The disappearing caramel cards

[Mark]

Originally Posted by tbob

Just wondering if it is due to: 1) the economy 2) caramel card hoarding 3) buyers are more collectors now than speculators and the cards are going in to collections and/or 4) they are truly scarce and things have just dried up.
The reason I ask is that the E94s, E97s, E98s and of course the E99s and E100s are nowhere to be found on ebay. Even cards which were relatively plentiful from time to time on ebay like the E95s and E96s are AWOL.
Anyone have an idea?

tbob
I don't fully understand the differences among the last three choices. Does "hoarding" mean holding on to a bunch with an intention to sell later, when the ecomony improves? So aren't 1 and 2 close to the same thing? 3 and 4 also sound similar to me. In any case, and I wouldn't be surprised if 3 or 4 have contributed to make E cards harder to find. Almost all of the E issues are very limited in number, and if only a few people suddenly decided to collect a given set, it would be noticed. Beyond the reasons that you have brought forward, there may be another reason for the disappearance of the caramel cards. Yesterday, I was reading over the renewal notice for my collectible insurance and noticed a clause that says that the company does not cover "mysterious disappearances." I don't know how often baseball cards vanish into thin air, but maybe they sometimes do. I do know, however, that if they do, the CIA isn't paying for it!

[Exhibitman]

Why would anyone sell tougher stuff right now unless they had to? Prices are down, costs of sale are not. Better to hold and wait for a recovery before selling, all things being equal.

Now is the time to buy cards you didn't get before the bubble economy run-up in prices. Rarely in life do you get a do-over...

[tbob]

I've noticed that over the past couple of years that the turnover on caramel cards has really dwindled. You don't see people flipping caramels like you used to and my theory is that the cards are being bought and going in to collections in closets, safety deposit boxes and vaults, rather than being re-sold. Maybe it is because I keep an eye out constantly for caramel cards but it seems like tobacco cards are flipped or re-sold much more frequently than caramels.
When I mentioned "hoarding" I didn't mean stocking up with the intention of re-selling when the economy turns, I meant that they were being purchased for collections not for re-sale. I guess I didn't make myself clear, so 2 and 3 are similar.

[Potomac Yank]

Originally Posted by tbob

I've noticed that over the past couple of years that the turnover on caramel cards has really dwindled. You don't see people flipping caramels like you used to and my theory is that the cards are being bought and going in to collections in closets, safety deposit boxes and vaults, rather than being re-sold. Maybe it is because I keep an eye out constantly for caramel cards but it seems like tobacco cards are flipped or re-sold much more frequently than caramels.
When I mentioned "hoarding" I didn't mean stocking up with the intention of re-selling when the economy turns, I meant that they were being purchased for collections not for re-sale. I guess I didn't make myself clear, so 2 and 3 are similar.

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Tbob, are you saying that there could be some COLLECTORS involved?

Heavens to Betsy, what is this hobby coming to?