Steve Birmingham eloquently brings across some pivotal forces and catalysts that, historically, have transformed some rarities from pipe dreams or virtual unknowns into a frenzied fight for the few. Distilled to four words, the crucial driving force, as Steve worded it, is "the buzz and popularity".
Even then, that has not always worked. Specifically, there needs to be strong buzz AND popularity, a weakness or absence of either one usually spells, "ehh, so what."
Starting out with a famous case where the cards were anything but unknown, in 1985-86 when "Mr. Mint" Alan Rosen bought the case of 1952 Topps high numbers, before which time those were considered impossible dreams to own in near mint or better. The Mint Man did not have to do very much to create a frenzy for those cards, except "prove" he only had the one case, and no more was forthcoming. Twas indeed a brief window of opportunity, for which some collectors still smack their heads at their initial skepticism, and now forever wish they had jumped on this chance they let slip through their fingers.
In the mid-80s, Joshua Evans I believe found the long unknown no. 16 of the 1932 U.S. Caramel set --- Fred (Lindy) Lindstrom. Josh gave it the moniker, "The Million Dollar Card", representing his stated price. Enormous interest and speculation ensued. However, there just wasn't enough interest from the wealthy collectors. He tried very hard in the pages of Sports Collectors Digest, using well-done full-page advertisements. After all, Fred was a Hall-of-Famer; but he, along with everyone else, was not Babe Ruth. I felt very bad for Josh, because I sensed he really had an outstanding card with a superb background story. It was as if hobbyists wanted to punish the man for trying to capitalize in such a big way on his find.
Then there's the 1933 R306 Butter Cream missing card that finally turned up, and sure enough, it WAS Babe Ruth. The resultant furor over this Sultan of Swat gem consisted of excellent hobby coverage with loads of prognostications among vintage collectors. At about this time or so, millions of other collectors were obsessed with stock-piling their Greg Jeffries rookie bricks, and could not care less. The Butter Creams are neat slender cards and the Ruth was a decent pose. The card has sold for big, big bucks. Sadly, it really is genuinely rare, period. Perhaps there's three known, and one was tragically thrown away by a major hobby figure; by accident of course. Should another example turn up, in decent condition, I imagine it will make the seller quite pleased with the result.
Finally, there's one regal rarity of Ty Cobb that would garner several hundred thousand dollars, IF AND WHEN a nice specimen turns up. It's too rare, some might quip, but our Ty Cobb connoisseurs would want it in a heart beat. I speak of the 1910 Washington Times Ty. In a nutshell, its rarity stems from the fact that all Washington Times are rare. Few survived the ravages of time. You may view the cards, including our beloved Tyrus Raymond, on the site of OLD CARDBOARD, in their listing of sets. Studying the stirring visage of Ty's face, he's fully prepared to give his opponent on this day a dreadful, nightmarish beating!!!!!!!!!!!
A million dollar card, or at least half a million.
And why not?
No, of course I don't own one. Never saw one in person. The first time I laid eyes on the Washington Times Cobb was in a Mastro auction catalog early in this millennium. Instantly, THIS TY caught my eye.
These may very well have been distributed in the same way as the Baltimore News Orioles & Ravens. With the close proximity between Baltimore and Washington, it would seem the two sets were thought up and printed by the same firm, as their designs so mirror each other. Sure, Ty's T3 is the Peach's best card, and much much prettier, and very hard to find in nice condition. Notwithstanding, there's something mysterious and mesmerizing about the Washington Times---its crimson red regal look, combined with its rarity, combined with its diabolical difficulty to attain even at the time of its release, and finally the most important facet --- the aforementioned pungent portrait of Ty that speaks such deafening nonverbal trenchant words. A 500-carat Padparadscha sapphire of a card! Ah, the stuff cardboard dreams are made of!
Too rare for its own good? I guess it just depends if the card stirs the heart, the mind, and the spirit of at least a few collectors. ---Brian Powell