That T206 Life: "Does the Huge Price Tag for the T206 Magie Error Make Sense?"

[JustinD]

My personal opinion:

I refuse to put credence in pop reports ever and the 52 Mantle in my mind will always crush the scarcity equals value argument as there are no less than 25 for sale any day of the week.

Value is in demand and collectors minds.

[MVSNYC]

Justin, but there's more than 25 people who want a 52 MM.

High supply, I supppse...but even greater demand.

Re: Magie, its one of the hobby's most important error cards...greatest error, in the greatest set = high dollars.

[tennisguy]

Originally Posted by MVSNYC

Justin, but there's more than 25 people who want a 52 MM.

High supply, I supppse...but even greater demand.

Re: Magie, its one of the hobby's most important error cards...greatest error, in the greatest set = high dollars.

Absolutely agree regarding the Magie.

[Jeffrompa]

Originally Posted by tennisguy

Absolutely agree regarding the Magie.

+1

Traditionally it's a highly sought after item .

[HobokenJon]

Luke wrote a fact-driven, contrarian article that bucked conventional wisdom and was surgical in its analysis. The rebuttals I've seen here so far espouse conventional wisdom and not much else.

Tell me something I don't know -- like where one can find another Magee portrait with an Old Mill back. There's always a Magie error card for sale.

[swarmee]

The conventional wisdom in this case is correct. The Venn diagram of Master Set T206 collectors or Magee back run T206 or even graded T206 collectors is a much smaller circle inside the giant circle of T206 collectors overall.
When people talk about the complete set of 524, "Magie" and "Magee" portraits are both on their list. Magee/OM is not on their lists. Magee Portrait is on their list. The backs are mostly substitutable.
A more interesting look, IMO, would be strictly comparing grades of 50/4 graded cards and above. These are the types of cards that people would send in for commons for set registry or resale purposes. Rarities and HOFs would be sent in that just grade AUTH for confirmation that they're real. "Common" players would more rarely be graded at the collector level, since many of those collectors prefer to keep them raw and store in binders.

[iwantitiwinit]

I do subscribe to the thought that there is or will be some increased value assigned to rarer semi-common backs in the future. I believe Ted Z. addressed this rarity in one of his recent posts discussing the relative rarity of several Old Mill poses, known populations of the Old Mills in many cases is very very low. Additionally, the population of these cards could even be lower as the cards could have been submitted on more than one occasion though that could be offset by the fact that backs weren't specified in the earlier population reports. In any case, I think it's interesting to look at those reports and try to accumulate those rarer semi-common backs that have few specimens known, ie Chesbro Sovereign only 1 listed between both PSA and SGC. Would think these type of cards will increase in value especially in a case like Chesbro where both population is low and he is a hall of fame player.

[T206Collector]

++Tell me something I don't know -- like where one can find another Magee portrait with an Old Mill back.++

Here's what happens. I have lots of Old Mills in my collection. No idea who the fronts are. I may be sitting on a gold mine I guess.

A "Generic Collector" finds Magee card in his collection. Looks up value. Sees he has he common Magee version. Puts it back in the shoe box. Did it have an Old Mill back? Who knows. Most people don't care very much and so they never find their way to market.

A lot of this kind of scarcity to me is based on indifference / ignorance.

Piedmont Factory 42 is the best example.

[steve B]

That's a pretty good look at things. Yes there's a lot of indifference but enough cards have been graded and enough people have studied the cards they've handled to get a rough idea of what's actually common and what's not so common.

I can say that for years I tried to get one of each back without bothering with factories. I probably would have bought one of the lighter piedmont 42s if I saw one because it would have been "different". I still don't have one after almost 40 years. (I count from Sept 1977 when I moved to a town with a card shop) I'm convinced it's the last back I don't have that I could actually afford, the rest are just too much.

So figure that one as confirmed as being pretty difficult.

Steve B

[egbeachley]

Originally Posted by HobokenJon

Luke wrote a fact-driven, contrarian article that bucked conventional wisdom and was surgical in its analysis. The rebuttals I've seen here so far espouse conventional wisdom and not much else.

I guess you consider me conventional in my wisdom. I want a Magie error and don't care about getting a Magee Old Mill.

[tennisguy]

The Magie error is an awesome legendary card! I am with you Eric!

Originally Posted by egbeachley

I guess you consider me conventional in my wisdom. I want a Magie error and don't care about getting a Magee Old Mill.