Top 100 Pre-war Cards

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Posted By: Joann

Jason,

Great idea for a thread. It's really got me to thinking. You got kind of derailed early into quick lists, but I've tried to think about your original post and it's been tougher than I thought.

First off - to get to the mechanical parts, you noted that we need criteria. I suggest the following as at least a start:

1. Card must have been issued nationally or regionally prior to 1941. (Although note that this criteria not only excludes 41 PB, it also may exclude things like Tango Eggs and Herps.)

2. Card must be of a baseball player, manager, owner or other person who's primary reason for being pictured on the card is an association with baseball.

3. Card must have been issued during the time of a player's playing career or manager's managing career (but could be later for owners and other officials).


As to submissions or voting process, I suggest doing something like allowing each person - anyone here, reader, particpant, anyone - to nominate a maximum of 3-5 cards per week. The person nominating the card has to, as you stated, make a case for the card and argue why it should be considered among the 100 Most Important.

Decision making could be somehow via thread, or even general acclaim.



But for me the most interesting and toughest part of this is when I started trying to think of "official reasons for inclusion" for cards I might nominate as among the Most Important:

1. Card is fairly recognizable to non-collectors. Nice, but maybe limited.

2. Card that changed something about how cards were made or considered at the time. I rejected this one, since this usually happens with sets (N172, T206, Goudey), not individual cards.

3. Key card to a set. Now I feel like I'm getting somewhere. Many key cards would be fairly recognizable and have a place of some importance in the hobby.

4. A card that is classic, something that might draw someone into the vintage hobby or attract a collector of different cards over the line - kind of like a cross-over hit in music. Here's where cards like T206 Cobb Red, the Goudey Ruths, etc, might start emerging from the fog of "important cards".

5. A card that is iconic within the hobby. This one is interesting too. You could start getting into the 1 or 1's without hitting the cards that are very rare but also obscure. But even non-unique cards would be in play here. 1914 B News Ruth? 4BH Kelly? Even the E90-1 Oakes might sneak onto the bottom of the list on this criterion.

The possiblities for why one might consider a card 'most important' are endless! And my humble suggestion would be to not try to define that universally as part of the criteria, but to allow each person nominating a card to go through that mental thought process too and allow for each nominee to state a case for WHY it is a 100 Most Important card.


I like the way you originally proposed this, as a somewhat orderly (such as it may be for this board!) process of establishing criteria and taking suggestions/nominations with some justification for why a card belongs on the list. The process of nominating, justifying and discussing the merits of inclusion are what would be fun and educational - not just throwing out lists.

Let's set some quick criteria and maybe a nominations process. I would love - LOVE - to see how some of the hobby knowledge-giants here justify their nominees and what everyone considers to be "important".


Joann