1926 Sports Co. of America/Spalding - talk about/show/contribute your knowledge
 

Hello all esoterican collectors out there. The listing of available baseball player cards in the over 200 card multi-sport set 1926 Sports Co. of America (sometimes referred to as 'Spalding') issue has differences in the various sources I have checked. Perhaps because the cards are relatively uncommon, but also perhaps due to an ad back variation as well as blank backed hand cut cards that are believed to be cut from promotional sheets, this set has a murky checklist. Here is a possible checklist that I was able to assemble from several sources, including the Sports Collectors Digest catalog (I have the 2009 edition), the prewarcard website, as well as both PSA and SGC sites:

Babe Adams
Grover Alexander
Nick Altrock
Dave Bancroft
Jesse Barnes
Oswald Bluege
Jim Bottomley
Max Carey
Ty Cobb
Mickey Cochrane
Eddie Collins
Stan Coveleskie *
Kiki Cuyler
Hank DeBerry
Jack Fournier
Goose Goslin
Charlie Grimm
Bucky Harris
Gabby Hartnett
Fred Hofmann
Rogers Hornsby
Waite Hoyt
Walter Johnson
Joe Judge
Willie Kamm
Tony Lazzeri
Rabbit Maranville
Fred Marberry
Rube Marquard
Stuffy McInnis
Speck Meadows
Babe Pinelli
Wally Pipp
Sam Rice
Emory Rigney
Dutch Reuther
Babe Ruth
Ray Schalk
Joe Sewell
Urban Shocker
Al Simmons
George Sisler
Tris Speaker
Pie Traynor
George Uhle
Paul Waner
Aaron Ward
Ken Williams
Glenn Wright
Emil Yde


Of these 50 cards, there a couple that fall in the murky 'do they/do they not exist' category, that I placed an '*' next to player on the above list:

Tris Speaker - Listed in the SCD catalog and on the PSA site in their set information, but prewarcards website does not list it. Neither PSA or SGC has listings for it in their pop reports. - Speaker confirmed within this thread by JLange.

Stan Covaleski - Listed in SCD catalog, PSA set info, and prewarcards website. Not in either PSA or SGC pop reports.

Neither card's image come up when doing a Google search, nor do I remember seeing them. I have found images of all of the other baseball players. Does anyone have either one of these, or have seen them?

Pictured below is an example from the set that has the most commonly seen biographical writeup back. And Bancroft has a fun writeup, being identified as peppery, cagey, effiecient, and to top it off, he is classified as a wizard.


Brian (also just to note, I was surprised how small these cards are when I first saw them in person...they are about 1-1/2" by 2-1/4")

Love the look of the series. They're rather small and also just seem extremely delicate. Always looking to upgrade this one.

I agree, the photos are generally very crisp, similar to what is seen in the W503 set. Your Rigney is a great looking example of this sharp photography...in my opinion no need to upgrade yours (but that is my natural collecting reflex kicking in).


Brian

Being a dedicated collector of Sam Rice's cards, I have been looking forever for an example of Rice with the ad back. Has anyone ever seen one or know if one exists?

1926 Sports Co of America Tris Speaker
 

I have this scan of Tris Speaker I grabbed off the internet around 2004. I have him in my checklist / wantlist as a result. Sorry, not a great scan - the file size is only ~7kb, so doesn't really resize well. I am eager to learn the fate of the Coveleski card as well. I never had him on my Cleveland Baseball checklist, but by 1926 he would have been with Washington. I still hold out hope he's in the set, and that he is pictured with Cleveland, anyways.

Val, I can confirm that the Sam Rice does exist with an ad back. I own one. Unfortunately, the back is severely damaged. See the scan.

Paul

Paul,

I sold this autographed Rice in August 2014.

Thanks Jason, that visual of the Speaker card narrows down the needs to be confirmed list to just Coveleski. And because you have helped out here, I am pulling for him to be pictured and identified with Cleveland.

Brian

I love it when a card like Paul's Rice can confirm the existence of a card. I have a E270 Colgan's Tin Top card that is missing 95% of the back, except for the part on its back curved border script that contains the word 'Tin'.

I plan on creating a list of possibly confirmed ad and blank backs that I will add to this thread, just for fun and maybe extract some examples from folks on here.

Brian

Brian,

Here is the page from PSA proving Stan exists in the set:

https://www.psacard.com/priceguide/b...champions/1086

Brian, I'm not sure that's proof. They have Stan listed in their checklist but if you go to the "pop" tab they haven't actually graded any.

Jack Fournier
 

I don't have any idea about Coveleski but I like these cards as well. Here's my example with the original photo.

Attachment 598697

Attachment 598698

Attachment 598699

Attachment 598700

Brian and Justin,

My fault. Now, after we revive members from that last statement, I will continue to research the card. It's a good way to deal with a cold.

1926 Spalding Champions
 

Hi-
Happy to see some fun posts on this set! I love the all of the different sports, and the narratives on the back are pretty cool especially since I knew nothing about some of the athletes in this set.
I used the walk past the building where this company was located (or their HQ) on my way to work and dreamed of finding a box of these cards in the basement :).
Anyone with track and field available please lmk, thanks!
Best,
Ed

Time to make a trip back there...maybe that basement still has something to offer.

I will shortly be posting a list of the various known backs of cards (besides the most commonly seen 1926 copyright bio backs) of the baseball subjects. And when I have the time, I will post another list of the known non-baseball subjects in those backs as well.

Brian

Here are lists created for three of the back variations (ad back, blank back, and 1927 copyright). With the exception of a handful cards, this info was obtained from the PSA and SGC pop reports of this set, as I can't say I have been tracking these closely. Definitely there are plenty of possibilities of incorrect or missing designations for these cards (for example, a blank back card might not have gotten a back designation and is just listed as the common 1926 with bio back. And I have not made a list of that common back, because I believe all the baseball subjects are available with the bio back, though only 1 each of a couple of big name athletes (Red Grange and Bobby Jones) have been graded by either company (both by SGC), and in my estimation could be blank backs, which both companies show in the pop reports.

-Baseball Subjects-

Known Ad Backs

Grover Alexander
Jim Bottomley
Eddie Collins
Goose Goslin
Bucky Harris
Gabby Hartnett
Rogers Hornsby
Walter Johnson
Sam Rice
Babe Ruth
Urban Shocker
Al Simmons
George Sisler
Paul Waner

Known Blank Backs

Ty Cobb
Mickey Cochrane
Eddie Collins
Kiki Cuyler
Bucky Harris
Rogers Hornsby
Dutch Ruether
Babe Ruth
Al Simmons
George Sisler
Paul Waner

Known 1927 Copyright Backs

Babe Ruth


Let us know if you have any additions or corrections to these lists.

Thanks, Brian

1926 Spalding Champions blank backs
 

Do you think the blank backs were cut from an advertising poster or maybe a proof sheet?
Just wondering.
-Ed

I always assumed that they were cut from an advertising sheet...it just makes sense that they would have a promotional display in the Spalding stores to get folks on board with their scrip (coupon) scheme. I imagine only a select number of subjects were shown on it, and that is perhaps why the known blank back list is fairly small.

All conjecture of course.


Brian

As promised, I have added lists of the non-baseball subjects that are known to exist with one or more of the three different back variations in the set. This info I pulled strictly from the PSA and SGC population reports, so take with a grain of salt, unless of course you have high blood pressure. I have transferred the baseball subjects lists from a previous posts so that all is located in one spot here. If you have difficulties when seeing non-baseball info in a forum devoted to baseball, strictly stick to the baseball lists I posted previously, and avert thine eyes from the icky information as seen below. I will be updating both sets of lists if the need arises, and these additions will be italicized, for all those Italians out there.


+Baseball Subjects+

Known Ad Backs

Grover Alexander
Jim Bottomley
Eddie Collins
Goose Goslin
Bucky Harris
Gabby Hartnett
Rogers Hornsby
Walter Johnson
Sam Rice
Babe Ruth
Urban Shocker
Al Simmons
George Sisler
Paul Waner

Known Blank Backs

Ty Cobb
Mickey Cochrane
Eddie Collins
Kiki Cuyler
Bucky Harris
Fred Hoffman
Rogers Hornsby
Rube Marquard
Dutch Ruether
Babe Ruth
Al Simmons
George Sisler
Paul Waner

Known 1927 Copyright Backs

Babe Ruth


+Non-Baseball Subjects+

Known Ad backs

Francis Allen - ice skating
Jack Beresford - sculling
Arne Borg - swimming
Jean Borotra - tennis
Earl Cooper - automobile racing
Dr. Paul Crouch - archery
Jack Dempsey - boxing
E. Demuyter - balloon racing
Ralph DePalma - automobile racing
Pete DePaulo - automobile racing
Leo Diegal - golf
Sgt. Morris Fisher - rifle shooting
Benny Friedman - football
Edgar Garbisch -football
Charley Gorman - ice skating
George Guthrie - high hurdles
Walter Hagen - golf
Harry Hartz - automobile racing
Benny Hill - automobile racing
Charley Hoff - pole vault
Bud Houser - discus
Frank Jackson - horseshoe pitching
Chick Jewtraw - ice skating
Bill Johnston - tennis
Tud Kent - dog team racing
Walter Koppisch - football
Walter Laufer - swimming
Strangler Lewis - wrestling
Sir Thomas Lipton - yachting
Willie Macfarlane - golf
Johnny Maiben - jockey
Lt. John McCready - aviation
Bob McDonogh - automobile racing
Reggie McNamara - bicycle racing
John C. Miles - marathon running
Tommy Milton - automobile racing
Pete Moeskops - bicycle racing
Wayne "Big" Munn - wrestling
Tommy Murphy - harness horse racing
Jonni Myyra - javelin
Nels Nelson - ski jumping
Erinie Nevers - football
Nathaniel Niles - figure skating
Barney Oldfield - automobile racing
Charley Paddock - sprints
Dr. J.T. Robinson - angling
Ad. Santel - wrestling
Bobby Skelton - swimming
Tod Sloan - jockey
Jimmy Smith - bowling
Arthur Spencer - bicycle racing
Freddie Spencer - bicycle racing
Joe Stecher - wrestling
Frank Taberski - billiards
Clas Thunberg - ice skating
Bill Tilden - tennis
Gene Tunney - boxing
Cyril Walker - golf
Ed Weir - football
John Weismuller - swimming
Al White - diving
R.N. Williams - tennis
Stan Zbysko - wrestling
Wladek Zbysko - wrestling

Known Blank Backs

George Carpentier - boxing
Bob Crosby - cowboy
Jack Dempsey - boxing
Peggy Flournoy - football
Red Grange - football
Homer Hazel - football
Bobby Jones - golf
Jack Kelly - rowing
Walter Koppisch - football
Ed McGinley - football
Bo McMullen - football
Ernie Nevers - football
Swede Oberlander - football
Chas. P. Rosenberg - boxing
Harry Stuhldreher - football
Eddie Tryon -football
Gene Tunney - boxing
Ed Weir - football
George Wilson - football

Known 1927 Copyright backs

Valentine Bialas - skating
Jack Dempsey - boxing
Walter Hagen - golf
Walter Koppisch - football
Bo McMillan - football
Earl Sande - jockey
George Wilson - football



Let us know if you have any additions or corrections to these lists.

Thanks, Brian

Brian, you need to add Sam Rice to your list of known ad backs. Paul showed the back of his Rice card in Post #6 of this thread.

You are correct Val, thanks, and I have updated that list.

When it comes to keeping track of cards of one of his favorite Senators, Val is like white on Rice.


Brian

I love this set - yes, the cards are pretty small but the images are very crisp! I wonder if anyone has ever completed the set?

Here is my WaJo:

Many moons ago, an AH (believe it was REA) offered up a whole slew of ungraded Champions Ruths. I always wondered how the winner dispersed them with so many in hand.

Very nice WaJo, Matt! Just so that viewers of this thread will know what the ad back looks like, here are both of my WaJos:

Looking for that Tony Lazzeri. I have been trying to find one for a long time if anyone comes across a copy.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

Nice Walter cards Matt and Val. And thanks for the ad back visual Val...someday I will provide a scan of a blank back Spalding Sports Co. Champions (or whatever folks call them) card that I have.

For all you lovers of blank back scans, your time is coming near!


Brian

Forgot to say thanks Justin for showing the matching photo used for the Fournier card...it is always neat to see the original photos for what is seen in these things we collect.

Brian

Here is a blank back Dutch Ruether card.

Brian

Here is a sweet Walter Johnson bio back.

Reviving this thread as I'm looking for the Lasker and Marshall. Happy to price aggressively for them. Feel free to message me. Thanks!

Nice card.
I haven't ever heard of anyone completing the set but I wouldn't be surprised if there is 1-2 out there.

I did a fairly lengthy article on the history of the set and the company's owner at historythoughcards.com

Nice article! But I think the website is historythroughcards.com

I have quite a bit of information on this set that I can post. For a while, I was thinking of trying to complete this set but prices have jumped considerably over the last decade. I've got around 50 or so of them including all of the football ones as that's my primary collecting focus.

I can say that for football the checklists above are not correct. I am working on the master set of ad backs, bio backs, and blank backs for each football player and have quite a few not listed in the checklist. I am pretty certain that every card in the set has a blank backed version. Also a bio back version. The ad backs are a mystery to me as to whether all cards have these backs. They are much more difficult to find than the bio backs are.

jeff

That was indeed a nice article, and if you have some info to share about the set, football or otherwise, please do. My checklist was just a jumping off point for others to add to.

Brian

Some additions to your checklist from the cards I have:

Baseball Blank Backs
Fred Hoffman - baseball
Rube Marquart - baseball

Non-baseball Ad-backs
Benny Friedman - football
Edgar Garbisch - football

Known Blank Backs
Peggy Flournoy - football
Homer Hazel - football
Walter Koppisch - football
Ed McGinley - football
Bo McMullen - football
Brick Muller - football
Swede Oberlander - football
Harry Stuhldreher - football
Eddie Tryon - football
Ed Weir - football
George Wilson - football

Known 1927 Copyright backs

Valentine Bialas - skating
Earl Sande - jockey

I have more information I will share. I actually have photocopies of the sheet and letters from the eBay auction I got from the seller that is referenced in the article. I’ll try to dig them up. I too only collect football, since there were only two football on the sheet I decided not to buy it. The asking price was also very high because of the baseball HoFers. It came from George Kelly’s estate.

I also have the checklist somewhere from Alan Hager of most of the Ad backs from an auction. I am missing some of the pages. I bought many of my Ad backs from Hager. He told me that he bought everyone in an REA auction. He said the auction didn’t highlight that they were different and much rarer variation, so he bought everyone. Many ended up in ASA holder, but some in PSA.

I’ve had the number one football set since the onset of the PSA set registry 22+ years shooting for 25 so they have to create another star…lol

One final thing not mentioned on the article or on this thread is that the paper script is blue not orange in the 1927 set.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Would love for more input on this set if you track down some of that information clamendo. I have updated the list seen in post #19 with the information provided by jefferyepayne, and have italicized all additions to my original list with the use of italics.

Brian

Brian, was there any other way for you to have italicized the additions without the use of italics? :p

Val, I believe my redundancy generator was stuck in repeat mode. I will call a technician to check into it when I call a technician to check out the faulty generator.

Brian

Brian, I figured you would have a clever comeback, and you didn't disappoint me!