Centering

[orly57]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

As the potential buyers dwindle on these items, the active buyers get to be more picky and that to me is why centering keeps going up value wise.

Its not like T206 wagner cards centering is the main thing...

but yeah when you have 2,000 cards to pick from and less than 200 buyers of those cards to pay the prevailing 'market' rates, centering becomes the it thing.

you can see on ebay for many vintage cards 20 or so listings of a psa 4-6 card HOF for example in the 60s but none centered well..

I don't think that guys collect nicely centered cards because it is the "it" thing, as you say. Personally, I can't live with an off-centered card. It drives me nuts. Call it OCD or whatever, but I love symmetry. It is just more pleasant to look at. I know that there are many more out there like me.

I collect rare Cobb postcards that have populations FAR lower than the T206 Wagner, and while I may be forced to buy an off-centered copy because it may be the last time I will see one for 10 years, I would hate the card. It would irk me into madness. On more common cards, it isn't a matter of how much more I would pay for the centered one, because the off-centered one isn't even a consideration. I doubt that the bidders on the two Play Ball cards were even the same guys. We collectors are a special kind of crazy.