[the-illini]

I was able to win 13 of the Mendelsohns Al had for sale - I have been collecting this set for years and this is the second largest grouping I have ever seen for sale at one time. Prices have definitely dropped on these, but I think there is a little more to it.

Leon is correct, the number of set collectors for this issue is pretty small - I only know of one other person other than myself working on the set and he is very close to complete (not counting the checklilsted cards that have yet to be discovered).

While this was a very large offering of M101-6's, there were a lot of "common" cards in the grouping. I am not referring to common players, but cards that have appeared for sale relatively frequently for a set this tough. These cards were issued over a period of 4 years and in collecting them for close to a decade I have come to realize some were issued in much higher quantities than others.

Sam Rice, for example, is about as easy a HOFer to find as there is - that is a big reason it sold for 338 dollars. If it had been Dave Bancroft - a similar tier HOFer - you could add another zero to that price, easily. The "tougher" commons available in this auction (Shawkey, Groh, Wingo) all pulled pretty strong prices; over 650 each.

IMO this grouping suffered from a narrow collector base who had a majority of the cards being offered. The set has definitely cooled, but if cards like Ping Bodie, Bancroft, Buck Herzog and Sam Crawford were to hit the market, I think the prices would be very very high.