1923-24 Billiken complete set!!!

[ElCabron]

I haven’t posted here in a long time, but there’s an item in my current auction that is too incredible not to share. So I paid Leon in order to be able to pimp it a little and get some more eyes on it. It’s lot #1 in the auction. A complete 1923-24 Billiken set from Cuba! Nothing even close to this has ever offered for sale publicly. In the 35 auctions I’ve done in the last 21 years, this is the single greatest lot I’ve ever offered. The lot is not mine, but the consignor is a good friend of mine and I personally watched him painstakingly put this set together card by card over the past 25 years. It ends this Saturday the 17th. Here’s a link: https://cubanbaseballauctions.com/bi...ce?itemid=2941

There’s a full description and listing of all the cards on the auction lot page, but there was a character limit from the auction software company, so I wasn’t able to go into detail about what makes this particular set so special, and why some of the non-HOF Negro League players are so important. Most people know (or should know) about the 5 HOFers in the set: Oscar Charleston, Pop Lloyd, Cristobal Torriente, Jose Mendez, and Andy Cooper. But there are so many other important Negro Leaguers and other players in this set. I thought it might be good to give each of those players his own post in this thread so there can be a brief biography of him, plus multiple examples of his Billiken card to compare with the one in this lot. These cards are photographic, so image quality is of upmost importance, similar to Old Judges. It will be helpful to see different examples side by side to really understand this point.

Over the next day or two, I’ll post biographies of many of the important non-HOF players, along with comparison scans. This set has cards of 5 or 6 players that have a legit shot at being HOFers at some point in the future. Players like Oliver "Ghost" Marcelle, Dobie Moore, Nip Winters, Clint Thomas, and Frank Duncan. Plus a number of other excellent players you may not know about, but should. If there are any questions, post them in this thread. Thanks.

[ElCabron]

Here's an example of how different image quality can be from card to card. This is HOFer John Henry "Pop" Lloyd. The card on the top left is the one in this set.

[ElCabron]

This is Oscar Charleston. He very well could be the greatest all-around baseball player ever to play the game. He's certainly one of only 4 or 5 players in that argument. Here are some close up comparisons from 7 different examples of his 1923-24 Billiken cards. The one 2nd from the left is the one in this lot.

[BeanTown]

What an amazing set. Glad to see you back posting Ryan..

[calvindog]

Great set and cool auction as always.

[Seven]

Absolutely incredible set. Wish I had the funds to purchase it!