Hobby Convention

[oldjudge]

Hobby convention is that when the name on a card incorrectly identifies the image of the player shown on the card, then the photo determines whose card it is. For example, in the Old Judge set, the cards picturing Leech Maskrey that misidentify him as James Macullar are Leech Maskrey cards. With that in mind, I wonder why grading services continue to identify the Yum Yum card which pictures Abner Dalrymple (but misidentifies him as Cap Anson) as a Cap Anson card.

http://www.tonyetrade.com/ImageViewe...30&CompanyID=1

[glynparson]

I believe except maybe in some rare case SGC always goes with how the player is identified on the card. I can think of a number of cards where the player pictured is not the player named on the card yet they are all identified with the written name.

[oldjudge]

Glyn--That's the easy way, but not the correct way

[barrysloate]

Wouldn't it make sense to label the card N403 Anson, but then add an extra line beneath it stating photo actually depicts Ned Williamson? That covers all bases.

Jay says it's Dalrymple; I always thought it was Williamson. I will defer to his expertise.

[Steve D]

Personally, I go by who's pictured on the card. Whereas most collectors call them "wrong player pictured", I call them "wrong caption".

For that reason, I'll consider my T3 HOFer set complete without the Frank Baker/Jack Barry card. For the same reason, I'll never buy an E97/E98 or E90-1 (Cleveland) Cy Young, or any E91-Cs.


Steve

[oldjudge]

If the hobby went by the "wrong player pictured" convention then the Old Judge set would have one additional player, J. Struck, whose name appears below the image of Joe Straus on some copies of pose 442-1. This is not the convention used, and fellow Old Judge collectors anxiously await the first card of Mr. Struck.

[Matt]

Jay - I don't think that is "hobby convention." Maybe that OJ is an exception, but off the top of my head, both the E97 Young and the Tharps/Harringtons Terry follow the caption, not the player depicted. I'm sure there are many more. That is why the grading companies label as they do; they are in line with the convention. It's how the grading companies do it and how they are cataloged in industry publications.

[barrysloate]

Matt- I do see a little gray area here. In the case of the E97 Young it's a hand drawn pitching pose, and the face is indistinct. Convention says it's not Cy but there is not enough for anyone to go on by examining the face.

But the N403 is a portrait photograph. And there is no way that's Cap Anson. It kind of hits you a little harder here.

I can let the E97 Young slide but no way this portrait can ever be Cap Anson. So as I said why not have both Anson and Dalrymple on the label, not just one. Does that make sense?

[yomass]

You got it backwards, Jay. "Hobby convention" is to go by the named player, not the photo. Otherwise I could throw out my 1969 Topps Aurelio Rodriguez cards and still pretend to have a complete set.

The J. Strauss/Struck sounds more like a typical OJ misspelling than anything else. Is there a J. Struck who played at that time?

If every card had to definitively be proven to picture the right player, especially in vintage sets, we would have anarchy! Anarchy I tell you! We just can't allow that.

[oldjudge]

Barry, I think you may be right on Williamson. I was going off the top of my head, but I was thinking of the composite that makes up Anson in Uniform. The bottom line is, it is certainly not Anson. I think that the reason that some cards that have conflicting images and names end up the way they do is simply dollars. Is a card picturing Mighty Joe Young, but labeled Cy Young, worth more as a Cy or a Mighty Joe? Is the Yum Yum worth more as an Anson or a Williamson? This, however, does not make it right. Those of us working on the Old Judge listings have made sure that these rules are followed closely. It would be nice if other sets were similarily reviewed to make sure the listings are consistent. Or, will dollars get in the way?

[oldjudge]

Richard--Regardless of hobby convention I would suggest throwing out the 1969 Topps Aurelio Rodriguez cards. Of course there was a player named Struck. I refer you to that seminal work, The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Co, page 97. On this page there is a composite cabinet of the 1888 Milwaukee team picturing both Joe Straus and J. Q. A. Struck. If you don't have a copy one can be ordered from Richard...............whoops.

[barrysloate]

Of course the image counts far more than the caption, and the grading services should consider putting both names on the label for those cards that have been misidentified. It will take time to get them all right so it can simply be a process.

[gracecollector]

It is Williamson on the Yum Yum. All those mustaches begin to look the same!

Williamson on Old Judge.


Dalrymple

[Matt]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Matt- I do see a little gray area here. In the case of the E97 Young it's a hand drawn pitching pose, and the face is indistinct. Convention says it's not Cy but there is not enough for anyone to go on by examining the face.

But the N403 is a portrait photograph. And there is no way that's Cap Anson. It kind of hits you a little harder here.

I can let the E97 Young slide but no way this portrait can ever be Cap Anson. So as I said why not have both Anson and Dalrymple on the label, not just one. Does that make sense?

Barry - I think you might be confusing two issues. One is a discussion of what the current hobby convention is, and it's clearly to use the intended subject of the card, as dictated by the description, not the image. The E97 Young image is conclusively Irv - it's the same image used for Irv's T206, yet the card purports to be of Cy and is cataloged/slabbed as such, due to the name/team on the card; the same for the Terry I mentioned. The other issue is what should be, and on that, your point of listing both on the flip is reasonable.

[Bosox Blair]

PSA apparently used Barry's suggested approach with this Tango Eggs Buck Weaver card (which actually shows Joe Tinker):

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/...x?itemid=13579

Cheers,
Blair

[HRBAKER]

Hobby convention certainly is to charge Cy Young prices for Irv Young cards that are captioned Cy Young.