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Posted By: James

As a t206 back collector and an Ebay power seller (handling almost exclusively t206s), I'd love to comment on this.

The last three Drum back t206s I have sold - averaging about g+, have brought between $1500 and $4000. The two t205 Drum backs I have handled recently sold for about $3000 - and they were p/f in condition.

Oddly, I find the UZIT back to be FAR more difficult to come by than Drum backs.

I have had maybe a dozen Drum backs in the last two years, and only one UZIT back during the same period of time.

I see this same phenomena reflected in major auctions. A couple of times, Mastro has run lots that featured various backs. As I recall (and I am stretching my memory here), the last group they ran featured all of the tougher backs (Lenox, Drum, Carolina Brights, etc.), with the exception of an UZIT card.

It is always difficult to say how many are truly out there. Polls among active collectors reflect only a residual number. Polls among sellers reflect an inaccurate perception of volume. For example, the smaller number of UZIT backs in circulation among sales channels, could be accounted for by the largest percentage of those in existence being held by the largest group of collectors that retain their cards, and do not turn them over frequently. There is also the possibility that there are a greater number of LOWER condition Drum backs than of UZIT backs, and it is widely believed that lower condition cards tend to circulate more frequently than higher end merchandise. Thus, the higher end cards are seen less, and the lower end examples - Drum, in this example, are more public.

Either way, I think published pricing schematics do not accurately reflect true value, as with many many sets. A common thread on this board involves the question "what set is most undervalued"? If a guide says the value of a Drum back is 15x that of a common back, but, an ungraded example sells for 40x...I think it should be revisted.

I think the problem with price guides is that they do not emphasize strongly enough how important condition is, and what an enormous difference it has in determining value. Most people are of the belief that t206s are rare. They are not rare. There are 30,000+ in circulation. What is rare is to find one in better condition. This is the case with many sets. And, I think many sets are just ridiculously undervalued.