Nice work Tim Newcomb and Todd Schultz! M101-4 and M101-5

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Posted By: Jimi

Hey guys,

Great work on the M101-4 and M101-5 write up in Old Cardboard. I just got it in the mail today and read your article first. The pictures were helpful, especially regarding the different backs. I have always enjoyed that set though knew very little on it. Too bad I can't afford to work on that set though!

Hey, Tim, e-mail me when you get a chance. Let's catch up!


Jimi

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Posted By: Andy Baran

When I was still collecting baseball cards, the M101-4/5 were among my favorite sets. The article was very informative. There was one topic that was not covered that I hoped would be discussed. Does anyone have a theory as to why certain cards (Ruth, Baker, etc.) have grayed out backgrounds rather than real backgrounds?

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Posted By: leon

I read the article last night. It was very informative and well done....As maybe one of the first M101-4/5 back collectors out here I really enjoyed the in depth discussion on them too. Way to go guys!!

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Posted By: Scot Reader

I have been looking forward to this article. Thanks Tim and Todd!

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Posted By: Paul

It is an outstanding article. I was a little surprised by the estimate that there are only about 70-100 "sets" of M101-4, including all backs combined (and even less of M101-5). Does that mean that each player in M101-4, taking all backs into account, is about as scarce as a T206 Wagner?

That actually reminds me of a second questions. Why did Burdick have such a hard time documenting and ultimately acquiring a T206 Wagner? If I remember correctly, for many years he was not convinced of its existence. And he acquired the card only a few years before he donated his collection. But he had so many other cards that were so much rarer than the Wagner. Why could he find these, but not Wagner?

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

Yes, a great article; I really liked the back gallery. Well done lads!

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Posted By: Tim Newcomb

For your kind words about the article. It was fun to do.

Paul's question is a good one -- we went back and forth about whether to include numbers of that kind-- (like are there 25-50 Green/Joyce cards known total, etc.) In the end this is the only such estimate we went with, knowing it would be questioned (by us too).

But on the other hand, there are tons of cards a lot scarcer than the T206 Wagner-- E cards, T cards, etc. etc. That card is only "rare" in its specific context of T206. Its value is the product of a perfect storm-- a very scarce card in the most widely-collected set, an A-list HOFer, the anti-smoking Wagner lore, and now decades of hobby legend behind it.

One other thought: a while back when I polled M101-4/5 population among this group, we got a total in the low thousands-- the equivalent of 6-8 sets at most. I think mine accounted for 25-30% of that total (I had about 300 cards in the two sets at the time). From that surprisingly low number owned by a group of avid collectors, I guess I extrapolated that there were not a huge number of sets out there-- dozens more, certainly, but not hundreds and hundreds.

Anyway, we can continue to discuss. I got a note this morning from a man who gave me a lead on where the Mall Theatre was located! I'm about to look into it.

Tim

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Posted By: Brian Weisner

Hi Tim and Todd,
The article was fantastic... I've read it twice and I'm sure I will have to go through it another 10-15 times before it all sinks in. I only collect certain players from the issues, but I will probably start a back collection soon. Be well Brian