Are the 1910 OBAK T212 cards scarce?

[Archive]

Posted By: Richard

Greetings, are the cards from the 1910 OBAK T212 series very scarce? Look forward to some replies.
Thank You

[Archive]

Posted By: jackgoodman

I don't think any more so than most early T cards. I think the 1909 T212 set is the hardest of the three. Others will chime in with more expert info.

[Archive]

Posted By: Brian

I'd rate them like this...

T212-1 1909 (by a far margin)
T212-2 1910 150 Subjects
T212-3 1911
T212-2 1910 175 subjects


As for Obak availability compared to T206 -- just search ebay, major auctions, or BST to get a flavor...

Brian

[Archive]

Posted By: Richard

I saw a nice Obak portrait in EX+ selling for $250. The card is raw. Seemed a bit high comparing prices. What do you guys think?
Thanks

[Archive]

Posted By: dstudeba

I would pass.

Here are a bunch that Goodwin had in their last auction.

[Archive]

Posted By: Andrew

For every ten 1910 or 1911 any back, you see maybe one 1909. Been looking for any Portland player for sometime.

“A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner.” - English Proverb

[Archive]

Posted By: Adam J. Baxter

Brian/three25hits list is right on the money. About two years or so a go I managed to put together about 3/4 of the 1910 set and about 40% of the 1911 set. Back then 1909's occassionally popped on Ebay every few months, but not anymore. For me 1910 150 subjects were the toughest to locate. I also had some trouble with some of the Northwest League players in the 1911 set. 1910 Obak is not the rarest set out there, but it is a fun one to collect. Lesser grade examples can still be found on Ebay somewhat inexpensively compared to what they book for.

Toughest to easiest:

1909
1910 150 subjects (Come up for sale more often then the 1909's but the gap is starting to close)
1911
1910 175 subjects

[Archive]

Posted By: Bob

I agree 100% with Adam. Not only are the 1910 Series of 150 cards getting tougher and tougher, but when they do appear they are one of about 6-7 players (Steen, Murphy, Criger, etc)and the others rarely if ever appear. I have been sitting on needing one card for 2 years and haven't ever seen it anywhere, not even in lower condition...
tbob

[Archive]

Posted By: Richard

Guys, is the 1911 Obak Buck Weaver a tough card to locate? I was considering trading 1 E107 card with overprint back for the Weaver. Now IM not so sure I should.
Thanks

[Archive]

Posted By: Adam J. Baxter

A handful of the 150 subjects(Griffin & Willis immediately come to mind) have pics that are cropped different then their 175 series counterparts. Those examples rarely come up for sale and when they do competition is fierce. Those are probably the toughest Obaks to get a hold of in my opinion. I was never able to snag of one of those. I believe Bob acquired his Willis in a 2003 Sloate auction and has most or all of the others, so he could probably field any questions about those rarities better then I could.

Regarding Bucky Weaver, I was never able to add one to my collection due to the price. His card is a bit tough to come by, but I think that's due more to popularity than scarcity, although I could be wrong.

Unless your a big Weaver fan, I'd hold onto any decent E107 in heartbeat rather then trade it for a T212 Weaver, but that's just me.

[Archive]

Posted By: Jeff O

They used to be a lot more plentiful. I started my set back in the early 90s, and the only thing that kept me from completing it within a year or so was a lack of money. There are a few tough 175s in my opinion... not sure if there are legitimate "single prints", but I'm pretty confident that some teams are more common than others. The same names seem to come up on most want lists.

I've toyed with selling the set for a while... I sold off my 1911s and 150 series backs, but I think I got out of all of them a little too soon (I bet you've never heard that one before!). It seems like a lot more people got interested in both the PCL in general and affordable T cards at about the same time, and the supply dried up really fast.

I'm not sure which is tougher - the 1909s or the 150 series backs. The only real difference seems to be that when the '09s show up they are sometimes part of a group or lot, whereas the 150s seem to show up one at a time.

Jeff

[Archive]

Posted By: Bob

Jeff- The PCL is enjoying a real renaissance right now. Just look at the skyrocketing figures for the Zeenut cards, D310 and 311s and Obaks in general. It looks like many collectors start with the T206 set, complete it less the Big 4, move to the T205 set, then look for somewhere else to go. Some go to caramels, some to T209s or 10s, others to 201s and 202s. The key seems to be that eventually there is movement toward lesser known sets and the beautiful PCL cards of the early 1900s are a great place to go.
tbob

[Archive]

Posted By: Adam J. Baxter

I sold 17 Zeenuts this week. None of them grading better then VG to VG/EX and none of them particulary rare. The auctions closed at about $750 when it was all said and done. Amazing when you consider that I probably paid around $250 or so for all of them combined less then 1- 1 1/2 years ago. Pre-war PCL stuff has been red hot lately especially the tough stuff.

[Archive]

Posted By: Jeff O

Bob - no question that the PCL has been hot for a few years now. I only wish I'd gotten into some things sooner. Living in a former PCL hotbed (Seattle), the stuff was everywhere here in the 80s and even into the 90s... but not so much now. I thought about getting into Seattle baseball stuff for a while, but there's just so much competition. That's part of the reason I turned my attention to hockey instead.

I've been lucky enough to pick up a few nice PCL items over the years, and I wish I could afford to do more. However, there are some deep pockets out there... I'm not complaining, though, that's just life.

I want to keep hanging on to my Obaks, as I've always loved the set... but if the prices keep going up, I just don't know that I'll be able to hold out much longer.

Jeff