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Posted By: Brian McQueen

Thought I'd get some other opinions on one of my 1909 Obaks. The Jansing, a blank backed card, is pictured below and shown alongside couple other Obaks I have. The Lewis has a framed back, the Smith is "frameless" on the back.

I'm thinking the Jansing is printer's scrap although I am not positive. If you look close, you'll notice that the colors on the front are dull and the black border around the card is thicker than the border on the other two. Notice in particular that Jansing's skin color (face, left hand, etc..) is a greyish color whereas normal Obaks have some color to the face such as the Lewis and Smith cards in the scan. I'm pretty sure these are the typical characteristics of "printer's scraps" but am curious to hear what others might think.

I have a couple observations about the framed vs. nonframed backs as well. I've heard that cards with frameless backs are handcut correct? Any ideas what these might have come off of? I used to think that frameless backs were relatively tough however I took a tally in my own collection and it turns out I have 30 framed backs and 27 of the "frameless" variety. This ratio turned out to be much closer to 50/50 than I thought. Anyone else notice this trend?

Even funnier is that the LA players I have (nine) are all frameless and the Oakland players I have (eight) all have the frames. Anyone else have any peculiar observations with regards to these cards? All opinions are welcome. Thanks in advance,

Brian
redmaccie@hotmail.com