1898-99 National Copper Plates and 1899-1900 M101-1 The Sporting News

[Baseball Rarities]

Originally Posted by puckpaul

Kevin, Is there a five-premium booklet in existence that has the fine still intact?

Also, the natl copper booklet i have came bound with all 45/50 still bound with string, was it also offered unbound?

Where did the larger format ones come from?

Not sure that I understand what you mean by "fine still intact?"

I think that the Portfolios were only issued in bound editions of 50 subjects. We know that The Sporting News offered these Portfolios housed in their cover. I am not sure if anyone else issued them. These portfolios were only held together by string and could easily be dismantled into 50 individual cards plus the cover. These are easily distinguishable due to the two holes used for binding on their left hand border.

From my notes, I have the measurements of both the individually offered M101-1s and the "portfolio" cards as being 8.75" x 11.00". There is reference to larger ones that measure 10" x 13", but I do not know where they came from. Possible from the NCP 5 card stapled portfolios from 1898. Maybe offered individually somewhere else?

Do you have any that measure larger? If so, what do they measure?

BTW, much of the information that I have posted is based solely on my assumptions from the limited information that I have gathered. Please feel free to correct anything that is off.

[puckpaul]

Originally Posted by Baseball Rarities

Not sure that I understand what you mean by "fine still intact?"

I think that the individual "National Copper Plates" were only issued in bound portfolios of 50.

I have no idea where the larger format ones came from. The Standard Catalog mentions a 10" x 13" size for National Copper Plates, but I always assumed that that referred to the size of the covers of the album and not the actual cards. From my notes, I have the measurements of both the individually offered M101-1s and the "portfolio" cards as being 8.75" x 11.00".

Do you have any that measure larger? If so, what do they measure?

BTW, much of the information that I have posted is based solely on my assumptions from the limited information that I have gathered. Please feel free to correct anything that is off.

I meant “five” not “fine”. Did you mean 50 not five?

If you see the images of the nichols above, there are 9” x 13” ones too (sorry, i cant remeasure it right now, but you can see the larger size in the picture next to a normal one.

[Baseball Rarities]

Originally Posted by puckpaul

I meant “five” not “fine”. Did you mean 50 not five?

If you see the images of the nichols above, there are 9” x 13” ones too (sorry, i cant remeasure it right now, but you can see the larger size in the picture next to a normal one.

There are two NCP booklets that I know of. They each had 6 players. They are both intact. They were not meant to be separated, but obviously some were over the years. I will post pictures below.

Thanks for the Nichols image.

I am not certain where the larger cards came from. I assume that they were removed from the NCP 6 card portfolios.

[Baseball Rarities]

Here are the images that I have of the first NCP portfolio.

[Baseball Rarities]

Here is the second:

[puckpaul]

Originally Posted by Baseball Rarities

There are two NCP booklets that I know of. I believe that they both contained 5 pictures. They are both intact. They were not meant to be separated. I will post pictures below.

Thanks for the Nichols image.

I have no idea where the larger cards came from. I wonder if they were removed from the NCP 5 card portfolios?

That is what it looks like. The bordered pictures with no holes are NCP portraits that were in those five player booklets. Those could all be the larger sized ones.

Then NCP (or as you pointed out, maybe the Sporting News offered these, after obtaining the image rights?) also issued a full 50 portrait booklet of just the NCP series, which were all hole punched and bound, in the smaller size. That size was then maintained for the Sporting News inserts, which were then sequentially issued with some players deleted from the roster and more current ones added, and then some additional ones created to reach 62 in the Sporting News. Dropped were such old favorites as Anson, Hoy, Ewing, Keeler, Robinson…added were Delehanty, Young, Lajoie, and others.

Just developing a working thesis….

[Baseball Rarities]

I just found these ads that the National Copper Plate Co. placed in the April 9 and July 9, 1898 issues of The Sporting News. The ads specifically mention that they intended to issue 26 parts - each with six prints (I had thought 5). They state that they measure 10" x 12", so these are certainly the "large" versions that exist.

I have not been able to find any ads after July 9, 1898, so I assume that the National Copper Plate Co. stopped offering them on their own in and instead licensed them to The Sporting News who offered them both in portfolios of 50 and individually as supplements to their weekly newspaper, removing some subjects as time went by and adding others.

The July 9 ad states that they have 6 different series available - the same amount as their June 4 ad, so I assume that their promotion lost steam and they stopped at just the 6 series even though they had planned on doing 26.

[robertsmithnocure]

What a great thread. Wish that I could add something to it.

[h2oya311]

Would love to see any other six-player booklets of the stapled NCPs, beyond just the first two you shared.

Booklet Part 1 had Cap Anson, Chief Zimmer, Kid Nichols, Thomas Dowd, JM Goar, and Michael Griffin

Booklet Part 2 had Bill Joyce, Joe Corbett (brother of HOF boxer James Corbett), Monte Cross, Bill Lange, Lou Criger, and Fred "Bones" Ely

Would love to know if other "larger" NCPs without the holes (meaning pulled from these stapled booklets) can be documented, beyond the 12 players listed above from booklets 1 and 2. Does every Sporting Life Supplement and Sporting Life Portfolio of 50 that overlaps with the NCP oversized, stapled booklets have an 1898 date or NCP credit somewhere on the photo? That would be interesting...Could be a clue into which players were issued in the booklet format.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by robertsmithnocure

What a great thread. Wish that I could add something to it.

The only thing I can add to this thread is the memory of Kevin Mize selling his Wagner, longest running BST in the history of net54, I think he may actually get his number now. To quote:
"Thanks for the inquiries, still available...
RIP