Cobb Strip Card questions

[B O'Brien]

Hey all,
I know we have some serious W card folks around here, so wanted some thoughts on this, as I have no clue about this kind of stuff. It’s just been floating around my safety deposit boxes for the last 20 years, and will head back to the bank Monday morning.

The history: I bought this in probably 1993 as a framed cut autograph that walked into a show. Back then you just had to eyeball the auto to see what you thought, and being a small southern town kid you don’t exactly see Cobb autograph, let alone in the parking lot of a 25 table show I was about to set up at! I paid $700, as I tried to carry about 1K if anything happened to walk in the door. Months later I popped the old frame off of it and much to my surprise it was a strip card, which at the time, didn’t even know they were a thing.

So what exactly is this?

I assume if the auto is the real deal, it’s good $. Anything similar out there?

If if actually send it off (I haven’t had a card graded in 10+ years, the big stash of P42 I found) and it didn’t pass mustard, what would something like this go for?

Also, do they assign grades to these, being hand cut?

I love it because of the color on the front of the card. Being framed backwards for decades, I assume kept the colors super bright and fresh.

Any thoughts and options are welcome!

Thanks,
Bob

[NiceDocter]

Looks like a reprint strip card ( modern) and a bad Ty Cobb autograph. Not a total expert but that’s my impression. I do have a number of that exact card BTW but not the reprints.

[B O'Brien]

Maybe he doesn’t get his spot back in the deposit box! On the bright side, I would have only drank another $700 worth of beer in college with the cash!

Let me know if any more opinions and thanks,
Bob

[brianp-beme]

I have a differing opinion, to me it looks to likely be authentic...notice the bleed-through/sheet transfer on the back of some of the black outlines and text that are seen on the front. I don't believe I have seen reprints with a back like this. It does look extra fresh on front, but still authentic to my eyes.

Not an expert on Ty's signature (or any signatures, for that matter), but it does look janky, which is the opposite of authentic.

Definitely would like to read other opinions on the authenticity of the card, and if others think it is a janky autograph.

Brian

[NiceDocter]

Hope Im wrong.... looking forward to others opinions.

[The Detroit Collector]

Hi Bob,
In my unprofessional opinion, the strip card looks like a reprint. The actual strip card is called a 1920 W516. The reason I assume its a reprint is because the Cobb coloring looks all black. The actual strip card has more color to Cobb himself.

I would also unfortunately say the Auto is fake. My only reasoning is Strip cards are paper thin and extremely easy to rip. I just can't see an autograph being real without some sort of damage to the card.

[brianp-beme]

And to further pin down its identification as a W516 card, if it is indeed real it would be considered to be from the W516-1-1 set, due to its hand lettering of the script and normal (not reversed) image/IFC copyright, and the fact that it is numbered as '6'.

Brian