I've had trouble with the story about the the Gretzky Wagner being cut from a sheet since I read the supposed details in the book "The Card" some time ago. Mastro supposedly required that a Plank be thrown in as well as some other important cards when he bought the Gretzky Wagner, but what doesn't make sense is where are the other high quality Wagers and Planks with Piedmont backs that would have been cut from the same sheet?
All of the accounts say the card was cut from a sheet, not a strip. On a sheet, every card above and below the best Plank and Wagner would also be a Plank and a Wagner. We know that this is how the sheets were printed since you see miscut cards that show the same player's name at the top of the miscut card, instead of some other player's name. Accordingly, depending on the length of a sheet, there would be many other high quality Piedmont Wagners and Planks (also with hand cut borders), none of which have surfaced in 25 years. No one in there right mind would say "let's take just two and throw the rest away."
Also, the Wagner proof strip that was supposedly found in the pocket of his uniform has, of course, the Wagner card and four different players, none of whom is Plank. Is there another proof strip out there with both Wagner and Plank?
Perhaps it requires some lost knowledge of the printing process employed in 1909, but from a manufacturing standpoint, the existence of the sheet from which these cards were supposedly cut, just doesn't make sense.
I posted on this same subject a couple of months back, but people seemed more interested in talking about how I misspelled Gretzky's name and hockey cards instead.
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05-08-2009, 07:33 AM
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