W600 questions

Being quite new to this era of collecting, one of the gems I've been learning about recently are the W600 (1902-1911) Sporting Life cabinets. My wallet may only allow me to purchase any graded "Authentic" or "1", however.

Any thoughts on these cards, their scarcity, condition, etc would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

A great set featuring a ton of Carl Horner portraits. HOFers and other big stars of the day are much easier to find than the "common" players since you got to choose which player you wanted.

Would the Ed Delahanty in the set be considered a posthumous release, or were they produced before he took the plunge?

He didn't die until 1904. These were first issued in 1902.

sabrjay wrote:He didn't die until 1904. These were first issued in 1902.

Does this card have the same hooplah as his E107 issue?

what hooplah? you mean the strong price it brings?

Bicem wrote:what hooplah? you mean the strong price it brings?

Yes. Does the W600 Delahanty have the same "premium" over other W600s the way the E107 Delahanty has over E107s? Or, is the E107 Delahanty lightning in a bottle?

yeah, I would say it does, maybe not to the same extent though.

The W600 set was produced over a number of years with players being added all the time. So narrowing down specific dates where certain cabinets were available is sometimes difficult. It really only matters to some who are concerned if a player's W600 predated another set (such as E107) for the "earliest known example" in their rookie card chase.

The appearance of W600s adds insight into when it was produced because the set was produced on four different mounts and these mounts correspond to different production eras. Since the set was produced over so many years (1902-1911), saying that all of them were produced in 1902 is quite a misknowmer. For example, certain players (McGraw or Young, for examples) had multiple issues on multiple mounts... and looked dramatically different in age on their issues. In the case of McGraw, he is found on both ends of the spectrum from a Type 1 mount all the way to a Type 4 mount.

As one piece of background on the W600, they were issued as premiums (redemptions) and by specific player request. So, research could yield that a specific W600 was available by a certain date, but there is no guarantee that it was issued then (or ever) unless an example has survived. Because of this, the W600 set is regarded as an impossible set because the checklist of what was available does not necessarily equal the set of what was produced/ released. More HOFers have survived than commons - largely because it is likely that people requested star players of the day instead of a guy who was in the majors for a cup of coffee.

That said, Ed Delahanty's W600 was available in October 1902, so its availability clearly predates that of the E107. Therefore, it was also available before his demise. I don't know if they stopped issuing it after he died... that would be interesting to find out.

As for the price of the W600 Delahanty, I have no record of a public sale of one (no VCP record), but admittedly have not been tracking the set for long at all. I suspect that his W600 would command a premium since most / all of his cards seem to go for strong prices. I have seen a picture of a Delahanty (on a Type 1 mount), so it can be confirmed that it was produced and has survived.

Brian,
Great info. Does his Duke Cabinet sell for significantly less than what a W600 would command?
Jeff

I believe a board member once owned one. Two different versions here...

http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/auction/2005/172.html

http://www.goodwinandco.com/LotDetail.aspx?lotid=6037

hrbaker wrote:Brian,
Great info. Does his Duke Cabinet sell for significantly less than what a W600 would command?
Jeff

Both the Duke Cabinet and the W600 have easily commanded 5 figures in the past. I wouldn't be surprised to see both continue to command those numbers.

The Duke cabinet is very popular. If I had a choice, I'd go with that over any of his other cards.

The Duke cabinet Delahanty is attractive and pretty popular. Given that it is generally a touch more available than the W600 (read: sought after), it seems to get more attention when it surfaces.

In general, I don't think that the W600 set is widely collected by set collectors due to some of the reasons I've previously mentioned. The Honest Duke cabinet set is only 4 cards (but 2 HOFers), so it gets attention from set collectors as well. Obviously, there are those that just want the Delahanty from the set, but there are those who want all 4 as well.

terjung wrote:
The Honest Duke cabinet set is only 4 cards (but 2 HOFers), so it gets attention from set collectors as well. Obviously, there are those that just want the Delahanty from the set, but there are those who want all 4 as well.

3 HOFer's. Plus some guys on bikes.

Bicem wrote:

terjung wrote:
The Honest Duke cabinet set is only 4 cards (but 2 HOFers), so it gets attention from set collectors as well. Obviously, there are those that just want the Delahanty from the set, but there are those who want all 4 as well.

3 HOFer's. Plus some guys on bikes.

You got me Jeff. I never realized until your post that Robinson in the set was Wilbert Robinson (a HOFer). I was counting Ed Delahanty and George Davis as the HOFers. William Nash is the other "common" baseball player for those scoring at home.

Jeff is also correct about the guys on bikes. Three bicyclists are also included in the N142 set. I guess that Burdick felt they went together.