Posted By:
Marc S.Todd:
I think that you primarily have set collectors at work here. The Bob Allison card, with a population of 8, none higher, is one of the lower population common cards of the set.
Additionally, this seems to be a highly competitive set on the PSA Set Registry:
http://www.psacard.com/new_set_registry/display_rsets.chtml?setid=113&set_name=1961%20Topps
It seems as if there are at least four people actively completing and upgrading their 1961 Topps sets (plus some others who are probably not on the Registry). That leads to a very competitive environment, with premiums resulting from the low population and the upgrade-my-set mentality. Whether it is a matter of ego or something different, I think that these set collectors realize there may be few opportunities to find that card in PSA 8 in the future.
Another 1961 Topps common went for over $400 a short time ago, and that definitely went to one of the set collector.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1812098230
Now -- I conceded that there does seem to be a large amount of ego driving these sales prices, spirited by the competition in the registry. On the flip side of the coin, cards like these are often very low population commons, and opportunities to upgrade them will be very limited. That there may be 40-50 such cards in the 1961 Topps set, with only one or so appearing each month leads to the increased competition.
This sort of competition seems to permeate many sets. The ones that come most to mind are 1933 Goudey ($10,000+ for some PSA 8 commons), 1952 Topps, 1951 Bowman, and possibly T-205, T-206.
The only advantage to this phenomenon is that I think it helps collectors identify which commons are legitimate hard to find in top grade. And almost every set has a few examples of that.
One set that I collect is 1955 Bowman. The hardest card in the set, in my opinion, is #314 Dale Mitchell. To this day, there have only been seven copies graded, with zero PSA 7's, two PSA 8's, one PSA 9, and two qualified cards. I can tell you that these numbers are so low because it is exceptionally difficult to find this card in above excellent condition -- in any case. As I have no record of this card being traded in above PSA 6 in the last three years, and knowing a few set collectors who need this card, any example to hit the market would command a deserved premium. (though there is a limit between a sensible premium and a non-sensical one).
03-27-2002, 10:25 AM
what's so special about this card-part 2 (non-vintage)
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