Mail Day...Again

I received several more packages in the mail today.

So I have been on a little buying spree lately and today was a good day at the mailbox.

First up is this quad relic Teixeira.

 

This is a 2007 UD Premier Remnants Quad Jersey.

 

I have another one of these that says MARK instead of 1B23 so it's cool to get another one that is a little different.  This card came not in a toploader, but in a penny sleeve between two pieces of cardboard.  Really?  Not even a toploader?  Oh well, at least it arrived safely.

 

Next up is an auto/jersey card of Teixeira.

 

 

This one is a 2003 SPx Young Stars.  I am a big fan of the auto/relic cards so it's nice to get another one.  This is numbered to 1295. It did come in a toploader.

 

Next is what?  Yes, another auto/jersey card of Teixeira.

 

 

This one is a 2004 Upper Deck SPX Swatch Supremacy and is numbered to 999. 

 

Next is a nice prewar pick up.

 

 

Another E98 HOFer in the form of a Johnny Evers PSA 1(MK).  Obviously the MK qualifier is for the W.G. stamped on the front and the star that was scratched into it as well.  I don't care about those things though.  I'm just glad to have it. 

 

I also received the following three cards in one puffy.

 

 

These are 1934-36 Batter Ups.  Nice poor condition ones like I like 'em. 

 

So that was my mail day today.  Not bad huh?  It's nice getting mail. 

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.

Mail Day

I got a couple nice cards in the mail yesterday.

First off I don't collect much modern stuff, but if you follow my blog you'll know that I do collect some game used and/or auto cards.  I just like the look of them and so I pick them up now and then. 

I also mostly collect these cards of Mark Teixeira.  I liked him when he started with the Rangers and then followed him all the way to the Yankees.  I pick up mostly his game used and autos but also those of other HOFers from my youth in the 80's. 

Well, these two that arrived yesterday are two Mark Teixeira cards. 

 

This is a 2004 SP Game Used Patch Premium numbered to 50.  I like the look of the patch on this card and the overall design of the card is nice.  The picture they used of Mark could've been a better choice instead of him looking away but whatever.

 

Next up is an auto/game used that I am really fond of.

 

 





This one is a 2004 UD Ultimate Collection Game Materials Signatures also numbered to 50. I like the colors and design on this one too.  And the signature is nice and clean.  The swatch is just a plain white swatch but I can live with that. 

As one of my collecting friends always says, collect what you like. 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.

Some New Pick Ups For a Purpose

I recently picked up three cards that I already have in my collection.

I belong to an online trading group and the members send cards to each other if the other member needs it for their set.  It's a simple concept really; I have it, you need it, you get it.  It's also known as RAOK: Random Act Of Kindness.  Sure we set up trades with each other at times, but mostly we just send cards to one another for the heck of it.

Well, I recently picked up three cards just to put them in my dupes box to send out to guys who need them.  If you don't know what a dupes box is, it's a collection of your duplicate cards that you can send out to others because you already have them in your own collection.  And the cards are generally kept in a box.  Ok, good, covered that.

So here is the first card I picked up...

 



A nice little off condition Ozzie Smith rookie from 1979.  Oh yeah, another thing about my trading group is that we collect cards in all conditions.  We don't care if they are in poor shape so this is actually a pretty nice example.

The second card I picked up...

 

The 1974 Topps Dave Winfield rookie.  Look at those beautiful creases right through his face.  Someone is going to love this card for sure!

 

And the third card I picked up for my dupes box...

 

 

A sweet little 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson rookie.  Someone needs this baby I'm sure.  I'll find out who they are and get them a nice hit in the mail. 

 

Why am I showing these cards that I'm going to be giving away?  To pat myself on the back?  Nope.  To let people know what the hobby should be about.  Or at least my idea of it (and the other guys in the group too).  You see, I feel like these cards are everyone's cards and we all just share them in our collections.  Does that mean I would send out any card I own to someone?  No.  If I need it for my collection then I'll keep it, but if I have a dupe, well, I can send that to another collector in the hobby and that's just where that card was supposed to be.  So he can hold it in his collection until he upgrades or decides he doesn't want it anymore and he passes it on to someone else.  Or sells it of course.  If I send it to a guy, it's his, he can do whatever he wants with it.

 

So there's my ramble for the day.  I hope some of you have similar feelings about the hobby and collecting cards.  Let me know in the comments if you agree or not.

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.



Novel Coronavirus Covid19 Pandemic...and cards

The world has a new Pandemic and life has changed for everyone.

This is a vintage baseball card blog, but as my description of the blog above says, I can pontificate on anything I want here.  I don't think I've ever really strayed from the hobby before, but thought this was good enough reason to do so. 

This is more of an entry in a personal journal than a baseball card blog post.  It's my thoughts on this whole situation we are all now in and it's for me to come back to years from now and read and remember the beginning of it all. 

It is mostly stream of thought as I'm just writing as I think, so forgive me if I ramble or go off topic.  These are strange new times in the world.  There is a new virus that is infecting people around the world and killing them in droves and we have no defense for it.  The government has basically shut down the country.  States are closing all businesses that are not essential.  Everyone who can work from home is now working from home.  Tons of people are losing their jobs.  Restaurants are only serving take out or delivery.  Even my bank is closed down. 

The streets in NY are empty.  I live in NJ and even we have a stay at home order from the government.  We can only leave our homes for essential reasons like getting supplies (think grocery stores), going to the doctor, going to the pharmacy.  No gatherings are allowed any more.  There are no sports being played any more.  Baseball season has been delayed indefinitely and March Madness was cancelled all together. 

These are eerie times for sure.  Life has changed for the entire world.  People are self isolating in their homes.  We are supposed to stay 6 feet apart from everyone else if we do go out.  There is a shortage on all cleaning products like wipes, Purell, Lysol products and even toilet paper can't be found anywhere.

I've been working from home daily now.  Thank God I am able to do so.  And have left the house only once in the last ten days.  I look at people outside like they are crazy and they might have the virus.  How screwed up is that?  It's like an actual outbreak type movie these days.  People are quarantined who are sick. 

They've stopped all foreclosures on homes for now.  They extended tax day two months out (I think it's two months).  They have ordered utility companies not to shut off anyone's services due to non-payment. 

The plus side is I'm getting a lot of time with my wife and kids.  And (since this is a baseball card blog) I'm getting more time with my cards.  I belong to an online trading group and we have all still been sending out cards to each other through all this.  So it's nice to get some cardboard in the mail.  Just yesterday I got a handful of 1970's era high numbers from one of my buddies.  That was sweet.  I can't wait to check them off my lists later today.  

Stay safe out there everyone.  Stay home and healthy and do your part not to spread the virus.  Things will get better, I hope, and get back to normal eventually. 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.

Ratsch Peerless Advertising Display

Years ago I saw a postcard that I thought was one of the nicest postcards that I've seen before.

That postcard was for Ratsch Peerless Athletic Goods. 

Ratsch Peerless was a Chicago Sporting Goods Manufacturing Co. as noted on the card.  They sold more than just baseball equipment as boxing gloves and a punching speed bag are also pictured on the card.

The graphics are just awesome with a baseball game in progress with the pitcher, catcher, third baseman and shortstop pictured as well as the batter for the team on offense.  The rest of the team members are seated in their respective dugouts.  The Grandstand looms over the field taking up the majority of the center of the postcard filled with spectators and even the netting behind home plate to protect those fans seated there.

There are two individual players pictured, one on each side in the borders.  One player from the Chicago White Sox and the other player from the Washington squad.  Interestingly the caption at the very bottom of this postcard notes it should be a picture of the "Championship Series 1908, Chicago Cubs vs. Detroit Tigers". 

What I didn't know about this postcard when I first saw it was that it was actually more than just an advertisement for Ratsch Peerless sporting goods, but it's an ad for the Ratsch Peerless window display that retailers could order for free.  The writing is printed on the post card not actually hand written as it has been seen on more than one example of the postcard address to different recipients.

Here is the back of the postcard. It reads as follows:

This illustrates our window display panorama.  Do you want one? If so, write us & we will tell you how to get one free. 

Apparently retailers could order a larger version of the front of the postcard to display in their window.  But what the writing doesn't tell us is any details about the display. 

Well, I then found another piece that has the same image as the Ratsch Peerless ad, only this one is for Diamond Brand Athletic Goods.  This piece turned out to be a page from a catalog for  Norvell-Shapleigh Hardware Company from 1910.  And it gives a bit more info to the mystery of the window display.

 



This page from the catalog is larger than the standard size postcard for Ratsch Peerless measuring 12 x 10.5 inches.  At the top of the image it reads, "Diamond Brand Show Window Display". 

But the part that interests me the most is the fine print at the bottom of the page which reads:

   

  The above is a color reproduction of our Diamond Brand Window Display - actual size, 28 inches high, 40 inches wide, 10 inches deep: shows a perfect Base Ball Diamond and Grand Stand; each player is cut out in Cardboard and is in proper position.  The Home Team is dressed in White, the Visitors in Blue; arranged so that and electric light can be inserted, thereby making an effective display at night as well as day. 

 

      Furnished to Handlers of Diamond Brand Base Ball Goods.  Full particulars furnished upon request.

This tells us that the window display was actually not just a flat cardboard sign to be placed in the window, but it was actually a three dimensional display with multiple layers.  Retailers could even place a light inside the display to light it up at night.  And it was quite large at over two feet tall and more than three feet wide. 

 

To date, none of the original displays have ever been found intact so we have to use our imaginations to picture the piece.  I would love to see one if one ever surfaces.

 

I also find it interesting that the same image was used by Ratsch Peerless and Diamond Brand which suggests the displays were actually made by a third party and licensed out to other interested parties.  Similar to how Felix Mendelson printed the M101-4 set and had multiple companies use them to print their own ads on the backs. 

I wouldn't be surprised to find another example with a third company's advertising on it.  What do you guys think?  Do you like these pieces or no?

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.

T206 Miscuts

There are many miscuts in the T206 (and T205) set that can help us learn about the layout of the sheets these cards were printed on.

There are many types of miscuts on T206s:

1.  Some of them show a second name at the top of the card and that name can either be of the same player shown on the card or it could be of a different player.  It is much more rare to find a different name at the top of the card.
2. Some of them have multiple images of the ad on the back.  This doesn't help with the layout of the sheets but are cool miscuts all the same.
3. Others are just very miscut where half a card top is shown with half of the bottom of the card above it on the sheet is showing.  In these cases, again, it is much more rare to find a different player shown rather than the same player in both positions
4. There are also miscut examples where there is no additional card above the miscut card which suggests that the card was printed at the top of the sheet.

I wanted to focus on the third type where the cards are just really badly miscut and two card are seen.  I'm not going to try to theorize the layout of a sheet here, just show some miscut cards. 

Here are some examples that I found online for your viewing pleasure.

 

 

How about a couple Hall of Famers...

 

 

Here are a couple of the much harder to find ones with different players top and bottom...

 

 

And I'll throw in a couple T205s just for good measure.

 

 



 

Here is an example of the fourth type I mentioned above, where there is nothing above the player that is miscut.  This card must have been at the top of the sheet.

 

 

 

These are just some examples that you can find out there.  There are a ton of double name cards where there is a name at the top and bottom of the card.  They are out there guys, good luck finding them if you like them and want to pick one up.

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.

W529-7 Big Head Boxing Card

I picked up another boxing card recently.

This time it was a W529-7 Big Head version.  I like this set and will continue to pursue it over time but for now I just have this one. 

Now, Prewarcards.com calls these W-Unc Big Heads but also admits they are related to W529s.  There are 10 cards in the set.

1. Joe Beckett
2. Jack Britton
3. George Carpentier
4. Jack Dempsey
5. Johnny Dundee
6. Fred Fulton
7. Johnny Kilbane
8. Benny Leonard
9. Mike O’Dowd
10. Lou Tendler

Here is the card I picked up, the Joe Beckett.

 

You can see the J at the top of the adjacent card with a yellow background which I assume is Jack Dempsey's card. 

 

I tend to like the idea of this being a W-Unc set as opposed to being lumped in with W529 since it really doesn't look like the other W529 cards.  It just has the same checklist of 10 boxers. 

 

Here is an example (not mine) of the Jack Dempsey from the set.

 

 

There are also baseball subjects in the Big Head set.  All of these cards, the boxing and the baseball examples, are tough to find.  The baseball set has 20 subjects in it.  Here is an example of the baseball version of Walter Johnson.  Note his name is misspelled Johnston on the card but it is widely believed to be of Walter.

 

 

You can see the similarities in the two sets.  I feel like they should be classified as one set of W-Unc Big Heads that have both baseball and boxing subjects. 

 

What do you guys think?  Do you like these cards or no?

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a big one.





T206 Missing Red Ink Cards

There are some T206s that seem to show up with missing red ink more than others.

Let's take a look at the two most common in my observation. 

The Harry Niles shows up quite a bit.  Here is a nice side by side comparison of the regular card and the missing red ink version.

 

As you can see the red is completely missing in the card on the right.  Boston is missing from his jersey and the red stripe on his hat is gone. 

 

Another very common, in fact more common I think than the Niles card, is the Bill Sweeney card.  Here is the side by side of the Sweeney.

 

 

On the Sweeney you can see a lot more missing red than on the Niles.  The B on his chest and hat are gone and all the red trim on the uniform is no longer there.

 

For years these cards were accepted as legit errors where they just missed the red color pass during printing.  As you can see from the Niles above, TPGs used to even grade them as missing ink cards on the flips.  Nowadays I don't believe  the TPGs do this anymore. 

 

This is because the red ink can fade away from sunlight before any other color on the card fades away. 

 

The reason I don't think they just missed a red color pass is because it's always the same few cards that are missing red ink.  My argument is that if the red ink pass was missed during printing, then ALL the cards on the sheet would have no red ink versions out there, but they just don't exist.  So how could just the Niles and Sweeney miss the red ink pass and all the other cards on the sheet didn't?  That just didn't happen. 

 

So are most of the missing red ink cards altered or are they legit?  What do you think guys? 

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.