I wonder how much VCP has to do with these prices. Now I like VCP, and use it once in awhile. But once, when I was thinking about buying a SGC W511 Babe Ruth card, I checked VCP and the average price was around $300, and the card was going for about this. So I normally don't do this, but I checked the last sale of the card, and guess what - it was being sold by the same exact seller with matching sgc# for $331, which artificially pushed the price up (according to VCP) due to this previous "auction". So I am not sure if someone returned the cards or what, but the data was still registering on VCP, hence the higher price (I don't use VCP currently so I'm not sure what it would have been if this card did not "sell" previously for $300+).
Since then, this same seller has sold 2 more of the same card/different numbers. So if sellers knew how to play the game right, you simply drive up the "sold" price and make sure it registers with VCP, and then after that, the other cards you have in the same grade are worth that much. With out this bump, let's say that the VCP card is only worth $175, then all the rest of these cards will sell around that price since the last one sold was 2006 or so -
Just my two-cent conspiracy theory -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1926-W511-1-...item589ba08f19
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1926-W511-1-...item589d73a32e
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1926-W511-Bl...item589ecddd1c
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1926-W511-1-...item53f7c76390