The fall of the candy card

[familytoad]

Rob, good question...
The E cards are terrific, but they sure seem more cyclic than other sets.
And of all folks...you oughta know!

Since this seems to be one of those times when the supply has dried up (probably more for the reasons you mention rather than scarcity), I haven't added to my caramel quests in some time.
It's not just eBay...BST doesnt have low grade caramels anywhere often enough for my taste

I'm still in though...who's with us?

[martin neal]

I'm in, although I only pick one up every now and then. If my cash flow was better, I would be all over them. Just picked up a e90-1 Bender on Ebay.

[barrysloate]

They will come back. The hobby always moves in cycles. They will be back up, T206 will slip at some point...it's as sure as the sun rises.

[ullmandds]

I'm still into E cards...in fact I'm getting rid of most...if not all of my t206's. I've been working on the e94 set this year...there was a pretty steady stream of low grade e94's on ebay until recently...I have stalled out with 3 left to complete the set!!!!!!

[scooter729]

It seems like the past week or two have been a bit slow for most things on eBay - likely due to Christmas and New Years and the further hesitance of sellers to list around these times, when potential birders may be traveling.

So let's hope for increased listings of these caramel cards - and everything else - after the first of the year!

[gnaz01]

I have gotten rid of all my t206's to pursue caramel cards, I love reading through my Egan's Handbook and studying about them. My favorite is the E125's, as I have picked up 5 in the last few months, including a Mathewson, Honus Wagner, and Chief Bender. I love 'em!!

[Kzoo]

Originally Posted by familytoad

It's not just eBay...BST doesnt have low grade caramels anywhere often enough for my taste

It's not that I have a hole burning in my pocket as I'm pretty patient, but the past month has been painfully boring on Ebay and the BST in my searching (due to the holiday season). The E's are out there in the Ebay museum, but I'm not taking the bait. I'll let those dreamers sink with their ship before I pay double or triple the value. I think everything will pick up by Feb. 1st (I hope), otherwise I may need counseling.

Matt

[ullmandds]

This was evident at the national last summer with some e issues as well...there were no e94's to be found...and very few e98's. One dealer had a red background e98 jennings in f-g condition...and he was asking $1500...but was willing to go down 10%...what a guy!

I think the issue with e94/e98 is the # of collectors going for master sets...combined with the rest of the e collectors has created a serious dearth of these issues available for consumption!

[FrankWakefield]

The Wagner card draws some initial interest to the T cards. In a way, that gets new collectors interested in prewar cards and they go on to discover E cards. But I think sometimes these new collectors just stay with the white border cards, their entry point.

I think that some of the folks that want to collect graded cards can find some T cards at grade levels the desire. Most E cards are worn a bit more than T cards, somewhat a result of many times going straight into the hands of kids at the point of acquisition, then on into the kids' pockets. Collecting E90-1s in slabs with 1's, 2's and A's on them isn't as fulfilling as collecting T206's with 4's, 5's and 6's on them. My point, I think that graded card collecting has slightly exacerbated the collectability of E cards.

[sportscardpete]

I'd much rather collect caramels than t206's. I started an e104 set that is actually much cheaper than I anticipated. I've also been able to pick up a few type caramels that were perfectly in my budget. I really do want an Uzit/Drum t206, but for the price for one of those I could build a nice starter type set in caramels.

[Leon]

Great thread and post Robert. I agree with everyone above. I like the E's as much or more than any of the T's. If I were a set collector I would be as happy as a pig in poop concerning the prices (when we can find them) of the e cards right now. And like Barry said, they will go back up, just as the sun rises and sets. I have thought about the exact premise of this thread at least 50 times in the last 6 months. And lastly, good point on availability too. You don't see too many caramels for sale right now and that is in fact probably a combination of different factors, one being folks don't want to sell in a down market and the other being their relative scarcity compared to T's. When I look at the spreadsheet of my caramel types, some of them today are priced where they were 10 yrs ago. It's a great time to be collecting them. I picked up the Mello Mint below raw on ebay, thought it vg-ex when I bought it, and paid $250. They have retained their value more than the more common ones Robert mentioned. (love the overprints too!!) best regards

[smtjoy]

I'm a big E card fan and the supply is at rock bottom which makes it tough. I can understand why thou no need to sell into this down market, I have a few dupes that I am holding onto for when the market goes back up.

I am down to 3 E93's and have not had a pickup in 9 months.