1967 Laughlin B/W World Series Assistance Needed

[toppcat]

This may not be helpful, 10/4/74 Sports Collectors News but it is neat:

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by toppcat

This may not be helpful, 10/4/74 Sports Collectors News but it is neat:

Thanks for posting that. Do you know if that same, specific graphic was used in earlier ads?

Going against conventional wisdom, my research forces me to theorize that when these cards were first reprinted, they did indeed have the address on back before it was eliminated for good. Don't know if this was close to 1967, or many years later, but something appears to be up.

If anyone has copies of the 1905 Matty card, with or without address, I'd like to see those, too.

It's like I've fallen into a black hole...and I don't know if I'll ever get out.

[mikemb]

Here is my 1905 card w/o address.

Mike

[cannonballsun]

Right now there is a complete set on EBay (with address) in sheet form. Only some of the backs are posted, and the resolution isn't too great
I you asked for better scans, perhaps he might oblige.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

Thanks for posting that. Do you know if that same, specific graphic was used in earlier ads?

Going against conventional wisdom, my research forces me to theorize that when these cards were first reprinted, they did indeed have the address on back before it was eliminated for good. Don't know if this was close to 1967, or many years later, but something appears to be up.

If anyone has copies of the 1905 Matty card, with or without address, I'd like to see those, too.

It's like I've fallen into a black hole...and I don't know if I'll ever get out.

I found two more pieces of the puzzle but no real answers. First one is July 1972 Trader Speaks (two months earlier the Greatest Feats set was advertised on its own). SCN had the bigger ad on 5/23/75.

[JollyElm]

Let me provide some insight into why I asked that question. There is a clear difference between the original version of the card and the later reprint version. I've created this animated gif to illustrate it. The original features much more room at the left edge, and a little extra space on the right side and at the bottom where the lines of his shirt show (the reprint version has those areas cropped tighter)...



The ad you posted shows the original, not the reprint version of the Feller card, so the question needs to be asked. In 1974, was Laughlin selling reprints of the original cards from 1967 (with the address on back), or was he selling the new, slightly revised cards without the address on them?? It's possible, and perhaps probable, that in creating the ad, he simply used a pic of the original Feller card he had on hand, instead of a pic of the newfangled version, since they are essentially the same card. There's no way to know.

On a side note, each Feller that I have seen so far with the address on back has the wider borders on it, and every reprint I have seen has the cropped borders, but (and this is a big but) I would not yet rule out that some of the cropped border cards may have the address on back. I haven't seen enough examples of the card to make a definitive conclusion. The sample size is too small.

[DVCARDS]

I bought the reprint (w/o address) from Laughlin many years ago. In the 11/5/2004 Sports Collectors Digest there was an article about the World Series cards. I made a note about how there were 2 black and white variations. One was a standard issue. The other and tougher set contained his address. So the article must have been wrong - the standard was actually the reprint?

[toppcat]

You may need the original mailers with cards to figure this out.

[laughlinfan]

I would like to point out that these would really be reissues, as opposed to reprints, especially since reprints have a very negative connotation, and are usually done without permission of the original producer of the set, and I have never seen a "reprint" of any of Bob's sets.

I loved picking up Bob's Inside Pitch newsletters several years ago. You get to hear a lot of information in Bob's own "voice" and you get to feel like you know him a little bit. Highly recommend picking them up if you see them. And not just because they contain the scarcest (two card) set that Bob produced!

Again, although I don't really like him calling subsequent printings of his sets reprints, Bob did talk about them using that term. This is the information that I have always used on Bob's black and white set, from Bob in 1976: