Why not more buzz on the Al Demaree Find/Auction?

[cardswin53]

Just curious why there hasn't been many threads or posts on the Al Demoree find and auction. As a Cardinals vintage collector I am very excited about the find and the possibility of adding one or more to my collection.

[Leon]

They are neat cards, R304 Demaree, but are not too widely collected. One reason for that is because of their scarcity. Another is because of their awkward size, and lastly, even a common is several hundred dollars so it won't be easy to go for a set, financially. I know there are many uncataloged cards in the auction and I have a feeling there are plenty more uncataloged ones out there. Still I think they will do well in the long run and, as an esoteric card collector, I like them quite a bit. There is still 10 days left in the auction and I am sure they will do well. regards

http://www.collect-auctions.com/catalog.aspx

[rhettyeakley]

I think this hobby has really changed over the past 10-20 years where cards from the 1930's and 1940's aren't as widely appreciated by vintage collectors. Back in the day a Goudey was just as valuable (or more) than any t206 or t205 card and people preferred the colorful cards form the 1930's, that all seemed to change right about the same time as the advent of grading.

Honestly, when was the last time we had a long thread that specifically targetted 1930's or 1940's cards?

The reason for this is probably simple, we know a lot more about those cards than we do from the earlier decades and to a degree everything about them has already been written. As a hobby researcher/historian these decades just don't offer much in the way of "new" material or information. Also, the cards themselves, while often found beat up, are way more available in nice shape and the lower graded 30's and 40's gum cards haven't seen an increase in price in many years... if anything the common Goudey and Diamond Stars mid-grade stuff is cheaper now thn it has been in a LONG time. The high grade collectors are collecting them in earnest but I never get anyone interested in my 30's stuff, it just sits in my inventory for a long time.

The rare 1930's and 40's issues suffer because of all the things I mentioned as well, and are essentially "guilty by association" in that since the 30's cards have seen reduced interest as of late, so have the rare 1930's issues. A set from the 1910's that is of similar rarity to the Demaree Die-Cuts would be 5-6x as valuable as your average R304 common in somewhat decent shape w/o a trimmed tab ($300-450).

It just seems like the vintage baseball hobby has focused WAY more in the past 5-8 years on the 1900-19 era at the expense of the 19th century stuff and the stuff that came later. If you checked this same site (or its predecessor) 8 years ago there was a lot more people looking for 19th Century stuff than you see now. This hobby is cyclical, it seems like the more mainstream E-card sets are pretty frigid right now where a few short years ago a decent E102 or E96 HOFer was like money in the bank. It will be interesting to see the direction our hobby takes in the future, maybe the R-cards will have their day in the sun.

-Rhett

[cardswin53]

Thanks for your comments.
As a Cardinals team collector who has most of the vintage cards from the mainstream sets, a find and auction of Al Demaree cards is the most excitment I've had in the hobby for quite awhile, I would guess that most team collectors and type collectors would be equally excited. I would not expect anyone to try to collect these as a set.
For those of you that are type collectors, might I suggest you bid on non-cardinals in this auction !

[Orioles1954]

For the record Rhett, with few exceptions (T209 thru T216), I only collect 1930s cards. DeLong, Tattoo Orbit, Batter-Up, George C. Miller, Uncle Jack are just way way way more interesting to me than some random T206 card.

[tbob]

Rhett- I agree with most of your post but have to disagree with the caramel cards being frigid. I don't think their value has slumped more than the tobacco issues of the pre-war era. I believe there has been a real hoarding of many of the caramel issues like E94, E97, E99, E100 and E103 with the net result that you don't seem them for sale in numbers anywhere near where they were a few years ago or even a year ago. I have also noticed that the mid grade and high grade caramels are doing quite well in auctions. I have noticed, however, that the E92, E93, E95 and E96s have not held their value nearly as well as some of the other caracmel sets. Maybe it is because there are more available and are not being hoarded and are being acquired to flip.
It does seem that the cards from the 5 sets I mentioned above seem to be being purchased and going in to collections, not being flipped or coming back on the market months after purchase. The one exception in the 5 set is the black and white "proofs" in the E97 set. They are still tough to find but are now selling for prices no where near what they were selling for a few years ago. Good news for those of trying to complete the set, bad news for those of us holding many of them and watching prices drop.

[tbob]

I have watched the purchase prices of the DeLong cards (I own a set) and have been surprised that they are dropping in price like they are. I think the cards are very attractive and unique and am surprised you can pick them on ebay in nice shape for such low prices (relatively speaking).