Felix Mendelsohn & M101-4 and M101-5

[RayBShotz]

Bought this card at the Northeast Sportscard Expo yesterday and as I am prone to do, set out to research the set and stumbled across this great thread which certainly deserves a refresh.

I didn't see it talked about here but is there a consensus as to whether the M101-4 Sporting News Back is more rare than a Blank Back for this issue?

A quick view of cards available for sale on line would anecdotally indicate that Blank Back would seem more common. (Extremely small sample size).

Any expert thoughts on this? (Evidence to the contrary or to support?)

I am always humbled by the wealth of knowledge embedded in the N54 threads on the pre-war sets.
Thanks guys.
RayB

[Leon]

I am not an expert but have collected a lot of M101-4/5 backs over the last 25 yrs.
Almost by definition the blank backs are the most common, from my travels. They all started out with a blank back.

Originally Posted by RayBShotz

Bought this card at the Northeast Sportscard Expo yesterday and as I am prone to do, set out to research the set and stumbled across this great thread which certainly deserves a refresh.

I didn't see it talked about here but is there a consensus as to whether the M101-4 Sporting News Back is more rare than a Blank Back for this issue?

A quick view of cards available for sale on line would anecdotally indicate that Blank Back would seem more common. (Extremely small sample size).

Any expert thoughts on this? (Evidence to the contrary or to support?)

I am always humbled by the wealth of knowledge embedded in the N54 threads on the pre-war sets.
Thanks guys.
RayB

[timn1]

Yes, the blank backs are by far the most common in both sets. Sporting News backs are the most common printed backs in M101-4, as Famous & Barr in M101-5. But blank backs outnumber both by a wide margin. (It's difficult to say exactly because the grading companies dump TSN backs and blank back M101-4s into the same population in their pop reports.)

As has been stated many times, M101-5 numbers are entirely unconnected to Sporting News. M101-4 numbers with Famous-Barr backs are not common but are seen occasionally - primarily #s 1-20, where they are the only F&Bs known.

Tim