Net54baseball.com Forums - Ebay W553 Scapbook cards...

Posted By: Iggy...Here are the before and after "pic's" on the W553 strip cards that I was lucky enough to win on ebay last week. The scrapbook contained three different W553 strips (including a Ruth and Gehrig), plus six 1933 Goudey cards. Pictures of how they were in the scrapbook: <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880166_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880171_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880188_o.jpg"> Pictures after soaking the cards from the scrapbook (as expected from a 1933 era scrapbook the glue was water based). About 10 minutes of soaking did the trick. The 1933 Goudey cards were removed with no damage done to the backs and as a bonus a neat ghost print on the Waner card: <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880195_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880206_o.jpg"> The W553's also were removed without a hitch. A few streaks of glue marks remained on the back of the cards. Perhaps, some additional soaking might do the trick but as long as I have them they will not see water again (I'm not trying to hide the fact that they came from a scrapbook). In the pictures, it appears a couple of the strip's have a red stain on the back but those are just shadows from the pic. <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880228_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880239_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880217_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880224_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880249_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880246_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880278_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880283_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880286_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880294_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880257_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880262_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880267_o.jpg"> <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880274_o.jpg"> These cards are approximately the size of a T206, here is a side-by-side comparison (by the way, the Collins came from a different scrapbook find...some people like to open packs...I get my thrills a different way): <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/3/9/9/9/7/7/webimg/137880299_o.jpg"> As an FYI, the Grove and Grimes cards have some faint staining. The Simmons and O'Doul cards have a vertical hairline crease. The Goslin has a small hairline and the rest are crease-free. The strips in the scrapbook were not issued as shown in four card strips; these were obviously cut to fit the book. The date of issued on W553 cards is accepted to be 1929. However, everything in the scrapbook was from 1933 or early 1934 (the newspaper article's all from '33, three different front page baseball magazine covers all '33 or '34 and finally the '33 Goudey cards). Obviously, this doesn't prove anything but it's interesting that nothing in the book was earlier then 1933. And for the record, I'm keeping them intact and far away from any card cutters. I'm also leaning towards entombing all three strips. Hopefully, that will motivate a future owner in keeping them together (because the eye appeal on the Ruth and Gehrig strip is fantastic). Plus, it will make it alot easier for me to store them in a safe manner. I'm assuming SGC will grade them as a strip? That's it! Lovely Day...