What Card is your White Whale?
 

Hi Everyone

I just got to thinking (Saw Clint's Great card of his white whale in August Pickups in Memorabilia section)

What is your white whale. Not your necessarily your dream card but the card that you need to complete your set? or the card you have been chasing for years trying to find/catch?

It is not necessary a price thing but more the rarity or the hunting for it

What would your Collection Catch Truly be. Or if you caught it what was it and what are you trying to catch now? How long did it take for you to finally catch it if you caught it?

I caught my 'whale' many yrs ago.(2013) It was the 52 Mick.
Nowadays- pretty much anything that catches my eye in pre-war.
Cobb, Ruth probably tops the list or try to finish my set of Big Heads.

I got my white whale a little while back. At the time, there was 1 known, now there are 2 known.

White whale?
 

Great topic Jeff! I will narrow to 2, following your parameter that it not merely be an outrageously valuable card: Choice 1- an Ed Cicotte Cracker Jack, either year. Choice 2- any N172 Brooklyn mini. Thus far, the score is Whales 2, me 0 :) Trent King

This is a recent wish list add and not a truly rare card so it’s probably wrong for me to call it a whale comped to what others have been chasing, but 41 play ball Joe d feels like a white whale at this moment.

any portrait wagner
 

the ship sailed on acquiring it years ago and I've long made my peace with never owning it and moved on to other more attainable cards.

Here is one :)... I can't remember the last time I saw one in auction.
My white whales all cost too much now!

!955 Topps Clemente RC PSA 8. Had many chances to buy it for years but now it is way beyond my budget.

As Leon states my white whale is through the roof now :(

1917 Standard Biscuit -or- Collins McCarthy Babe Ruth

Although my collection is almost entirely baseball, generally leaning toward vintage or prewar, I am an avid collector of Marshall University alums cards, which tend toward football. There is a phone card that was given out before a game that features former Herd Qbs Eric Kresser (later played for the Bengals) and NCAA D1AA player of the year winner Michael Payton. I saw one on Bay years ago but it got away. There is also a Jacksonville Jags team issue card of Chris Parker (in the guides as 1997 #26) which I have never seen. I have done a lot of messaging and searching in the area, including the team, but never seen the team issue set or any singles. I will probably get both for less than $10 if I ever find them.

I also need a Drum T206 Davidson to finish my back run. One never came on the market since I have been looking. I don't know if I could convince myself of the value of the opportunity costs if I find one.

I need this last one to have complete Type 1 and Type 2 sets. I've been chasing it for years.

T215 Red Cross Fred Merkle.

not sure i have one anymore...now that my dots miller run is complete...that was my labor of love. now just casually adding cards i want/like.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1b65f9a7_n.jpg

The hobby doesn't consider t206 complete without this card and only 9 or 10 available makes it a white whale. Why is t206 the only set where you have to have every error and variation to be complete? t205 is considered complete at 206 or 208. A master set is considered complete at 221, not even containing all errors. However, t206 must have this error card?

Same as mine. One day it will happen! Great choice.

....

Ha!

I see what you did there.

Butch

Relevant.

https://youtu.be/uVd_LzWJIC8

These are my current two whales
https://i.imgur.com/thv6bIh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kBZZeAN.jpg?4

N508 Sub Rosa - Women in Baseball #6. It's the final piece to the set.

I've been searching for about 10 years.

1914 or 15 Cracker Jack Shoeless Joe .. in SGC holder mid grade...
some day...............

good topic Jeff

Darrell

T206 Tolstoi Cross .................. :o

Which would be extra, fun, fun, Scott :rolleyes:

Unless Elon Musk decides to help me out, I will probably never ever have my whale, a Texas Tommy Joe Jackson. Can't be more than a handful out there.

Wow a Texas Tommy Joe Jackson and or a Boston Garter Jackson would be a fantastic card to me. I agree.

My White Whale is smaller. I would love a 1920 Heading Home Ruth Card. Been searching/attempting for last 8 years

Not a card,
 

But to find Howe’s rubber stamp in a large plastic container of old rubber stamps at a flea market, for like $2.

And if Elon Musk or Warren Buffett are watching this thread …
 

there is an upcoming auction I could use some help on.

Louis Leroy
 

This will never happen...

Great topic. There are several cards on top of my want list that I don't consider white whales because they're out there for the taking, I just can't afford them.

My white whales are all in regards to the T206 set I'm trying to put together - I'm trying to complete the set with as few duplicate backs per team as possible. So I'm always chasing something different based on the backs I have / need per team. To that end, if anyone has an American Beauty Bill Carrigan available, let me know!

I have pipe dreams like finding a Broad Leaf 350 Cobb and being able to afford it. But I might as well dream of a Wagner at that point. In terms of rare cards I probably could afford if they showed up, 1933 Worch Cigar Medwick and 1924 Diaz Cigs Coveleski come to mind.

Great idea Jeff. My new white whale would be a cabinet photo of Bud Fowler. Going to be a tall order but hopefully someday.

To me this is what a white whale is. It isn't just a card that costs a lot and is therefore out of reach or one where the seeker just hasn't yet found the right one, but rather a card that is really hard to find and a big need for someone.

I wish you luck Cmount!

I don't tend to be focused enough to have anything that I would classify as a white whale by my definition above, though I do have several cards that I want badly that just cost a lot or where I haven't found the exact right card for me yet.

E107 Jake Beckley or the 1904 cabinet card of him with the Cardinals.

How about an 1887 team cabinet with him on Lincoln (Nebraska)?

A little off the beaten path but sometimes that's where you will find me.
Thanks to a fellow board member, the T209-2 Gunderson poked it's head out, eye-balled me, struck when the iron was hot. (I love mixing metaphors). I already had his T210-7 Red Border, he only had 2 cards.

Ya see, Oliver Gunderson was born and lived in Cumberland, WI (both of my parents' stomping grounds). Thinking enough of his pitching talents, he schleps to Goldsboro to pitch in the Eastern Carolina League in 1910. After appearing in 19 games, going 9-9; he returns to cheeseland; baseball career over.

Besides the regional/historical interest that I have in Mr. Gunderson; I am still tracking a family tree connection as well; I have "Halvorson", "Hoveland", "Huset" running through my tree; and at some point, a Gunderson married a Hoveland up der.
Ooooooh, happy hunting Ben!

Thanks Mike.

https://www.net54baseball.com/pictur...ictureid=34273

https://www.net54baseball.com/pictur...ictureid=34274

Ben

"I love baseball history backstory; especially when it involves cards."

I just got one of my white whales! Blue Ribbon Malt Carlson
 

This past month, in a larger lot, this guy showed up - Hal Carlson, who died midway through the 1930 season and was presumably pulled from the set.

After almost 20 years of collecting the set, I had begun to doubt his existence. No records in VCP, no population at SGC, no scans to be found - but there he is!!



Now on the next white whale...

Congrats, Tim! Can you share how you came across this card? Your post ended with a cliffhanger...

(I guess you said a larger lot, but how long did you have to wait to get it after seeing it, etc)

I never really though about what my white whale would be. But by using your parameters I would have a few for my Jersey City Skeeters collection that I will likely never own.

1. T214 Victory - Wiltse
2. T215 Pirate - Purtell

A possibility one day might be the T213-3 Donavan

One that I'm sure I will find some day is the E254 Colgans Chips Abstien

Then the non Jersey City card that I would really like to own someday is the E-Unc Blue Caption Honus Wagner. There are two known examples. A board member owns one of them. I am just fascinated by this card.



.

Huggins and Scott
 

had a large lot of Blue Ribbons - their writeup didn't feature the rarity of Carlson. The lucky thing is that I was traveling at the time and only noticed the auction on the final day, at which point I jumped in with both feet - one more day and I would have lost out.

I love to one day own one of these. Any one of them would do.
Walter Johnson
T214 Victory
T215 Red Cross either version
T215 Pirate
Rose Postcard
Texas Tommy either version
T206 Portrait Old Mill

Realistically a T206 WaJo Portrait Brown Hindu

Chad

That's awesome Tim.
Such a cool find (lot) in more ways than one.
Such gratitude from this end as well.
I love this stuff.

Ben

"I love baseball history backstory; especially when it involves cards."

White whale #1 - T206 Herzog Boston w Uzit back. 1 exists.

White whale #2 - T206 Green Cobb. Plenty available but my pockets aren’t that deep yet. Building towards it though.

Bill

Got mine a few years ago. Spent over a decade looking a 1930 Baguer Chocolate 'Cliff Heathcote' (Cuban candy issue) raw or graded in decent condition.

It's the only non-oversied card of his wearing a Cubs uniform. There are cards from his Cubs era, but they're image edited STL uniform cards where they removed the STL imagery from the uniform.

It's a rare card, but it's not valuable. I spent a decade+ looking a card I paid $40 for. Last I checked there were 3 PSA graded (2x PSA 2, 1x Authentic) and 1 SGC graded (SGC 5.5). The only 2 raw I've ever seen were in terrible shape and I passed on them.

Current white whales include:
Red Cross back
HM Taylor Cobb
Rare E-card backs
Bender white cap T216 mild & sweet, extra mild, Mino, and Mello.

The bigger issue is outfitting my Whaling Ship with plenty of harpoons when these unicorns appear.

I was very fortunate to have landed one of my whales earlier this year. The other would be a clean 150 series T206 Plank.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2cdf82f4_c.jpg

Great card Leon. Thanks

Ha! Phil,
the closest I'll get to a Red Cross now;
gotta dig into the Actresses.

Back to your intent, I had a Griffith (bat) Red Cross years ago and sold it; I knew it was a toughie but thought more about $$$ back then; funny thing, I bought it at a larger show (prolly 30 yrs ago); asked to look at the dealer's stack of lesser condition tobacco cards that he had rubber banded together in a lower corner of his display case; skimming through and seeing the usuals (incl. HOFer's); tossed the Griffith out and handed the stack back while offering him $60 on the Griffith. Deal. Ah, ... the good ol' days.

https://www.net54baseball.com/pictur...ictureid=34276

https://www.net54baseball.com/pictur...ictureid=34275

Ben

"I love baseball history backstory; especially when it involves cards."

I'd really like to lay my hands on a T206 Jimmy Lavender Cycle back, but really any card I don't have for my Providence team set would be nice.

That would be all right but still would go with the E107.

Metaphorically, I have MANY white whales, now.

In the past, the cards were available, tough to find but attainable. Now most are beyond my means and are truly "white whales" in that sense.

Oh yeah, by the way Leon, I'm still looking for a mini OJ. Probably going to put that on my white whale list now, also...

My white whales are also out of budget. The heart of my collection is one card of every Hall of Famer from their playing days. I'd like to upgrade my T204 Burkett, which shows him as a minor league player manager at the end of his career, to a W600 or Just So, which both show him as a major league player.

I also need two Negro League Hall of Famers -- the Mallorquina Willie Foster and either the Punch or Cabanas Pete Hill. Come on Al, help me out!