Some rare and expensive bakery goodies......

[timn1]

Prototypes and samples are created all the time, and then many are never produced on a large scale - what's so hard to grasp about that?

[nolemmings]

Packs, first you thought that the 1916 and 1921 Herpolsheimers were virtually identical, something you could have learned was untrue by spending 5 minutes on Old Cardboard or simply having some underlying knowledge of the sets of the era. Then you suggest that my opinion is skewed--that I see what I want to see because I own all of one common, implying at the same time then that anyone here who owns one or more of these somehow is not objective enough to have an informed opinion. Oddly enough, you then liken this to the Blue Old Mill T206 case and discount those board member opinions also, even though their opinions cannot be deemed skewed by financial incentives--they don't own the freaking card.

Finally, you claim that it would be insanely expensive for Herpolsheimer's to have created one or only part of one set. Apart from what Tim just said about prototypes, you apparently don't know that a half-dozen or more advertisers issued basically that same set; i.e.; that the fronts were already available and it would simply mean printing the advertising to a blank back. Yet it might just be insanely expensive for someone 50 years later to not only create a period printing plate for the backs, but re-create the fronts also, all for his own jollies and fantasies.

Edited: Brian, I will never take it easy on someone who suggests my opinion is biased/skewed because I own one flippin common worth a couple hundred bucks.

[MW1]

The first time I saw the 1921 Herpolsheimers, my impression was that they were a more modern issue--something that very well may have been printed in the 1970s. They have both the feel and look of cards that were printed more recently, not in 1921.

That being said, I think it is possible that Herpolsheimer's Boys Fashion Shop in either Detroit or Grand Rapids may have commissioned the printing of a small "test" series in 1921 and then, for whatever reason, shut down production and meticulously stored the cards until they were discovered in the 1970s, and perhaps thought to be a more modern issue.

With the pricing ($1 to $3) and the writing on the backs of the cards, however, I'm leaning towards the former provenance. The rumors of more modern printing also add support to this possibility.

[rhettyeakley]

Originally Posted by MW1

my impression was that they were a more modern issue--something that very well may have been printed in the 1970s. They have both the feel and look of cards that were printed more recently, not in 1921.

Michael, absolute baloney! The cards look and feel in no way like they were printed in the 1970's. I feel like I am taking crazy pills right now reading these posts. I am literally as I am writing this holding a non-graded Herp, a Holsum bread, an E121 Series of 80 and a Witmor candy right in front of my face and if I didn't tell you which one was which nobody would be able to tell the freaking difference!

Again, when they first showed up I thought they were fake until I actually held one of the cards and compared it to others and for all the reasons I have explained ad nauseam. Brian is being really weird about this issue (sorry Brian I just don't understand your stance at all and I honestly can't believe you even believe it) so I will ask an honest question of anyone (probably not Brian because he admits he has never actually looked closely at the cards)...

SHOW ME PROOF THEY ARE FAKE!

anything, anything that is inconsistent with other E121 like sets! Enough is enough, show me any little bit of actual evidence that supports the "they're fake" position!

[MW1]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

Michael, absolute baloney! The cards look and feel in no way like they were printed in the 1970's. I feel like I am taking crazy pills right now reading these posts. I am literally as I am writing this holding a non-graded Herp, a Holsum bread, an E121 Series of 80 and a Witmor candy right in front of my face and if I didn't tell you which one was which nobody would be able to tell the freaking difference!

Again, when they first showed up I thought they were fake until I actually held one of the cards and compared it to others and for all the reasons I have explained ad nauseam. Brian is being really weird about this issue (sorry Brian I just don't understand your stance at all and I honestly can't believe you even believe it) so I will ask an honest question of anyone (probably not Brian because he admits he has never actually looked closely at the cards)...

SHOW ME PROOF THEY ARE FAKE!

anything, anything that is inconsistent with other E121 like sets! Enough is enough, show me any little bit of actual evidence that supports the "they're fake" position!

Rhett,

I will grant you that the fronts of the cards may be virtually indistinguishable from other period issues, save for their general condition. The reverse sides, however, do not appear to have been printed in 1921. Sorry for not being more specific. Many of the vintage characteristics are lacking although I will concede that this might be due to how they were stored. In any case, I'm not at all saying they are fake.