I've Completed the 1887 N172 Detroit Team Set !!

[Archive]

Posted By: Joe_G.

Thank you everyone, it was my pleasure to share the experience with you. Thanks for the personal emails as well. I will try to get more scans up on my second SGC entry. I would also like to clarify that many other individuals helped me acquire many neat Detroit items over the years. The list above was merely those involved in helping me acquire the twenty-eight pictured 1887 Detroit OJs. On average, these cards really are not that difficult. Then again, difficult is a relative term.

Joe Maples - Im sure youve noticed less competition on a lot of the 1887 Detroit cards as of late but well continue to battle on the later issued cards. You have a couple Detroit cards Id like to have including that awesome SGC 84 Hanlon. You are well on your way to completing the 1887 Detroit team yourself. How many do you have left to go?

Joann - Thank you. I can understand why Old Judge cards, on the surface, appear so disorderly. A study of the set on a year by year and even team by team basis goes a long way into giving order to the chaos. The Script, Short Numbered, 0 Numbered, 1888 (Fa & Fb), 1889, & 1890 cards could all be considered separate issues/sets. The Old Judge book dedicates a chapter to each year of issue making it far easier to digest. About the numbering scheme, Goodwin & Co. (or the photographic studio hired by Goodwin & Co.) managed a huge inventory of glass plate negatives. The numbering worked well in 1887 although there is some jumping around and missing numbers. By 1888, the re-issued cards together with the new players and many new teams made it a little more difficult to keep order and the numbering scheme was dropped. How has your #0492 Ganzel been treating you?

Jay Miller - Thank you very much for the kind words, the pleasure was all mine. I would like to lobby that someone with a couple Old Judges himself try and collect all the 0 Numbered Series cards. Or you could just start with your favorite team, the New York Giants with their 111 poses!

Fred Cowles - There are still a couple Detroit collectors trying to fill holes, but Im guessing the prices will be more reasonable. Glad you noticed the numbering scheme. I enjoy placing the cards in the order they were assigned over 120 years ago. These details get lost when studying the set from a price guide or similar list.

Joshua, John, and others building a team set - Keep going, the common backgrounds typically found for a team from a given year makes for neat looking subset. Collecting a team across various years also makes for an interesting study of uniforms and the Old Judge set in general.

Eric Kramer - Thank you for the offer; you have a real beauty on your hands. Im however quite happy with the image quality on my example and suspect SGC would hold the cards grade down due to the mark.

Troy Kirk - Nice to hear from you. (one of the great Detroit collectors)

Best Regards,
Joe Gonsowski