John Titus-Itus

[Pat R]

Titus is all about hoarding and hype. He is not "scarce" if one's view of scarcity is the number of examples extant. He is only "scarce" if one takes into account hoarding and hype.[/QUOTE]

+1 and a little research shows who the main hoarder is.

[philliesphan]

I purchased it ~a decade ago, but I have a really nice Carolina Brights John Titus card. Since then, both rare backs and John Titus have exploded. Wonder if that would mean a spectacularly crazy price for the card?

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by Pat R

+1 and a little research shows who the main hoarder is.

I hope its Tom Selleck.



I agree the card is neat just glad I don't have to buy it today...because the prices are a bit silly on this one.

[bobbyw8469]

reminds me of the dot.com bust. What is going to happen when this one person stops collecting the Titus card?? lol.....

[VoodooChild]

My only issue with this whole thing (and the reason I overpaid by 4X for one) is that we do not know what the reason is for the "hoarder" to be doing this. Just a quick ebay sold search shows that he's won like 90% of the recent sales and was underbidder on the others. At this point, he knows what is going on and just doesn't care. He continues to spend thousands of dollars and drive the market up on himself.

I said this in my inital post to this thread a while back, but I rememer reading from someone that knows him that he has some "special project" going on. We don't know what that is and he obviously doesn't care how much it costs. I like to imagine him in a dark basement creating some sort of mosaic wall display out of the cards like a mad scientist. What if he is busting them out of slabs and pasting them to a canvas or something or even worse cutting them up in some sort of way. I doubt it but again we just don't know.

Yes, I am "educated" enough in the T206's to know that Titus is not really rare. But if he has some sort of lifelong project going on, his hoard my never see the marketplace in our lifetime. Maybe he'll will the project to his relatives, again who knows. So my question is still - without knowing the intent of the hoard (and at this point it doesn't appear to be financial or for profit) and if the cards will ever be available, doesn't that justify buyers treating the card as rare/tough and spending accordingly?

[clydepepper]

Maybe a short screen or two worth?

[teetwoohsix]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

Maybe a short screen or two worth?

Raymond, if you are referring to Bill, there is no reason to hear from him because he is not one of the people hoarding this card. He uses it as his avatar and screen name- but that's about it. God help me if someone ever starts hoarding Vic Willis portraits.

Sincerely, Clayton

[Econteachert205]

Sgc 80 just went for 713 on ebay.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by teetwoohsix

Raymond, if you are referring to Bill, there is no reason to hear from him because he is not one of the people hoarding this card. He uses it as his avatar and screen name- but that's about it. God help me if someone ever starts hoarding Vic Willis portraits.

Sincerely, Clayton

Ya, I don't know what he's implying. My user name was an homage to Rollie Fingers, who I grew up cheering for when he was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. In fact, when I first joined this forum, my avatar was a picture of Rollie for the first year or so I was on here. I only changed it to a picture of Titus because I collect T206 cards, and his card is the only one in the set with a mustache. I don't have any of his cards, much less a horde of them.

[4815162342]

This Helmar fantasy fake is hilarious. Without the 'stache, Titus just doesn't bring the cash.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/T206-Helmar-...-/400720471839

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

This Helmar fantasy fake is hilarious. Without the 'stache, Titus just doesn't bring the cash.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/T206-Helmar-...-/400720471839

The modern Helmar cards aren't my thing, but there is a Titus with 'stache version that apparently also carries a premium over the sans 'stache version of a Titus Helmar card.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/T206-Helmar-...p2047675.l2557

[The Nasty Nati]

What I find hilarious about the high prices for the Titus card is the fact that back in the day his nickname was "Tight Ass" because he was so frugal or "tight" with his money. Titus, if he was around today, would never pay $300+ for a PSA 2 common

...And I highly recommend you read his SABR bio, very interesting fellow.

http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/edd1ff06