Card that has appreciated the most in value in last 20 years?

[rhettyeakley]

A lot of these cards we are talking about may have "booked" for very little money many many years ago, however, finding one of them back then was basically impossible. Ruth Baltimore News California League OJ's etc. all fall into this category. The Ruth basically was not known to exist and the Cali OJ's while booking for little--good luck finding any (even then) for those prices. I will second the 1911 Halla spoken of earlier. I picked mine up maybe 5 years ago for roughly $30, and a few years earlier it would have been roughly $10, finding one today would set you back maybe $1500-2000 for a decent one--although I haven't seen a straight sale of that card individually in the last 3 years, there was the 19th Century auction w/ a SGC 20 (I think) Halla w/ 3 others that sold for $2000+ (granted one of the others was also a known rarity)
Price increase from $10 to roughly $1500-2000 is 150-200X the price in ~6-10 years


-Rhett

Edited to add: It was an SGC 20 (although it looked a bit undergraded-it looked like a SGC 30-40 to these eyes) w/ French, Fitzgerald, and Fullerton for $2,300.

[cfc1909]

you are correct-I think there were a few more but sold privately.

[ullmandds]

Ahhh...now we're getting somewhere. The Halla is definitely a front runner. How about the t212 Ten Million card...talk about irrational over-exhuberance?!

Or maybe a more mainstream card...like the t206 plank...while the Wags has had quite a run...the Plank has ridden Honus's coattails in spades!

[barrysloate]

There is also a different way that people collect today, that we didn't see as much a generation ago. Back in the 1980's, collectors mostly worked on completing sets. If you worked on T206, you knew that a HOFer would cost more than a common, a Cobb more than a McGraw, and a Plank more than a Cobb. That came with the territory, and the better cards always sold for a multiple of the lesser ones.

Today there may not be as much set collecting (although still quite a bit), but there is much more emphasis on chasing iconic cards. There is an undeniable status buying a high profile card and throwing it right on Net54 to show off to friends. That didn't exist 25 years ago. Also, many of these iconic cards are marketed entirely differently today.

Take the Baltimore News Ruth as an example. It was a known but obscure item in the 1980's. Collectors considered it a minor league schedule with an early picture of Ruth on it. Always valuable, even then, but it was after all still a schedule. Then in recent years it has been reclassified a baseball card, slabbed by the grading companies, and marketed as Ruth's rookie card (remember the days when an M101-4/5 was the rookie card?). The result is it has become a must have card. So while everything has appreciated over time, as it should, some cards have simply gone into orbit.

Another example, as cited by Ted Z. and others, is the E90-1 and T210 Jackson. In the 1980's they were expensive cards that needed to be acquired along the way to completing their respective sets. But after the two movies, they became status cards and everyone who could afford them had to have one. Again, this is something we rarely saw happen back then, but happens regularly today. Somebody could expand on this and write a paper on the psychology of collecting...but it won't be me.

[ullmandds]

Great points, Barry...as an early type collector 20 odd years in the making...I was most concerned with the caramel, tobacco, and bread runs from the ACC...but obviously collectors like Leon have taken this concept to the nth degree...and collecting styles have certainly evolved with the times.

[ebrehm]

I think, generally speaking, cards values have appreciated more over the past 20 years in the higher condition levels than in the 'collector' grades. So for example I think there is a much bigger price differential now between EX-MT and Mint cards, than there was in the mid-1980's. Certainly the advent of third party professional grading, population reports, etc. has something to do with this, but it might also suggest increasing condition consciousness over time on the part of collectors.

[E93]

Barry,
You were much more articulate about the changed hobby perception of the BN Ruth than I was. Suffice it to say that PR and a persuasive auction catalog write-up changed everything. Where did all the people who say auction catalog write-ups don't affect results go?
JimB

[Fred]

Ah, those "legendary" Mastro card write-ups! Some of the write-ups were entertaining but fairly lengthy. How many paragraphs does it take to describe a card in VG condition with a small crease. Those write-ups would go on forever about the card and indicate that the small crease only affected the numerical grade of the card but didn't detract from the overall aesthetic appeal of the card.

Lots of hype in the auction catalog write-ups (not just Mastro Auctions). But the name of the game is to market the card to receive top dollar for the consignors (who probably appreciated the hype).

[barrysloate]

Thanks Jim, and I do agree with you that well written and informative auction descriptions are a big plus. But my complaint was with the poorly written and inaccurate ones, of which there are many.

And I still maintain that even among the best written catalogs, a little blue pencil would go a long way. I do believe if the descriptions are too long you will lose part of your audience. Some people like them, others don't have the attention span to wade through all the drivel.

Give me a well written paragraph or two with all the relevant information, crystal clear scans that can be enlarged, and I'm a happy man.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by E93

Barry,
You were much more articulate about the changed hobby perception of the BN Ruth than I was. Suffice it to say that PR and a persuasive auction catalog write-up changed everything. Where did all the people who say auction catalog write-ups don't affect results go?
JimB

Jim- Do you really think that a Baltimore News Ruth will get more money, in a public auction, because of the write up? You really can't think that, can you?