is there anyone on the forum that knows how many "glossy" cards exist as compared to non glossy ? I've never seen a definite count. I've heard of the supposed proof theory and don't think it's that valid. If the non gloss versions were proofs then the gloss versions were real, and I think there would be more of them out there. I tend to think that the non glossy cards may have been inserted into the tins of Ty Cobb tobacco. The Goodwin cards reverse has some staining on it, but upon closer inspection of the picture it doesn't necessarily look like tobacco. It actually looks like a water stain or some sort of liquid stain to me. It doesn't look like tobacco juice to me.
I have discussed with some other advanced collectors about the fact that they could be well made counterfeits or that some Lithograph printers were just messing around making a card of a popular player of the time. I think it's far fetched to think that a press operator or some employees would have just run these off for fun, or that someone would have made them after 1910. There is advertising to back up the cards reverse that has been discovered. I have gone back and looked through a lot of my old auction catalogs at Cobb backed cards and the goodwin card looks darker than the other Cobb backed red protraits I compared it to. Gloss or any finish added to the surface of a card would tend to make it look darker thought. Just my experience as a painter tells me that. I think there will always be some mystery and speculation involved with the Ty Cobb backed cards.
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