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brian pBecause quite a few of the issues are so darn ugly, there is a real aversion to the whole group of strip cards. I think even a member of this board mentioned that they are really only good for rolling up tobacco and smoking 'em, or something silly like that. When you add the fact that they were distributed in strips and thus needed to have some of their borders hand cut, and that they were not associated with a product like most of our favorite vintage cards, you come up with a lack of interest, and the deficit of hobby literature reflects this. There are really no comprehensive sources of information on them, and through the years probably only a scattered amount of articles concerning them have been published.
I have mentioned this before, some of the issues are relatively appealing, and because of their bad reputation, can usually be found cheaper than any other vintage card--but you have to be willing to tolerate plenty of uneven borders. I personally think most of the photographic issues, such as the ones related to the E120 and E121 American Caramel issues (W501, W572, W573 and W575-1) to be worthwhile. The Autograph on Shoulder series, the W575-2, sport some different and incredibly nice photos. And the W574 are a nice, different looking set. Some people also like the larger size W517 cards. And the W555 utilize headshot photos seen in other 1910 era issues> The Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards by Lew Lipset, in the E (candy issues) volume, probably has the best collected information on W sets, as all the photographic issues are covered that are related to candy issues (these being the W501, W502, W555, W572, W573, and W575 cards).
The small sized color drawing and colorized photo cards are where most of the incredibly low opinions on strip cards derive. The artwork is crude, the coloration is unappealing, they make me cringe usually upon seeing them. However, there are some decent issues to be seen--you just have to adjust your tastes some. The W514 and W551 cards have, in my opinion, the best artwork and overall design. And I even have grown fond of the W515 set, which have very vibrant color and sport caricature-like depictions of players that remind me of comic book villians.
Although they might not be well documented or thought highly of, one thing you can rely upon is that for the most part they are cheap. Couple this with some artwork/designs that you can tolerate or even perhaps appreciate, and you've got a real hobby bargain.
Brian