What are these - 1947-66 W461 Exhibits?

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Posted By: Bryan Long

Can you help me figure out what these are? I think that they may be 1947-66 W461 Exhibits. But you can tell me for sure. The front has a very good gloss to them and they are on hard cardboard stock. Back is Blank.


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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

That is what they look like. 3 3/8s x 5 3/8s??? Right?

Have you some real 47-66 Exhibits? It seems to me that they have been "reprinted", some are out there with blacker ink, rather than brownish, and I'm troubled about authenticity from time to time with this set.

Frank.

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Posted By: Todd Schultz

These are Exhibits from 1947-66, and are checklisted in the SCD big book. Frank is right to be careful about reprints. If you have real Exhibits in hand you will notice the difference. The reprints are usually slightly darker on the front, and are printed on noticeably darker and ever so slightly thicker stock. The ones I've seen up close and the few I got stuck with on ebay many years ago were not real glossy; in fact, they were almost matte. For what it's worth, I think yours are real. Adam Warshaw may want to chime in on this as well.

Edited to add that I believe these are very underpriced, perhaps because people shy away from what they fear are reprints. If you're interested in compiling a set and aren't into high grade examples (7-9), these are very affordable, and I would suggest you buy a couple of beaters for a buck or two and get a feel for the real deal.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I never realized there was a problem with repros on that set....I have about 30-40 of those cards I've collected over the years and never really looked that closely at them.

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Posted By: fkw

Yours are authentic. Those 2 players have not been reprinted.

There are 16 reprints that are seen all the time on eBay (sometimes as a set).
Aaron, Berra, Campanella, Ford, N.Fox, Hodges "B", Mantle waist up "ck" conected, Mays batting, Musial kneeling, Newcombe jacket, Reese ball partially seen, Snider "B", Spahn "B", Williams no 9, '56 Dodger, '56 Yankees

The cards that are B&W are authentic and came from one of 2 years. They are from either 1952 ("MADE IN USA"), or 1960 ("Printed in USA").

All Exhibits from 1939-66 can be identified down to within a couple years of when they were made by the size (width) and style of the "MADE IN USA/Made in USA/PRINTED IN USA/Printed in USA".

Every year there was a set of 16, 32, or 64 cards. There are some "Salutation" cards they were issued well after 1946. Williams (no 9), was included in the sheet (set) with non-Salutation cards every year from 1946-61, thats why it is so plentiful.

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Posted By: Bryan Long

Thank you!

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

fkw is The Exhibit Man, now, isn't he. Great info, thank you, sir. I'm going to have to dig mine out and check them out. My recollection is that I had Musial kneeling with a bunch of bats, but never could track down the other version...

Thanks. Frank.

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Posted By: fkw

Frank, Its all from a SCD story from Feb 12, 1993. I am only as smart as the info I save

Here it is (below)


The Post-War Exhibit Baseball Puzzle


By

Bob Schulhof


Sports Collectors Digest

February 12, 1993

The Exhibit Supply Co. of Chicago produced the longest running of baseball cards in existence, covering the interval from 1921 through 1966, making them very popular with collectors. While the price guides give values and checklists for each year through 1938, they lump everything after 1938 into just two “sets”. If there was ever a hoax on the collector world it is all those baseball card price guides that divide the later Exhibits into 1939-46 “Salutations” and 1947-66 everything else. Then you have a hard time explaining why Joe DiMaggio is listed at $15 while Ed Kranepool is spotted at $40. (This is only in books. I have seen people pay $100 for a Kranepool if they could find one!)



The fact is there was a set of 16, 32 or 64 cards issued each year from 1939 through 1966 with minor changes from year to year. This latter fact would make one think that all cards were of equal scarcity since Exhibit produced exactly the same number of each player in any given year.



After 1939, to make up each yearly set, Exhibit would review the previous year’s issue, keep some poses and players identical to the year before and add some new ones. While many Exhibit collectors collect by pose only and do not try to keep their cards in yearly order, some may wish to organize theirs by the year in which they first appeared. This practice of dropping some poses each year and adding new ones leaves a lot of room for variation in scarcity for a single player or pose since one pose might be a one-year issue, while another could have a run of five or even 10 years in the same form. The point is though, there is no such thing as a 1947-66 set! Even cards from the “Salutation” set are to be found merged in with the “1947-66” set.



The cause of the frustration is that Exhibit did not mark the cards with the year of production. They did give a clue to dating however, in that the post-war cards carried an identifying mark. “MADE IN USA” (all caps) was used from 1939 through 1950, “Made in USA” (upper and lower case) from 1951 through 1953, “PRINTED IN USA” (all caps) from 1954-1956 and “Printed In USA” (upper and lower case) after 1956. In the years before 1951 the “MADE IN USA” varied in size each year so that Exhibit fanatics can in fact close in on the year of issue of each card.



Even the great researcher Elwood Scharf (of the old Trader Speaks) was not able to unravel the Salutations produced from 1939 to 1945, all of which were produced in brown. We do know the 1939-41 sets were 16 cards and the 1942 sets were 32 cards. He lists as short runs and so hardest to find: Averill, Gehrig, Gomez, Hartnett, Klein, Kreevich, Cordially, Lombardi, Mulcahy, Very Best Wishes Newson (sic), Rizzo and Russell. The “Number 9” Williams was also issued in this period and was rated about “medium tough.” Paper shortages limited production, but Exhibits may have been the only baseball cards consistently available through the war years. These cards bore a large “MADE IN USA” of ¾ inch.



There were six cards to be found with ½ inch :MADE IN USA” which had to be replacements during 1942-1945 as they include Rieser and Pollett who did not have full years until 1941. In 1946, new plates were made and all cards given a red-brown color and a “MADE IN USA” of 9/16 inch. Fifteen pictures were repeats of what came before, while there were 14 new ones, and particularly Williams in a full-length batting pose, Feller in his follow through and a Greenberg side view. There were three changes in pose.



1947 was a big year as Exhibit returned to the production of a 64-card set. This would continue in all remaining sets except for the stat backs of 1962. Dickey, McQuinn and Ott were dropped with 28 of the others continuing on. DiMaggio continued to be produced into the “50s and the Williams uninterrupted through 1961, still in “Salutation” form! Hence, the “common” Williams. There were 35 new cards with the “Salutations” dropped, and a ½ inch “MADE IN USA” mark. These are the first cards referred to as the “1947-1966” set. The 1947 set was really half salutations and half new style.



Thirty-nine cards may be identified as 1948 since they sported a new 5/8 “MADE IN USA”. A rarity was created as Barney McCosky was issued in error as Barney Mc Caskey”. This was later corrected to a still incorrect “Mc Coskey” leaving one rare error (McCoskey) and one common one (Mc Caskey). They never got it right.



In 1949, 32 of the cards were given a new distinctive “AN EXHIBIT CARD” mark, and team cards were added for the first time. Eddie Waitkus was reissued with the “C” for Cubs airbrushed off his cap, so actually 33 cards were identifiable as being issued in 1949. The team cards first appear in this year.



In 1950, 25 new cards were issued with a 7/16-inch “MADE IN USA.”



After 1951, Exhibit abandoned the custom of changing the size of the mark each year and merely changed the mark to an upper and lower case “Made In USA”. There were 33 cards issued with this mark in the years 1951-1953. The 1952 set is easy to identify being unusually in B&W.



Cards from 1954-56 may be identified as having the mark “PRINTED IN USA” all in upper case. Thirty cards were issued in this way. All except one, the Pee Wee Reese, had the player’s name set in a distinctive typescript. In 1955, an anomaly occurs where the Rizzuto and Doby that first appeared in 1949 appears with the “AN EXHIBIT CARD” scratched off.



The years 1957-61 saw a new mark, that of “Printed in USA”. The first two years, 1957-58, brought 35 cards marked in this way of which 28 were completely new to Exhibit. A total of 47 changed cards were introduced in 1959, giving the first year when all 64 cards had the same mark “Printed in USA.” Even the “Salutation” Williams was updated this way. Up to now all cards were still somewhat reddish brown so it is revealing to note that in 1960 all cards were issued in black and white, and then in 1961 all cards were a deep brown. It is thus possible to do some dating by color in this issue.



1962 and 1963 saw a new fad for Exhibit, that of printing statistics and biographical information on the back. This was a welcome trend and was apparent on many different issues by the company from recording artists to astronauts. The baseball cards had complete statistics to compete with the gum cards of the day. All 1962 issues retained “Printed in USA” on the front. Twenty new cards were added and the 1962 set was dropped to an even 32 cards, 16 from each league. It was printed in both red and black versions. The “Printed in USA” added for 1962 was 11/16 inch. Thus, a number of players were omitted who saw only a one or two year run, creating rarities.



Exhibit also updated cards of players who switched teams by just airbrushing out the old team ID. Players or new poses who appeared in 1960-61 but not continued thereafter include: Richie Ashburn as a Cub, the real Frank Thomas (C on cap), Bud Daley, Jackie Brandt, Hank Bauer (plain cap) Don Blasingame (plain cap), Rocky Colavito (portrait to chest), Joe Cuningham (batting), Ted Kluszewski (plain cap), Harvey Kuenn (plain cap portrait), Carl Sawatski (plain cap), Herb Score (plain cap) and Roy Sievers (plain cap).



For 1963, the set was expanded to 64 cards and the additional 32 new cards had the “Printed in USA” on the back instead of the front.



By 1964, the company was in trouble and as an economy measure the 64 1963 cards were just reissued with blank backs. It is hard to tell some of the older poses from previous cards; Spahn for example, still having his one and only pose.

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Posted By: fkw

The scarcer other Musial has him batting



Also the easiest way to tell the 16 reprint cards from authentic ones is they are lower quality rescreened photos, printed on a thinner lighter colored card stock. And most are cropped differently, sometimes with the "Printed in USA" cropped off.

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Posted By: Todd Schultz

The reprints I've seen had a thicker darker stock. Here's a normal Spahn:


The fake has a Boston cap, but is on much darker and slightly thicker stock. I'll try and dig mine up, but it is either in a heep somewhere or I may have even tossed it.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

The first, older format is printed on a really crappy dark stock. It is coarser than tha smooth stock ESCO used. If you are unlucky enough to get one, you can almost instantly tell from the way they feel. The second reprint group includes the players named above plus some other cards. They are reprinted from original cards (showing effects of rescreening--primarly a hazier, darker print) and are on a whiter, brighter stock than the normal cards. I purchased a full set of them for autograph usage (had Don Newcombe sign a reprint of the 1956 Dodgers for my father) and have received a few over the years in ebay sales. The latter are pretty good and would fool casual collectors.

One note: some of the cards from the postwar series were printed in Canada in a variety of colors. Canadian printings are not considered reprints. They can come on coarser stock than the US cards, also.

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Posted By: Chris Counts

Frank, I'm a big fan of Exhibits, so I found the article quite interesting. After reading it, I went and looked at my exhibits to see, first, if I have any reprints, and second, if the system for telling the years works. The main thing I noticed was ... every card except two has a yellowing gray-beige back. The two are "Salutations" of Duke Derringer and Bucky Walters, which have white-gray backs showing no signs of yellowing. The fronts are sepia and look good, but there is no gloss on the surface ... while I would not describe the others as glossy, the surface of each other card has at least some ability to reflect light ...

Another thing that has always made me a little nervous about exhibits is how good the condition is on many of them ... but I checked the backs of all my nice ones, and they look (expect for the two mentioned), and even smell, like old cardboard. I'm presuming there were large hordes of Exhibits that were never circulated ...

Since I collect Exhibits, I'm very curious to learn more about the fakes ... I have a feeling there are others besides the group of 16 50s stars previously mentioned that have been reprinted ... and I'm not referring to the "official" reprints from 1980 ...

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Posted By: fkw

The thin/lighter stock of the fakes info I took from what the SCD Catalog said. I guess there would be more than one type of fake. Most of the fakes I see dont show the back. I did see a couple that said they were stamped "reprint" on the back.

Its funny, I cant find any groups of the fake Exhibits on eBay when I need one, and it seems like I see them all the time.

I did find a
fake Williams (Notice the top of hat is cropped)

authentic Williams

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Posted By: fkw

Here is one last picture I found going through my stuff. It is a picture cut from an old SCD. It shows an uncut sheet of 32 cards (est. late 50's with Killebrew), and notice the "Salutation" Ted Williams in the top row proving it was issued well after 1946.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Well just let me bid on one, fkw...

Seems that if I bid on it and win, it shows up in the mail and what looked brown or sepia on eBay looks black and grainy upon arrival!!!

FHW.

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Posted By: Dan Lundrigan

Nice cards of the 4 different Seivers card`s yours is the toughest to find.I always look for a Tan color on the back of the card. I avoid ones that are white or grey.If the Spahn card pictured was raw that would be the exact color tone I would be looking for.I primarily collect the 47-66 Exhibits and the Salutations as well.Great way to get some star players without breaking the bank.I just won this one the other day it`s a little beat up but a hard one to find!I have all my Exhibits at photobucket but I don`t know how to link it to this message if anyone can help I would be glad to share them if anyone wants to have a look.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

This thread is great, great Exhibit info, and all I thought would happen is that I'd help someone identify a couple of cards.

Exhibits are quite affordable for what you're getting. A great way to geat some old HOFers.

Frank.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Incidentally I was looking at a friend's collection today and he had a stack of about 50 exhibit cards...he is about 60 years old now and he said he got all of them one year at the state fair out of a machine. The weird thing is that there was a salutations Andy Pafko in the lot and all the rest were from the later series.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Or one from the same printing, on display in my office. The Colavito on the sheet reflects that pre-1960 season trade, so the sheet definitely reflects a 1960 print date. I have long contended that it is wrong to split the salutations and the postwar cards. Some salutations overlapped into the postwar cards, depending on how long the players carried on. Some salutations likewise ran for very short times due to retirements (Gehrig being the chief example).

The two Williams examples FKW lists may not be fake and real. There are often variations between printings on some of the cards. I have a 1922 EE Cobb that is miscut that way. You'd really have to handle the card to determine for certain if it is fake.