D304 Questions
 

Out of curiosity, are there certain premiums that are placed on the D304 backs? For example, is there a difference in price between a Marten's Back and a General Baking back? I have read through some of the archive but didn't know if there were major price differentials. I know the Marten's is rarer but I didn't know if that necessarily meant it received higher prices.. Also, is it me or are these cards down >50% from their peak prices?

Yes, there are large premiums put on the tougher backs - namely Martens and Weber and also Fleishmann to an extent.

Robert Adesso wrote a fantastic article about the set. It appears in the Spring 2007 issue of Old Cardboard (#11).

Hi Guys,

Kevin, thanks for mentioning that.

I need to eventually revise the D304 theories and content based on a couple more years of looking at which front/back combos have come out of the woodwork.

The economy has done a few interesting things to these cards. Obviously it's drove down the prices, but it has also made some of the tougher backs available.

Even though the prices are down overall, they can still be hard to grab when they come available unless they're in low grade condition.



A couple of observations over the last couple of years:

I still see very few Fleischmann backed cards and Weber/Martens. I think there was a group of Martens lately, but that's a rare event in the grand scheme of things.

Certain players tend to show up more, but many players and cards with blocked out fronts (especially Herzog and Crandall) are seldom seen.

At this point, I've now documented less Fleischmann cards (different players and overall number of examples) then Martens.

I've documented the least amount of Weber cards.

I still haven't documented all of the players with General Baking backs due to player's careers ending.

Still haven't documented all 25 subjects with Fleischmann backs even though they exist according to the backs.

It's a good time to collect D304s!


Rob

What Kevin said. Best thing I've ever seen about the D304s. Shouldn't be difficult to pick up a copy.

Edited to add that the flip on my Lajoie is incorrect: it is a Brunners back.

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http://imageevent.com/uffda51/191119...qn3qj2.tiger_s

I've got the complete set as well, without the "no team" cards.
The back breakdown is as follows:

Weber - Bender

Brunner's - Lajoie, Barry, Chance, Evers, Matty, Schafer, Bell, Herzog, Crandall, Tenny, O'Toole, Marquard, Young, Wagner, Baker, Rucker, Chase, Merkle, Kelly

Butter Krust - Cobb, Collins

General Baking - Meyers, Fletcher, Crawford

They are ungraded but the Cy Young is as nice a Young as I've seen. Great article by Robert, BTW.