Most Popular Old Judge Card/Subset
 

A couple nights ago, Keith Olbermann made mention of an Old Judge card during his segment, suggesting that the Art Whitney w/ dog pose "may be the most popular card in the set". I agree with Keith that the card is among the most popular but there are many others that could give it a run. I thought it might be interesting to see how the board votes on what they feel is the most popular card or subset within the set. This is not about the most valuable or unobtainable rarity but instead a card that many of us could find with some patience. For that reason, I purposely didn’t list the California League subset etc. That stated, what do you consider the best candidate for most popular card or subset that collectors seek and own?

Note: I don't actually own the posted cards, most of them are from the Burdick collection.

I would say the Whitney/Dog and the Ewing/Mascot are the two most popular cards. If the Williamson/Mascot was easier to find, I'd think it would be popular too.

The St Louis Browns subset seems to have lost a lot of popularity as the prices aren't that high anymore and they are much easier to find that the Spotted Tie set. I think team and subset popularity runs in cycles and if you have enough people collecting them, the prices jump.

I like the two player cards, but so many of them seem impossible to find.

I voted the HOFers as the most popular subset because many people only collect those, ones that aren't Old Judge collectors.

Two more cards that could be considered very popular are Dummy Hoy and Billy Sunday. People who have no interest in baseball might know who they are. I had a friend who went to RIT school for the deaf and she told me about Dummy Hoy, who was part of the lesson for her class that day. She couldn't believe I had his baseball card.

This one gets my vote...
http://p10.hostingprod.com/@starsoft...2radbourn2.jpg

My two favorites of the Old Judge set are the previously listed Old Hoss Radbourn obscene gesture and Ed Delahanty catch, hands at waist. That Delahanty pose is one of my favorites in the hobby, because of the seemingly mystical quality of the image.

The Whitney and the dog is my favorite so far. Just getting into the Old Judge cards so that may change over time. I also like the cards with the ball in flight.


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The portraits and managers cards are also popular subsets to collect
You could also add team collecting to the list

Cap Anson in uniform is my "If I ever win the lottery...." card.

Just for you Dan...

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g5...ous/6fef_1.jpg

Stock scan...not mine

Thanks! Do we know how many of these exist? Of course I can say "if I ever win the lottery....", but what would be the odds that one would come up for sale?

Although I'd like to have a Radbourn....
 

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvindog/5610141957/" title="1887 Old Judge N172 Art Whitney with Dog by calvindog65, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5190/5610141957_133c7e0ac8_b.jpg" width="441" height="744" alt="1887 Old Judge N172 Art Whitney with Dog"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvindog/5610140173/" title="1887 Old Judge N172 Buck Ewing with Mascot by calvindog65, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5102/5610140173_84ea8fd78f_b.jpg" width="436" height="714" alt="1887 Old Judge N172 Buck Ewing with Mascot"></a>

I really like the Whitney with dog card. Hencle looks like he is dead.

Great topic,Joe!

I voted for the poses. In hindsight, however, there are just so many odd or hokey poses that the "subset" winds up being almost as big as the whole set!

My particular passion is the New Jersey Connection subset. Anyone got a spare Hankinson? :D

Old Judge Players With a New Jersey Connection

Born In New Jersey
Edward “Jersey” Bakeley (Cleveland)
Jack Farrell (Washington, Baltimore)
William “Kid” Gleason (Philadelphia)
Billy Hamilton (Kansas City)
John “Pa” Harkins (Brooklyn, Baltimore)
Gil Hatfield (New York)
John Kelly (Louisville, umpire)
William “Blondie” Purcell (Baltimore, Philadelphia)
Charles “Princeton Charlie” Reilly (Saint Joes, Philadelphia)
Abram “Hardy” Richardson (Detroit, Boston)
Billy Shindle (Baltimore, Philadelphia)
Michael “Silent Mike” Tiernan (New York)


Died In New Jersey
Charlie Bastian (Philadelphia, Chicago)
Dan Brouthers (Detroit, Boston)
Tom Burns (Chicago)
Larry Corcoran (Indianapolis, London)
John “Pop” Corkhill (Cincinnati)
John “Jocko” Fields (Pittsburgh)
Mike Goodfellow (Cleveland, Detroit)
Frank Hankinson (Mets)
William “Buster” Hoover (Philadelphia)
Michael “Mickey” Hughes (Brooklyn)
Harry Lyons (Philadelphia, Saint Louis)
Jim McCormick (Chicago, Pittsburgh)
Charlie Reipschlager (Mets)
Leon "Lee" Viau (Cincinnati)
Harry Wright (Philadelphia)

And I can't let the Ewing and Mascot hog all the player with mascot glory! :)

Worse than the odds of winning enough in the lottery to buy one.;)

Favorite OJ
 

One of my favorite OJ's is the King Kelly. Neat card....I am sure someone will show a pic. Foavrite subset has to be spotted ties.

Z Wheat

Dan--the latest count on the Anson in Uniform is three in private hands, and one copy (Burdick's) at the Met.
Jeff--Nice cards! We'll get you hooked eventually.
My choice was Spotted Ties. They are scarce/rare and beautiful. The only drawback is that there was only one star, Orr, in the set.

What about....
 

Team set collectors as an option? I collect Cleveland by pose.

Eric

There are plenty of team collectors out there, so it is one of the more popular ways to collect.

I think there are more specific Old Judge collectors as opposed to someone who will buy anything. I went through a time where I was buying only Pittsburgh cards and another time when I was trying to get an example of as many teams as I could

Can someone post scans of "long and short" and the "poor man" referenced in the poll? I'd like to see those.
Thanks,
Andy

I started collecting when I was a kid and I always was drawn to the more colorful early 20th century cards. However when I came back to the hobby I found I was really attracted to some of the 19th stuff. As for N172’s I have so few and being a collector of a lot of the non-sports equivalents such as N145, N369 and N245 my mind swims without what an impossible task going after the N172 set would be at this stage in the game.

I have begun to pick up ones I think have really nice images or picking up a few of the different designs. I also am seriously thinking of starting a HOF subset one of each but many of the HOF players come up so rarely with great images that could be a long process. For now just buying ones that strike my fancy I would love to own a Whitney & Dog with a great image, as well as the mascot cards. For me my favorite cards are the Delehanty bat and that Kelly uniform portrait above.

Special thanks to our resident "OJ Royalty" Jay for adding a few very nice cards to my small but growing pile. Jay also says I should buy the "Anson & Ferret" card but has yet to share a scan so I’m not sure he’s being honest on that one but sounds cool. :)

http://photos.imageevent.com/piojohn...ge/n172qus.jpg

I really hate Wonka. I have about 330 more OJ's than he does and I couldn't find 26 with pictures that nice

Lol


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I think I have only 1 remaining OJ in my collection...a common St Paulite with a very nice image. I don't collect OJ's...but I love the set for most of the above reasons...I love seeing the 2 player cards, the spotted ties, the myriad of different poses, the mascot cards rock....the super crisp sharp images...it's all awesome...and I couldn't choose 1!

Too funny John, thanks. :)

John--you truly have put together some remarkable images. While some of us have more quantity, very few are even close in quality.

Well the poll is pretty much what I expected. The HOF option proved more popular than the others yet the interests of collectors is quite varied. All the options had some support; we are drawn to many different cards and subsets. There was no right or wrong answer.

Andy, Tom Poorman has four poses all initially issued in 1888 with a correct spelling. However, in 1889, Goodwin issued one of his poses as POOR MAN. I have similar card of Frenchy Genins in which Goodwin twisted it around to GENIUS (almost all 5 of his poses can be found both ways). The Nicol & Reilly cards have a number of captions including the two below as well as one that reads "Big John Reilly & Little Nick".

Kevin, is Hankinson the only card you need from that list?? I love your mascot cards as well, a neat little subset that can keep even the most advanced collectors searching. The Ewing with Mascot is relatively easy, even in cabinet form (popular with smokers of 1888 & 1889, popular with collectors today). The Willie Breslin card (NY mascot) is tougher as is Williamson and Mascot. But the Willie Hahm card is an absolute rarity.

Rhett, Radbourn flipping the bird should have made my list, it is a popular pose that carries a premium. Nice pick.

David, Eric, and a few others, this was more about the most popular card than the most typical way collectors collect OJs, there is a slight difference. My interest in the poll was sparked by KO's comment that the Whitney with dog may be the most popular card in the set. So I wondered which card (sometimes a precise pose, other times a type card from a popular subset) was most collected. Another poll could try to capture how people collect the set, i.e. an example of every pose, an example of every subject matter, a specific team, etc. I'll think about this a bit and maybe post a poll down the road.

Jeff and John, nice cards as always. I wish there were more high quality gems to go around.

Joe:

Yup - Hankinson is the only player from that list that has eluded me. Unfortunately for John Dreker, that means I have a Larry Corcoran card that he feels is rightfully his. He and I have had discussions about me leaving that to him in my will, but lately I'm having second thoughts! ;)

I'd also like to echo the thoughts of others about Wonka's small, but spectacularly-conditioned collection. Clearly, as a percentage of total population he wins hands down. Come on, John, loosen up and start collecting some OJ dogs (and I don't mean with Whitney) like the rest of us. I have a couple I could sell you! :D

Kevin

Other for me
 

I choose other, because I really like all the outdoor shots, which if I am correct, are all Brooklyn players.

Brian

Brian, yep, all the Brooklyn players photographed in 1887 were taken outdoors and then by extension any re-issues of those 1887 photos in later years are outdoors; be it with Brooklyn or a team change card. All the known California League cards are also outdoor shots except for one exception; Edwin Breckenridge with his interesting studio shot.

You could always sell it to and keep the right to possess it until death. Doyle Brunson sold Phil Helmuth one is his good luck charms that way.


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Like John, I also go for strong images, but also have a Brown's champs subset and am working on an HOF run. I see I was the underbidder on a recent one of John's purchases depicted above.
JimB

http://photos.imageevent.com/jimblum...d%20McPhee.jpghttp://photos.imageevent.com/jimblum...0SGC%2040.jpeghttp://photos.imageevent.com/jimblum...0SGC%2020.jpeg
http://photos.imageevent.com/jimblum...0Dalrymple.jpghttp://photos.imageevent.com/jimblum...0SGC%2040.jpeghttp://photos.imageevent.com/jimblum...20Robinson.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/jimblum...20SGC%2084.jpghttp://photos.imageevent.com/jimblum...0SGC%2080.jpeghttp://photos.imageevent.com/jimblum...20SGC%2040.jpg

Jim, amazing cards! That Robinson card of yours is on of my fav cards of yours.

I voted mascots as they are most interesting to me. Dog related cards are also pretty cool.