1887 Tobin Lithos, Color and B&W

[GregMitch34]

Just starting to look at these, the ones with the named players. Seems like the black and white would qualify as not just "scarce" but "rare", right? Are they much coveted? Seem, for this type, pretty cool...

[barrysloate]

The black and white are scarcer, and definitely in demand, but some collectors like the aesthetics of the colored ones. They're all good, and you can put together a master set of both series.

[GregMitch34]

There are lot of "goofy" early card issues, and I'm not crazy about the aesthetics of most, and few use real players, so if people like the looks of these Tobins then I guess that is a giant plus. Many other issues seem to be frowned on as "cartoon" cards....but but not these?

[barrysloate]

All comic trade cards depict caricatures of ballplayers. They are not meant to be accurate portraits, like baseball cards. So I guess they are an acquired taste. Not everybody likes them. I always did, because I felt the art work on many was quite good. Take 'em or leave 'em.

[tschock]

But these are caricatures of actual players, whereas other Tobin and trade issues are generic, or at least not noted as to what (if any) player they were based on.

And logically it makes sense why the B&W were printed in much lesser quantities. It wasn't much earlier where trade cards and color printing were produced on such an economically accessible scale. And the masses liked the color. So even though it was cheaper for B&W cards, advertisers actually got more "bang for their buck" using color.

FWIW, I'm interested in off-condition copies of these.

[matty39]

There is also a third set of tobins much rarer than the first two. A few samples in the scan below.