W517 set issued in 1930, not 1931, and reissued in 1932

[triwak]

Great stuff, and very interesting! I have the Dodgers version of George Kelly, and it is also the "green" tinted variety - which I've heard carries a bit of a premium. Is it possible that ALL of the green tinted cards are from the 1932 reissue??

[egbeachley]

Couldn’t it be possible that these strip cards had a very low budget and there was no such thing as a “quick turnaround”? Maybe they had players chosen and pictures provided by mid-1930 and it took until the following year before they were published. Or maybe even more likely is that the manufacturer waiting until their other stock ran out and by then it was 1931. Hard to prove.

Maybe Barry can recall if he bought them in 1930 or 1931.

[brianp-beme]

Thanks for all the comments so far. As mentioned previously, the era that the W517 was issued in (whether 1930, 1931 or 1932) had few cards produced. Another cool thing about the set is that 34 (32 different) of the 54 cards in the basic set are Hall of Fame players, and the set includes the two biggest names with Babe Ruth (2 cards) and Lou Gehrig. A further feature are the various tints, with Green and Sepia being the two most common. Definitely great cards that almost always go for a lower price compared to ones issued a few years later.

Brian

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by egbeachley

Couldn’t it be possible that these strip cards had a very low budget and there was no such thing as a “quick turnaround”? Maybe they had players chosen and pictures provided by mid-1930 and it took until the following year before they were published. Or maybe even more likely is that the manufacturer waiting until their other stock ran out and by then it was 1931. Hard to prove. Maybe Barry can recall if he bought them in 1930 or 1931.

Let's leave Barry's early 1930's purchasing habits out of this conversation. But seriously, you make valid points. First of all, if you check out the images they are typically from an earlier time, as many cards feature players in uniforms from teams they were on prior to the one identified on the card. I guess that all that my research can conclusively prove is that they were not produced until early 1930, and that the variations must have been produced after April of 1932.

It is possible that all the cards were not produced until 1932. I still think, however, that my evidence points to an original production of these cards in 1930, which of course assumes a somewhat timely production and the belief that the makers cared enough about putting out cards with relatively up to date player team identification.

Your points are valid, and unless we get Barry to talk, we might never know.

Brian

[spec]

Brian,
Thanks for your research and interesting speculation. I have had the potential W517 variations on my wantlist for decades without finding any team changes beyond the four you listed. Guess I can stop looking now.
By the way, all four of my team-change cards are green print.
B0b Rich@rds0n

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by triwak

Great stuff, and very interesting! I have the Dodgers version of George Kelly, and it is also the "green" tinted variety - which I've heard carries a bit of a premium. Is it possible that ALL of the green tinted cards are from the 1932 reissue??

Ken, the Green tinted cards are somewhat commonly found, and I believe are available for all cards issued.

However, I have never previously considered the tint on all the scarcer 1932 variation cards, which the George Kelly Dodgers is an example. Briefly searching, I only have located green tints for all the team change variation cards: Chalmer Cissell-Cleveland, George Kelly-Brooklyn, Chick Hafey-Cincinnati, Lefty O'Doul-Brooklyn.

To me it makes sense that these much tougher to come by variations would only be in one tint, because of a limited production run.

Does someone else have a different tint for any of these variation cards?

Brian

[Leon]

Nice thoughts on the subject, Brian. I wish I could add to your exhaustive research but no such luck. All I can do is add a few pics of some W517s I used to have... Good luck in the quest for further information. I have always thought the bright red ones are rather striking. The bottom card, a trimmed ad back Ruth is correct size (well, minus borders) though the scan is larger.

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Ken, the Green tinted cards are somewhat commonly found, and I believe are available for all cards issued.

However, I have never previously considered the tint on all the scarcer 1932 variation cards, which the George Kelly Dodgers is an example. Briefly searching, I only have located green tints for all the team change variation cards: Chalmer Cissell-Cleveland, George Kelly-Brooklyn, Chick Hafey-Cincinnati, Lefty O'Doul-Brooklyn.

To me it makes sense that these much tougher to come by variations would only be in one tint, because of a limited production run.

Does someone else have a different tint for any of these variation cards?

Brian

[h2oya311]

Excellent research! You are correct that it doesn’t impact any rookie designations by moving the date back one year. Thanks for the thoughtful and diligent post!

[bxb]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Ken, the Green tinted cards are somewhat commonly found, and I believe are available for all cards issued.

To me it makes sense that these much tougher to come by variations would only be in one tint, because of a limited production run

Does someone else have a different tint for any of these variation cards?

Brian

Here's my Kelly variation. I would say yellow to light brown tint, no green:

http://www.net54baseball.com/attachm...1&d=1527530150

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by bxb

Here's my Kelly variation. I would say yellow to light brown tint, no green:

http://www.net54baseball.com/attachm...1&d=1527530150

Hi Larry, thanks for showing your Kelly card. It brings up what tinting means for this set. For example green tinted cards, like the Ruth and the strip of 3 cards shown by Leon, are designated as such due to the coloration of the player photo, especially evident in the photo's background, and not the cardstock, which is typically found in a creamy, lightish brown like your example, which is indeed a nice card. It is to be noted that this greenish tinting can range quite widely between cards, such as seen in your Kelly and the Kelly shown previously by Ken.

Brian

[triwak]

Yeah Larry, I would definitely say your's is the sepia version. Interesting that your's has the "Strike Out" on top, while my green tinted one does not (I don't think our top borders are that different). Strange set, indeed!!

[brianp-beme]

Hi Ken, I do believe his more greenish than sepia. Here is an example of a sepia tint card. Tinting is always a tough one to determine...I have had my issues in the past with the gray and the green tints of the D310 set.

Brian

[triwak]

Brian, upon further inspection, I believe you're correct. Larry's IS more greenish.

[brianp-beme]

Nothing new to add, but I gave this thread a bump just because I was recently thinking about the W517 set and thought others who hadn't seen this thread might think it semi-interesting.

Brian