Saturday, August 3, 2019

1916 Tango Eggs Ty Cobb Batting Pose

This card is being sold in the current REA auction and I wanted to highlight it in it's own post and not mix it in with the other cards I just posted about.

There is no ACC designation for the Tango Eggs set as it was not known until a rather large group or around 750 - 800 surfaced in 1991.  The checklist is incomplete but has 20 confirmed (I believe) cards to date.  Prewarcards.com lists 22 cards but includes Joe Tinker and Honus Wagner that have not been confirmed yet.

The Tango Eggs set most closely relates to the E106 American Caramel set with shared cards used in both sets. 

This post, however, is about a single Tango Eggs card, not the whole set.  So lets see this Cobb batting pose card.

 
 
This card is new to the hobby folks.  That's right, it's the only one known to exist.  So it's going to be interesting to see where the hammer falls when the auction closes. 
 
There is another Cobb in the set that has been confirmed, it is the leaning on bat pose that is shared with many other sets including E92, E101 and E102 etc.  That card is in rough shape and I believe it is also the only one known of that pose. 
 
This card sold in the Spring 2017 REA auction for $15,600.
 
 
Considering the condition of the newly discovered batting pose I can only guess the final price will be closer to $35K.  Like they say, it just takes two heavy hitters to go up against each other to get that price to skyrocket. 
 
So let's keep an eye on this one guys.
 
Here is the checklist for the set so far borrowed from Prewarcards.com.
 

1916 Tango Eggs Checklist

This checklist includes Wagner and Tinker, both of whom are believed to exist but have not been fully confirmed.
  1. Bob Bescher
  2. Roger Bresnahan
  3. Al Bridwell
  4. Hal Chase
  5. Ty Cobb – front pose
  6. Ty Cobb – side pose
  7. Eddie Collins
  8. Sam Crawford
  9. Red Dooin
  10. Johnny Evers
  11. Happy Felsch
  12. Hughie Jennings
  13. George McQuillan
  14. Billy Meyer
  15. Ray Morgan
  16. Danny Murphy
  17. Rebel Oakes
  18. Eddie Plank
  19. Germany Schaefer
  20. Joe Tinker
  21. Honus Wagner
  22. Buck Weaver
  23. Heinie Zimmerman
 
Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.
 


 

Sunday, July 28, 2019

A Quick Preview of the Current REA Summer 2019 Auction

Robert Edward Auctions is open for bidding and they have some serious stuff as usual.

 
The latest REA auction is now open for bidding and as usual it is full or great stuff.  The auction ends 08/18/19 for those of you who want to get in on the action.  I just wanted to highlight a few of the items that I really liked and am following.

I'm working on the E93 set slowly so I always like to see those.  There are a few Cobbs that I'd like to own.  One is a really nice looking PSA 1 with typical wear.  It has some great orange color though so it has that going for it and a clean legible reverse.  

Then there is also a lot of both an E93 Cobb and an E95 Cobb both graded A that I wouldn't mind having. 

 
 
There are also 12 T206 Cobb Green Backgrounds and 19 T206 Red Backgrounds.  Come on now! 
 
Of course there are some usual big boys starting the auction in the forms of a 1952 Topps Mantle PSA7 and a T206 Eddie Plank PSA1.  Then there is a really nice looking T5 Pinkerton Joe Jackson as well.  Here are some pics of these items to drool over.
 



 

Here's another unique card that I have not seen before.  It is a 1933 Goudey blank back proof card of Babe Ruth. 

 
There are always some hobby significant pieces in any REA auction and this one has this rare 1869 Peck & Snyder Cincinnati Red Stockings trade card that has the Peck & Snyder ad back.  This is a very desirable card in the 19th Century collectibles arena. 
 
 

 


I'm also a big fan of the 1887 N690 Kalamazoo Bats set.  I really like the photography and the ballpark backgrounds, the size of the cards and the fact that they have several multiplayer cards and horizontal poses.  There are a couple (non including the team card) here one of which has the seldom seen as back.  I'll show both here as well as the ad back.

 

 

I really liked this one as I've never seen an example from this set before.  It's a 1888 M117 Sporting Times of HOFer Tim Keefe.  These are so rare that its the only the REA has offered in twenty years.  It's just a cool looking card if you ask me.
 
 
Also included in this auction is a lot of 76 E254 Colgan's Chips square proofs including 25 uncatalogued examples.  Personally I don't believe these are Colgan's Chips proof, but something else altogether, but that's a topic for another post.  Here's a pic of a group of them though.
 
 
How about this for a low grade card that will still sell for thousands.  It's a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle in a GAI Authentic holder and it's one of the worst condition 52 Mantles you're likely to see.  It's going to be fun just to see where it ends.
 
 
This card, the 1952 Mother's Cookies,  is one that I really want someday as it features the Rifleman himself, Chuck Connors.  Some day I'll own this card, but I'm watching it this auction to see what it brings.
 
 
So take a look at the current auction online here and peruse some of the amazing stuff.
 

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






Saturday, July 20, 2019

Another Great Multi-Strike Overprint Scrap

I've posted images of scraps before with some having some great overprints.

Well, I just saw this new one for the first time and had to post it for you all to see.  Scott Brockelman owns the card and will have it at this year's National if you you're going to be there.  (Update: The card has been sold and may not be at the National at this point).

It's a T206 Southern Leaguer Bill Bernhard.  The back has multiple advertisements on it including Piedmont, El Principe de Gales and what looks to me like a Brown Old Mill.  It also has the ghost image of Germany Schaefer under all the ads.


 
There was another great overprint similar to this one that I posted years ago.  I'll post it again here for comparison and because I just really like it.
 
 
Interestingly they both have the same advertisements but this one has a ghost of Cy Young.  Perhaps these were cut from the same sheet long ago. 
 
I hope you liked this new overprint scrap as much as I do.
 
Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.


Friday, July 19, 2019

Important Card Focus: 1910 D380 Clement Bros. Ty Cobb

Here is a card that you should be familiar with if collecting prewar baseball cards.

This is a 1910 D380 Clement Bros. Bread Ty Cobb card.  It is considered one of Cobb's rarest cards out there.  I'm not sure of this, but I would think there are even more T206 Cobb with Cobb back examples than there are of this card. 

This set was issued only in Rochester, NY which explains some of the rarity.  There was a set issued in 1909 that only has eight Rochester players in the checklist.  Their portraits are inside an oval on the front of the card.  (One of these cards is on my Jersey City wantlist due to the player being pictured in his Jersey City uniform on the card). 

In 1910, Clement Bros. Bread issued another small set of cards that include twenty-four checklisted players with a mix of Rochester players and major leaguers.  There are five Hall of Famers in the set, Cobb being the key card.  The other HOFers are Chief Bender, Eddie Collins, Addie Joss and Joe Tinker.

One interesting feature of this card is the pose used is the same as the batting pose used for Cobb in the E90-1 American Caramel set.  Obviously, this one being in black and white however. 

Ty Cobb's name, position and team are identified at the bottom of the card.

The back of the card has an ad for Clement Bros. Bread, Clement's pies (22 kinds) and mentions that the Rochester team is included in the series of cards.

There has been a couple additions to the checklist since I last posted about this card in 2012. 

So if you're a prewar baseball card collector, then you should definitely know about this card.  It's an important card in this hobby.

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

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Washington Post and the Misadventures of the Hobby


Well this whole scandal that is unfolding in our beloved hobby has hit a new level.

The Washington Post has run an article detailing the scandal for those who haven't heard about it yet.  Here is a link to the article written by Jacob Bogage.

I think it's a well written story naming the folks involved and not pushing an agenda.  Jacob didn't shy away from posting names like PSA, PWCC and Gary Moser.  He included links to both Brent Huigen's (PWCC's CEO) post about the scandal on Net54 and Steve Sloan's (PSA's President) statement on the company's blog. 

Gary Moser of course denies altering any cards and claims he just buys what he thinks are under graded and cracks them out to resubmit for a better grade. 

Anyway, I just wanted to get it out there that this article was written and share it with you.

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

Sunday, July 7, 2019

New Pick Ups

There was talk on Net54 recently about relic cards and whether prewar collectors also collect relic cards of prewar/vintage players.

There was some debate about the idea of cutting up a truly rare jersey to include in these cards and some felt it was ok while others didn't.  I'm not sure how I feel about the cutting up of Babe Ruth jerseys or Ty Cobb bats.  But what I do know is that I'm totally ok with the cutting up of modern player jerseys and bats. 

So I recently picked up a few game used cards for my collection and I'll share them here.

I've liked Mark Teixeira since early in his career with Texas and have a few of his relic cards.  So when I'm looking for new jersey cards or bat cards, I often search for his cards.  Well, I picked up these two recently and I like them both quite a bit.  Neither broke the bank either.

 
 
I'm also a SF Giants fan and like to pick up Giants cards from time to time, so I picked up this Evan Longoria Jersey/Bat card too.  I used to live in the Bay area and really fell in love with the team during that time.
 
 
Then my favorite of the recent pick ups is this sweet 2004 Timeless Treasures Cal Ripken Jr. home and away jersey card.  I really like the design of this set and when Timeless Treasures were new I was drawn to a lot of the designs.  Not all of them, but this one I really like.
 
 
And you can't go wrong with a Cal Ripken Jr. card to be honest.  I think I got it for a great price too which made me even more excited. 
 
So there are my newest pick ups.  I know, they aren't prewar or even vintage, but I like them all the same and sometimes I do talk about modern parts of the hobby. 
 
Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.
 

 

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Major Scandal Involving PWCC and TPG and Altered Cards

There has been a heck of a scandal with lots of breaking news happening the last month or so.

If you're not on either Net54 vintage baseball cards forum or the Blowout forums then you might not know about the scandal involving PWCC (eBay's biggest sportscard seller) and the grading companies and altered cards that are being graded and sold as non-altered cards with number grades.

I don't know how many readers I really have, but I wanted to let you all know about this in case you didn't know what was going on.  Here are some links to the message boards so you can read up on the whole thing.  There is a lot to read by the way so get ready for a long eye opening read. 

Net54 Vintage Baseball Card Forums

Blowout Forums

The link to Blowout is going to take you to the list of related threads exposing the many many different examples of cards that have been worked on. 

Basically, PWCC has been selling cards to a known card doctor who then cracks them out and "fixes" them and then consigns them back to PWCC where they are selling for sometimes huge profits to buyers that have no idea they are buying trimmed, pressed, recolored, etc. cards. 

There are a ton of examples that have been outed so far.  If you ever bought from PWCC you have a chance that you have an altered card in a PSA or BGS case.  And a lot of these trimmed cards are obviously trimmed so PSA really missed them.  Or, as some are speculating, they are in on the whole thing.  Or at least they have a grader that is in on it and they don't know it.  Again, all speculation at this point. 

It has been proven, however, that PWCC has been working with several card doctors over the years.  Make up your own mind, but read the threads and get educated.

Enjoy the hobby all...if you still can.