1939 Play Ball Williams Rookie High Grade

[Seven]

Originally Posted by jsfriedm

Something I'm curious about and wondering if people here had thoughts: It seems to me that for the 1939 Play Ball Ted Williams, high grades don't bring the premiums they do for other key vintage rookie cards. For example, if I compare it to the 1951 Bowman Mays, both cards I follow pretty closely, I would estimate the typical values about so:

Williams Mays
1 ~3K ~3-4K
2 ~4-5K ~4-6K
3 ~5-6K ~5-8K
4 ~7-9K ~8-12K
5 ~8-11K ~12-18K
6 ~11-16K ~20-30K
7 ~16-25K ~40-60K
8 ~35-50K ~180-250K

So it looks like the prices are pretty even in grades 1-4, and then they start to diverge. Any ideas why Williams rookies in high grade don't command the same kind of premiums as other key vintage rookies?

I think it's a combination of a few things. Williams was a prolific hitter, I don't think it's a stretch to say he was one of the three greatest the game has ever seen. He wasn't loved by the media though, and he never won a World Series. He was always overshadowed by DiMaggio early in his career, and then Mantle once the 50's rolled around. It does boggle my mind, that his cards, in general don't go for more. We are looking at a player who would've easily eclipsed 3000 hits and 600 home runs if it wasn't for his years serving our country.

That being said, the black and white coloring of his card could certainly be one reason, that Leon pointed out. But I also think it's because while it's technically considered his Rookie, there's a more visually appealing card of his from the same year. His Goudey Premium card, which I'll link below, is also black and white but looks leagues better than his Play Ball issue. If I had to own one of them, I'd take the premium every time.

[IMG]https://i.psacard.com/cardfacts/1939-goudey-premiums-ted-williams-vg-3-r303-94149.jpg?h=1000&_gl=1*uwjxvy*_gcl_au*MTg2NjY1NDIxNi4xNzY0ODYwMjg3* _ga*MTg2NDY4NTczNi4xNzY0ODYwMjg3*_ga_LBYZ0MN5NP*cz E3NjQ4NjAyODgkbzEkZzAkdDE3NjQ4NjAyODgkajYwJGwwJGgw[/IMG]