Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
eNews Issue #22 (February 2006)      www.oldcardboard.com


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Welcome to Old Cardboard, the most complete reference resource for information about collecting vintage baseball cards and related memorabilia.  More information about this eNewsletter and its companion website and magazine are found at the bottom of this page.

Contents:
1. Updated Auction and Show Calendar
2. New On-line Book Focuses on T206 History and Front/Back Variations
3. Latest Updates to the OldCardboard.com Website
4. 1912 T202 "Triple Folder" Ad Panels Discovered
5. VISA by Phone: New Payment Option for Old Cardboard subscribers
6. Encyclopedia Available (Supply Limited)


1. Updated Auction and Show Calendar

The following is a summary of vintage card events coming up in the next 30-45 days. For the most current listings on additional vintage card shows and auctions, see the Show and Auction Calendar on the Old Cardboard website.


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February 2006

22Phone/Internet Goodwin and Co. Auction (see website for details).
26Internet Heritage Sports Auctions (see website for details).

March 2006

2Phone/Internet Mastro Auctions (see website for details).
3-5Ft. Washington, PA Ft Washington (Philly) Card Show (see website for details).
15-16Phone/Internet Huggins and Scott Auction (see website for details).
23Phone/Internet Superior Sports Auction (see website for details).
30Phone/Internet Memory Lane Auction (see website for details).
31Phone/Internet Heritage Signature Auction (see website for details).


2. New On-line Book Focuses on T206 History and Front/Back Variations

In his recently published "Inside T206: A Collector's Guide to the Classic Baseball Card Set," author Scot Reader provides a detailed view of the most famous and widely collected of all vintage baseball card sets.


T206 Distribution Timeline (by Major Series)
The 70-page document meets collector needs at two levels. For the traditional collector focused on the 500-plus card fronts and their variations, Reader devotes some twenty pages to a historical background of the set. This includes such topics a obtaining player authorizations, the production process, card back brands, factories from which the brands were issued, packaging, and a distribution timeline by major series within the set.

For more advanced collectors concerned with the several thousand cards with unique front-back combinations, Reader reports the results of a survey of some 20,000 cards that he has recently conducted. As a result of the study, he has organized these cards into eight groups based primarily on the major series in which the cards were distributed. In addition, Reader identifies seven "rule breaker" cards that do not fall into one of the eight groups. This refinement to previous studies reduces the expected number of front-back combinations to just under 4000 cards. A detailed checklist matrix relating the card fronts to known examples from each of the eight card back groups is also included.

As part of the analysis of his study, Reader also ranks each of the 200 most difficult T206 cards in order of scarcity. The top ten on the list: Cobb with Cobb back; J. Doyle (N. Y. Nat'l); Wagner (Pittsburg); Plank; O'Hara (St. Louis); Demmitt (St. Louis); Magie; Elberfeld (Wash. Port.); Lundgren (Chicago) and Smith (Chicago & Boston).

We are pleased that Reader has agreed to provide the most recent edition of his on-line book for download from the Old Cardboard website. Now in its second edition, the book is available free of charge in Adobe PDF format at Inside T206. If you find the book useful and would like to make a (strictly voluntary) contribution to the author for his efforts in compiling and documenting the information, you may do so by sending via PayPal to sarpc@qwest.net.

Note: A complete T206 checklist and image gallery of the base set of all 514 T206 card fronts has recently been added to the Old Cardboard website. They can be accesses by selecting "Player Checklist" or "Card Gallery" from the T206 Set Profile page.




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3. Latest Updates to the OldCardboard.com Website

We are continually expanding the Old Cardboard website with more set profiles, checklists and set galleries. Recent (past 30-40 days) additions include:

Set Profiles
have been added or significantly expanded for:
Circa 1870-1930 Baseball Stereoviews
1909-10 T6 Murad College Series Cabinets
1909-10 T51 Murad College Series
1921 W-unc Self-Develop Strip Cards

Set Checklists have been added for:
1909-11 E90-1 American Caramel
1910 E90-2 American Caramel
1910 E90-3 American Caramel
1909 E92 Nadja/Croft's/Dockman (includes cross-checklist for all three subsets)
1910 E98 "Set of 30"
1910 E102 Anonymous "Set of 25"
1934 R320 Goudey Gum
1911-14 D304 General Baking Company
1910 D322 Tip Top Bread
1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders
1909-11 T206 "The MONSTER"
1906 WG2/3 Fan Craze

Set Galleries have been added for:
1909-11 E90-1 American Caramel
1910 E90-2 American Caramel
1910 E90-3 American Caramel
1909 E92 Nadja/Croft's/Dockman
1910 E98 "Set of 30"
1910 E102 Anonymous "Set of 25"
1934 R320 Goudey Gum
1911-14 D304 General Baking Company
1910 D322 Tip Top Bread
1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders
1909-11 T206 "The MONSTER"
1906 WG3 Fan Craze (National League)

We continue to update the website with checklists and full set galleries for additional vintage issues, so check in often to check out the latest additions. There are now thousands of card images on the Old Cardboard website and the list continues to grow. We welcome and encourage feedback with checklist additions, card images, error corrections and suggestions. Please send all input to editor@oldcardboard.com.


4. 1912 T202 "Triple Folder" Ad Panels Discovered

Among the most tantalizing of all in-store advertising displays known to the vintage card collecting hobby have been several very obscure panels that were originally used to promote the 1912 T202 Hassan "Triple Folders" card set (and of course, the cigarettes with which they were distributed). Until now, however, only three such advertising end panels have been known to exist. The known panels resemble the player images found on each end of the Triple Folder cards. Until now, there have been no known examples of the corresponding advertising pieces patterned after the black-and-white action poses found on the center panel of the T202 cards. Collectors have long feared that any center panels for the ad displays, if they ever existed, had been discarded into the trash piles of yesteryear.

All of those fears changed to joy, however, with the recent discovery of a complete three-panel display. As shown, the end panels for the display feature Ty Cobb and Christy Mathewson. Both players are featured as end panels in the regular T202 set, and they are the only two players featured on end panels in the very small sampling of known T202 display posters.

The Hassan display is the only in-store advertising piece known to exist that was produced to promote a baseball card set during the golden years of tobacco card inserts.

The three sections of the display piece were each separately produced. The end panels measure a substantial 15 x 35 inches with the larger center panel an even larger 30 wide x 40 inches tall. The combined sections total an imposing five feet in width. Each of the panels is printed in full color on very sturdy (approximately 5/16-inch thick) cardboard.

Significantly, the middle panel of the advertising display pictures the most famous of the 76 different black-and-white action poses found on the center panels of the T202 card set. It features an image of Cobb sliding into Jimmy Austin at third base. The image is derived from a photograph credited to noted baseball photographer Charles Conlin. Most noteworthy, however, is that unlike the images on the card set, the oversized ad piece is printed in full color. The caption on the display (and on the card backs) reads: "Ty Cobb Steals Third."

The three-panel display was recently discovered by auction house Robert Edward Auctions. REA president Robert Lifson recalls when the company received a call from a prospective consignor asking about auctioning the piece, "We were stunned" according to Lifson. He added that "It was like having the dream display fall from the sky and land in our lap." The piece will be sold in REA's Spring auction closing April 29. 2006. Reserve for the auction is set at $50,000.

Note: a full 132-card Image Gallery for the 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folder set was recently added to the Old Cardboard website. The three cards that feature the "Ty Cobb Steals Third" center panel are #129, #130 and #131. Cobb is featured on the end panels of card numbers 3, 65, 68, 129 and 130. Mathewson end panels are found on card numbers 44, 45, 46, 47 82, 85, 125 and 126. The Cobb-Mathewson combination used in the ad display is not found on any card in the set.


5. VISA by Phone: New Payment Option for Old Cardboard subscribers

Beginning with the launch of Old Cardboard magazine nearly two years ago, subscribers have had two payment options. The quickest and most popular way has been on-line through the use of PayPal. For those who prefer the vintage way, payment by US mail has always been an option.

A few subscribers have requested the convenience of paying by phone using a credit card. We are happy to announce that this option is now also available. To order over the phone, just call us at 512-466-5372. We will be happy to take your phone order.

As a reminder, you can determine the number of the last issue scheduled for delivery under your present subscription. It's in the upper right portion of the address label now used to distribute each magazine (see example below).

The number represents the issue number of the last issue you are scheduled to receive. In the example above, the number "5" indicates that the reader's subscription ends after the delivery of Issue #5.

Your one-year renewal can be ordered at any time before your subscription expires to avoid any break in receiving your copy. We appreciate your continued support. Please tell your friends about Old Cardboard magazine.


6. Encyclopedia Available (Supply Limited)

Vintage collectors may have different opinions about which are their favorite vintage baseball card sets. There is universal agreement in the hobby, however, that Lew Lipset's Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards, originally published by the author in the mid-1980s, is an essential cornerstone for any vintage card collector's library.

Old Cardboard has a limited supply of Lipset's classic. These are brand new copies of all three volumes consolidated into a durable single binding. If Old Cardboard readers do not already have a copy, we highly recommend that you get one today.

We are offering the 350-page Encyclopedia (while supplies last) at $29.95 plus $5 for shipping and handling. Additional details about the content of the book and how to order can be found on the Order Processing page of the Old Cardboard website.

When they're gone, they're gone.





Lyman and Brett Hardeman
Old Cardboard, LLC.

Old Cardboard, LLC. was established in December, 2003, to help bring information on vintage baseball card collecting to the hobbyist. Produced by collectors for collectors, this comprehensive resource consists of three components: (1) Old Cardboard Magazine, (2) a companion website at www.oldcardboard.com and (3) this eNewsletter. The Old Cardboard website contains more than 500 pages of descriptive reference information for baseball card sets produced before 1950.  Each of these set summaries has a direct set-specific link to auctions and a similar link to 's powerful search engine for further research. The website also includes a Show and Auction Calendar, an eBay Top 50 Vintage Sellers List, and much more. As a result, the Old Cardboard website makes a great "Alt-tab" companion for vintage card shoppers and researchers. Old Cardboard eNews provides current hobby news, upcoming shows and auctions, and updates to the website and the magazine. It is published around the middle of each month. For a FREE subscription to the eNewsletter, or for subscription information on Old Cardboard Magazine, please visit the website at www.oldcardboard.com. If you find this information resource helpful, please tell your friends. We need your support and your feedback. Thank you.

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