Hobby Mysteries

We've discovered a lot about vintage cards in the last couple of years but many questions still are left unanswered. What is the one hobby mystery that you would like to know the answer to more than any other?

Did Ruth really call his shot?
J/K
One that comes to mind is How ,When and Where, was the T206? Cobb/ Cobb back distributed.

I am curious as to the manufacturing of the T202s, especially , why were they cut after they were folded.

Lee

Who were the other 200 cards that were supposed to be in the t205 set. Just imagine if a proof sheet for those were found.

Jay

Great question Tim.

Personally I'm most intrigued by the mysteries surrounding the E104-3 Nadja set. While the type 1 and 2 E104's represent one team each (Athletics and Pirates), the type 3 subset is larger, containing both the Detroit and New York teams - 36 cards currently known, and a strong possibility of more being discovered.

Therein lies the intrigue: there still could be a E104-3 Cobb or Mathewson card that hasn't been discovered yet. There's a type 3 Crawford and Jennings accounted for, and a Chase too. But no Cobb or Matty...yet. Do you think they're out there waiting to be found? I do.

This probably wouldn't count as any great hobby mystery, but I have always wondered at the type-font on Matty's E98. I've heard the reasoning regarding space and the length of his name, but I'm not sure I buy it. Only one-quarter (thereabouts) of the set includes the player's first name or nickname...arbitrarily it would seem...so why not just drop "Christy" and use the same type-font as the rest of the set? You'd think a cohesive aesthetic would trump anything else. And it's not like the inclusion of "Christy" was necessary to know who Mathewson was.

That said, I like the fact that he's got the different font.

Ray

I hadn't thought about it before, Ben, but you're right about E104-3. Potential for some great discoveries to be made in that subset.

When was the last time new additions were made to that checklist? Which cards?

I don't think any new e104-3s have been found since the ones I came across back in 2003

Good question Tim.

Player arrangement on an uncut T206 sheet.


Jantz

How about the "mystery" behind the Reccruis Wagner? I know for a while people would argue that it was Wagner's "true rookie" but nobody seems to think that anymore. I'm guessing it's not a mystery any longer...wasn't it proven to be a much later piece than originally thought? Or not even authentic? I was taking an extended break from the hobby when all that went down - can someone please fill me in?

Ok one more and I'm done. T231 Fans Cigarettes - what are these cards? Only two cards are known: Carson Bigbee, and Home Run Baker. I'm pretty sure the Bigbee has been confirmed only from an old photocopy. The Baker is a more recent discovery.

If they are legit, then where did they come from? Were they promoting something, or were they a prize/handout of some sort? How can one explain their extraordinary rarity?

Where is the Alpha Engraving Keeler?

Ben, Zach has said that there are more t231s out there. I want to say he knows of two more, but he has told me that he knows of one more besides the Baker. Hopefully he'll chime in tell us what he knows about the set.

Jay

Thanks for all the great responses. The unknowns really fascinate me.

Jerry - I too would love to know more about the Cobb/Cobb card. I have done some research on it but it seems to be a taboo subject on other boards that isn't worthy of being rehashed in some peoples minds. However I think with any questions talking about it and encouraging new research may lead to new answers.

Lee - I know very little about the T202 printing (or folding) process but wouldn't it make sense to "break" the cards prior to cutting the sheet so the fold would be uniform prior to insertion into the pack? Much easier than folding each card individually.

Jay - Joe Jax is in the other 200 T205's.

The T202s seemed to be printed on sheets with the fold lines for the end panels, cut vertically, folded and cut horizontally seems really odd to me. There player selection also seems very odd.

Lee

fisherboy7 wrote:How about the "mystery" behind the Reccruis Wagner? I know for a while people would argue that it was Wagner's "true rookie" but nobody seems to think that anymore. I'm guessing it's not a mystery any longer...wasn't it proven to be a much later piece than originally thought? Or not even authentic? I was taking an extended break from the hobby when all that went down - can someone please fill me in?

Ben- Interesting, about the Reccius Wagner. I remember well all the hoopla over it in 2005-2006 (?), but I haven't heard anything since about its assumed age or authenticy...probably because I took my extended break as about the same time as you. If anyone has more specific info, do tell! Meantime maybe I'll dig around places and see what I can find out.

hal was certainly passionate and enthusiastic about his investments.

If you drop huge coin on something, of course you are going to be passionate about it. You don't want to have been the owner when the luster wore off that card.

Jay

Does he still own the Reccius? I seem to remember him selling...indecisively...and the auction never went off? And if he doesn't still have it, anyone know who does? Not necessary to name names...

I think he donated (?) the Reccius to the Hall of Fame.

I posted this once before but a few years ago, I did some research on the T231s. I was actually able to locate the exact cigarette box (surpirse - it's baseball themed) they were packaged in. The brand, itself, is incredibly rare, which coincides with the cards being so rare. This is a black and white copy of the only known Fans cigarette box. Note that this is a slide and shell cigarette box that is missing the inner slide and has been folded flat. The area to the right of the scan that says "10 FANS 10" would actually be the side of the box.

sabrjay wrote:Who were the other 200 cards that were supposed to be in the t205 set. Just imagine if a proof sheet for those were found.

Jay

Jay I would love to hear more about this. Is there proof the set run was supposed to continue on???

There is your proof

Jay

sabrjay wrote:

There is your proof

Jay

I believe T205's were printed at the end of the T206 run during the 350-460 series and that they may have been a subset. I dont think that there were 400 cards. Why did the T206s have 524 cards but only had 460 series???? T206's had no 400 series and I believe T205's may have been run during that time and then the last 460 series run of T206's were already printed but just had the backs labeled.

Open to discussion and opinions on this

OK since you are having so much fun bashing my beloved T330-2 Piedmont Art Stamps, my question is how were they distributed and did they originally come with a border?

Lee