Help With 1888 Allen Ginter N28
 

I was at an antique shop today and came across an Allen & Ginter's Theo Bauer wrestler card. I didn't purchase the card...but maybe I should have. I am trying to understand the set as I am completely unfamiliar with it. I am attaching an image I found online of the same card. I see it listed as an 1888 N28 on CardTarget, yet there is the same card graded through PSA listed as a 1887 N28 on the slab.

Can someone give me a brief explanation of this set and what information is correct? I appreciate it.

Allen & Ginter's, not Allen Ginter. Sorry.

neat card
 

from a nice 19th century "blue chip" set. In decent condition figure it's a 50. card. I'm not sure if the actual production date of the cards has been pinned down to a specific date. In general they are referred to with both dates. The second set followed about a year later and is presumed to be 1889 before the ATC mergers. The set of 50 is available in a variety of conditions and has a wide range of stars in different disciplines. Prices remain fairly steady and there's plenty of prior sales history to consume. The population of cards that survived is quite high due to the popularity (although waning at the time) of scrap book albums and the cards can be found in a few different venues.

no guarantees whether written or implied

That is extremely helpful, thank you very much. The date thing just had me confused and it seemed as if there were multiple issues. I need to read more I guess.

John Clarkson was sold to Boston on April 3, 1888. Since he wears a Boston uniform in the set, the 1888 date appears to be correct.

In there an Allen & Ginter book (like there is for T206, CJ, OJ etc)?

Both N28 and N29 include a Detroit Wolverine player (Bennett & Getzien) and in both cases they are in striped uniforms. Detroit only had striped uniforms in 1888 so I believe both N28 & N29 date to 1888.

interesting
 

my take has always been 1888 (never bothered me that the TPG's use the dates interchangebly) and then 1889. When did the 1888 base ball season begin and end? Obviously they wouldn't be depicted in an 1888 uni before then but the same can't be said for the later set. Maybe I can make an association to the album coupons I have. A few are dated with expiration dates and I might at least be able to differentiate a time-frame between the two sets. Glad you brought this up as I'm usually too lazy to follow up on much - but it's somewhat important and I collect quite a bit of Ginter material. I really SHOULD know. If I was writing a book I would :-)

I'm more of an 1888 1/2 kind of guy. :)