Scarcity

[mintacular]

Can pop reports really tell you much at all regarding my original Q? I would think 9/10 collectors, especially senior folks, don't send cards to grading companies as this service is relatively new. I would think pre-war collectors that aren't trying to resell their collectibles at this time would NOT be motivated to pop their Tris Speaker in the mail to authenticate an item they already know to be original. (JMO)

[cozmokramer]

I'm always curious about this for OLD JUDGEs... Go back to the 19th century stuff.

These were photos pasted onto backings... How many of each did they do back then? Was it 1000 of each player? 10,000 of each, or 100,000 or more?

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by mintacular

Can pop reports really tell you much at all regarding my original Q? I would think 9/10 collectors, especially senior folks, don't send cards to grading companies as this service is relatively new. I would think pre-war collectors that aren't trying to resell their collectibles at this time would be motivated to pop their Tris Speaker in the mail to authenticate an item they already know to be original. (JMO)

Hey, I'm one of the people who says do not use pop reports blindly as a measure of scarcity (as I stated in my first post).

That said, there is nothing out there that will answer your question. You want ballpark? You'll have to use rough estimates. These things are as good for that as anything I'm aware of.

Also, in your estimate of 9/10 vintage collectors not using grading services, I think you are wrong on that. I believe much more than 10% of vintage collectors use grading services. Do they send in every card? No! But that point has already been covered. Some (esp common and low grade) are just not worth it.

But anyways, if 9/10 people who own a T206 Speaker don't send it in, and 9/10 people who own a '53 Mantle don't send it in, then their relative scarcity (to each other) will be accurately reflected by the pop report.

[mintacular]

BoSox Blair that any evidence provided related to "pop. reports" provides a very incomplete (if not completely inaccurate) picture regarding the quantity of pre-war vs. post-war cards...

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by mintacular

BoSox Mike that any evidence provided related to "pop. reports" provides a very incomplete (if not completely inaccurate) picture regarding the quantity of pre-war vs. post-war cards...

We definitely agree on that!

Best of luck in your collecting!

[sox1903wschamp]

Good Discussion. I guess I am one of the 10% that did send a T206 Speaker into SGC and no, I am not a senior. I purchased my Speaker back in the Teletrade days of the 90's and wanted it graded a few years back for various reasons. One of the biggest was to see if the grade assigned matched the auction description. I have no plans to sell it and have since had my entire subset of T206 Red Sox graded. Makes for a really nice looking display.