In regards to why I believe the new set was printed in 1944 here is some more information.
First, it is very clear that the 1943 set was printed after the 1942 season ended, as a few cards mention the champions from 1942, but also before the 1943 season begins as the 1943 Novikoff card reads on the back that 1943 should be a good year for Lou. So our timeline for when this set was printed is pretty clear.
Back to the 1944 set, No way it was printed after 1949 because Multiple of the players from this set didn’t play that long in their career, they were retired long before 1949, many of them. Remember, the 1949 set is comprised of 18 different players than both the 1943 and 1944 sets. The 24 players comprising the 1943 and 1944 sets were from a bit of an earlier generation, check out the 24 players we’re dealing with here again.
Moving on, 2 different cards in the 1944 set read, on the back, that the player is gone to war (this gives us our first time reference) the Henrich (8 line version) and the Greenberg. So, the set was printed when both these guys were gone to war. Okay, we know Greenberg served 47 months, most of any Major Leaguer. He returned to MLB July 1, 1945 for good from the war, and played the rest of the 1945 season.
Here is where I start to narrow down the timeline for when this set was printed. With Greenberg and Henrich back from the war and both resuming their MLB careers by 1945, we can rule out the set being printed in 1946 or after.
Now, how do we know this set wasn’t just a variation print run of the 1943 set?
I know because of the specific dialogue changes made from the 1943 version to the 1944 version. Many of the card’s dialogue changes appear irrelevant and/or that they were made simply to shorten the verbiage (save ink), brief omissions per say. Some appear to just remove bad grammar, good call to remove that William Cooper “catched” for the Cardinals, haha.
But, one card really stands out. The Camilli card’s changes specifically stand out to me. While most of the changes made from set to set were simple omissions of say 2 or 3 lines printed at the top or the bottom of the dialogue, the Camilli card specifically removes that he now plays for the Dodgers at the top, then later on in the dialogue it is changed from “has been with Brooklyn since 1938”, to saying “has been with Brooklyn” (As in, past tense) This is significant because he was traded in 1943. I believe this quasi-cover up shows that this set was printed after 1943, because the printer knew Camilli had been traded and was trying to correct the card to read more accurate.
The Vander Meer cards are similar in that the 1943 reads he is “with the Reds today”, then on the 1944 card this statement is gone. Again significant because he went into the Navy in early 1944 and missed the entire season.
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