Matty McIntyre estate photos on Ebay

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Posted By: Adam J. Baxter

There were about 70+ 3" x 4" photos dating from approximately 1900-1905 that the Ebay seller Lexibell was auctioning off on Ebay this week. They apparently came from McIntyre's estate and contains lots of great shots of ballplayers from Detroit, New York (Nat'l), and Tampa. Apparently, some of the photos were taken during a baseball tour of Cuba. Competition on these was pretty high and I was lucky enough to snag just one featuring Quinlan and Robinson in Tampa uniforms. This was a real find in my opinion and I'm glad I didn't miss out. Anyone else get lucky on these auctions?


1900s Quinlan Robinson Tampa Baseball Original Photo

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Posted By: runscott

The other being a high-quality shot of an un-id'd Detroit player that went for about $90. But all are unique, so if the subject matter appeals to you, you got a deal.

I won nine of them, and was especially pleased with this one:

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Posted By: Rhys

I won several of these, but only a few of the ones I really wanted because the prices went pretty high. However, think of this. I sold one of only 2 or 3 known Matty McIntyre autographs about 4 years ago. I deal quite extensively in vintage autographs (I have a Dummy Hoy on ebay right now). It was a cut in bad shape and I got $285 on ebay. He died very young in the 1920's and his autograph is comparably rare to people like Ed Delahanty and Eddie Plank with. like I said, about 3-4 known examples in the entire hobby. While McIntyre is not a hall of famer, he is a fairly well known player of the era and his signature is on several advanced collectors want lists. I compared the "Matty" that was used to describe himself in the pictures to the scan I have of the cut I sold and it is the same hand. Matty McIntyre is the one who made these notations in the scrapbook. Therefore, any of the pictures of McIntyre where he mentions himself in the picture is essentially an autograph, same as if Babe Ruth signed a ball "Babe". It may not be a full name signature, but it is as good as most of the collectors are ever going to get who want his autograph.

I won about 4 of the self identifying photos and already have people I know will buy them at a price increase. So everyone that won any of these not only got a nice baseball photo, but the ones with the white writing on them also got handwriting of one of the early 20th century's rarer baseball autographs.

I dont know if this was a factor in other people bidding, but it is the reason that I paid over $100 for several of the photos of just McIntyre.

Rhys

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Posted By: runscott

I won several photos, planning to mat and frame them in a display - I tried to win a Matty, but the prices were too steep for me...I was apparently wrong! In addition to the baseball players, there were quite a few photos of historical value, particularly the "Maine" and "black children" pictures. If they had been listed in the correct categories I'm sure they would have brought more.

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Posted By: runscott

Today I received the 9 "Matty Estate" photos won in John Roger's first go-round. Most of them had a photo on the flip-side as well, including the image I posted above - the back has a picture of Matty and friend, with Matty's "signature"...bonus. I didn't win many of them, but I felt there was some serious historical significance to the photos showing black children with the major league players - those photos went cheap.

These are all very nice, but of course all photos are totally out of the original intended context...much like when John disassembled the Cartwright scorebooks. This photo album in its original state must have been incredible.

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Posted By: Adam J. Baxter

Scott,

Glad to hear you scored some extra pics, hopefully, I'll get lucky with a double sided pic or two as well. Did you also get the notarized letter(s)from McIntyre's estate with your photos? I managed to snag two more during the second round. One is a group shot of Hurley, Quinlan and Brouthers; the other a shot of the USS Maine Monument with McIntyre's writing. Personally, I think each photo, no matter the content, is significant. The fact that it comes from McIntyre's estate and often contains his writing just sweetens the deal further.

John Rogers apparently decided to put together the last 250 or so photos and sell them as a lot (many were baseball pics). I believe it ended at just over 1k (a real bargain IMHO). I'd be surprised to see the winner of that auction hold on to all 250 of the them for long. Don't be surprised if more of these pop up on Ebay or other auctions in the future. I know I'll be watching!

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Posted By: Adam J. Baxter

Of the 2 photos I won that depicted players I was able to ID 3 of them: Jack Robinson, Art Brouthers and Jerry Hurley. However, I'm at a loss with Quinlan. There was a Finners Quinlan in the teens and one of the photos offered ID'd the Quinlan as a "Larry" Quinlan, but I couldn't find anything about a Larry Quinlan online. Anyone have any ideas who this Quinlan is? Also, does anyone have info on this Tampa Winter League team or have any info about this Cuban Baseball Tour. I know that Detroit players during a Cuban tour were featured in the Punch Tobacco and Cabanas sets, but my knowledge of the tour pretty much stops there.

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Posted By: runscott

A "Larry Quinlan" managed the Terre Haute Highlanders in 1914.