1887 Tobin Lithos, Color and B&W

[barrysloate]

All comic trade cards depict caricatures of ballplayers. They are not meant to be accurate portraits, like baseball cards. So I guess they are an acquired taste. Not everybody likes them. I always did, because I felt the art work on many was quite good. Take 'em or leave 'em.

[tschock]

But these are caricatures of actual players, whereas other Tobin and trade issues are generic, or at least not noted as to what (if any) player they were based on.

And logically it makes sense why the B&W were printed in much lesser quantities. It wasn't much earlier where trade cards and color printing were produced on such an economically accessible scale. And the masses liked the color. So even though it was cheaper for B&W cards, advertisers actually got more "bang for their buck" using color.

FWIW, I'm interested in off-condition copies of these.

[matty39]

There is also a third set of tobins much rarer than the first two. A few samples in the scan below.

[GregMitch34]

Not sure which ones you are referring to as the most scarce....

[Bugsy]

Originally Posted by GregMitch34

Not sure which ones you are referring to as the most scarce....

The very bottom two in that photo are EXTREMELY scarce. The King Kelly is the most common on that set. There are 9 known in the set at this point, but you have to wonder if there is a 10th. I have only seen one or two of each example over the past 15-20 years.

[Bugsy]

Originally Posted by Bugsy

The very bottom two in that photo are EXTREMELY scarce. The King Kelly is the most common on that set. There are 9 known in the set at this point, but you have to wonder if there is a 10th. I have only seen one or two of each example over the past 15-20 years.

Several were uncataloged up until the past few years. Here are examples of the 9 known.

[GregMitch34]

Aren't the B & W with players' names also super scarce?

[matty39]

The rare set I was referring to has the number 149 in the lower left corner. There are nine known in the set. See samples below.