Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
  eNews Issue #135 (July 2015)       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. Set Profile: 1933 PX3 Buttons 3. Latest Additions to the OldCardboard.com Website 2. Reader Feedback: W551 Strip Card Set 4. 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 Key Events Calendar on the Old Cardboard website. Have an event that needs to be on the OC Calendar? Email editor@oldcardboard.com.

OC eNewsletter Sponsor

July 2015
23	Phone/Internet	Bussineau Sports Rarities Summer Auction(see website for details).
23	Phone/Internet	Collectible Classics Auction (see website for details).
23	Internet	Sirius Sportscards (see website for details).
29-31	Chicago	National Sports Collectors Convention (see website for details).
30-31	Chicago	Heritage Signature Sports Collectibles Auction (see website for details).
31	Chicago	Goldin Auctions Live Premium Auction (see website for details).
August 2015
1-2	Chicago	National Sports Collectors Convention (see website for details).
5-6	Phone/Internet	Clean Sweep Auctions (see website for details).
6	Phone/Internet	Huggins & Scott Auctions (see website for details).
6	Phone/Internet	Sterling Sports Auctions (see website for details).
6	Phone/Internet	CollectAuctions.com Auction (see website for details).
8	Phone/Internet	Goldin Auctions (see website for details).
8	Internet	Love of the Game Auction (see website for details).
13-16	White Plains, NY	White Plains "East Coast National" (see website for details).
15	Phone/Internet	Memory Lane Auction (see website for details).
22	Phone/Internet	SCP Auctions (see website for details).
29	Phone/Internet	Small Traditions Summer Premium Auction (see website for details).

2. Set Profile: 1933 PX3 Buttons Gum, Inc. issued this 43-player set of metal buttons around 1933. The buttons are not listed in the American Card Catalog. They were first cataloged as set PX3 in The Sports Collectors Bible and now carry that hobby designation. The player images (all portraits in uniform) are printed on metal disks measuring about 1-1/4 inches in diameter. They are found with white, red, blue, yellow and green tinted backgrounds. The player's name and team are printed near the bottom of each disk, followed by a number ("1" or "2") inside a small circle. The "1" and "2" indicate the size of the button, with the "2s" produced slightly smaller so that the "1" and "2" buttons will fit together to form a double-headed "coin." Note: each player button can be found in more than one color. However, for a given player, it always has the same number (either "1" or "2") printed at the bottom. The button backs are blank. They were originally produced with a shiny metallic surface although some are found today with a darker gray-brown tarnish. There is no additional labeling on the buttons to indicate their manufacturer or how they were distributed. Most of the information revealing their origin is derived from the very rare wrappers (among the rarest of all early gum issues) in which the buttons were distributed. As indicated on the example wrapper at right, the buttons were distributed in packs of bubble gum with two buttons inside each pack. This if further confirmed by a one-of-a-kind unopened pack sold in 2011 by Robert Edward Auctions. The wrapper indicates that the disks were packed in "Double Header Bubble Gum" by Gum, Inc. of Philadelphia. Curiously, the wrapper states that the buttons were part of "a series of buttons reproducing pictures of 500 Professional Baseball Players." With buttons for only 43 players known by today's collectors, the whereabouts of the missing 457 players remains a hobby mystery. It is a mystery not likely to be resolved soon, however, since the 43-player checklist has remained unchanged for at least three decades. The full Player Checklist and very colorful Set Gallery for the PX3 Double-Header set is provided on the Old Cardboard website. Columns in the Checklist have been added for the player's team (the team city and team nickname as printed on the buttons) and whether it is a side "1" or side "2" button. OC eNewsletter Sponsor 3. Latest Additions to the OldCardboard.com Website We are continually expanding the Old Cardboard website with more set profiles, checklists and card galleries. Recent (past 30-40 days) additions include: Group (Type-Card) Galleries have been added for early 20th century candy issues (E-Cards), including both E1 and E2 subgroups. Such Group Galleries function as "type card" indexes within each major card group. They are intended to help streamline the identification of various card sets and provide a visual path to the Profile pages on the Old Cardboard website for each set. Each card image in the group represents a vintage baseball card set and includes a link to more detailed information about the issue. Galleries for N-Cards and the album premiums ("A-Cards") issued with some of the N-Card sets, along with Bakery (D-Card) galleries, have already been provided, Galleries for other major card groups will be added over the next several months. Set Checklists have been added for: 1925   W504   Universal Toy & Novelty (previously uncataloged cards added to the Washington Senators subset) 1933   PX3   Double Header Buttons 1933-34   Blum's Baseball Bulletin Premiums Set Galleries have been added for: 1925   W504   Universal Toy & Novelty (previously uncataloged cards added to the Washington Senators subset) 1933   PX3   Double Header Buttons Updating the website with checklists and full set galleries for additional vintage sets is an ongoing project, so check back often to check out the latest additions. There are now many thousands of card images on the website and the list continues to grow every month. We welcome and encourage feedback with checklist additions, card images, error corrections and suggestions. Please send all input to editor@oldcardboard.com. Beyond the above pages recently added to the Old Cardboard website, we continue to expand and refine our eBay Custom Search Links to make finding vintage baseball cards on eBay easier than ever. The results of these searches are continuously changing, so check back often to find the most recent eBay listings. Samples of a few of these custom searches are provided below. Hundreds more are provided on the Set Profile pages throughout the Old Cardboard website. R-Cards (Pre-WWII) R300 George C. Miller R306 Butter Cream R310 Butterfinger R313 Nat. Chicle "Fine Pens" 1933 R328 U.S. Caramel 1933 DeLong 1939 Play Ball 1940 Play Ball 1941 Play Ball R-Cards (Post-WWII) 1943/49 M.P. & Co. 1949 Leaf 1934-36 Batter Up 1929 R316 Kashin 1934-36 Diamond Stars 1941 Double Play 1936 R311 Glossy/Leather 1936 R312 Color Tint 1935 Schutter-Johnson (more custom searches by major card group) 4. Reader Feedback on W551 Strip Cards Labeling in Black (Authentic) Labeling in Blue (Reprint) Based on feedback about the W551 strip cards featured in our June eNewsletter (eNews #134; Item #2), we have updated the W551 Set Profile on the Old Cardboard website. Within minutes after the eNewsletter was distributed, we received an email from longtime hobbyist Mark Macrae that the blue-labeled W551 variation may be reprints. According to Mark, while there my be some "authentic W551s [with blue labeling], I've seen copies of these in circulation since the 90's which are clearly reprinted...in most cases the paper stock is too good for [1920s] strip cards." Examples of cards with both black and blue labeling are shown at right. In addition, collector Val Kehl provided feedback on the W551 set described in the June eNewsletter. W551 Walter Johnson variation printed with Ad Back Val reminded us that although the large majority of W511 cards have blank backs, there are variations occasionally found with ads for "Wool's American-Maid Bread" printed on the backs. Front and back examples of the Walter Johnson card with the back variation (from Val's collection) are shown here. All card images are displayed at approximate actual size. We (and the hobby) want to thank Mark and Val for their feedback. It is always much appreciated. 5. News Briefs (A Digest of Recent Hobby Happenings) W504 Universal Toy Checklist Expands. In addition to the reader feedback noted in Item 4 above, collectors Val Kehl and Brian Van Horn each forwarded several images of cards from the very rare Washington Senators subset of the W504 Universal Toy & Novelty strip card issue of 1925. All of these card images were additions to the W504 Set Gallery on the Old Cardboard website and several of the cards have never been cataloged (or were mis-cataloged) in hobby checklists. Thanks to Val and Brian for their very helpful contributions to the W504 Checklist and Gallery. 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.