Zeenut Questions

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Is the Horne guide to Zeenuts still available anywhere? I know that there has been someone listing one on eBay of late but to honest their rating is so low I have resisted the urge to bid.

[quinnsryche]

Thanks for the list Phil, it's greatly appreciated. Also a big thanks to Frank Wakefield for contacting me with additional info. You guys are awesome!

[brianp-beme]

The 1924-30 range of Zeenut HOF players are probably the easiest to come across, especially the 1927-30 players. The DiMaggio cards are out there too, but will cost an appendage or two. Of the other ones I have seen on most people's wantlists over the years but rarely appear would probably be the 1913 Heilmann, 1915 Covaleskie and Heilmann, 1918 Crawford and 1919 Vance. Any of the ones that are first appearances on a card (such as the 1919 Vance, 1923 P.Waner etc...there are a lot of them) are nowadays popular and command a premium. In general they are tough to come by.

A good resource for Major League players that appeared in the Zeenut issues is an article by the late collector Don MacPherson (with the aid of Buck Barker) that was published in Lew Lipset's Old Judge Newsletter, I believe in the 1980's. It lists the 860+ MLB players that the authors laboriously researched and indentified as having appeared over the span of Zeenut issues, including the year and identified team shown on each years card.

Brian

[AndrewJerome]

Zeenut HOFers are some of my favorite cards. As Brian posted, Zeenut HOFers range from reasonably attainable (1927 Hooper, 1930 Lombardi etc) to virtually impossible to locate (1915 Covaleskie). Thanks to Phil for posting the list from a few years ago.

Mark Macrae is the person to ask in regard to Zeenut packaging. I am not aware of any Zeenut packaging that has survived.

Hi Mike D., PM sent in regard to the Horne book. I was only a wee lad when the Horne book was published. I have only seen photocopies of the original (such as the ones sold often on eBay).

Andrew

[rhettyeakley]

There are resources out there with the info you are looking for. The HOfers have really gotten popular as of late and are commanding more money than they ever have in the past. Some are very difficult, some are moderately so and some are fairly common, I'd have to say of all the HOfers the MOST frequently offered are the Joe DiMaggio cards BUT they still command DiMaggio prices.

Here are a few I've been able to pick up...

[FrankWakefield]

I don't think Gomez has been posted yet.

[Cat]

[Jacklitsch]

Originally Posted by Hot Springs Bathers

Is the Horne guide to Zeenuts still available anywhere? I know that there has been someone listing one on eBay of late but to honest their rating is so low I have resisted the urge to bid.

Your loss.

[fkw]

Just wanted to add that the most desired/ most expensive cards are not the Hall of Famers.

the 1919 BlackSox players are big $$$
the Jimmy Claxton (1st black in 20th Century) is also a big $$ card
NFL HOFer Ernie Nevers sells for more than most of the HOFers too, same with the Fatty Arbuckle card

[rhettyeakley]

Frank, no mention of the Thorpe? He's Definitely among the top 3-4 Zeenuts made...

[triwak]

Nice thread and fantastic cards, guys! As a HOF collector, I'm kinda ashamed that I don't have any of them represented on a Zeenut. May have to change that someday. And glad to finally see a list of Zeenut Hofers, Phil! I've always been curious about that.

[hanksta]

Here's my favorite...took a while to find it but was excited to get it in my hands.

[Kawika]

Looks like most of the Zeenut HOFers have been posted. Darren the Cat and Rhett the Yeakley are the Studs of the Thread. Nary a one on Phil's list have I, so, because I've nothing better to do, I'll post a few Zeenutters who have a HOFer tie-in to their story.

Charlie Root - Cubs ace served up a famous home run
Dom DiMaggio - brother of Vince's other brother



Aaron Ward - on April 18, 1923 he got the very first Yankee base hit in the House that Ruth Built
Babe Dahlgren - his predecessor's predecessor was Wally Pipp