Why are certain pre-war cards so scarce?

[caramelcard]

When I was collecting E98s in bunches, I eventually accumulated enough to where I felt comfortable saying that I didn't think any color was that much harder than another. I had less green than any other color with over 100 cards.

I do agree with Bob that certain players and player/color combos are tougher than others.

E98s were given away with some sort of product on the east coast. Ed Walsh was probably not as popular as some of the other players included in the set for the folks who wanted either players from their team or Cobb, Young and Wagner.

I think the Vaughn and Coombs are tougher because folks (probably kids) threw them out instead of hanging onto them right when they got them. Same with Kling, Dahlen and McClean.

I also think it's possible that certain colors were give out with particular products. Some products may have been a bit more popular then others. The storekeeper could've lost or ruined a huge stack of red cards when they were new.

Rob