T206 v Cracker Jack pricing

[The Nasty Nati]

I'm not super familiar with cracker jack's, but why are they (including both years) so rare?

Were there not a lot originally printed? Were they just not a popular set for kids to collect and cherish back then?

[scooter729]

It's believed there may be 3,000-ish of each T206 card that has survived today; that's the highest number of any set from the era. It's much more likely that other sets from the 1910 timeframe have numbers more like the CJ estimates Steven gave, with very few other sets having populations even close to T206 numbers.

[yanksfan09]

Originally Posted by The Nasty Nati

I'm not super familiar with cracker jack's, but why are they (including both years) so rare?

Where there not a lot originally printed? Where they just not a popular set for kids to collect and cherish back then?

There were also likely far more smokers back then as opposed to kids eating caramel confections! Lots of kids even smoked back then. T206 also had numerous brands all using the same promotional cards. For a caramel set to have a much higher distribution of a set they would have had to collaborate with other caramel/candy companies and use the same cards as promo items also.

It's also possible I'd think that many sets like Cracker Jack could have only been distributed during the baseball seasons as opposed to all year long like some other sets (possibly T206)? Just speculation there, but there's countless variables that go into why X number of cards survive from any given set.

[MVSNYC]

I think the estimate of 3,000 of each T206 currently existing, is rather high, IMO.

[scooter729]

Originally Posted by MVSNYC

I think the estimate of 3,000 of each T206 currently existing, is rather high, IMO.

I used to think so as well, but it may not be that far off. Take for example a look at pop reports for a card where I would think a good number of copies have been graded - Ty Cobb. On the bat on/off and green portraits, there are ~1,000+ graded copies, and more like 2,000 red portraits. So maybe the number is 1,500 - 2,000 for many T206s, and 3,000 for cards like the red Cobb that were in all series?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by scooter729

I used to think so as well, but it may not be that far off. Take for example a look at pop reports for a card where I would think a good number of copies have been graded - Ty Cobb. On the bat on/off and green portraits, there are ~1,000+ graded copies, and more like 2,000 red portraits. So maybe the number is 1,500 - 2,000 for many T206s, and 3,000 for cards like the red Cobb that were in all series?

Half of those graded cards could be re-grades counted more than once. I think 3500 is high for any single T206. Heck, I think 2000 is a high number.