Now that they are over- (14) 1925 Exhibit card photos

[birdman42]

I traded e-mails with the seller. Here's what he had to say.

"Upon close examination, it looks like they are the original photos glued onto very heavy card stock.

The size is a bit confusing. Peckinpaugh, Sisler, Simmons, Waner, Speaker, Barnes, Todt and Wilson are much larger than exhibits. Even ignoring the border frame, those images are all at least 5 3/4 by 8 inches. The others, though, - Wheat, Frisch, Bassler, Harris, McQuillan, Heilman, Bottomley and Topocer - have image sizes the same as exhibits.

I bought them in a Lew Lipset auction about 30 years ago."

And yes, I showed up with my pocketknife too.

Bill

[steve B]

I saw them and wanted one, then totally forgot about them and missed the auctions.

I'm actiually glad they went for good prices well outside my budget. Now I don't have to be sad I forgot about them.

Steve B

[Exhibitman]

That was a good, old-fashioned bidding war, wasn't it? I had no idea what they would sell for since I hadn't seen one offered since the Bohne I picked up with the Bill Terry W517 some years ago. I way underestimated them but happened to be watching them as the first few went off and was able to up my game and go after a few of them:





I'd hate to think what Ruth, Gehrig or Cobb would sell for; I'd probably have to sell a kidney...

As for the W517 and related cards and their relations to the Exhibit sets, I believe they are related because the art spills over between the sets. Here is the W517 Bill Terry original art:



Here's the original art for an early Lucille Ball card:

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by birdman42

I traded e-mails with the seller. Here's what he had to say.

"Upon close examination, it looks like they are the original photos glued onto very heavy card stock.

The size is a bit confusing. Peckinpaugh, Sisler, Simmons, Waner, Speaker, Barnes, Todt and Wilson are much larger than exhibits. Even ignoring the border frame, those images are all at least 5 3/4 by 8 inches. The others, though, - Wheat, Frisch, Bassler, Harris, McQuillan, Heilman, Bottomley and Topocer - have image sizes the same as exhibits.

I bought them in a Lew Lipset auction about 30 years ago."

And yes, I showed up with my pocketknife too.

Bill

Now that is really interesting from an Exhibit historical perspective. The size differential may have something to do with when the specific cards were made. Waner was in the PCL in 1925 but starred at Pittsburgh in 1926, Speaker wasn't at Philly until February 1928, Peckinpaugh was traded to the WS in January 27 [and bizarrely had a corrected card with Cleveland--where he managed--issued in the set]. On the other side, Bassler's last full season was 1925; he was a scrub for two years then out of baseball. I've long theorized that there was not a discrete "set" issued but rather successive print runs of these cards with changes made on the fly to replace unpopular players or to add in newly emerging talent; perhaps the differently sized raw art is indicative of those changes?