Old Judge Poll

[quinnsryche]

A mutli-tiered question for all you OJ experts: What is 1. the best looking OJ of all, 2. the worst looking, 3. silliest pose, 4. rarest single card (no color or spelling variations) and 5. most expensive single card. Please post scans if you have them and let's have some fun!

[Steve D]

I would think the rarest single card, and most expensive single card would be the Cap Anson in uniform. Supposedly, there are only 1 or 2 examples known to exist.

As far as the silliest pose, I'd say any of the cards where the player is laying down, appearing to be asleep.


Steve

[uffda51]

This is certainly a candidate for silliest OJ.

[E93]

The Anson in uniform is not the rarest. I believe there are four known, but two are in museums and thus not circulating in the hobby. Several of the California league cards and a few other recent discoveries have only one known example.
JimB

edited to add: The Anson-in-uniform would be by far the most valuable/expensive if it ever were offered for sale.

[barrysloate]

There are four known Ansons in Uniform; one is in the Burdick Collection in NYC, the other three are in private collections. It would certainly be the most valuable Old Judge.

Virtually all the California League players are one or two known. The rarest player is probably Flynn, Omaha; Gibson, Athletics is likewise extremely rare, and there are a couple of other players with only a few examples known.

There isn't a lot of variety in terms of poses, but among the sillier poses are the studio ones with balls hanging from strings. The best looking ones are probably the portraits. Kelly with the white cap is certainly among the best.

[kkkkandp]

There are quite a few Old Judge cards that are particularly appealing to me picture wise. The William Horner/E.H. Warner two-player card (234-3) is nice because it isn't a contrived two-player "action" pose like many of the others. The Buck Ewing and mascot (149-11) and Ed Williamson and mascot (502-7) are interesting in the same way the Art Whitney and dog (499-1) is because of the contrast of the subjects. The Kid Madden with bat and rock (288-7) has great composition. Perhaps my favorite, however, is the California League card of Cornelius Doyle because it is outside and fans can be seen in the background.

In my mind the worst poses are those where the subject's face cannot be seen.

There are a number of odd poses that would qualify as silly (many of the laying down poses look like the subject has passed out or is having a seizure and there are quite a few that could easily pass for Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks poses), but two that stand out in my mind are the Bill Sowders with the ball behind his head (431-5) and the Pete Hotaling holding up his pants (236-2) poses.

[barrysloate]

And another great rarity is Anderson, St. Paul.

[Fred]

The opinions of the following:

• "the best looking OJ of all"
  
• "the worst looking"
  
• "silliest pose"
  

Could best be answered by opening the Bible on OJs that was just released last year and going through all of the pictures.

As far as the rarest OJ goes, that's a tough one because the rarest one is probably still out there somewhere, waiting to be discovered.

I'd have to agree with Kevin about Hotaling (236-2) as one of the more silly poses. I'm kind of partial to the Connie Mack pose (285-2) where the ball is set up to be coming towards him and it looks like it's going to hit him square in the chest (as he watches it).

I also like the Radbourn 377-1 where he's flipping the bird at his waist. That one reminds me of the (I think it is 1974 Topps) Billy Martin that shows his middle finger extended down the bat.

[rhettyeakley]

The Hotaling is certainly a strange pose. It looks like he just ate some bad food and is getting ready to throw up, but he has a strange smirk on his face as he is doing it.

[DixieBaseball]

I think there is only 1 Charlie Krehmeyer (Cali) card known to exist. He played for Nashville in 1886 and I think it is safe to say, I won't be adding him to my Nashville Collection anytime soon.

[quinnsryche]

Originally Posted by Fred

The opinions of the following:

• "the best looking OJ of all"
  
• "the worst looking"
  
• "silliest pose"
  

Could best be answered by opening the Bible on OJs that was just released last year and going through all of the pictures.

As far as the rarest OJ goes, that's a tough one because the rarest one is probably still out there somewhere, waiting to be discovered.

I'd have to agree with Kevin about Hotaling (236-2) as one of the more silly poses. I'm kind of partial to the Connie Mack pose (285-2) where the ball is set up to be coming towards him and it looks like it's going to hit him square in the chest (as he watches it).

I also like the Radbourn 377-1 where he's flipping the bird at his waist. That one reminds me of the (I think it is 1974 Topps) Billy Martin that shows his middle finger extended down the bat.

What is this "Bible" and where would I get one?

[Fred]

I call it "the Book" or the "OJ Bible" because it's a very comprehensive book about the N172 offering. This is one of those "must have" hobby books. You'll enjoy "the Book", even if you don't collect OJs. There's a lot of history in "the Book". Short player bios are just another feature.

The authors and other contributors to this incredible effort are N54baseball board members. In the acknowledgement section of "the Book" you'll also find the name of one of the contributors to this thread. Sorry Kevin, you're now exposed.

I'm sure someone here will be able to provide the information you'll need to get this amazing OJ reference. The price paid for the book is really nothing when you realize the amount of time and selflessness that it took to get this book published and into the hands of hobbyist that were begging for something like this (for years).