The M101-4 and M101-5 baseball cards are often referred to as the Sporting News sets. Created by Felix Mendelsohn in 1916, these two similar black and white sets included some iconic cards, including what is generally recognized as Babe Ruth's major league rookie card. The sets have mostly the same checklists but include some variants in terms of who is included in each one and … [Read more...]
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A Look Inside the Surprisingly Rare T332 Helmar Stamps Set
In the early 1900s, tobacco companies were stuffing packages of cigarettes with trading cards. Cards are the items that are most collected today but some companies used other types of premiums instead of them. In 1911, for instance, Helmar Cigarettes distributed packs of their product with small stamps featuring baseball players. T332 Helmar Stamps Overview The 1911 Helmar … [Read more...]
The Wayback Collector: More Than a Century Later, Tobacco Cards Remain Popular
When collectors think about the earliest baseball cards, tobacco cards are often the first ones cited. While some trade cards technically existed before tobacco issues, many of them did not feature real, professional players. That is part of the reason why collectors have gravitated more towards tobacco sets as a sort of 'go to' in terms of pre-war issues. Tobacco cards are, … [Read more...]
The Wayback Collector: Dazzy Vance Family Produces Rare 1919 Zee-Nut Card
Produced from 1911 through 1938, the Zee-Nut baseball sets represented one of the longest-running pre-war series. They were produced on the west coast and the checklists consisted of minor leaguers so many names are not recognizable to even seasoned collectors. However, the Zee-Nuts sets do include several players that ultimately had Hall of Fame careers. One of those is … [Read more...]
The Wayback Collector: 5 Pre-War Issues to Watch in 2019
As collectors, we're always looking for the next big thing. That's true at any time but the start of a new year always brings along all sorts of re-evaluations from collectors. Some will maintain their current course and change little, if nothing. Others will switch gears. And others will start looking for some bargains that may be had. Others still will just watch from afar … [Read more...]
Bargain Hall of Fame Baseball Cards of the 1910s (Part II of IV)
Many collectors don't realize how affordable some vintage baseball cards truly are. Collectors don't even have to settle for cards of lesser known players, either. While many issues depicting Hall of Famers are pricey, plenty of bargains exist, too. Over a four-part series, I wanted to take a look at some of the more affordable pre-war Hall of Fame cards available to … [Read more...]
5 Underrated T207 Baseball Cards
The T207 set is one of my personal favorites. Known for its drab look compared to the more colorful tobacco card sets out there, it is one of the more distinctive pre-war T-Card issues. Many stars are missing from this set, including the likes of Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, and others. Still, despite the lack of big names, some of the cards in it are a little underrated by … [Read more...]
Ranking the Top 5 Strip Card Sets
Strip cards are often dismissed by many collectors. And while that's understandable due to the ugly nature of some, there's no denying they are an affordable entry into the pre-war card market. These cards were also hand-cut or even torn from strips and, as a result, are often low-grade issues. But many of the cards of big name players can be found for significantly less than … [Read more...]
1913 Voskamp Cards Featured Honus Wagner, Pittsburgh Pirates
Regional pre-war sets are, as expected, usually quite rare. Such is the case with a little-discussed set produced by Voskamp's Coffee and Tea in 1913. 1913 Voskamp's Basics These cards were the creation of a company called B.H. Voskamp's Sons, Inc., a wholesale grocer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was located at Penn Avenue and 11th Street, which is right in the … [Read more...]
Hal Chase E93/E98 Source Photo up for Auction
Finding the original images that artists used to create pre-war caramel and tobacco cards is always interesting. The unique items are rarely are seen or made available to the public. The majority of those early cards utilized lithography with artists using real pictures to depict a particular athlete. While we don't the source of many of those pictures, sometimes, the actual … [Read more...]
