N172 Old Judge scarcity?

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Posted By: joe

Besides the California League, what are some of the harder to find players? Because I collect Detroit, it seems that Detroit players don't show up that often.

Joe

Ty Cobb, Spikes flying!

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Posted By: barrysloate

Some players from mid Western teams, such as Milwaukee and Omaha, can be tough.

Players such as Anderson, Cusick, Flynn, and Gibson are extremely rare with just a few copies of each known. There are many others, but the Old Judge experts need to share them.

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Posted By: joe

Thanks Barry for the info, yes I was waiting for Jay or Joe G. or any of the other Old Judge experts on these cards to respond also. But Detroit players seem scarce to me.

Joe

Ty Cobb, Spikes flying!

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Posted By: Dylan

This set is a real monster! I just started trying to educate myself more about it and there's so many variations, i mean vcp has 3,500 different cards listed for the set, all of varying degrees of difficulty. I have no idea where to get started

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Posted By: Fred C

OJs are like "those" potato chips... you know, the chips that you can't eat just one...

The best place to start is to NOT eat those chips...

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I have not found the Detroit players to be that hard to find....I'm sure there are certain ones which may be, but comparing them to other OJ's they come up fairly frequently compared to Omaha. I've only seen two Omaha cards on ebay in the last year. One was not what is considered rare and still went for $400+...the other one was skinned and trimmed and TIK pulled it before it ended.

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Posted By: Joe_G.

Joe, Joe, Joe, . . . . can't you just decide to collect another team?

The Detroits are neither easy nor difficult; they are somewhere in between (in comparison to other OJs). Thankfully, the largest grouping of Detroits are found in the 1887 leading "0" numbered series which are amongst the more plentiful OJs. I've upgraded most of my poses two, sometimes three times so the cards are out there (several of them now in your collection). Many of the 1887 OJs can also be found as GQs (Gypsy Queens).

Approximately half of those 1887 poses were re-issued in 1888 and joined the new for 1888 Detroit cards of Baldwin, Conway, Getzien, Scheibeck, and White. The players represented in 1888 (be it new for 1888 or re-issues) can also be found on Old Judge Cabinet cards.

Lastly, there were several players found on 1889 cards, all of which played for the International League Detroit Team (the National League team disbanding after 1888). I would say the 1888 re-issues, the new for 1888, and the 1889 International League Detroit cards are all a little more difficult than average OJs.

The toughest Detroit card would be what is catalogued as the McCreachery, M'g'r - Indianapolis card. It is actually a portrait of Deacon White and may be unique. Outside of this card, the others are attainable, especially if only one pose of each player is desired. Going after all the poses (minus the McCreachery error) would probably be a life long pursuit that would end short of goal, but that's half the fun. You have to be very patient. Collecting OJs by pose, even if only a single team, requires a strong will that isn't easily frustrated over the years.

Best Regards,
Joe Gonsowski