A discussion on the term "rare".

[Leon]

As someone who enjoys collecting "rarity" in the card world I can testify that the term is way overused. I think about it very often when I see some cards that used to be (1-3 known) have a "find" of 50 show up and then they aren't really "rare" anymore, or at a minimum, much more plentiful than previously thought. The T205 and T206 Drum finds from the last few years as well as the M101 "Everybody's" and "Mall Theater" finds made some of those cards go from single digit known to something a bit more accessible. They are still "rare" compared to most other issues but not like they once were. One thing that many owners of these, and other, "rare" antiquities don't remember is that the "supply"(rarity) side of the supply-vs-rarity scale is only half of the value equation. And I think it could even be argued it is the less important, with respect to value, side of the equation. Case in point, '52 Mantle, T206 Wags, '33 Goudey Lajoie etc...There is such great demand for those cards that their value will always be high. I would venture to guess I have hundreds of cards in my collection more rare than any of those 3 cards but very few that would garner their kind of prices in auction. Great subject.....