1952 Topps numbers??

[Bigdaddy]

I'm working on a 1952T Low Number set (VG/EX) and am down to needing six cards out of the first 310. I'm going to set the Mays aside for this discussion, so that leaves five with one of them being the highly sought after, yet seemingly common #1 Pafko.

I've got a saved eBay search for the five and it usually seems like the results are flooded with Pafkos. I did the numbers, and here are the results showing the number of cards that are available on eBay this morning (12/22):

Pafko - 86
Avila - 23
Palica - 23
Boyer - 10
Murray - 43

I know everyone says "the Pafko is tough in high condition because he was the top of the stack being #1 and always took the brunt of the violence that was wrought upon baseball cards in the 1950s."

So my question is "Why do all the Pafkos carry this premium?" VG/EX examples are certainly not scarce or even difficult to find, yet they are 10-15x the price of similar condition/player/team/series cards.

Excuse me for howling at the moon, but it just chafes me a bit to drop that much coin on a common card.