Batter-Up cards

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Mike Eisenbath

Hello all! I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I'm just really discovering these cards and am wondering about variations. I found a Frisch with a reddish hue (for lack of a better description) and a darker one (grayish?). Is one more rare than the other? Are there similar variations for other cards in the set?

Thanks for all your help!
Mike Eisenbath

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There are two very distinct series and variants in the set, and I have come to the conclusion that in reality, the cards should actually be considered as two entirely separate sets.

Only the low numbered series, cards 1 - 80, which were originally issued in 1934, can be found with the various color hues you're asking about. The high number series, cards 81 - 192 which came out later going into 1936, are predominantly all of the same brown/sepia or black/grayish colored hues. I was originally under the impression that the high number series cards only came in the brownish or blackish hues, but have been told that they do exist in the green and blue hues as well. As I don't really have any of these other high number series hues myself, and really never seen them, I'm assuming for the high number series these other hues are then somewhat rare, even among the high number series cards which are already considered rarer than the lower number series Batter-Up cards. Still not sure there is much of a premium, if any, paid for high number series Batter-Up cards in these other non-brown/black hues.

The earlier, lower series cards can be found in colors/hues of black/gray, brown/sepia, red/pinkish, blue, and green. For simplistic purposes, let's call them black, brown, red, blue and green. I am not really aware of any particular rarity of one color over another, and have never heard of a premium being paid for any particular color variant. In simply looking through my own cards though, the black, brown, and red hued versions seem to be the most prolific, with the blue and green versions in the minority. But again, I'm aware of no price premium paid or attributed to green or blue version cards. The high number series cards (81 - 192) are considered a bit rarer than their lower numbered counterparts, and typically do trade at a slight premium. I don't think you'd have much difficulty finding any particular card in either series though, as the Batter-Ups are usually easily found for sale on Ebay. They don't seem to show up as much in AH auctions, probably due to the fact there aren't any really big value cards in the set due to the lack of Ruth and Gehrig missing from it. To me, the highlights of the set are the Dizzy Dean and Moe Berg cards.

In further support of my contention that the low and high numbered series of these Batter-Up cards should actually be two different sets, not only are the two series of ptimarily some different colors/hues, with the high numbers apparently lacking any red hues cards , they are also two entirely different sizes, with the high number series cards all being slightly smaller than the low numbered series ones. The factors that continue to make people think they are all one set is mostly due to the continuous numbering of the cards from the low to the high series, and the additional fact that the rather unique design/style of these Batter-Up cards is continued from the lower to the higher numbered series. To me, the different colors, different sizes, and fact that the two series were apparently issued up to two years apart, overrides the continuous numbering counting as this being just one set. At the least, I think they should designate them somewhat separately as two different sets, such as R318-1 and R318-2, sort of like what they did with the white ad-backed and colored version S74 silks designated as S74-1 and S74-2. Just my opinion though.