1890 Old Judge cards

[RCMcKenzie]

Here is an 1890 n172 Tom E. Burns 59-3 NL along with a Bill Shindle 415-4 that I suppose could have been an 1890 PL card if the card was not cut short.

If y'all have any 1890 n172 cards with the NL or PL designation, post them here.......

[Bosox Blair]

Proud to show this one off!

[z28jd]

Pair of Farrar's, hard to see PL by his left foot in each, but it's there. Latham is one of my favorite cards. Don't have scans of the other two I have, Denny NL and a Hallman pose that wasn't a known PL card until I found it last year

[RCMcKenzie]

Great cards, thanks for posting. What are y'alls thoughts about the written notations of PL and NL as opposed to the cards that have PL and NL printed on the card?

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

Great cards, thanks for posting. What are y'alls thoughts about the written notations of PL and NL as opposed to the cards that have PL and NL printed on the card?

I kinda like having it noted on the text, mainly because these 1890 cards have notoriously light images, so I think it shows up a little better as part of the text, rather than the photo. And at least for me, I'm interested in these because of the P.L./N.L. connection that was so brief in time. So I'm drawn to cards where this is prominent!

You have some nice cards there gents! Hopefully we get to see a bunch more in this thread!!!

Cheers,
Blair

[Fred]

Probably one of the easier NL cards to find...

[DixieBaseball]

Here is my 1890 NL Lefty Marr who played for Nashville before the turn of the century. How rare are NL & PL 1890 cards?

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by NashvilleBaseball

Here is my 1890 NL Lefty Marr who played for Nashville before the turn of the century. How rare are NL & PL 1890 cards?

Hi Jeremy,

I only know what I've read - I have not studied the OJ set myself, but the authors of the OJ book state: "The cards of 1890, especially Players' League cards, are very scarce."

I also note that in their list of the 7 most desirable HOFers from OJ, the authors chose 4 cards from the 1890 series.

Perhaps one of those guys can add more to this discussion?

[z28jd]

I would say that finding any 1890 card isn't too hard, but finding a particular one is very tough. As I mentioned, just last year I found a Hallman PL card that was a new discovery and it's likely one of a kind. Now, he has multiple poses, so an 1890 card of Hallman isn't a one of a kind item, just that pose.

You would be hard-pressed to get multiple examples of a card like I have with Farrar, that was just dumb luck on my part and prices so good there was no way I could pass them up.

I can't put a particular number on them, but Player's League cards are in the 100's and same goes for the NL cards. Maybe 500 total exist, just a guess

[Joe_G.]

While none of the 1890 cards are common, some do seem to surface more frequently than others. Among them, the Ewing & Mascot PL card and Harry Wright NL card.

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by Joe_G.

While none of the 1890 cards are common, some do seem to surface more frequently than others. Among them, the Ewing & Mascot PL card and Harry Wright NL card.

Hi Joe,

This is interesting to me. By "surface", do you mean cards offered for sale?

I'm only aware of 2 examples of the Ewing/Mascot PL being offered for public sale, those being 6 years apart at REA (2007 and 2013). The 2007 example was later cracked out of the SGC slab and offered raw on eBay in 2012. The 2013 example (mine above) was previously in an SGC 30 holder and was for sale on eBay before REA, but the card was regraded and bumped to a 40. Maybe all of this activity leads to a perception that there are more of these out there than there really are? Or maybe you know about transactions I am unaware of?

On the other hand, over that same timeframe I know of 4 different Wright NL cards sold at auction.

If by "surface" you refer to cards held in private collections, I have no idea and you would have more knowledge of that than I do.

Cheers,
Blair

[Joe_G.]

Originally Posted by Bosox Blair

Hi Joe,

This is interesting to me. By "surface", do you mean cards offered for sale?

I'm only aware of 2 examples of the Ewing/Mascot PL being offered for public sale, those being 6 years apart at REA (2007 and 2013). The 2007 example was later cracked out of the SGC slab and offered raw on eBay in 2012. The 2013 example (mine above) was previously in an SGC 30 holder and was for sale on eBay before REA, but the card was regraded and bumped to a 40. Maybe all of this activity leads to a perception that there are more of these out there than there really are? Or maybe you know about transactions I am unaware of?

On the other hand, over that same timeframe I know of 4 different Wright NL cards sold at auction.

If by "surface" you refer to cards held in private collections, I have no idea and you would have more knowledge of that than I do.

Cheers,
Blair

Hello Blair, I am aware of several examples in advanced collections. NL/PL cards are rare and are noticed by advanced collectors, particularly HOFers. Ewing w/ Mascot and Wright have been surfacing / circulating without garnering aggressive bidding from the handful of advanced collectors who have interest in such cards which makes them among the more common NL/PL cards. We are talking about a relative scale in which more common is still quite rare. Your example of Ewing is a gem, among the nicer examples I've seen.

[DixieBaseball]

Yo Joe,

Thanks for the clarification on NL/PL cards. From none are common & some seem to surface more frequently in your first post to NL/PL cards are rare and are noticed by advanced collectors in your 2nd post, I think you cleared up my confusion and Thanks BoSox for pulling a little more info from Joe!

Love the OJ's!

[Matthew H]

Originally Posted by Fred

Probably one of the easier NL cards to find...

Great card Fred.

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by Joe_G.

Hello Blair, I am aware of several examples in advanced collections. NL/PL cards are rare and are noticed by advanced collectors, particularly HOFers. Ewing w/ Mascot and Wright have been surfacing / circulating without garnering aggressive bidding from the handful of advanced collectors who have interest in such cards which makes them among the more common NL/PL cards. We are talking about a relative scale in which more common is still quite rare. Your example of Ewing is a gem, among the nicer examples I've seen.

Hi Joe,

Got it - thanks for taking the time to reply/share!

Cheers,
Blair

[RCMcKenzie]

Thanks for the additional pics and information. I picked up the 1890 Tom E. Burns to go with this Dog's Head Burns cabinet. I did not intend to start collecting Tom E. Burns cards, but now that I have 2 of the harder to find types, I guess I will look for more of his cards.

It would be fun to find an unknown example, like JD did. That type of stuff makes the hobby interesting.

[Bosox Blair]

Happy to have this lovely NL example recently obtained from a fellow Board member:

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by Bosox Blair

Proud to show this one off!

Nice Ewing Blair. This is one of my favorite cards (with mascot).

Z Wheat

[oldjudge]

In general, PL cards are a lot scarcer than NL cards (not sure why). There are roughly 50 players with PL cards. Many are very rare--three copies or less. I would estimate that there are 100-150 PL cards and probably 2-3 times that amount of NL cards.

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by Zach Wheat

Nice Ewing Blair. This is one of my favorite cards (with mascot).

Z Wheat

Thanks! I'm a big fan of that pose too.

Cheers,
Blair