controversial caramel card common value question

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Posted By: scott

this probably has been covered before but i'd like to throw this question out ,especially collectors in the game for 20 or more years.seeing how certain issues of caramels are obviously more difficult to obtain,the prices on commons have skyrocketed to the point of midgrade commons for some issues are a couple hundred $$.do you feel these "commons" (i hate the word commons because they obviously are not)will continue to demand the high prices?do you feel collectores will switch to hof cards instead of big $$ on lesser players?this question isn't disputing rarity but your opinins on the future of this.pure speculation....

ps.i'm not lumping e107's in this categoty because they seem to be an entity unto themselves as far as rarity.also i think this boards great.i've learned so much!

thanks,
scott

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Posted By: Tim Newcomb

And I don't know the answer. I hope they will at least hold at current levels for a while since I've bought a bunch at these prices.... But who knows?

In Chicago I bitched and moaned to all who would listen about a common player E97 that was graded PSA 2 and was priced at $500 by a solid dealer not known for insane pricing. Yet later the card was sold.... This seems to raise the bar pretty dramatically on caramel cards. Yet this dealer had other E97s at $300-400 that remained unsold.

Another question for you market-watchers: has ANY category or set of prewar cards truly declined significantly in value over the past five years? I can't think of one.

The T207 "bubble" of a year or two ago may have quieted down some, but judging from Patrick McHugh's results with his set, recent prices haven't actually declined much if at all.

Hope this thread will continue to unspool--

Tim

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Posted By: warshawlaw

To me a card that runs into three figures isn't a common. If I'm going to have to spend that much, I'll go the extra amount to own a HOFer or popular player.

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Posted By: Darren J. Duet

I am beginning to "feel" a tendency that the majority of old cardboard collectors are not just interested in the big name players, but also in the big name issues. The more publicity caramel cards get, the more we are interested in owning them. The more we know and find out about them, the more attractive they become to us. The card, despite whose picture it holds, has a history.

As a child, teen, and young adult I chased the famous guys. As I mature, I tend to be attracted to lesser known players, visually appealing cards, and cards with some historical significance. I love the fact I can get Wildfire Schulte, Fred Merkle, Chief Meyers, Sherry Magee, etc. for the price of commons. Each time I pick up Bill James's Abstract or watch a baseball movie, I find another reason to add to my collection.

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Posted By: Bryan Long

I do not think this way. I think the prices of all pre-war material will continue to raise no matter who the player is on the card. I do think that all the attention that caramel cards have gotten recently has made the prices go up, and the prices will continue to go up more and more people enter into the pre-war market. I look at pre-war cards pretty much the same way as I look at antique furniture that sells for thousands. The prices will never go down because as it was said before, these things have history, and there will always be history buffs whether it be furniture or pre-war cards. I guess in short, what I am trying to say is look for prices to continue to rise with not only HOF cards but commons as well.
Just my 2 cents.

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Posted By: identify7

It appears that there has been an increase in the number of pre-war collectors. The availability of cards and the prices appear to reflect this.

All aspects of the economy appear good: gold is up, home prices, the market, collectibles and more.

Everything seems just as rosy as it did in 1929.

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Posted By: Patrick McHugh

Always a supply and demand game but the national was a great example. Every table had cards from the 50's 60's and 70's stacked up tall. I'm starting to think that there are as many 50's cards as there are 1990 Donruss. Quality items or rare and scarce items will alway's be in demand and the way it's looking that may include most pre-war cards.

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Posted By: Bob Rousseau

dare I say that some of the boost to pre WW I sets might have been the Topps T206, etc. cards of current players which might have made some modern collectors want to get a few of the REAL 'old' cards, and then they got hooked on them as well.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

is that even though it was stacked like cordwood, the prices did not reflect the apparent abundance of these cards. Robert Silverman and I were walking around commenting on this very issue. I'd expected to be able to come in and fill in some holes in my 1950s-60s collection for very low prices but found prices that were consistent with ebay, so I did not bother.

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Posted By: Scott Elkins

these "common" caramels are so visually appealing - they look like miniature works of art. Just look at the colors and poses the next time an E92 Jacklitsch, E90-1/92 Oakes, E92 Magee, etc. comes up for sale! When you see these cards, you just have to own them to look at.

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Posted By: Greg Ecklund

Agreed that some of the cool poses are a factor in the prices. I put a "have to own" bid on an e90-1 Oakes a few months ago, but someone else had to own it a little bit more...Grrrr.

I think one factor that nobody has mentioned is how small some of the "E" sets are - this is a big factor for someone who collects sets (or aspires to collect them in my case...haven't finished a pre war one yet, but am down to about 15 BF2's). I think some people look at the larger sets and get intimidated, but look at sets like E95 and E96 and can aspire to completion. Pick up three T206's and you haven't even made a dent in the big picture, but pick up three E95 and you have 12% of the set or three E96 and you have 10% - this is tremendously appealing to those who like to have the feeling of making real progess toward a set.

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Posted By: Darren J. Duet

Good point, granted E95 & E96 are not that tough to complete with $$$$, but any other caramel issue is way difficult despite its size no matter how many $$$$ you have lying around.