T212 Obaks

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Posted By: Adam J. Baxter

Greetings all,
I just purchased my first T212 Obak(Barry, Portland) tonight on eBay and I'm really interested in putting together a mid to low grade set. I was wondering if anyone could tell me of a good publication, other then Lipset's encyclopedia, that has info on collecting Obaks? I would also welcome any suggestions anyone has about which dealers offer the best prices on cards from this set.

Thanks everyone,
Adam

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Posted By: jay behrens

As always, when it comes to PCL items, Mark Macrae is the man to see. His knowledge and invemtory are unparalled. You might also try Frank Ward.

Jay

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Posted By: TBob

Adam- I have always felt that ebay was the best source for T212s. The 1909s are rare as hen's teeth but you should be able to do quite well collecting cards from the 1910 and 1911 sets. I have found that generally you can buy Obaks on ebay for much, much less than through dealers. I found guys on this board and others I met while bidding to be invaluable in finding cards for me. Collectors like Brian Parker, Tim Newcomb, Jim Hatch, Greg (jack87), John (z28jd) and others have been very friendly and are great guys, willing to offer their duplicates in trade or for sale at very reasonable prices. I have found Obak collectors to be more "collector-friendly" type of guys, for lack of a better term. Although I have sold a lot of Obaks (and bought many) on ebay, I only sell my duplicates so my inventory of extras is generally fairly low.
One thing to watch for is when a seller offers a team grouping, you can usually get a lot of cards for a bargain price. Also, Promised Treasures has a lot of Obaks which they offer on ebay for a good price. Their service and reliability is first rate and they seem to have access to 1909s, something no one else has.

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Posted By: brian parker

Bob is correct--all the people I have encountered that are interested in Obaks truly seem to be helpful and friendly collectors. Besides the fact that they are a minor league issue, I think that part of the reason why there are relatively few graded Obaks out there is that this sense of community amongst Obak and PCL collectors is fairly strong, and those who decide to collect these issues are usually dedicated and experienced hobbyist who are more interested in the cards than what money the cards might make them in the future. Sometimes it feels like what it must have been like collecting vintage cards in the Seventies--when the dealer was not much different than the collector (I have to go by hearsay--it was a little before my time). I truly believe Mark MaCrae has helped foster this collecting spirit amongst the people who buy from him. Although he is a dealer and will always make a nice profit from his cards, he is a collector at heart and you come away from talking with him as if you have just had a discussion with another collector (albeit an extremely knowledgeable one).

By the way, one of those helpful collectors that Bob forgot to mention was himself.

The VCBC has had some great articles on the Obak sets. Mark wrote a very nice overview of the three sets in Volume 3, including the most accurate checklist including variations and the 1910 150 series cards. Jeff Obermeyer (another helpful collector) wrote an interesting article in Volume 12 about the players in the sets, and especially those who had major league careers, and included listing of those players as well as a list of players who had cards in other major league issues. Volume 22 has another Obermeyer article with lists concerning availability of the slogans on the backs of the 1910 issue per each player, and in Volume 26 he updates this listing after having received additional information from fellow collectors. There is also a website www.vintagecarboard.net that includes Obak reference information (and I believe some of Jeff's lists).

If I were to start to collect the Obaks now, with the idea of completing a set, I would probably attack the 1910 issue, as it is the most available and doesn't have the big name players Weaver(1911) or Gandil(1909). Just don't expect to end up with a master set including the 150 series cards or the variations. The 1911's are a little more difficult, but for me they have the added bonus of an usually laughable biographical write-up on the back (let's just say they are very clever with the use of the word 'clever', and quite often players are lauded for their abilities in tagging runners). I would suggest just getting an example or two of the 1909's--to me the fronts are not as colorful and quite honestly they are tough to come by.

Good luck--and thanks for inspiring me to finally write that Great American Novel

Brian

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Posted By: Julie

Can't be beat for Obaks.

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Posted By: Jeff Obermeyer

The 1910s are by far the easiest of the three issues... there are no "stars" with perhaps the exception of Ping Bodie. They are the most common of the group. That being said, it took me almost 10 years to finish my set. However, if you attack it more aggressively than I did you can easily cut down that time.

I think the 1911s are the most attractive, and the write-ups on the backs are very entertaining. The 1909s, as TBob mentioned, are very, very tough.

The two "big money" cards in the set are the 1909 Gandil and the 1911 Weaver, both former Black Sox players. If you run across either, and you want to work on that particular issue, I suggest you buy them as they don't show up that often.

There are also a few cross collectibles if you are interested... two different sized cigarette packs (packs of 10 and 12), the coupon for the elusive (if not impossible) T4 premiums, Obak slogan buttons, assorted postcards, and even the large enamel signs that show up on eBay from time to time.

My only warning is that Obak collecting is addictive... once you start, you can't stop!

Jeff
http://www.seattlehockey.net

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Posted By: Joe Glidewell

Dear Sir: I read your response to the person who was looking for Obaks. I also am interested in collecting these cards (1910 / 1911). You mentioned a place called Promised Treasures to get Obaks. How can I get in touch with this place? I have not been able to find it on the internet. Any information you can give will be of great help and greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help, Joe Glidewell

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Posted By: BcDaniels

But your lover boys prices are way too high and 150% of anything you can get on E-bay anytime!

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Posted By: deadballera

I've been collecting Obaks for the last 10 years. As everyone has mentioned so far...the 1909's are the toughest. When I first started collecting, there was a card store about 5 miles out of Sacramento that had about 100 Obaks for sale. Eventually I bought almost all of them, as this store was in a really small town. It was good for me that this was kind of a hole in the wall place but never-the-less, it started a set that I want to finish.

Another tough card in the set is a player named Ten Million, in the 1911 series. I have seen about 3-4 of these over the last 3-4 years on eBay. I finally grabbed mine a couple of weeks ago from Promised Treasures. They offer various conditions on eBay and as another collector says....they are very professional.

Todd

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Posted By: deadballera

I almost forgot.....


For some reason...many Obaks out there have various stamps from previous owners. I haven't seen this practice too much on any of the other Tobacco card issues but it must be us out here in California that like to distinguish our cards from other owners....


The articles in the VCBC's are excellent sources. I contributed my information to some of the rarer backs and was able to add to Jeff's list.

Todd

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Posted By: TBob

Joe- the couple who goes by Promised Treasures on ebay is a husband and wife duo. Very nice, very reliable, very honest. The gentleman is having catastrophic health problems so his wife has been selling off his inventory of Obaks for over a year on ebay. He had as many as any dealer I have ever seen. Most are gone now although she continues to list. The high grade cards seem to have dried up but there are still lesser graded cards on ebay at any given time. They are not selling through their business any more, just on ebay.
Bob

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Posted By: Joe Glidewell

Thanks for the information. I hope I can take advantage of this web site to find what I need. I live in a small North Georgia town and baseball cards are a rarity around here. Only if you go to Atlanta can you find any vintage cards and usually they are priced out of sight and the cards are not that easy to find any. So, thanks again. How do I find them on e-bay? Do I just watch or is there some way I could locate them? I can't afford the mint stuff but I can afford the lesser grade so it sounds like what they have is just what I am looking for. Thanks again, Joe Glidewell

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Posted By: TBob

You can go to ebay and plug in "Promised Treasures" on the search page under seller and then click and make it a favorite so you can check it from time to time to see if they are selling anything. Right now (8-01-03) they don't have any cards on ebay.

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Posted By: Joe Glidewell

Thanks for the hint. However, I could not get e-bay to take the name Promised Treasures. They stated it was possible that it was no longer in business as it could not find the address. I also tried getting a phone number but no listing could be found. I will keep an eye on ebay and see if anything comes up. If you have any other places you know of that I could check please let me know. By living on the east coast I have never seen any Obaks. The ones I have had or have I purchased from dealers from the west coast. Thanks again for the help. Joe G.