I Prefer My Cracker Jacks Stained

[darkhorse9]

To me...I much prefer vintage cards that show age. I had a chance to handle a raw T206 that would easily grade a 7 or 8. It just looked wrong.

My Goudeys, T206, and CJ must have rounded corners or I'm not a buyer, particularly with the price they'd get.

[CrackaJackKid]

I don't know why you would prefer a card that has been altered to look good over it in its original format. I would think the 1915s would appeal to you then but I guess it's to each their own.

[KMayUSA6060]

Excuse my ignorance on the subject, but how were these cards packaged originally?

[CrackaJackKid]

The 1914s were only obtainable by buying a box of cracker jacks. The 1915s were also inside the boxes but yet if you sent in 100 coupons or 1 coupon and 25 cents they would send you the entire set. So lots of 1915s are caramel stain free.

[KMayUSA6060]

Originally Posted by CrackaJackKid

The 1914s were only obtainable by buying a box of cracker jacks. The 1915s were also inside the boxes but yet if you sent in 100 coupons or 1 coupon and 25 cents they would send you the entire set. So lots of 1915s are caramel stain free.

Perfect! I know '14s are right side up, and '15s are upside down, but are the checklists the same?

[CrackaJackKid]

Negative.
1914-144 players
1915-176 players
With some interchanging between the sets of some players not reappearing in 1915.

[yanksfan09]

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

Perfect! I know '14s are right side up, and '15s are upside down, but are the checklists the same?

1914 had 144 Players with a few guys exclusive to the set like Chance, Cashion, and couple others, plus Mathewson image different.

1915 had 176 Players. Most of same players as 14' with a few changes and additional high number cards, different Pratt and Mathewson images.

[CW]

Great thread! Your Cobb is amazing, Orlando! I also got a kick out of crackajackkid's "6 thousandths of an inch" trivia answer.

Back in 2007, at the DHL All-Star Fanfest for the MLB All-Star Game, Hunt Auctions held a live auction which featured a group of unstained 1914 Cracker Jack cards. It featured no less than 10(!) Cobbs, all with the same printing "defect": a small smudge in the red background over the word "Cracker".

Dean H. here on Net54 sent me the scans from the catalog years ago, so thanks to him for preserving the details of this amazing auction (the pricing notations are his. Ah, if only to have a time machine!).

Many of the cards were graded by SGC, and the intro paragraph to the auction lot mentioned that the cards came from the estate of someone in the printing business. Who knows the true story behind these cards. Perhaps similar to the cards from the Black Swamp find, it's possible that these cards were snuck out the back door at the printing company. Maybe not every 1914 Cracker Jack card saw the inside of a CJ box, and maybe not every unstained 1914 CJ is altered. For full disclosure, I am biased here since I own one of the cards which originated from this auction.

Here are some of the scans from the catalog, with the last shot being a composite photo I made up featuring all 10 Cobb cards.

[CW]

And a couple from the personal collection. The Tinker is primarily unstained, except for a caramel smudge by his top button.

[garymc]

The grouping of three are 15's, the two are 14's.......they are stained and beat up a little but I love them and grateful to have them in my collection !!!

[yanksfan09]

Nice Yankees there Gary.

[canjond]

Some more stains...