At first glance, the 1922 W501 strip cards look an awful lot like your run of the mill E121 American Caramel cards or the W575-1 strip cards. But while similar, this is an entirely different type of card. 1922 W501 Strip Card Basics The W501 Strip Cards are another black and white issue found in the 1920s. Those were sort of sandwiched between the smaller, colored … [Read more...]
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Five T206 Cards That Should Have Been Printed
The iconic T206 set was a massive 524-card issue spanning 1909-11. Because of its large size, nearly every notable player under the sun, including several minor leaguers, were featured. In addition, several players had more than one card. Despite being a mostly comprehensive issue, a few more cards would have made this landmark set even better. Here are five of … [Read more...]
5 Bargain Hall of Famers in the 1909 E90-1 American Caramel Set
Issued around the same time as the T206 issue and looking somewhat similar, the 1909 E90-1 American Caramel set is one of the most popular early candy/caramel issues among pre-war collectors. With numerous short prints and tough cards as well as expensive cards including the Joe Jackson rookie, it isn't an easy set to complete. There are several Hall of Famers in … [Read more...]
1888 G&B Gum Release Cited as Earliest Known Gum Set
The height of the gum card era was the 1930s with Goudey, Play Ball, National Chicle, and others pumping out sets. But gum cards actually began much earlier, making their first appearance in the 19th Century. The 1888 G&B Gum card set is often cited as the earliest such release. 1888 G&B Gum Basics The 1888 G&B Gum cards didn't look like the later gum issues. … [Read more...]
Pittsburgh Card Show Makes Debut at New Location
The popular annual card show in the Pittsburgh area was held this past weekend. As usual, a large collection of autograph signers was supplemented by a room full of dealers offering both vintage and modern cards and memorabilia. The card show was previously held on the campus of Robert Morris University located just outside of Pittsburgh. However, replacement of the former … [Read more...]
5 Cool Pre-War Football Cards to Chase
When it comes to pre-war cards, baseball issues are by far and away the most popular. However, a reasonable selection of early pre-war football cards exist as well, even though the game was still just becoming established before World War II. The 1894 Mayo set, 1935 National Chicle set, and the Beecher card (arguably the first real football card) from the N162 Goodwin Champions … [Read more...]
Distinguishing Album Cuts From True 19th Century Cards
In the 1880s and 1890s, the earliest tobacco sports card sets were hitting the market. Along with the creation of these cards, tobacco companies wanted to reward their best customers. One of the ways they did that was through the distribution of premium albums. These albums usually included pictures of all of the cards in the set, often against some sort of decorative backdrop. … [Read more...]
Blurred Lines and Misclassifications Exist Between E-Cards and R-Cards
In his American Card Catalog, author Jefferson Burdick categorized candy, gum, and caramel baseball cards. These issues spanned several decades and in an effort to better classify them, he broke them out into two sections - E-Cards for early candy and gum cards and R-Cards, later candy and gum issues. While the two classifications exist, however, the line is somewhat blurred … [Read more...]
A Look at the Six Horizontals in the T206 Set
The T206 set is arguably the most important issue in the history of card collecting. There are numerous ways to collect it and all sorts of things make it unique. One of the cool aspects of the release are the six horizontal cards found in the set that consists of cards with a mostly vertical layout. Here's a brief look at each of the six cards and the players behind them. Joe … [Read more...]
5 Great Goudey Cards (Besides Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig)
The 1930s Goudey issues are among the most popular pre-war cards around. Part of the reason for that are the several Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig cards found in the set. But there's plenty more in the Goudey releases besides the cards for those Yankees legends. Here are five other big time cards from the company's popular sets. 1933 Goudey Sport Kings Ty Cobb The great Ty Cobb … [Read more...]
