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Posted By: AdamBaxter

It's easy to get excited when you notice something with Obaks that you haven't before. Although most of the variations that exist in Obaks have been duly documented by collectors (Macrae, Obermeyer, Lipset, etc.)Most are overlooked by the hobby at large. Obak sets lack the star power and popularity of an issue such as T206 and that probably accounts for the lack of interest. One example is the framed/frameless back variation in the 1909 set. When Lipset wrote about this variation in his encyclopedia he felt that neither type seemed more scarce then the other. The current Standard Catalog also states that both seem equally available, yet I have seen at least 2 veteran collectors recently state that the frameless 1909's are scarcer then those with the framed backs. I have also encountered far fewer frameless examples in my online shopping over the last year. If the frameless examples are in fact tougher, why isn't that reflected in the guides and why is the hobby still using outdated info?

I also wish that the Standard Catalog or Beckett had a breakdown of the 1910 back slogans and their levels of scarcity included with the listing of the set. Some back slogan examples are more difficult then others and if a collector hasn't read Jeff Obermeyer's article on Obak backs in VCBC or been to Oldcardboard.com then there's little chance that a collector can go beyond just a player set without running into some confusion.