In the mid-1920s, the popular W512 strip card set was produced. That multi-sport set draws the attention of collectors because of its affordability and big name baseball players. The W513 set is sort of a continuation of that issue. Since different players were used, it didn’t include the star power of the W512 edition. Nonetheless, it is still a collectible set.
W513 Strip Card Set Basics
Believed to have been produced in 1928, the W513 strip cards looked a lot like the W512 set. The cards featured basic color drawings of players inside of a rectangular border. The player’s name and team were at the bottom and a card number appeared in a corner. One nice addition to the set is that it added the player’s position.
The card numbers of this set link it with the W512 issue. W512 included cards numbered 1-50. This subsequent W513 set began its card numbering with No. 51.
The cards vary in size due to how they were cut but they measure at approximately 1 1/2″ wide x 2 1/4″ tall. they also have an unpainted background and border and cut lines can be seen on some cards.
W513 Strip Card Roster
While the set didn’t boast the major stars of the W512 set, it certainly topped it in terms of volume. Instead of the ten-card baseball subset found in the W512 release, baseball players accounted for more than half of the entire W513 issue. 26 of the 50 cards, to be exact.
Even though there is no Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb here, there is a strong lineup of big names. There are numerous Hall of Famers and stars, such as Edd Roush, Waite Hoyt, Bill Terry, Herb Pennock, Paul Waner, Burleigh Grimes, Hack Wilson, Tony Lazzeri, Pie Traynor, and Earle Combs.
Many of the cards include player nicknames in parentheses, which made them stand out. For example, there’s “Smiling” Bill Terry, “Jumping” Joe Dugan, “Jumbo” (Jim) Elliott, and Gink (Harvey) Hendrick as printed on the fronts.
Other baseball players include John Miljus, Rube Benton, Adolfo Luque, Lloyd Waner, Hal Carlson, Lou Grantham, Wilcy Moore, Jess Haines, Al DeVormer, Joe Harris, Mark Koenig, Babe Herman, and George Harper.
The rest of the set is made up of aviators and other athletes. Aviators are included in the set via cards numbered 51-60 and boxers are numbered 87-99. One more card makes this set a little unique as card No. 100 features tennis great Rene Lacoste. He is not only the sole tennis player in the set, but is also perhaps more famous for his Lacoste brand clothing. Lacoste was previously ranked No. 1 in the world and won seven Grand Slam singles titles. His card is often valued in the same range of the lower-end baseball players.
W513 Strip Card Values
Like the W512 set, the W513 release is also known for its affordability. Mid-grade commons of the baseball players are generally available for $10-$20.
The most expensive cards here are generally those of the Hall of Fame baseball players, and in decent condition, those usually start around $40-$50 – sometimes a little less.
While this release doesn’t have the two heavy hitters in Ruth and Cobb, the 16 extra baseball cards here will help balance things out a little bit from a financial perspective when assembling the W512 and W513 sets.
You can search for W513 cards on eBay here.
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