5. N172 Old Judge Population Trends
Old Cardboard subscriber and article contributor Joe Gonsowski has just compiled a few statistics about the ever popular 19th century N172 Old Judge set. His study shows trends in the graded quantities as well as the grades assigned the cards over the past couple of years. The results are summarized in the charts below (all produced by Gonsowski based on data gathered from the PSA and SGC grading services).
The first graph shows the total number of cards graded over time together with the average cumulative grade.
Gonsowski cautions that data should be intrepreted very carefully in reaching any conclusions. While PSA generally has graded many more 20th-century cards, the data shows that, at least for the Old Judge set, SGC has processed nearly two-thirds of the total cards graded.
It is also apparent that the average grade is dropping with time. Some collectors suggest that this is due to tougher grading standards although it may very well be that an increase in lower-grade submissions explains the difference.
The second chart summarizes the grade distribution of Old Judge cards based solely on data obtained from SGC. The chart shows a fairly normal distribution with 64 percent of the cards found within the SGC 30-60 range. As a reminder, grading scales for mid-grade cards from the two services are roughly as follows: Good (SGC 30, PSA 2); VG (SGC 40, PSA 3); VG-EX (SGC 50, PSA 4); EX (SGC 60-70, PSA 5).
There are a total of 520 different players in the Old Judge set. At 2396 cards graded, SGC averages just under five cards per player. However, due to rarities such as the 19 California League players and others, the current population report represents 472 different players, or 90.8 percent of the 520 total players in the set. Last year at this time, cards for only 80.1 percent of the Old Judge players had been graded by SGC.
The last table should be of much interest to collectors of Old Judge cards for players that are now in baseball's Hall-of-Fame. As might be expected, the 27 HOFers found in the Old Judge set account for fully 15 percent of the total submissions, despite the fact that HOFers make up only 5 percent (27/520) of the total set. According to Gonsowski, this disproportionately high submission rate for HOFers can be attributed to the higher value of the cards together with his belief that most of them were better cared for over the past eleven and a half decades. He also believes that the HOFer cards--more than the cards of non-HOFers--may also suffer from inflated numbers due to re-submissions and crossovers.
Importantly, the table serves as an indicator of the relative rarity of HOF cards. From the results, an Old Judge HOF collector would expect that a Comiskey or King Kelly card might be much easier to find that one for Wilbert Robinson or Bid McPhee.
The above statistics gathering, analysis and reporting is part of an ongoing effort by Gonsowski. He welcomes any comments and suggestions from Old Cardboard readers. He can be reached at twinturbo@comcast.net.
6. Name That Place (and That Player)
(click on image to magnify center portion)
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Due to the strong response and interest in the "Name That Place" write-up in our June eNewsletter (eNews Issue #14), we have followed-up with another challenge for our readers. We need your input to help identify the vintage photo (both the ballpark and the base runner in the foreground) shown at right.
As seen, the photograph this month is packed with action. The image was found on a 3-D stereo view produced by H. C. White Company, a major manufacturer of stereographs during the first decade of the twentieth century. The company was headquartered in Bennington, VT and had offices in New York, Chicago and London before going out of business in 1912.
The game was played around 1908 (give or take a couple of years). The base runner in the foreground is wearing a "Chicago" jersey.
Reader Challenge #1: The first challenge is to identify the ball park in which the game was played. Hint: The "structures" in the background on the right side of the image appear to be empty rail cars in which some of the fans were transported to the game.
Reader Challenge #2: The second challenge is to identify the base runner in the foreground. Hint: Just click on the image above to get a magnified view of this player that clearly shows the "Chicago" on his jersey as well as more detailed facial features.
REWARD: The first reader to answer either challenge along with minimal supporting "documentation" wins a free set of Old Cardboard's Vintage Type-Card Gallery Prints. Documentation could be simply a description or convincing rationale, or another photo (or baseball card) with a similar view/pose to compare with the ones shown here. Good luck, and we look forward to hearing from you. --OC Staff
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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