Eddie Plank

[sago]

I think N172 Anson in uniform would easily be in 3rd if one ever hit the marketplace. IIRC, its been at least a decade.

Originally Posted by Sean

It's probably not the 2nd most valuable any more. I would put it 5th.

1- T206 Wagner
2- Baltimore News Ruth
3- T206 Doyle Nat'l
4- T206 Cobb/ Cobb back
5- T206 Plank

In each of these cases the cards are both rare (ie-total number of cards) and scarce (number of cards relative to demand for the card).

Plank is a rare card from the most popular set ever. You are correct that there are many cards that are more rare than Plank, but there isn't the same demand for these cards.

[Baseball Rarities]

Originally Posted by sago

I think N172 Anson in uniform would easily be in 3rd if one ever hit the marketplace. IIRC, its been at least a decade.

Yes, the Anson definitely would.

A Just So Young would as well.
I think that the T210 Jackson would sell for more in comparable grades too.

I am sure that there are more.

[Snapolit1]

Cool stuff. Really cool stuff. Wish I had one.
The answers are essentially that they are scarce and the player was great and demand is high. I guess what I was getting at is why has demand always been high for some cards. I know it's not easy to answer. I have somethings in my collection where they are amazing hall of famers and less than 10 of them have been graded and there is little or no demand for the card. Some Zach Wheat strip cards as one example. Some of them I probably couldn't sell for $250. At some point there is a collective decision by a mass of people that the card is rare and a great player and is aesthetically pleasing. Like the 52 Mantle. I think there is a very subjective aspect to the demand for certain cards. Not saying it's good or bad. Some cards just have that "it" factor. Someone above said "he looks like a ball player". Maybe that's about it.

[swarmee]

Well, your point about strip cards is different though. Just like cards bought direct from manufacturers today, they hold less interest than ones that were pack-pulled. Strip cards were sold in sheets at the store, or given away. They are also normally on lower grade paper than cardstock. So being flimsy and not connected to a brand name (Ginter, Goudey, Piedmont) reduces their interest because they are not "tobacco" or "candy" cards.

The vast majority of strip cards are ungraded, so worrying about the population reports for those issues is not something I would do.