Namath RC at 81k?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by DBesse27

Namath wasn't even that good.

Exactly. Strictly in terms of on field performance, it would be like a Duke Snider card being at or near the top of the baseball heap.

[TanksAndSpartans]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Exactly. Strictly in terms of on field performance, it would be like a Duke Snider card being at or near the top of the baseball heap.

Good analogy - an old ESPN ranking I saved had Duke Snyder at 81. Mr. 100 was actually..... Phil Niekro.

[revmoran]

Three factors that drive this card that have nothing to do with Namath's place on the all-time NFL list

1) enough people, when they think of football of that era, think of Namath
2) he became a brand that put his face on TV, magazines, billboards, subway and bus ads, and ever other possible medium for advertising
3) market momentum

the only sane reason for buying an $81K card is that you believe the market will be strong enough to give you some return. If you just wanted to collect Namath you could buy 100 game day programs for under $500. Broadway Joe was a fine football player, but he was a marketing pioneer and icon - so it's only fitting that market momentum is driving the price of his card.

Probably others have said all this somewhere else in this thread, so pardon me if I'm Captain Obvious, but there's my $81K point of view.

[TanksAndSpartans]

Mike, good points - of course anything is possible - but I would guess this is speculation too.

A couple of things also unrelated to where Namath ranks all-time among QBs, that haven't been mentioned yet - I never got the sense this set is super popular - I'm just going from posts here, magazine articles, etc. - I admittitly don't go to shows, so I don't get to talk much with collectors. I bring it up because when a set is really popular, a few more collectors than usual are bound to be going for it in high grade - so a high grade low pop card could definitely escalate. The other thing that goes hand-in-hand with a high grade low pop PSA card is the registry - again just based on my own observation which is limited to football cards, I don't think the registry is that popular anymore. Sometimes when I see high grade high number 35 Chicles sell, I make it a point to check the registry for a few weeks (I have it bookmarked - I admit it) and the cards don't show up. Its also noticable with the HOF rookie set - there was a time there was a lot of updates and discussion (CU discussion) on that set - I don't see it as much now - seems to get mentioned when someone is selling it off mostly.