N172 Old Judge HOF Power Rankings

Hi All,

I have been compiling a little research based on prices realized to revise the power rankings for HOF OJ's, as I believe that neither of the grading companies have the power rankings completely accurate. These rankings are subject to debate, but I can provide examples that support my thesis.

Many of you will comment that OJ prices are very reliant on image. I am well aware of this and have factored in the image quality of each card I've studied in past prices realized. The below rankings are assuming that all images are equal - this is just to give a baseline for those bidding on the cards.

Certain cards like the Anson uniform, Wright third pose, and Player's League cards have been excluded, but I have done separate prices for the portrait poses, as I know that those sell for a premium. So it's best to treat them differently in the power rankings.

Please note that the McPhee card has taken a hit recently in prices after it was exposed in the rarity rankings as being a bit less rare than previously thought, and Robinson prices have increased. The list also reflects strong recent prices for Rusie cards.

Anyways, it is all reflected here in the power rankings. The Nichols ranking I am less sure of since there haven't been many recent results, certain results have been erratic, and on one of them, I was the winning bidder.

Delahanty Batting 15
Delahanty Fielding 12
Radbourn Portrait 9
Rusie 9
Anson Suit 9
Nichols 9
Mack 8
Wright Looking Right 8
Kelly Portrait 7
Robinson 6
McPhee 6
Comiskey Browns Champs 5
Ward Portrait 4
Thompson 3
Kelly 3
Hamilton 3
Conner 3
Welch 3
Galvin 3
Griffith 3
Radbourn 2
Hanlon 2
Beckley 2
Comiskey 2
Ewing 2
Duffy 2
Brouthers 2
O'Rourke 1
Keefe 1
Ward 1
Clarkson 1
McCarthy 1


Would love to get some opinions on this.

i have no exertise in this arena...but you now need to add deacon white to your list!

How do you power rank the McCreachery card?

apparently it's a one of a kind...therefore...it has all of the power...it's like a power-ranger?!

I am excepting the McCreachery card. But White has been added to the list at the same point level as McPhee and Robinson.

CY SEYMOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I got reinstated over at Net54. Thank you, Leon. An apology goes a long way. However, FCF is my real home and I am here to stay. I just want to get along with everyone.

I'm all into love right now, don't want to have any vendettas. I apologize to anyone on the boards whose cards I've slammed. For now on I just want to like all cards and collectors and appreciate what everyone gives to the hobby by collecting in their own way.

It's the Gandhi approach.

Good list Jamie

I think Galvin could jump a few points, and Thompson drop a few (he seems to be among the most common HOFers). McPhee isn't as rare as previously thought, but I still think he deserves to be on the Nichols/Mack tier at least.

Mack and Thompson have both gotten really strong prices recently. McPhee has been soft. A nice SGC 20 McPhee at Legendary went for only 1.5k, though it had some marks on it. I doubled the value to imagine the card without the markings and got a 3k value, hence the 6 point rating.

Galvin is another one whose prices have taken a deep hit recently. Notice recent auctions by Goodwin and last spring where SGC 20 with a fantastic image only went for 1.5k, and REA where an SGC 30 went for 1.8k. So I'm keeping him at a 3.

The question is, am I overvaluing Nichols and Rusie? Nichols is the most challenging since prices have been erratic. But an SGC 80 Nichols went for 15k three years ago (this result was kind of an outlier, based on a SGC 40 and 50 that sold more recently for 4.5k each), and an SGC 60 Rusie went for 7.7k last spring in REA, but all those are strong prices and that's why I gave them high point totals.

I upgraded Deacon White to a 9, thanks to some points made by Joe G. on the Net54 board. But it will be impossible to tell until a White card or two go up for auction this spring. I would bet they will. Prices should be high!

Havent looked closely, but I would say White needs to be higher than a 9 and Griffith is underrated as well. Clark Griffith is a tough OJ to find.

I'm moving White to 10, but I don't want to go any higher than that until we see some auction results.

You're right that Griffith cards are tough, but auction prices have been very low. Seems that a lot of Griffith cards are badly faded. I'll give Clark the benefit of the doubt and move him to 3, matching in scarcity with his peers.

Okay, based on further conversation on Net54, I'm moving White to 12.

Edit: Instead of guessing, I think I'm just going to omit White and O'Day for the time being until they (most likely) come up for auction in the spring.

Wanted to return to this thread after he picked up another sharp OJ. Just curious Jamie, do they move up or down on your power rankings after you acquire them? Just kidding. Congrats on the very nice Mack.

Heh, good question! I had actually considered moving the Mack downwards a couple points because I felt like I got a good price on the card. Though it seems part of the reason for that was the ebay dynamic and a negative thread about the seller, which I know caused at least one underbidder to be more cautious (not Pete). So I guess that with the rankings, I'm going to stick with everything as is. Now, whether anyone who actually collects OJ's is actually paying attention to these rankings is an entirely different matter, but I thought it was fun to chart them out.

Btw, the Mack did arrive safely and is now resting comfortably in my safe deposit box. I would say it's one of those cards that looks even better in real life than the scan.

On a side note, sure looks like O'Day cards are drawing big prices, and I can only imagine for Deacon White. Those will be the hot cards over the next few years as collectors clamor to add to their HOF collections, but then eventually I'd assume we'd watch their demise, as we have with Bid McPhee. Who knows?