Some T205 blank backs, possibly from the same sheet

[gonzo]

This group of 22 T205 American Leaguers appears with only the back brands Hassan 30, Hassan 649, Honest, Piedmont 25, and Polar Bear. Of those 22 cards, I know of 18 blank backs, marked with "BB" below. The ones I haven't confirmed are marked "???".

I believe that most if not all of the blank backs out there from this group come from one sheet. These seem to be the blank backs discussed in this earlier thread from several years ago:
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=151442

Baker - BB
Barry - BB
Carrigan - BB
Collins (closed) - ????
Criger - ???? [BB - Confirmed by Cory in a reply below]
Dygert - BB
Elberfeld - BB
Gardner - ????
Hartsel - BB
Tom Jones - ???? [BB - Confirmed by Cory in a reply below]
Krause - BB
McConnell - BB
Milan - BB
Murphy - BB
O'Leary - BB
Parent - BB
Pelty - BB
Schaefer - BB
Speaker - BB
Tannehill - BB
Wallace (with cap) - BB
Doc White - BB

I have seen or gotten reliable reports of multiple blank backs of at least Dygert, Krause, McConnell, and Tannehill.

(Images below can be clicked for higher-resolution versions.)


I had a chance to examine 12 of these cards raw some time ago.
They all had a slight downward-and-to-the-right offset in the yellow layer, which shows up most obviously as a yellow line of about 1 millimeter at the top of the card. This high-res scan of 12 of them makes it easy to see.




Here is a scan of those 12 cards with fronts and backs.




These blank backs are all hand-cut. The card stock seems to be of about normal thickness, maybe very slightly thinner, but not by much. I examined them under a loupe and I am convinced that they are not skinned. There is no sign that any paper was removed or that anything was ever printed on the backs. When I look at the back of a card placed in front of a flashlight, the ink on the front appears to show more readily through the stock of the blank backs than regular cards with printed backs, so the paper might be slightly different. Maybe it was a test run.




Some of them look like they can be puzzled together, as in the photos below of cards that seemed to me like possible matches. I suspect that many (if not all) of the blank backs out there from this "group of 22" AL players came from a single sheet that was hand-cut at some point. Given the way the cards seem to puzzle together, I believe the sheet arrangement for these was different cards horizontally, the same card vertically.







Other than those 12:
I have seen 2 McConnells and both of them have that yellow line at the top of the card.




This Hartsel has the yellow line as well.




The Speaker I have not seen in-hand, but this image taken from REA's website shows the yellow line.
https://www.robertedwardauctions.com...er-blank-back/




This Elberfeld I have not seen in-hand, but one is posted on a Kid Elberfeld family page (which has other great content on Elberfeld). This card also has the yellow line.
http://www.kidelberfeld.com/1911-t205-gold-border.html




O'Leary is mentioned in this 2012 thread, but I don't have a picture of it.
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=151442)


Finally, since examining those cards, I have been on the lookout for other blank backs from that group of 22 players. I recently learned about a Frank Baker. When I received the scan of the Baker, it had the same yellow line at the top.




My observation is that several of the T205 blank backs that have come up for auction in recent years are from this group of 22 American Leaguers.
Having seen or read of 18 different players so far, I believe that the other 4 will show up at some point. I'm very interested to see more information on those cards, if anyone has any.

...
Update - Criger and Tom Jones confirmed by Cory in replies below.

[Ronnie73]

This is great research. Thanks for sharing!!

[sb1]

Here are three I no longer have. The McGraw is obviously scrap, the Parent(not the same card) from perhaps the printing group mentioned above, the Street much larger and obviously saw some circulation.

[Luke]

Great research!

[BigBeerGut]

Neato!

The Gold Edge cards are incredible

[AddieJoss]

I have Criger Bb. It is very sharp. Also a Dooin BB that is not sharp.

[gonzo]

Nice! Updated original post to confirm Criger.

[AddieJoss]

I’ve seen Tom jones and a karger BB as well.

[T205 GB]

Nice.

[T205 GB]

Does anyone know where the find of T205 cards that were skinned went to? About 7 years back there was a bunch of supposed BB found. Turned out to be skinned really well. I just find it really odd at how many BB are available today when there were very few several years back.