Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
eNews Issue #48 (April 2008)      www.oldcardboard.com

Please Note: If images are not loading in this email, click here.

 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. Vintage Set Profile: 1909-10 Murad T51 and T6 "College Series"
3. Latest Updates to the OldCardboard.com Website
4. The "Top 50" eBay Sellers List: A Valued Search Tool
5. Spring 2008 OC Magazine Marks 15th On-Time Mailing
6. News Briefs (A Digest of Recent Hobby Happenings)

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.

OC eNewsletter Sponsor

April 2008

23Phone/Internet Hunt Auctions (see website for details).
24Phone/Internet SCP with Sotheby's (see website for details).
26Phone/Internet Memory Lane Auction (see website for details).
29Phone/Internet Collectible Classics Auction CCA19 (see website for details).
30Internet Only Mile High "Extra Innings" Auction (see website for details).
4/30-5/1Internet Only Mastro Premier Auction (see website for details).

May 2008

3Internet Heritage Sports Collectibles Auction (see website for details).
3Phone/Internet Robert Edward Auctions (see website for details).
9Phone/Internet CubanBaseballCards.com Auction (see website for details).
14Phone/Internet Hunt Auctions (see website for details).
15Phone Barry Sloate Auctions (see website for details).
17Phone/Internet Memory Lane Auction (see website for details).
19Internet Brockelman & Luckey Auctions (see website for details).
21Phone/Internet Hunt Auctions (see website for details).

2. Vintage Set Profile: 1909-10 Murad T51 and T6 "College Series"

The T51 "College Series" produced by Murad Cigarettes were produced in six groups of 25 cards each. In total, the set represents 150 U. S. Colleges and Universities. Most of the card fronts picture a sport from the period. Of the 150 cards in the issue, only eight feature a generic image of baseball player.


T51 Murad Cigarettes

Note: both images are shown
at approximate actual size.
T51 Murad Back

The 25-card groups were issued sequentially from June 1909 through early 1911. The same subjects (colleges) issued in the first group (Series 1-25) are also featured in the closely related T6 premium series issued in 1910-11.

Each T51 card measures approximately 2-1/16 by 2-11/16 inches. The card fronts are surrounded in a colored frame with the word "Murad" in a repeated pattern on all four sides. Within the frame is one of eight different baseball-themed images along with the school seal and a pennant with the school's name. The eight schools in the set with baseball images are: Fordham, Penn State, S.U.K. (Kentucky), Ohio State, Haverford, Antioch, Bethany and Kentucky Wesleyan.

A Murad ad is prominently placed at the top of each card back followed by the series in which the card is found and a listing of all 25 schools represented in that series. The manufacturer's name (S. Anargyros Corporation, New York along with the factory number from which the cigarettes were distributed.


T6 Murad Premium   (shown at about 2/3 actual size)
The Murad T6 premiums were produced for only the 25 schools found in Series 1-25 of the T51 set. Of these, only two (Fordham and Penn State) feature baseball players.

While the baseball images from all eight colleges in the T51 set are all different, the same artwork for Fordham and Penn State in the T51 set is used on the T6 premiums. However, the premiums are much larger (about 5 by 8 inches) with striking lithography on a somewhat heavier cardboard stock. The T6 premiums also have printed backs. The back information includes the card ordering number, the series, a full list of all 25 cards within the series, a Murad ad and a notice that the offer ends on June 30th, 1911.

Smokers of the day could obtain one of the premiums by sending 15 coupons from Murad cigarette packs.

Note: Checklists and full card galleries for both of the Murad "College Series" sets have been added to the Old Cardboard website. They can be accessed at T51 and T6, respectively.



OC eNewsletter Sponsor

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 for:
1896   Boston Sunday Globe Supplement

Set Checklists have been added for:
1909-10   T6 Murad "College Series" Cabinets
1909-10   T51 Murad "College Series"
1915   PM1 Ornate Frame Pins

Set Galleries have been added for:
1909-10   T6 Murad "College Series" Cabinets
1909-10   T51 Murad "College Series"

The process of adding and updating the website with checklists and full set galleries for additional vintage issues is an ongoing project, so check back often to check out the latest additions. There are now many 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. The "Top 50" eBay Sellers List: A Valued Search Tool

We often receive inquiries about the eBay Sellers List accessible from the Old Cardboard home page. The questions range from eBay buyers asking about various seller's reputations, to sellers asking "Why am I not on the list?" The widely-used "Top 50" list has now been on the Old Cardboard website for nearly five years, so we though it appropriate to provide an update about its purpose and how it is maintained.

The list is intended as a convenient quick reference for use by buyers of vintage baseball cards and memorabilia on eBay--a sort of a Who's Who in the vintage card selling community. It is based on an internal database of several hundred eBay sellers, then filtered down to the "Top 50" based on their total sales of vintage (50-years or older) material.

The filtering process is as objective as we can make it. Of the several columns of information provided for each seller, the data for all but one comes directly from the seller's eBay listings. The only data that contains any subjective information is "% Sale of Vintage Material." Here, Old Cardboard estimates the percentage of vintage sales for each seller based on the mix of both current and previous listings for that seller.

While we make no claim to be "eBay Police," we do make every attempt to validate each entry on the list as a reputable seller. As part of this process, we attempt to identify and remove sellers from the database that have listings for fake or reprint cards, trimmed cards, etc. or who do not fully disclose these or other important facts about their auction listings. We also encourage feedback from our readers that have any concerns about seller's misrepresentations or other questionable practices.

The following are the headings for the "Top 50" listings along with a few notes that are included on the website to aid in defining the information contained in each column


Notes about the column headings:
1) Each "eBay Member ID" is directly linked to the seller's current eBay listings.
2) "Net Vintage Sales" indicates the seller's eBay feedback from buyers after adjusting for "% Sale of Vintage Material."
3) S/H Fee is the approximate shipping fee a dealer charges for a "typical" card in the $25-50 range. A few dealers include insurance in this fee, although most either do not offer insurance or offer it as an option at an additional charge. A ???? in this column indicates that the S&H costs are not revealed by the seller in the auction listing.
4) "Accept PayPal/CCard" indicates whether the dealer will accept PayPal or a credit card for buyer convenience and immediate shipment.

If you believe that you or someone you know should be on the list, please let us know the eBay ID so we can make sure they in our database for future tracking. Your comments and feedback are always welcome and will help ensure that the list is accurately maintained. We appreciate you input.

5. Spring 2008 OC Magazine Marks 15th On Time Mailing

Issue #15 (Spring 2008) of Old Cardboard magazine was distributed earlier this month, marking the 15th consecutive issue that the magazine has been shipped on or ahead of its promised schedule. As a few of our charter subscribers may remember, some copies of Issue #1 arrived late due to U. S. Post Office delays in delivering "regular" class mail. As a result, we have since mailed all magazines via first class mail to ensure on time arrival--an expensive method of shipment almost unheard of in the magazine publishing business.

The cover for Issue #15 highlights its feature article on the 1909-13 M101-2 Sporting News supplements. Author John Spano provides an overview of the popular and long-running newspaper inserts which includes a full gallery of all 100 supplements as well as never-before documented details about the various promotions printed on the backs of a scarce few of the supplements.

While the feature article focuses on the Sporting News supplements, the issue might more accurately be referenced as the "Rose Postcard" issue. That is because of a detailed article by author and Rose postcard collector Jerry Spillman that for the first time details the organization of the 200-plus-card PC760 set into team subsets of twelve cards each. The Rose company theme is also continued in a second "Rose" article that briefly describes a Rose Company baseball comic postcard series also produced in the 1908-09 timeframe, as well as and the announcement of five recently discovered cards from the PC760 set that were previously unknown to the hobby.

In another article, collector Richard Wong discusses his discovery of an original "Toy Town Post Office" stamper previously unknown to the hobby. The stamper was no doubt used by a young collector nearly a century ago to stamp the backs of a number of cards from his collection. The stamper thus helps solve a long-standing hobby mystery about the origins of cards with the "Toy Town" stamp.

The above articles are in addition to the magazine's regular Editor's Notebook, Collector's Dugout, and Old Cardboard Crosswords sections. Abstracts for each of the above articles, including thumbnail images of the full-color page layouts, can be viewed on the Old Cardboard website.

6. News Briefs (A Digest of Recent Hobby Happenings)

Hobby Activity Soars. The months of April and May are traditionally among the busiest for vintage baseball card and memorabilia auction houses and this year is no exception. In addition to Robert Edward Auction's annual blockbuster event, well established auctioneers such as Mastro, Heritage, Hunt, Memory Lane, Barry Sloate and SCP/Sotheby's all have Internet events in April and May. Further, the Ohio Sports Collector's Convention in Cleveland and the newly established Premier Collectible Conference & Exhibition in Chicago have just completed their inaugural events. And the start-up Brockelman-Luckey Auctions goes on-line with its first public auction. Seems like good timing for all of these events, considering that the 2008 Federal Tax Rebate will (hopefully) be providing most collectors with a little discretionary funding in about the same timeframe.

PM1 Ornate Frame Pins Checklist Expands. Produced in 1915, the scarce PM1 Ornate Frame pin set has always attracted the attention of collectors. The set received even more attention recently when Heritage Auctions announced the discovery of a group of nine pins in exceptionally good condition. The pins feature full body action poses of players of the period encased in a gilded metal frame. The player's name is displayed below the photo. An uncataloged pin of Chief Bender from the group brings the set checklist to 28 pins. Each of the pins will be auctioned in separate lots at Heritage's May 3 auction.

Ruth-signed Baseball. A pristine example of a Ruth-signed baseball with an interesting history is being offered as a cornerstone (Lot #1) of Memory Lane's "Spring Fever Rarities Auction" that closes May 17th. The ball is being sold by its original owner, a now-retired dentist who received it during a 1947 visit by the ailing Ruth to Billings, Montana. Details and images of the ball and its history can be found on the Memory Lane website.

Happy Birthday, SGC. The folks at Sportscard Guarantee (SGC) are celebrating the grading company's tenth anniversary this month. We wish them a happy 10th with many happy returns.

2008 Hold'em Series (Tourney #3 results). The third (March) tournament of Old Cardboard's 2008 Texas Hold'em series completed successfully last month. Twenty-three vintage baseball card collectors participated in the on-line event. With three tournaments in the series now complete, John Barden of New York City and Brett Hardeman from deep in the heart of Texas are tied for top spot on the Old Cardboard Leaderboard with six points each. Close on their heals with a tie for third place are Lance Galloway of Mobile, Alabama and Andrew Adeboi of Portland, Oregon. Player Ranking for Tourney #3 has been added to the Old Cardboard website along with a Leaderboard Update for those who scored points toward the Old Cardboard bonus awards. Next tourney will be held Tuesday, April 22 at 7:30 Texas time (CST). Complete details for the 2008 Series are provided on the Old Cardboard website.

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 fifty years ago or longer.  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.