Those M114's - When Are We Going To Talk About Them?

[akleinb611]

Hello Everyone. I haven't posted often on this site, and it seems that when I do, it has something to do with the M114 Baseball Magazine Premium set. So I've decided to jump into the deep end and invite anyone and everyone who's interested to contribute something.

For those who aren't familiar, M114 (and it's predecessor M113) covers a very large universe of large premiums, mini-posters really, issued by the legendary Baseball Magazine from 1912 to 1957. These are brown-tinted posed photos on thin, semi-glossy paper, measuring 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 for the most part. I'm sure everyone has spotted a few at shows, here and there, but few have had the nerve to start collecting them seriously, given how little is generally known about this issue.

Over the course of several decades, I've gotten hold of hundreds of these photos, and by default I seem to have become the reigning expert. The only other collector on this board who is equally obsessed by the set is Doug Goodman, whom I hope will contribute to this discussion. About ten years ago, I wrote an article about the set for SCD that, to my surprise, seems to have become the go-to reference on the set. Here it is:

http://www.sportscollectorsdigest.com/m114/

So, what I would like to do is to invite anyone who likes this set or who knows anything about it to chime in. Tell us what you know about the relative scarcity levels of different years, oddball facts about the players included in the set, and your sense of what the current market is. I've always felt that this is a wonderful, sadly-neglected issue, and I would like to encourage as much interest in it as I can!

Alan Kleinberger