2014 In Review

[Joe_G.]

Net54 has always had some good posts/threads at the close of each year as our collectables age gracefully. I haven't noticed a post yet this year that fits the traditional mold so I'll start one. Share your favorite pick-ups of 2014 and comment on some of the most notable hobby finds/discoveries/news.

I'll start with my favorite hobby find . . . an N172 McGreachery (Deacon White portrait) that surfaced in REA spring auction (2nd known copy). A great card that fetched a healthy six figure hammer price.

There have been a number of other interesting stories regarding research, finds, slab updates, corruption exposure, etc. I'll leave it to others to post favs.

My favorite pick-ups of 2014 included the Charlie Bennett "King of Catchers" tribute game program from the Kid Nichols estate (thanks to Jay Miller for bringing it to my attention) and a couple Old Judges. Any Deacon White pick-up will always be a highlight for me and the Ed Beatin is a real beater but was a pose I've had on my wantlist with no real expectation of obtaining it since it was previously only known as a single N173 in the Wharton Tigar collection (British Museum). It was a shock to me to see this pose surface as an N172.

It's been a great day, a great year, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

[ethicsprof]

thanks for the opportunity to reflect a bit, Joe.
I continued my type collecting but a bit slowly as I found myself focused on
my Type 1 photo collection. Happily, I picked up a photo of Gehrig talking with
McCarthy in the dugout soon after his finding out his diagnosis of ALS.
I also acquired a photo of Gehrig and teammates Gordon,Gomez and Dickey
in the dugout with the final 3 mesmerized with Gehrig's telling them the news of his illness. My final Gehrig photo is one of Gehrig and Mrs. Gehrig embraced on the stairs of the plane as Gehrig returns from his Mayo trip with the news
of his diagnosis---a very moving scene. I also completed my World Series
scenes(one per Year) from 1920-1949 with a most recent beauty of DiMaggio sliding safely into third after a Gehrig hit in the '38 World Series(Gehrig's last as a player).
For the new year, I'll focus on the world series from 1910-1919; fortunately,
I already have scenes from 1915 and 1917.
Let me also add that I acquired cards representing almost every player in the various scenes. My wonderful wife had all of these photos and cards framed
professionally.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year everyone!
best,
barry

[frohme]

Though I swore I would sit the year out, reality (Murphy?) had different plans. At least with a very narrow collecting focus (my T207 obsession), it keeps some constraint, so there's not too much interesting to write about. That said, through the help of other board members, the following T207-activities happened for me in 2014:


Finished Factory 240 subset
Raised completed player back run count to 103 (81 Recruit, 22 Broadleaf).
Added 5 Anonymous Recruits and 17 Napoleons.
Reduced Factory 606 and Broadleaf subset needs down to 1 card each.


I posted my 2015 goals in the other thread, but include the larger goals here for reference:

Finish the two subsets above. (2015?)
Finish any team with all front/back combos. (2015)
Upgrade a few (6?) cards to SGC 40. (2015-2017)
Pickup other front/back combos when available/affordable (Ongoing, wishful)
Lewis no-emblem, any player w/RedCross back (Wishful thinking)


Did I mention its an obsession?

--
Mike

[Joe_G.]

My favorite research for 2014 came compliments of Love of The Game in which the 1888 Scrapps mystery was solved. Interesting early gum issue. LOTG summary can be found here: 1888 H. D. Smith & Co Baseball Gum die-cuts (http://lotgauctions.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/the-origin-of-scrapps-tobacco/)

[familytoad]

Joe,
I loved that research too...
I was underbidder on the Scrapps pair, I was nervously excited since it was pretty late into the evening when my old eyes and wallet needed to close;)

Fascinating hobby we have here. New discoveries, new information, new ancillary items all being discovered in all manners across the country!


(BTW- not wanting to derail the intent of the thread, I wonder if a board member snagged the Scrapps Hanlon/Thompson?)

[Exhibitman]

Interesting idea for a thread.

One thing I liked in general is that the postwar forum has had a series of really strong research threads on regional and non-mainstream issues. The expertise here is quite impressive and I have learned so much about issues I really did not think of before. Off the top of my head there have been threads on Post/Jello, 1968 Topps Milton Bradley, Post FB, and various late 70s-early 80s soda issues. I am also enjoying the memorabilia forum where there have been some eye-openers on different ephemera items, the highlight of which for me has been the various snapshot threads. I've gotten more into those over the last few years as really pure expressions of the joy of the athletes and sports.

On a more personal note, the top research find for me was the Philadelphia Caramel advertising sheet that corresponds to the back printing on the E79-E95 analog cards. I have wondered about those issues for better than a decade and I think we've finally put the questions to bed. Another one I liked was the recent confirmation of a Rocky Marciano Slidewell Bows premium [it's in the boxing forum if you are interested in the H815 thread]. Again, a longtime hobby rumored issue confirmed.

[kkkkandp]

2014 far exceeded my wildest expectations in terms of N172 acquisitions.

Thanks to John Dreker, Jay Miller, Travis Wise and Bruce Kasarda I managed to knock off the six toughies below.

Usually, however, that means a lean year is going to follow! :(

[Joe_G.]

Brian, no idea who won the Hanlon/Thompson combo, I was bidding as well but dropped out fairly early. There have been some record prices since LOTG broke the news including a nice looking Deacon White that a forum member picked up off eBay.

Adam, thanks for sharing a little insight from other, less frequented, Net54 forums together with reminding us about the Philadelphia Caramel sheet that shed light on various caramel card issues.

Kevin, great 2014 pick-ups! You have an impressive run of OJs.

Another 2014 story-line followed by some with interest was the SGC flip. SGC moved from their long-time flip (top) to a short-lived borderless flip (middle) and then a return to the green border.

[btcarfagno]

Joe,
I loved that research too...
I was underbidder on the Scrapps pair, I was nervously excited since it was pretty late into the evening when my old eyes and wallet needed to close;)

Fascinating hobby we have here. New discoveries, new information, new ancillary items all being discovered in all manners across the country!


(BTW- not wanting to derail the intent of the thread, I wonder if a board member snagged the Scrapps Hanlon/Thompson?)

I was the consignor of those though I do not know who ended up with them. I sent LOTG a few more high grade (formerly)/Scraps for an upcoming auction as well (shameless plug).

Tom C