Lets talk Tango Eggs...

[irishdenny]

I know that in the past there has been some conflicting stories about "The Find". I'm just hoping to get a little bit better of insight to the actual Number amount of each of the Cards that were part of the original find. The Letter only show Cards in an approximate amount.

I'd like to verify the Cards and their total if possible...

Any help would be Greatly Appreciated...

[Jay Wolt]

I'm sure Anthony will chime in as he knows more about this issue then anyone I know.

Here's the most populated card

[e107collector]

Has anyone actually seen the Honus Wagner Tango eggs?

Or is this just a myth up to this point?

Tony

[4815162342]

Well the Cobb showed up, so who knows?

[Griffins]

I have a strong theory that there actually 48 cards in the set, we just haven't seen them all.
Uncataloged is this Rebel Oakes. It has a similar stamp on the back as the Cobb that recently was discovered, and was definitely pre find.


BTW, some of the info in the REA writeup and the letter above is inaccurate. There are at least 2 Morgans, and I can account for 3 Crawfords and 4 Bresnahans in collections that I know of, including my examples. I"m sure there are more.

[Jaybird]

Nice card, Anthony. Love how his glove is reaching out of the frame.

[E93]

Anthony,
That card is a beauty!
JimB

[ethicsprof]

that is one of the most beautiful cards i've seen!!!
I,too, am in awe of that image of the card transcending the frame!
all the best, ole buddy

barry

[Griffins]

Ok, found my notes.
Frank Ward has stated a few times on various boards that Tango Eggs were known to exist before the find. Since I've always found Frank to be a solid source of knowledge and never passing off speculation or fuzzy memory as fact, I took his words as fact and worked backwards to try and prove them.

In my mind, this proof came in the form of the Oakes above, and was corroborated by the Cobb that surfaced last year. Both were obviously in considerably lesser condition than the rest of the find that came up about '91, and seemed to indicate that they were in circulation since '16.
You'll note that the stamp on the back of the Oakes reads " No. 435"
The Cobb that was found last year and sold in Goodwins auction is stamped "No. 552" which leads me to several theories (and I stress it should be taken just as that, speculation)

- Each card that was released was numbered. Perhaps for some sort of redemption, perhaps not. But the fact that Numbers 435 and 552 have been found leads me to believe there were at least 552 issued.

-The set now numbers 19 known. This is fact. 16 in the REA auction, plus the acknowledged (by Rob) Cobb and Schaeffer, plus my Oakes. My speculation is that that is an odd number to print, and doesn't make sense. You don't leave blank space on a printing sheet- it's a waste of money, since you're still paying for paper, ink and press time. Given the parallels between this set and the E106 set it is plausible that the set initially totaled 48 subjects, with a different back (Tango Eggs) printed on that set. Each known Tango card has the exact same front as the corresponding card in the E106 set, just with a different back and in a few cases (Weaver among them) the Tango set has changed the correct name of the player in the E106 set to an incorrect identification when printed for Tango. If this theory is correct then there was (or is) another pose of Cobb, a couple of different Wagners, as well as a Matty, Marquard, Lajoie, Speaker, Bender and McGraw, among others. One prominent collector has always insisted he either has or has owned 2 different Cobbs, but has never produced images.

- Again, there is no reason to have 300 Beschers printed and only 1 Cobb. The same amount was probably printed of each card, but neither Bescher nor Jennings were probably ever distributed, and Cobb and Oakes were. There were a handful of leftovers of Morgan (the letter above and the REA description states there is only one of these, which is incorrect. There are at least 2) and Crawford and Bresnahan, et al, so those were kept in the pile that eventually became "the find".

Like most E cards of the era, Tango Eggs exhibit incredible color and by being hidden away for 75 years has provided an opportunity to obtain examples (most often the relatively common Bescher and Jennings) in near pristine condition for a low price. It will be interesting to see if any more surface.

[fkw]

strange thing about the letter above is it says "1993" the find was discovered before 1993...

some images...


here is an image I saved of that vintage wear Cobb (standing w/bat) that surfaced a while back, same stamp as Anthony's beautiful Oakes card



this is an ad Mr Mint put in the SCD about 20 years ago (June 12, 1992) to test the market demand on the "find" cards. From my understanding he never even owned the cards at this time (if ever), but did this just to see how many phone calls he would get (I called him super quick and was told they were all Sold), thus knowing if he should buy the cards outright, to resell.

[atx840]

[steve B]

That explains a lot. I called too, a bit later since I got SCD from the local shop. Left a message and never heard back.

Besides not liking the boastful flasiness I've held that against him for probably too long.

I did work at a show where the table I worked at was right across from his and got to see the whole "security guards and a casefull of cash" act close up. Good for the show since he actually drew people on his own, less good for the other dealers as most of "his" draw went to his table and left right after.

Steve B

Originally Posted by fkw

strange thing about the letter above is it says "1993" the find was discovered before 1993...

some images...


here is an image I saved of that vintage wear Cobb (standing w/bat) that surfaced a while back, same stamp as Anthony's beautiful Oakes card



this is an ad Mr Mint put in the SCD about 20 years ago (June 12, 1992) to test the market demand on the "find" cards. From my understanding he never even owned the cards at this time (if ever), but did this just to see how many phone calls he would get (I called him super quick and was told they were all Sold), thus knowing if he should buy the cards outright, to resell.

[irishdenny]

Gentleman,

Thank you all for your insight!

Anthony, I see that you've Noticed the "Tango Eggs" cards with great interest.
Might you have some kind of Break down of the amount of each card? Your Best guess thru your experience would be appreciated!

Just thought I'd ask...

Oh Yeah, That "Rebel Oaks" of your's is a Screamer... Would go Mighty fine with my Weaver

[ullmandds]

Weaver=Tinker, right?

[sacentaur]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

Weaver=Tinker, right?

Yes.

Resurrecting this thread as the Tango Eggs cards have recently drawn my attention, and I saw one (Meyer/Jacklitsch) at the WCCS (I bought it, SGC 6).

This article below is from 2018; how are the Tango Eggs cards now viewed in 2025?

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...ball-card-set/

[molenick]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

Weaver=Tinker, right?

Yes.

[ullmandds]

13+ year bumpity bump!!

[ullmandds]

I think they're viewed similarly to the way they always have been viewed. Kind of as a novelty set that a lot of people are not aware of...an almost impossible set to complete due to a few near impossible cards. A disproportionate number of certain players as compared to others. So mostly I said that type collectors have to have and maybe certain people going for runs as well as the novelty of the small handful of Ty cobbs out there.

[molenick]

Ha...I saw the one new message and didn't realize the Weaver=Tinker message was from 13 years ago!

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

I think they're viewed similarly to the way they always have been viewed. Kind of as a novelty set that a lot of people are not aware of...an almost impossible set to complete due to a few near impossible cards. A disproportionate number of certain players as compared to others. So mostly I said that type collectors have to have and maybe certain people going for runs as well as the novelty of the small handful of Ty cobbs out there.

you forgot the Black Sox collectors.

[sacentaur]

My first, I would like to purchase some more of these.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

you forgot the Black Sox collectors.

...and those collectors who like to put all the Eggs in one basket.


Brian (my basket is empty, as I have been 0 for about 25 when bidding, not too aggressively, for one as a type over the decades)

[Griffins]

I haven't picked one up in a decade. I believe 2 different Cobb poses have surfaced, both in rough shape, and a Plank that was most of a full card. PSA has graded 20 different, one of the Cobbs was in too rough shape and they wouldn't slab it but SGC did. So to the best of my knowledge 21 are known to exist.
I have 15 different, including 1 pre find (Oakes), there is another set on the registry with 16 different, with Plank being the only pre find card, from what I can tell. We each have 2 the other doesn't have.
On a lot of the cards, especially Weaver and Jennings, the prices are lower than 20-25 years ago. I think there was a lot of demand from type collectors in the decade after the find, but that seems to have tapered off. The super rare ones still command a high price, but those seem to be sitting deep in collections and I haven't seen anything major come up since REA's sale in 2018.
Since Leon says every thread needs a card......

[sacentaur]

Very nice grouping!

[puckpaul]

i know there were a lot of them relatively, but they were in such nice shape, bought one after the find….Jennings. Beautiful condition, and there aren’t THAT many of them. (Sorry the picture is so big, i have no idea how to manipulate images for posting anymore.)

[sacentaur]

Paul, I really like the Jennings card (a beauty).

I know it’s listed as one of the most common Tangos, but he was quite a character and a HOF’er.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by sacentaur

Paul, I really like the Jennings card (a beauty).

I know it’s listed as one of the most common Tangos, but he was quite a character and a HOF’er.

Yee Haw!

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by Griffins

I have 15 different, including 1 pre find (Oakes), there is another set on the registry with 16 different, with Plank being the only pre find card, from what I can tell. We each have 2 the other doesn't have.

Since Leon says every thread needs a card......

Impressive collection! That Oakes card, besides being a great image (across the various sets it is in), your example is also appears to be very attractive and colorful, and evidently a lot less common than ones unearthed in the big find. So congrats on the wonderful double whammy!

Brian

[tulsaboy]

I thought it was interesting that there are 21 different cards known, which isn't many, but as of last night you could buy 5 different ones on ebay. That seemed like a fairly high percentage for such a hard to find set. I learned something new this week about a different set. Thanks to everyone for sharing!
kevin

[ullmandds]

Tango eggs were the first "Black Swamp Find" of sorts for vintage cards...imho. Cards that were quite rare and not widely known until the "find!" Now these cards were more widely available...many in high grade. The set has a stigma...like BSF cards...atleast to me they do.

[Griffins]

Originally Posted by tulsaboy

I thought it was interesting that there are 21 different cards known, which isn't many, but as of last night you could buy 5 different ones on ebay. That seemed like a fairly high percentage for such a hard to find set. I learned something new this week about a different set. Thanks to everyone for sharing!
kevin

If you look at the. pops from the letter in the first post there are tiers of scarcity.
Bescher and Jennings are relatively plentiful, Meyers, Dooin and McQuillan only slightly less so. Collins, Weaver, Murphy and Chase aren't tough and can be found, but they've dried up a bit. Those 9 can be put together with a bit of patience, and they are all found in high grade more often than not.

Zimmerman, Bridwell, Bresnahan and Crawford are really tough. Schaeffer, Cobb, Cobb, Morgan, Plank, Felsch, Evers and Oakes are essentially impossible, with 1 or 2 copies known.

I"d love to see even 1-2 more of the set found, but seems increasingly unlikely.

Does anyone have a spreadsheet of what backs each of these can be found with? I"m toying with a back run of a few of them

[tulsaboy]

Thanks for clarifying that for me, Anthony. That makes sense, as the examples available on ebay seem for the most part to be repeats of 2 or 3 players.
Really neat set.
kevin

[gst6]

I love this set because the beat-up (extremely rare) cards are much more desirable than the (comparatively plentiful) mint condition cards. Don't see that often.

[Leon]

Very nice group, Anthony.

And I agree, on your view of where they are at today, in the hobby. I still need to get a type but have been in no big hurry. Of course, I had one in my first collection...but the few that are so common, are so common, I haven't felt the need to nab one yet.

Originally Posted by Griffins

I haven't picked one up in a decade. I believe 2 different Cobb poses have surfaced, both in rough shape, and a Plank that was most of a full card. PSA has graded 20 different, one of the Cobbs was in too rough shape and they wouldn't slab it but SGC did. So to the best of my knowledge 21 are known to exist.
I have 15 different, including 1 pre find (Oakes), there is another set on the registry with 16 different, with Plank being the only pre find card, from what I can tell. We each have 2 the other doesn't have.
On a lot of the cards, especially Weaver and Jennings, the prices are lower than 20-25 years ago. I think there was a lot of demand from type collectors in the decade after the find, but that seems to have tapered off. The super rare ones still command a high price, but those seem to be sitting deep in collections and I haven't seen anything major come up since REA's sale in 2018.
Since Leon says every thread needs a card......