[brianp-beme]

The W517 strip set is an interesting issue, not only because of its unusually large size but also that it was issued during a stretch of time that does not include many issues. It has always been identified as being issued in 1931. However when examining team designations of the players in the set, in conjunction with the records of players that changed teams during the late 1920's and early 1930's, it becomes evident that this issue was almost positively produced in 1930, and was reissued in a much more limited fashion in 1932, possibly not the full set.

The complete set of W517 cards consists of 54 cards, and additionally there are 5 variation cards, 4 involving team changes (Chalmer Cissell, George Kelly, Chick Hafey and Lefty O'Doul), and one that involves numbering (Paul Waner has a numbered card, like all of the other cards in the set, and an unnumbered variation). The team change variations are the cards that point to a reissue date of 1932, but I will get back to that. First we will deal with the long accepted 1931 date for this set, and why it is much more likely that it was instead originally released sometime in 1930.

Many players depicted in the set changed teams during the 1929 through 1931 stretch. Cards of some of these players are some of the evidence that I have come across that indicate, unless the makers were extremely sloppy, that this original issue date was 1930.

First off are players that preclude this set from being issued in 1929 or before. The card of Harry Heilmann has the Reds team designation. He was purchased after the 1929 baseball season by the Reds on 10/14/1929. Bob Meusel is also shown with a team designation of the Reds. He was traded to the Reds on 10/17/1929. More conclusively, both Grover Alexander and Sammy Hale were traded on 12/11/1929 to the teams that are shown on their cards, Alexander to the Phillies, Hale to the Browns. These cards therefore point to a 1930 issue date at the earliest.

Secondly are the players that were traded during the 1930 season. There were 6 players depicted in the W517 set that were traded or released during the months of May, June and July 1930. All 6 of these players are shown with team designations of the team they started in the 1930 season. Hugh Critz is shown with the Reds, but was traded to the Giants on 5/21/1930. Pete Donohue is shown with the Reds, but was traded to Giants as well on 5/27/1930. Heinie Manush is shown with the Browns, but was traded to the Senators of 6/16/1930. Art Shires is shown with the White Sox, but was traded to the Browns on 6/16/1930. Bill Sherdel is shown with the Cardinals, but was traded to the Braves on 6/16/1930, the same day as Shires was traded. Finally, George Kelly is shown with the Reds, but was released on 7/10/1930. He was picked up by the Cubs on 8/18/1930 and played the rest of the season with them.

If the W517 was indeed issued originally in 1931, then the producers of the set were not on top of the mid-season team changes that are indicated above, nor did they catch the post 1930 season trade of Lefty O'Doul (shown with the Phillies) to the Dodgers on 10/14/1930, or the release of Joe Sewell by the Indians, the team designated on his card, on 1/20/1931, and that the Yankees picked him up on 1/24/1931. Certainly all of this is possible, but still leads one to logically believe instead that this set was issued in 1930 instead. Further evidence includes players such as Edd Roush. He was with Giants in 1929 and his card designates him as a Giant. He held out for the entire 1930 season, and was picked up on waivers by the Reds on 3/26/1931. This surely indicates that an early 1930 issue date is the more likely choice. The aforementioned George Kelly, after the second half of the season spent with the Cubs, was not in the MLB during the 1931 season, after being released by the Cubs in February of 1931. Furthermore, players such as Eddie Collins, Grover Alexander, Cy Williams and Bob Meusel ended their major league careers after the 1930 season. All of this evidence definitely points to the 1930 issue date as much more likely, and narrowing the timeline down to the first half of 1930 reasonable.

Now for the variations and reissue date. These 4 cards are much tougher to come by, indicating a limited release involving these cards. The team variation cards point to a re-issue date of sometime after April of 1932 due to the timing of the trades involving the players, and the new team designations shown on the card.

The more common card of Lefty O'Doul shows him with the Phillies. As indicated above, he was traded to the Dodgers on 10/14/1930. His variation card shows him with the Dodgers. If he were the only player with a team change, one might believe that the updated card was probably produced in 1931. However the other three player's variation cards point to a 1932 re-issue date. To start with, George Kelly, as mentioned before, was depicted as a Red, was released by the Reds on 7/10/1930, picked up the Cubs on 8/18/1930, and released by them in February of 1931, and did not play in the MLB in 1931. He was picked up on 4/7/1932 by the Dodgers, and is shown as a Dodger on his variation card. Chick Hafey, whose original W517 card shows him as a member of the Cardinals, was traded to the Reds on 4/11/1932, the team shown on the tougher variation. Finally, Chalmer Cissell, originally depicted with the White Sox, was traded to the Indians on 4/24/1932, which proves that these tougher variations were probably all issued in May of 1932 or later.

It is also quite possible that only a portion of the 54 card set was re-issued during this 1932 print run, because certain players were traded during the 1931 season and off season, but were not updated like the four cards indicated above. Willie Kamm and Lew Fonseca, both incluced in the W517 set, were traded for each on 5/17/1931, but only have cards depicting them with their previous team. Hack Wilson, shown as a Cub, was traded to the Cardinals on 12/11/1931, and then traded to the Dodgers on 1/20/1932, but was not updated.

So welcome to the newly designated 1930/1932 W517 set. Since there was a lack of sets issued during this period anyway, I do not believe this affects any Rookie card status. It does make the cards of Eddie Collins and Grover Alexander to be issued during their playing career instead of post-career, as the 1931 date would make them. Additional comments and criticism welcome!

Brian