Howe McCormick backstamps - 50 I'll never see

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Posted By: Ed McCollum

Last week, I snuck in the back door of the upcoming Mastro auction and came across the description of lot 11. It seemed like a lot of cards listed in the near set of 519 T206s listed rubber stampings on the back as the main concern of condition. I e-mailed Mastro last Thursday and asked for any idea of what the stamps might be, but being the National was going on, I wasn't surprised not to hear from them. I tried again this morning, and when the reply came, I didn't know whether to be happy or sick to my stomach...


Hi Ed,

You sir, are in luck! I count 50 additions to your collection. Here are the combinations;

Old Mill: Violat/Jacksonville, White/Houston, Reagan/New Orleans, Mullaney/Jacksonville, Manion/Columbia, Jordan/Atlanta, Hickman/Mobile, Helm/Columbus, Coles/Augusta

Hindu: Otey/Norfolk, Molesworth/Birmingham, McCauley/Portsmouth, Foster/Charleston,

Piedmont: Berger/Cleveland, Elberfeld/N.Y. Amer, Donovan/Detroit, Covaleski/Phila, J.J. Clarke/Cleveland, Cicotte/Boston, Chase/Pink, M. Brown/Chicago Natl, Birmingham/Cleveland, Ames/NY, Ames/Portrait/NY, Kelley/Toronto, Killian/Detroit, Joss/Glove/Cleveland, Jones/St Louis, F. Jones/Chicago, Hulswitt/St Louis, Oberlin/Minneapolis, Nicholls/Phila, Murray/NY, Moran/Chicago, Mitchell/Cincinnati, McIntyre/Bkln/Chicago, Mathewson/Glove, Lundgren/Chicago, Lajoie/Cleveland, Konetchy/St Louis, Rudolph/Toronto, Paskert/Cincinnati, Parent/Chicago, Owen/Chicago, Overall/Chicago, O'Neil/Minneapolis, O'Leary/Detroit, Young/Glove, Wilhelm/Brooklyn and Walsh/Portrait/Chicago.

Good luck bidding,
Steve Lucas


Holy Crap! I thought I was doing good to have possession of 60 (by the send of this week) after only 15 months of concentrating on these. Now, in one lot, are 50 more! Needless to say, I won't be getting these. The lot of 12 in the recent Huggins and Scott auction nearly cost me my marriage (when the wife figured out the price per card I ended up paying for them), and it cleaned out any funds I had raised in my endeavor to collect only the cards with this stamp by selling all my other cards.

I'm trying not to be totally pessimistic. I figure I still have several shots at it...

1. Every relative I have, both known and unknown, dies immediately and names me as their sole heir to their up-to-this-time unknown fortunes.

2. I sell the five T205s and the one t206 that wasn't stamped by Howe from the H&S auction and use those funds to purchase this near complete set.

3. There are still at least three more PowerBall drawings between now and the end of the auction, and I'm sure my one ticket per drawing is sure to win.

4. Someone from the Network 54 board buys the lot, and offers to trade or sell all 50 of these to me over time as I can either afford to purchase or find replacements for.

5. I beg Mastro to break every rule I'm sure auction houses have and inform me of who the winning bidder might be, so I can try and strike the same deal with them mentioned in #4.


I guess my options are better than I thought. Any other ideas from board members on how not to let this set get away?

Ed

[Archive]

Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Well, for starters, I don't think a public announcement to the board was in your best interest!
While I'm certain that many board members are aware of your fascination and will respectfully refrain from bidding against you, there are even more who might only need a few cards out of the grouping and outbid you. And, knowing that you want cards featuring the McCormick stamp, they may run you up in the process of selling off the remainder.

My apologies for the pessimistic spin on this, but I'm fairly certain a similar situation has happened to the majority of us when we became so excited about a project as to let loose our secret!

I wish you great success in your undertaking, and sincerely hope I'm wrong in my speculation.

[Archive]

Posted By: barry arnold

Ed,
I'm rooting for you!!!
I know how much these cards truly mean to you.

all the best,

barry

[Archive]

Posted By: jay wolt

Ed, perhaps a dealer or collector plans to win these to sell.
If so, you'll have a chance of getting 1 here and 1 there over time.

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Posted By: Michael Steele

Ed,

Best of luck to you. I do not know you personally but greatly admire your passion. When I found time at the National, I did search T-206's for this stamp but came up empty handed. I will keep my eyes open for you and maybe somehow, these 50 in the upcoming Mastro Auction will work their way into your collection.

[Archive]

Posted By: CN

Ed, I think you are being selfish in trying to gain some sympathy for your collecting basically cards with this stamp on it. Why should somebody break up a set to help you when you admit you cannot afford the set. If it meant so much to you I would try to bid on the whole lot and sell the cards you don,t want. I belong to a small collecting club of vintage cards-12 members on Long Island which has been going strong for 17 years even though we have lost 10 members and I know of one member who does not post here but he has 8 Howe McCormick T206 cards and always hunts for more and is trying to get a group together to buy the Mastro lot with the Caveat that he only gets the cards with the stamp. He is willing to go beyond his means to acquire these cards. I am not involved in this endeavor but I admire him for his ingenuity. He wishes to remain anonymous but he used to post here when Bill and Elliot ran the forum but he got tired of the personal agendas. CN

[Archive]

Posted By: leon

"Why should somebody break up a set to help you when you admit you cannot afford the set"

Maybe because some collectors like helping other collectors? What a novel idea....

[Archive]

Posted By: Anthony S.

If Howe and his eponymous (just taking the word out for a test drive, not sure how I feel about it) stamp only knew how popular they'd turn out to be 100 years down the road. Two separate collectors, 1500 miles apart. I really don't see how Ed's appeal was in any way selfish.

[Archive]

Posted By: Ed McCollum

I'm just being hones when I say there is no way I could afford to even start to bid on the lot. The final price will easily be at least half a years salary, before any sort of commision, and there is no way that could happen. Nor am I willing to take out a second mortgage, or steal from my son's college fund in hopes of winning and then selling off what I don't want. Much like the individual you mention, CN, I'm interested in only certain ones, and if posting here and drawing the attention of someone who is actively interested in the lot, perhaps to break up and sell in smaller groups, my intentions have been met.

I've been very lucky, and with the help of many of the great "posters" on this board, the collection has grown from 2 to 60 in a short period of time. And I know I'm not the only one around to collect these stamped cards. I've tried to contact a gentleman who has sent e-mails to others here on the board, asking if they have any of Howe's cards, but with no response. And while it would be nice to get every one of them out there, part of the fun of it has been never knowing how many there are. If nothing else, from all this, I found out there are 50 more than I knew about this morning. Add that to the 60 I've been able to get, the 12 others out there I know of I haven't been able to get, add in the 8 your friend has, and the number has grown to 130. Its a start. A number to shoot for. Thats all it is. But if someone on the board does end up the winner, and is willing to part with some over time, or at least let me know they were the winner, I know where they are, if I ever get the chance to make a run at them later. Thats all it is. Itsnot a plea for sympathy, but knowledge of where they end up, since we know they started out at 500 W. Main St. in Gainesville, Fla.

Ed

[Archive]

Posted By: John S

Ed,

At least your stamp is not on a difficult issue (T206). Some of the card/back combos that you listed are tough but not impossible. Hopefully you can strike a deal with the buyer where you can either purchase slowly or trade out for the cards that you need. Something will work out. Best of luck.

[Archive]

Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Compose a letter to the eventual winner. Then rewrite it to really get it polished. A short letter. I would think you could contact the auction and they'd agree to forward your letter on to the eventual winner. I doubt that they'd give you the winner's name and address.

In the meantime, you might focus on saving funds to either outright buy any of the stamped cards the winner would sell, or funds for buying replacements for the eventual winner.


And I agree with Leon, some collectors still help fellow collectors. I mailed my "Howe McCormick" backstamped card to this guy....

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Posted By: T206Collector

A few weeks ago, I learned about some Mastro auctions from April 2001 that contained many signed deadball era cards that I had never known existed. By using Mastro's "back door," I was able to see many of them. Now, I hold little if any aspiration to ever find the owner of the signed T206 Lajoie I saw, but just the knowledge that it is out there has improved my collection -- it provides a road map, a legitimate wish list. I can sense you appreciate the same concept in your Howe pursuit.

I suspect the lot will be bought and then broken down. If the ultimate buyer learns that two people love Howe, it would make sense to sell them and upgrade. They may trickle down to ebay or even find you directly through Net54. Keep in mind that you have market forces on your side.

Good luck!


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Visit http://www.t206collector.com for signed deadball card galleries, articles and more!

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

Send an email back to Steve Lucas @ Mastronet and give him your contact info, letting him know you won't be winning the 519 card lot but that you're interested in the McCormick cards. It may not amount to anything but than again, it may offer the opportunity to pick up a few of them from the lot winner. Good luck!

[Archive]

Posted By: Jon Canfield

Ed - that SGC A Plank doesn't have a McCormick stamp, does it? Just kidding and good luck!

[NoTrim]

Hello there. New to this group. I recently purchased a grouping of 165 T206 commons. Upon showing them to a fellow collector, he mentioned that there is someone on this site who seeks out cards stamped with Howe McCormick on the back. I found three of them. Bowerman, Bransfield, and Lindaman in F-G condition. Do you have interest in these?

[T206Collector]

You’re looking for Ed McCollum. He’s called “StuckInOmaha” on Net54. Send him a personal message. Thank you for bringing your find to Net54 and welcome to the board!

[swarmee]

Ed said that he'd be taking a break from purchasing these a few months ago, and I offered to buy some and hold them for Ed until he can continue the pursuit. I will contact you, NoTrim, and make an offer. Once Ed has the money, I will sell them to him *at cost* to help him get closer to his completion.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...ight=mccormick

[Leon]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Ed said that he'd be taking a break from purchasing these a few months ago, and I offered to buy some and hold them for Ed until he can continue the pursuit. I will contact you, NoTrim, and make an offer. Once Ed has the money, I will sell them to him *at cost* to help him get closer to his completion.

You da man, John. Thanks for doing what could be done by so many and done by so few. If you need help in your endeavors let me know (PM or whatever)....

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Ed said that he'd be taking a break from purchasing these a few months ago, and I offered to buy some and hold them for Ed until he can continue the pursuit. I will contact you, NoTrim, and make an offer. Once Ed has the money, I will sell them to him *at cost* to help him get closer to his completion.

True story and was on one of the prior threads if you want to verify. It's a good group of people here--welcome aboard--and it's awesome how everyone is helping put this collection back together.

[swarmee]

NoTrim and I are going to make a trade to secure these three cards for Ed down the line. It will take a while since one of the cards I'm trading is at COMC and has to get shipped to me first.

[NoTrim]

Happy to help out. You're one of the good ones, John.

[frohme]

Glad to see this sort of collaboration. Tough to see how Ed's collection could continue to make progress without the helping hand that board members can provide.

--
Mike

[T206Collector]

This thread - and the Howe McCormick collection specifically as well - is a good reminder that we are all just holding these cards in a public trust for yesterday’s and tomorrow’s collectors. We owe it to each other - past, present, and future - to help out. My collection of signed cards certainly wouldn’t be the same without the substantial contributions of this board and the hobbisphere.

[wolf441]

I love Ed's Howe McCormick collection and can vouch for "NoTrim" being one of the good guys and a great add to the Net54 family!

Best,

Steve

[swarmee]

Cards received today. Thanks for an easy trade to help out the Howe McCormick collection.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Cards received today. Thanks for an easy trade to help out the Howe McCormick collection.

nice work...

[T205 GB]

^^This is the kinda stuff that makes me love this Board!

[DeafSports]

is there a Dummy Taylor with Howe McCormick back stamp?