First off, very happy to have picked up this Clarke, Pitts. in recent Heritage:
Attachment 234438
Where as his Phila. card is a quite easy HOF, the Pitts. variation is one of the toughest in set. Most would agree top 10, some (like me
) would argue top 5.
Although quality control may not have been what it should have at American Caramel, it is quite amazing they accidentally initially had Clarke designated with Phila. (of course, not a team change, never played for Phila. and was a Pitts. icon).
Years ago, we had some great discussions on the production of E90-1s (should readdress it one day). It was the consensus that there were probably three printings. The first, being the largest and most common, second, harder, third, getting crazy tough. Due to it's availability, one would have to conclude that Clarke, Phila. was in first issue, then "corrected" in a following run.
Nothing new ........... except I noticed something different about my new "Pitt's." ............ it still has remnants of the old "Phila."
Top caption is a basic Phila.
Middle is my new Pitt's.
Bottom is a basic Pitt's.
Attachment 234439
Looking at middle caption, you can see that the "i" in Pitt's. is actually still part of the "h" in Phila. (really no "i" at all). Also, the "a" in Phila. is still present. Therefore, I assume, at some point in the team correction, the Phila. was not totally removed for some runs. It was then "cleaned" up.
Maybe nothing to exciting, but I do really like my Clarke,
Phtt'sa.
