One of my favorite sets!
I'm currently at 14 different. I'm convinced the set is complete at 48, and think in time more will certainly show up.
My theory is that most were distributed except the ones in the find- I suspect Bescher and Jennings, the most common today, were not distributed. The ones that were were stamped numerically on the back.
I"m fairly convinced Tango Eggs are the same as E106, but with different backs and changes on the black plate (the type) on the fronts.
Despite reports to the contrary, to the best of my knowledge only 3 cards have surfaced not from the find. They are identified by the poor condition and by a numerical stamp on the back. When I saw the Cobb a few years ago I knew it had to be legit, because it looks just like the other pre find card, the Rebel Oakes that I own. And REA had a Plank a few years back.
Here's the Oakes
You'll note that the stamp on the back reads " No. 435"
The Cobb is stamped "No. 552" which leads me to several speculations (and should be taken just as that, speculation)
- Each card that was released was numbered. Perhaps for some sort of redemption, perhaps not. But the fact that Numbers 435 and 552 have been found leads me to believe there were at least 552 issued.
-The set now numbers 20 known. This is fact. 16 in the REA auction, plus the acknowledged (by Rob) Cobb and Schaeffer, plus my Oakes and a Plank that was sold in REA. My speculation is that that is an odd number to print, and doesn't make sense. You don't leave blank space on a printing sheet- it's a waste of money, since you're still paying for paper, ink and press time. Given the parallels between this set and the E106 set it is plausible that the set initially totaled 48 subjects, with a different back (Tango Eggs) printed on that set. Each known Tango card has the exact same front as the corresponding card in the E106 set, just with a different back and in a few cases (Weaver among them) the Tango set has changed the correct name of the player in the E106 set to an incorrect identification when the printed for Tango. If this theory is correct then there was (or is) another pose of Cobb, a couple of different Wagners, as well as a Matty, Marquard, Lajoie, Speaker, Bender and McGraw, among others.
- Again, there is no reason to have 300 Beschers printed and only 1 Cobb. The same amount was probably printed of each card, but Bescher nor Jennings were probably never distributed, and Cobb and Oakes were. There were a handful of leftovers of Morgan and Crawford and Bresnahan, et al, so those were kept in the pile that eventually became "the find".
The Cobb has been rumoured for years, and one collector has told me on a number of occasions he has 2 different ones (different poses). I had my doubts that there were 2 but there is now clear evidence that at least one exists.
Here's a few scans:
