[FrankWakefield]

30 years ago I didn't think much of the set, maybe had 2 or 3 of them. They were black and white instead of color, I liked the near in time T206's much better. Similarly, I thought W514s were like something cut out of an old, yellowed comic book, YUCK!

Nowadays, I don't know if my thoughts have matured or manured... but I like the W514 strip cards VERY much, they're great, and cover a key time in baseball. Similarly, I've found myself gathering a few more M101s. I like them! As noted above, the back possibilities add to the fascination. The subtle differences in the -4 and -5 are interesting. I have the McGraw, and it uses an image from the 1800s instead of contemporary.

Those inexplicable high prices.... Al / Bruno Betzel.... I'd like to tell you and get you to believe that the high price is due to him being a St Louis Cardinal. OR that he managed in Louisville after his career in the Majors was at end. But the truth is that there are family member descendants that bid fiercely to get his cards. All they can; one isn't enough. And I don't doubt that there are other cards with similar pressure forcing their eBay auctions higher. I didn't bid high enough in several auctions. Never could find a dealer who had one. So some of these cards have a high price because of kinfolk, not collectors. I recall sending a PCL card or a T210 (can't recall which at the moment) to Marc McRea because he was trying to gather a few for a grandson or great nephew of the player. Before we collectors get to irritable about that, consider a collector of Cracker Jack prizes. Thousands of them out there, well cataloged. And those CJ prize collectors are frustrated that baseball collectors are collecting those 1914 and 1915 pieces of cardboard, insanely driving up the prices.