Posted By:
Hal LewisThe only remaining shred of proof to the contrary has now been removed. The Leaf set was a 1949 set and NONE of the cards were printed with different backs.
Someone had quoted an old Mastronet catalog that indicated that legendary collector Marshall Fogel had a Leaf Satchell Paige with a 1948 copyright date on back.
Well, let's just chalk it up to "puffery" on Mastro's part, because here is Marshall's response to my e-mail:
Hal
I was hoping my Paige card was with a 1948 reverse; but, it is with a 1949 reverse.
Beat Regards,
Marshall
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In a nutshell, there ARE NO Satchell Paige or Jackie Robinson Leaf cards with a "1948" copyright date on back.
The entire Leaf set was first distributed in the first few months of 1949. It is a 1949 set only and NOT a "1948-49" set.
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This is very similar to the Old Judge thread on the board, where certain Old Judge cards were definitely distributed with the 1888 and 1889 sets as clearly indicated by their style... but have the 1887 copyright date.
The copyright dates do NOT indicate when the cards were printed and distributed... only when the picture was taken and or the script was copyrighted.