Anyone collect 1934-36 Diamond Matchbooks?

[BobC]

Originally Posted by cubman1941

Although just a Cubs guy I do have quite a few. I would like with matches but I agree they are difficult to find that way. Thus I prefer with striker attached but will get one without if I need it for my Cub collection. I enjoy, although get a little frustrated, trying to figure out the 36 type 2 Cubs black and brown ink ones. Trying to buy these on line is really difficult.

I have never seen an unused one and it would be fantastic to find one. I have also never come across an autographed one. Suspect not many people thought about getting these autographed as cards were more prevalent.

Have a few 34 Silver border but only one black border.

In my earlier post I mentioned a person who helped me out tremendously with the checklists and found his name. It was Charles Specht. This was back in 2013 and, if he is still around, I would consider him to be the most knowledgeable person around regarding Diamond matchbooks. Unfortunately I only kept one of our correspondence emails.

Thanks Jim, would be great to hear from this Charlie Specht and see if he's aware of a silver border matchbook of Wes Ferrell actually existing.

Wish I could remember where I had seen that unused/unfolded Diamond Matchbook cover. Seem to remember it was a silver border matchbook cover and don't think the black material for the striker had been applied yet either. That could have been the reason the cover never got used then because it would have had no striker.

The black borders are always going to be more expensive, so guess I'll have to suck it up one day and pay more for them when they do come up for sale.

Collecting only complete matchbooks with matches in them would be super, but doubt you could ever complete the larger Diamond Matchbook sets that way. And besides, displaying or storing the matchbooks with all the matches still intact is a bit tough. When you just collect them without the matches they fold out nice and flat and can easily be put into binders with the plastic pages, like the one earlier poster showed in a picture of his set in a binder. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some collectors would shy away from complete matchbooks with all the matches still intact for that reason alone.

Good luck with your Cubs collecting.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by BobC

Wish I could remember where I had seen that unused/unfolded Diamond Matchbook cover. Seem to remember it was a silver border matchbook cover and don't think the black material for the striker had been applied yet either. That could have been the reason the cover never got used then because it would have had no striker.

Were you referring to something like this one I found that is on ebay?

Brian

[cubman1941]

That is a great looking "proof".

[BobC]

Originally Posted by cubman1941

That is a great looking "proof".

Jim,

I don't think it is technically what the regular card guys would call a proof. As I mentioned before, I believe that in the process if making the matchbooks they ran it through some machine that would apply the black material that became the striker for the matchbook. My guess has always been that somehow there were some sheets or whatever of these that were run, but then the striker material didn't get properly applied so that when they cut them to get to the individual matchbook covers, they couldn't go back and apply the striker material by hand, or they just didn't bother because it wasn't worth the time and effort to do it by hand. And then rather than just throw out these unusable matchbook covers, I wouldn't be surprised if someone at the plant that made them just took some of these scraps home to give out to kids and family. They are still showing the ballplayer and his bio, and therefore still somewhat collectible, just not in a complete matchbook form. Maybe calling it an uncomplete or unused scrap piece would be a better term. Kind of like what the T206 collectors get when they have a card that is missing one or more of the colors that should have been on it, if that makes sense. In this case the matchbook is missing the striker material though, not a color. Does that make any sense?

[Griffins]

I've got sets or near sets of most of the baseball issues, missing a 2-3 in a couple of sets. Agree the prices are all over, I've found the best strategy is to buy a large lot when it comes up and sell off any dupes.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Griffins

I've got sets or near sets of most of the baseball issues, missing a 2-3 in a couple of sets. Agree the prices are all over, I've found the best strategy is to buy a large lot when it comes up and sell off any dupes.

Agree, most collectors may want just a couple of these for a type collection so won't go after a large lot of them. Seems when you buy a large lot of them you get an even better price per matchbook as well.

[UKCardGuy]

Originally Posted by BobC

Agree, most collectors may want just a couple of these for a type collection so won't go after a large lot of them. Seems when you buy a large lot of them you get an even better price per matchbook as well.

I try to do the same. I find that buying in lots of 10 - 20 seems to be the sweet spot.

That proof looks nice but there's no way I'd consider paying anything like $1,000 the ebay seller is asking for it.

To the question about whether I'd buy them without the striker attached, the answer is yes (assuming the price is low to reflect that). But my preference is to have the striker intact.

I've found a few checklists online. But the TCDB seems the most complete. You'll find the checklist for the 5 different series here:

https://www.tcdb.com/Search.cfm?Sear...ww.tcdb.com%2F

[cubman1941]

Originally Posted by BobC

Jim,

I don't think it is technically what the regular card guys would call a proof. As I mentioned before, I believe that in the process if making the matchbooks they ran it through some machine that would apply the black material that became the striker for the matchbook. My guess has always been that somehow there were some sheets or whatever of these that were run, but then the striker material didn't get properly applied so that when they cut them to get to the individual matchbook covers, they couldn't go back and apply the striker material by hand, or they just didn't bother because it wasn't worth the time and effort to do it by hand. And then rather than just throw out these unusable matchbook covers, I wouldn't be surprised if someone at the plant that made them just took some of these scraps home to give out to kids and family. They are still showing the ballplayer and his bio, and therefore still somewhat collectible, just not in a complete matchbook form. Maybe calling it an uncomplete or unused scrap piece would be a better term. Kind of like what the T206 collectors get when they have a card that is missing one or more of the colors that should have been on it, if that makes sense. In this case the matchbook is missing the striker material though, not a color. Does that make any sense?

Bob, that makes a lot of sense to me. I agree that calling it probably an unused scrap piece would be a lot better term. I would use that term rather than unused because the striker material hasn't been applied. Thanks. Jim

[BobC]

Originally Posted by cubman1941

Bob, that makes a lot of sense to me. I agree that calling it probably an unused scrap piece would be a lot better term. I would use that term rather than unused because the striker material hasn't been applied. Thanks. Jim

Makes sense. I threw in the word "unused" since they never completed putting the striker material on the cover and then didn't use the cover to finish making a completed matchbook.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Were you referring to something like this one I found that is on ebay?

Brian

That is it! For some reason I think they never got the material that is used for the striker applied to the matchbook cover, so then they couldn't use it to complete the matchbook by putting the matches in. With no striker you couldn't light the matches and the matchbook itself would not be usable. Can't remember ever seeing one of those for anything other than a silver border matchbook. An interesting piece for someone that collects these Diamond Matchbook covers to possibly look to get. Thanks for posting the image off Ebay. I assume the item has not been folded as a normal matchbook would be also.

Also went and looked up the Ebay item, seller is asking a pretty steep amount for that Dean matchbook!!!! Don't think I've seen any Diamond Matchbook with a four figure asking price before. Ouch!