1939 Play Ball

[Koufax32fan]

I am new to Net54, so I am sorry if this thread has been discussed. I have been dabbling in pre-War cards for a couple of years now, mostly buying type cards to get a sense of what is out there. I decided to make the 1939 Play Ball set the first set that I would try to build, and am making good progress. (I did not realize when I started that there are entire teams not represented in the set - no Cubs.)

I do wonder, am I the only idiot that is trying to get both versions (with ALL CAPS and Initial Caps)? In buying these, I have not noticed any difference in price. In fact, I find that for many sellers on eBay or other on-line sources they don't even note the difference or show the backs.

The high numbers are certainly rarer (and more expensive). Does anyone "know" or have an educated guess for how much rarer the high numbers are? Or, how much rarer (if at all) any of the variations are?

And, one last question (for now): what is the deal with the Samples and how many of those are out there (ok, that is 2 parts of one question).

Thanks,

Mike

[vargha]

There is typically no premium for lower case vs. all caps. My belief is that the lower case cards came out when the high series cards did since the high series only comes in lower case format. It is my belief that the lower case versions are scarcer.

There is anywhere from almost no premium to as much as 1.5x to 2x premium on Sample cards on commons. Many of the more expensive superstars such as DiMaggio or Williams carry no premium on the Sample version. Salesmen had samples to hand out at candy stores to entice the store owners (and their customer base) to buy them.

The high numbers are substantially more difficult to acquire. a quick check of the population reports for SGC or PSA will give you a relative idea of how much scarcer they are. In my opinion, Samples are scarcer even than high numbers, but scarcity alone does not drive price.

Lastly, as to the Cubs, my guess is that since Wrigley owned the Cubs, he didn't allow a rival chewing gum company to have pictures of his players.

Anyone else feel free to correct me or add to this.

[DaveW]

Mike,
Great choice. The 1939 Play ball set was the first vintage one I completed. It's relatively inexpensive and fairly easy to finish. I'm one of the few like you that is trying to finish the master set. Here's what I know:

161 Cards Total
Produced by Gum, Inc of Philadelphia (which later became Bowman Gum)

Cards #1-#115 were first printed with Upper Case Names
- all Sample cards come from this printing
- It is known that all 115 cards were printed with the Sample back
- lot of all 115 auctioned by Goldin in October 2013

Cards #116-#162 were printed with names in Mixed Case
Card #126 was never issued
73 of the cards from #1-#115 were also printed this way (so 42 are Upper Case only)

So, there are 42 cards with Upper Case backs only
there are 73 cards with both Upper Case and Mixed Case backs
there are 46 card with only Mixed case backs
There are 115 Upper Case cards and 119 Mixed Case cards for a total of 234 cards

12 of the Mixed Case cards also had typos fixed (so the Upper case cards must have been printed first).

Good Luck,
- Dave

[Koufax32fan]

Thank you very much for your replies and insights. I am enjoying the hunt for the high numbers and the variations. And, I think the Williams will be the final card I buy. A nice group of Hall of Famers, and even an umpire and Al Schacht.

[DaveW]

I like to see these non-T206 threads but they seem to die off early. Lets try to keep this one alive for awhile. Does anybody know of any error cards or variations in this set? The only one I know of is the Rick Ferrell card with and without the bright light behind him. The card with the spot is seen less often than the other but isn't very scarce.

[vargha]

Dave, here's a good checklist if you want to get into some of the obscure text change variations.

http://www.obaks.com/vintagebaseballcards/1939pb.html

[DaveW]

Thanks David, but those are the 12 error corrections that I referred to before. Are there any other variations/errors/etc on the fronts of these cards?

[vargha]

Hmm . . . my publik skule comprehension skills have come back to haunt me once again.

[Paul S]

Originally Posted by vargha

Hmm . . . my publik skule comprehension skills have come back to haunt me once again.

Don't blame yourself. It was the New Math that did it.

My experience with 39 Play Ball:

Love the set. Sold them all ungraded about 12 months ago. Wish I hadn't but what can a poor boy do? Had about two dozen, all sample backs, and about one quarter HOFers. including Ted and Joe. Mind you, I had had these long before ebay and TPG. Joe did fine and Ted, obviously, did better. HOFers like Lefty and Big Poison did just okay. Upper/Lower case made no difference. Neither did higher #s really make much of a difference. Don't be put off by the jacked up prices on BINs and other fooforall. The set can be put together quite nicely with patience...if only I had any.

[Koufax32fan]

Originally Posted by DaveW

I like to see these non-T206 threads but they seem to die off early. Lets try to keep this one alive for awhile. Does anybody know of any error cards or variations in this set? The only one I know of is the Rick Ferrell card with and without the bright light behind him. The card with the spot is seen less often than the other but isn't very scarce.

DaveW - I never noticed that there is a variation in the front - I would love to see a list of those as well. Now I need to find another HOFer (even if a marginal HOFer). The hunt just keeps going on ...... one of the reasons this is a great hobby.

[Luke]

I've been thinking about working on this set as well. Very cool set and affordable. Thanks for all the info!

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by vargha

Lastly, as to the Cubs, my guess is that since Wrigley owned the Cubs, he didn't allow a rival chewing gum company to have pictures of his players.

Makes sense. The funny thing is, most if not all of the photos for the set were shot by George Burke, who was official photographer for the Cubs at the time.

[Leon]

my experience with '39 Playball......

[Koufax32fan]

I just won a few ebay auctions for some of the variations, including the Ferrell wi the light in the background (from Kit Young). If anyone else knows of variations on the front, please let us know.

[Koufax32fan]

DaveW was right - this thread died out pretty quickly. So, I will try with a another question or 3 about this set - has anyone seen an unopened pack recently? Are there variations in the wrappers? Is anyone aware of the checklist of cards that were "supposed to be made"; this was marketed as a set of 250 cards?

[toppcat]

Great set with nice photography. I have a complete Dodgers team set and much prefer these to the 1940 issue.

[the 'stache]

Mike, I don't know much about the '39 Play Ball set, but I just wanted to say welcome to the forum!

[toppcat]

Thought I would try to revive this thread. I have to dig out my '39 Dodgers Team set and hope to post those soon but I also have this Bum-affiliated sample card in my collection:

[Koufax32fan]

Great card of Sington. Not only a baseball player, Fred was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame after playing ball at University of Alabama. Thanks for reviving this thread. I am still working on my set; need an Averill, a Daffy Dean, Williams (that will be my last card, I am sure), and couple of commons. I am still interested if anyone knows of any other variations on the front (other than Ferrell noted before).

Has anyone ever seen an unopened pack?

[Koufax32fan]

Thank you to Steve Kennedy for his amazing website about the 1939 Centennial: http://1939baseball.com/. While perusing it, I thought of bringing back this old thread and posting copies of his pictures of the Playball wrapper and box.

[da-bullman]

When is the collection done? When your satisficed it's complete the hunt is what it's all about. You might find my site useful www.1939baseball.com look under coillection. All the Best Steve

[Koufax32fan]

Steve - thank you so much for all of your work on your amazing website. It will take me some time to get through all of it. I am still one card short of my set - the Ted Williams. And, now that I have moved out of the US (and not working presently), I think that last one will have to wait for awhile. I love what I have.