turn up, in decent condition, I imagine it will make the seller quite pleased with the result. Finally, there's one regal rarity of Ty Cobb that would garner several hundred thousand dollars, IF AND WHEN a nice specimen turns up. It's too rare, some might quip, but our Ty Cobb connoisseurs would want it in a heart beat. I speak of the 1910 Washington Times Ty. In a nutshell, its rarity stems from the fact that all Washington Times are rare. Few survived the ravages of time. You may view the cards, including our beloved Tyrus Raymond, on the site of OLD CARDBOARD, in their listing of sets. Studying the stirring visage of Ty's face, he's fully prepared to give his opponent on this day a dreadful, nightmarish beating!!!!!!!!!!! A million dollar card, or at least half a million. And why not? No, of course I don't own one. Never saw one in person. The first time I laid eyes on the Washington Times Cobb was in a Mastro auction catalog early in this millennium. Instantly, THIS TY caught my eye. These may very well have been distributed in the same way as the Baltimore News Orioles & Ravens. With the close proximity between Baltimore and Washington, it would seem the two sets were thought up and printed by the same firm, as their designs so mirror each other. Sure, Ty's T3 is the Peach's best card, and much much prettier, and very hard to find in nice condition. Notwithstanding, there's something mysterious and mesmerizing about the Washington Times---its crimson red regal look, combined with its rarity, combined with its diabolical difficulty to attain even at the time of its release, and finally the most important facet --- the aforementioned pungent portrait of Ty that speaks such deafening nonverbal trenchant words. A 500-carat Padparadscha sapphire of a card! Ah, the stuff cardboard dreams are made of! ![]() Too rare for its own good? I guess it just depends if the card stirs the heart, the mind, and the spirit of at least a few collectors. ---Brian Powell Last edited by brian1961; 11-09-2014 at 03:13 PM. Reason: Just polishing. |
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Will offer my two cents, recognizing I have no rarities and that my "Novembet Pickup" of a 1971 Steve Garvey in VG may by itself disqualify me from this forum...
Rarity is all about supply...that's it. But price, buzz, interest, etc., are all about demand. For something like the T206 Wagner, perhaps a million people would love to have that card for every one that exists. That's a great ratio. But for some of the rarest cards, most people and even collectors don't even know about them, let alone think they want one. Maybe there's only a ten to one ratio of interest to supply.
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Thanks, Jason Collecting interests and want lists at https://jasoncards.wordpress.com/201...nd-want-lists/ |
#34
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Yes
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"Chicago Cubs fans are 90% scar tissue". -GFW |
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Definitely! You'll notice that many very low Pop cards don't go for what you would think given their scarcity. While their supply is definitely low, there might not be enough demand (i.e. active collectors / interest in the set) to maintain a high price.
jeff Last edited by jefferyepayne; 11-08-2014 at 05:19 AM. |
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I suppose what makes T206 so great is the perfect storm of all the elements needed to make this set a truly great collectible, but again - define good. If we are talking about value, then the answer is no/not necessarily, but if we are talking about as a collectible in the hobby, then perhaps. My 2 cents... Here is a set that is dangerously close to Too rare for their own good, but may make the cut as the set is big enough, and they are not impossible, and they are most likely a T206 with Thin paper. ![]()
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Collector of Nashville & Southern Memorabilia Last edited by DixieBaseball; 11-02-2018 at 08:36 AM. |
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And then we have some cards that are rare from sets in high demand so they command a tremendous premium. For instance, the Tango Eggs in REA's recent auction. Did you see the prices for the Felsch ($6K), Evers ($11,400), Morgan ($4500), & Crawford ($5,100)? I would have love to get one but a common player for $4500?
I like this card, most likely a 1 of 1 and the price was tiny compared to those Tangos... |
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