Posted By:
MWWe have been fortunate (or unfortunate if you consider the ilk of Roy Huff partially ruining their values by confusing new customers via disassembled Spalding Guides on eBay) to have two finds of Spaldings. In 1989 in Minneapolis we purchased 110 different in VG to EX condition. In 1996 in Tacoma (Dennis Purdy's show at the Dome) a gentleman sold us 550. The second time, there was an average between 2 and 3 of each card and two dozen each of Ruth, Dempsey, and Hagen. A partial set of 195 was assembled and sold privately to an individual, who, in our opinion has the most advanced and complete trading card collection in the world and certainly the only one which can rival Burdick's. There was exactly one Mint example of Cochrane and Lazzeri (PSA 9) and those were acquired by a major (and astute!) rookie card collector.
Several years ago, a helpful customer directed us to the purchase of a Ruth with a 1927 copyright date and differing text on the reverse. To the best of our knowledge this is the only Spalding Champions card like this. Among other interesting cards known to exist would be hand cut blank backed/proofs of Red Grange and Ty Cobb. In our opinion, the biographical and statistical backed Spaldings are the only specimens which can be proven to have been distributed for use in selling sporting goods as this information was directly related in both of the acquisitions in the previous paragraphs. In each cellophane package, the client obtained the Champions card and a scrip card which came in orange or pink. The scrip card was simply a numbered coupon that could be combined with other scrip cards in order to apply up to a 50% discount against one's favorite catching mitt (or other sporting good). In all, there are less than 2,000 Spaldings which have been uncovered with about 100 each of Ruth, Dempsey, and Hagen and only 5-10 of the rest of the athletes including the baseball players. At least a quarter of the total known specimens were picked up by Alan Hager and have advertising on the reverse instead of biographical information.
Additional note: there have also been other finds of several players as is the case with Joe Sewell. Tilden and Weismuller also seem to be slightly more common than the rest.