T206 Shaughnessy (show em' if you got em')

Over the last serveral months, I've been monitoring sales of the T206 Shag Shaughnessy card. It's my favorite card in the T206 set, and I made it a mission to complete a small subset of Shaughnessy with the 3 back variations (Hindu, Piemdont 350, Old Mill (SL)).....though my obsession became a little more severe, when I found myself hoarding them. I've since sold off 3 of my extras (PSA 1, SGC 30, SGC 50), to diversify.

Prices of Shaughnessy cards have continued to increase over the last several months, while almost all other T206's have gone the other way. Shaughnessy's counterpart Foster (for toughness and cost) also commands a HUGE premium. Previously the gap between the two was large, but it looks like Shag is starting to catch up. In the last week, there were 2 Shaughnessy cards that went off on ebay:

A PSA 2 which sold for $242.48 (and no I didn't bid on it)

A PSA 4.5 sold for $871.23 (no bids on this one either)

So, anyway......SHOW EM' IF YOU GOT EM'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's my PSA 1 w/Hindu back:

You have to love the qualifier on a 1 grade, how much does that deduct from the grade.

Sorry no scan of my Shag's

Lee

My PSA 4 w/OM back:

Dang Steve.....that's a lot of Shags!

My PSA 4 (Piedmont 350)

I think that is Andy Warhol's collection of Shag's.

crazylocomerk wrote:Dang Steve.....that's a lot of Shags!

It is practically a Shag carpet...


Cheers,
Blair

I wish I had that many. It's the one card I'd like to hoard. Just lay in a pile of them, Mike Myers as Steve Rubell-style in 54. I guess a lot of other collectors feel the same way because the prices on them have just gotten crazy.

Did someone say hoarding?

Next up my PSA 5 (OM)

This is quite the shaggadelic thread.

This seems like as good a place to ask this as any... As a non-T206 collector, what is the infatuation with this card. Is it just the hair? It is pretty prominently displayed common in collections yet I haven't heard about it being rare (ie. Demmitt and O'hara STL - Polar Bear backs). I see that Eric eluded to it being rare, but that is the first I've heard it spoken of in that light. I guess I have previously presumed that there might be some artificial scarcity associated with this card due to someone hoarding it due to their infatuation with the hair. I think I heard about a guy who was set up at a show a while back and he had scads of them (ala 707-type display) at high prices.

Can somebody please enlighten me? ... because it seems there are many more collectible cards with crazy hair - Tinker's horns, for one.

I think it is a combination of the HAIR, the NAME and that the Southern Leaguers are a little tougher. It's kind of like trying to buy a Moe berg card, not much ofa ball player but when your a spy in WWII it tends to peak alot of interests from even novice collectors.

Lee

I also think a lot of it has to do with the appearance of the card, and the name (I agree with Lee).

It's hard to say that anything in the T206 set is scarce (minus a few cards of course), but some are harder to find then others. From the SLers Foster and Shaughnessy are the two toughest in my opinion. Why those two are, I don't have a clue, but I do think that hoarding plays a role in it. But they are tough, and they carry a large premium. When collectors are putting either the entire monster together, or just a SL collection, these two cards usually end up being acquired towards the end of the process.

On the overall list of scarcity within the T206 set, I believe Shag Shaughnessy was 23rd overall. There were some SLers ahead of him (Foster was #13 overall of 524).