Anyone seen these before? - 1940 Reds Team Issue

[Leon]

At this stage in my collecting career I certainly can't say I have seen it all, pre-war card-wise but I think I can safely say I have seen types of most. That being said, in the last week, I have picked up 3 different issues I haven't seen before. Here is one of them. These are on absolutely regular card stock, are all the exact same size and look machine cut. They were sold as a 1941 Reds team issue but these players were only on the Reds in 1940. Anyone seen any others or know anything about them? They are approximately 2 3/8" by 3 1/2"... thanks in advance...

[Griffins]

Odd that the Reds would have 2 team issued sets, along with the Harry Hartman set (W711-2)
Some of the images are the same as these, but the cards are definitely very different from W711 and W711-2.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Griffins

Odd that the Reds would have 2 team issued sets, along with the Harry Hartman set (W711-2)
Some of the images are the same as these, but the cards are definitely very different from W711 and W711-2.

I thought that same thing. And I immediately went to my resources and couldn't/can't find these (above) anywhere. The description where I won them from said they were a 1941 (I think 1940) team issued set? I venture to guess they probably gave them out at the ballpark and/or you could get them mailed to you, if that is the case. Here are a few from the other Cincinnati sets, W711-1 McCormick and W711-2 Hartman, McKechnie, Hershberger and the box they were mailed in.

addendum. I went back to the description and here is what the seller said in the listing. I didn't scroll down far enough to see it. (or just missed it)-

"Sold exclusively by the team at ball parks."

[Leon]

So I assume no one else has seen these original cards posted before? I think it's pretty neat we can still find cards like these today. At minimum they are uncatalogued and have rarely been seen before. best regards

[brianp-beme]

I have not seen the cards before, but I believe the Turner and Thompson cards utilize the same photos as seen in the W711-2 Reds set. Interesting find Leon.

Brian

[Griffins]

Here's the W711-2 set for photo comparison

[Jaybird]

Beautiful sheet, Anthony. Thanks for sharing.

Nice find, Leon. These are the kinds of things that go unnoticed in the bargain box of local shows. Nice that they finally get notice and brought to light.

[Chris Counts]

I'm not sure if this helps, but Mike Dejan's entire major league career lasted for about three weeks in the late summer of 1940. I have a snapshot of him that was taken a few days after Willard Herschberger took his life and he's wearing a mourning band on his sleeve. It seems likely the cards above were created during that time, when the Reds were in the thick of a pennant race that they would win. There were a surprising number of Reds cards, postcards and photos that were issued during that era, so it's not surprising another issue would surface ...