1939 Play Ball Variations
 

I recently received a consignment that included most of the 1939 Play Ball set including a fair number of variations. This came as a little surprise since there are no variations listed in the SCD big and neither of the grading companies slab with the designations.

I am curious as to why these variations seems to not be recognized. Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

Lee Behrens

Can you post some of the variations?

All caps and small and big letters variations? Sometimes the grading companies recognize them sometimes not. No real premium that I've ever noticed.

Here is a link to a site that lists all of them:

https://www.tradingcarddb.com/Errors...1939-Play-Ball

Lee

I have noticed that cards with upper and lower case names on back have wider borders, and (maybe) measure slightly larger. Has anyone else noticed?

I am 1 card short of the a set (the Williams) and only a couple of ALLCAPS/InitCaps variations away (I lost interest), and I did find another variation in my search of thousands of 1939 Play Balls over the years. There is a "light" in the background of some Rick Ferrell cards. I am not at home, so these are grabbed from the Web.

I haven't noticed that in particular but have noticed some '39s with really large borders compared to others.

As white backs common with the set? I figured it out. It is a reprint that had "Reprint" etched out.

Thanks

How many times have we all seen that?

One time too many to make sure I don't make the mistake again.

I will measure mine tonight and report back

Does this card also come with thin borders? I was thinking some players have thin borders and some have large, but you don't find both options with the same player?

I think we are on to something. First picture has upper case names on the back, and the second is upper and lower case.

Thanks, Brian. I'll need to look for a Warstler with the narrow borders now.

Definitely we are onto something. I am surprised that I don't ever remember this being discussed before. The below scan shows five cards featuring each the Upper case/lower case version in front of the all Capitals version of the card.

Excuse my alignment...try flipping cards onto a scanner and maintaining the positioning you want. Note that the photo portion of upper case/lower case version of each card is smaller than the all Capitals version, and thus creating the different widths of borders. The orientation of the photo also has been shifted. For example, the Grissom card on the upper left you can see more of the Cincinnati on the uniform on the all Capitals version, while there is a bigger gap between the sleeve and the border, as can be seen on the bottom right pair of cards of Hassett,.

Always something new to discover...good job Net54'ers!

Brian

Thought I would bump this one time just because I think we came up with something that has not been noticed/written about before.

My summary would be that all the cards with player's name on the back having All Capitals appear to have a larger size photo, and thus thinner borders, than the Upper/Lower case variation cards (cards that have capitalized first Letter then lower case on back for the player's name), and thus because of this smaller image area have wider borders.

Each card from #1 through 115 is available as All Capitals, while a good chunk of these card #'s also have the Upper/Lower case variation. Card #'s 116 and above are only available with Upper/Lower case names on back, and they also appear to have the smaller size of photos as is seen with the Upper/Lower case variations with card numbers #115 and lower.

Brian

I agree, Brian. It is an interesting detail for anyone who has collected or had '39 Play Balls.

Williams
 

This one has upper and lower case letters. I've also noticed over the years that many of the high grade Williams examples (7/8) are off centered with large borders. I am unsure of the backs, but this theory could help explain it.

I have scanned all the variations together but I have not web site that I save images. All the cards will be in the March 7th Sterling Auction.

Lee Behrens
320-219-1372

1939 playballs
 

The Variations folks discussed here for the1939 Playball set have been known for decades. There was one early guide that listed them coming in 2 sizes ( due to the extra large borders). The first Baseball card dealer I met in 1973 was Paul Gallagher who ran the NYC show with his brother but My Dad and I met him at an antique show in Madison square garden. he had a table stacked with all varieties of cards. My dad had bought along a few of his playballs from 39 40 and 41. And he asked him if he had any 40 playballs And I can still see my dads face as as Mr Gallagher opened up a suitcase full. My dad went through and bought the Yankees he still needed maybe 3 or 4. He said he had as many 39's if we wanted to look but My dad said he had a nice DiMaggio but never much liked the 39's. Paul laughed yes he said NO NAMES ON THE FRONT everybody says nice pictures but no names.
So the 39 set has been the least favorite set of its era for a long time. I know there were articles written about them in the late 70's describing the variations and discussing the size differances but it has never been a popular set. That is not to say it is easy to put together, The high numbers are tough and the Williams and DiMaggio have always been sought after.
Two years later in 1975 we had completed the 40 set and my Dad had his 41 set from when he was a kid but we never completed the 39 set. My old checklist says we topped out at 128 of the 161. Glad to see renewed interest.

Paul Gallagher
 

Jonathan,
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I spent several shows behind Paul Gallagher's table in the 70s, sorting through boxes and suitcases, usually in quest of some of the exotic nonsports cards he had. Though Paul was a bit disheveled, personally and professionally, he was kind to me and undoubtedly a passionate collector.
By the way, my understanding back in the day was that the low number Play Balls with upper and lower case names on back were issued along with the "high numbers" to bolster sales since the late series was essentially devoid of name players. In building my set, I found them about as scarce as the "high numbers."

That makes sense. There are 36 high numbers, and it appears that 72 cards of the 115 low numbers are available with the upper/lower case variation.

Have complete sheets of 1939 Play Ball been seen? It would be interesting to know how many cards came on a complete sheet.

Brian

All the variations from the collection received, are in the current Sterling auction.

Thanks

Lee Behrens
320-219-1372