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

[jbsports33]

I have always been interested in the set myself and the variety is endless. Over the years - at least 15+ we have been selling these and the last few years they have been getting harder to find - mostly the early issues. 1920s and 1930s for the most part can be found more often. There have been a few times that I bought large collections of the magazines, singles and the large early versions. Mr Mint and Steve V bought many from us and paid good prices too! Many collectors are not aware of the great selection of players and HOF players. I wish we had some of them back, because they always got the attention of people at our tables during the big shows. Sometimes I just read on this site, but these are very underrated and had say a bit about them - great pre-war baseball items!

Jimmy

[BruceinGa]

I have ten or fifteen of the player posters three or four of which have been framed by me and plan on framing several more "when I get time".
I own most common Ruth, the close up of his face.
Wish I knew more about them, value, reprints, etc.

[rhettyeakley]

Really underappreciated and undervalued items. I think a lot has to do with the awkward size and non-uniform (changed over the years) size of the pieces. They are too big to fit in a normal binder which makes storing them problematic to me.

I have collected them somewhat passively over the years and have probably 200+ of them currently. I really like the early ones and quickly start losing interest in them after the 1930's. I think a visual guide that helps date certain superstars (that had multiple poses issued) would really help.

-Rhett

[doug.goodman]

Boy, did I get excited when I saw this thread!

Thank you Alan, I will admit to a very slight obsession, that happens when trying to "finish" a set which is harder to complete than the t206 set.

Yep, you read that right, "harder to complete than the t206 set".

I will certainly be posting more of my thoughts in the upcoming days, but I'll start with Rhett's storage concern:

I keep both my m114s and my m113s (and other odd sized things like Blum's Bulletins, Alerta premiums, Police Gazette supplements, etc) in Itoya art profolios They have proven themselves to be great ways to store just about everything for me over the years. I even keep my cards in them (in the 8 and 9 count sheets). They take up less space than binders, and stop the potential curving of the cards when the pages sag inside a binder.

http://www.itoya.com/pht/Art_profolio_P.htm

Problem solved. You're welcome.

Insert smiley face here,
Doug


PS - here is 1 of my 875 different m113 / m114 issues. This one is a lot harder to find than you might guess.

[BruceinGa]

DG, thanks for the tip and the link, I'll check it out.
I also like the earlier ones.

[BruceinGa]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

I keep both my m114s and my m113s (and other odd sized things like Blum's Bulletins, Alerta premiums, Police Gazette supplements, etc) in Itoya art profolios They have proven themselves to be great ways to store just about everything for me over the years. I even keep my cards in them (in the 8 and 9 count sheets). They take up less space than binders, and stop the potential curving of the cards when the pages sag inside a binder.

http://www.itoya.com/pht/Art_profolio_P.htm

Problem solved. You're welcome.

Insert smiley face here,
Doug

Thanks for the tip.
I have a question, why do sellers of these on eBay have so many neutral and negative feedbacks?