1933 Tattoo Orbit: The Journey Ends and Some Observations

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Posted By: James Feagin

In October 2007, I decided that it was time to complete a pre-war set. This wasnt done without a lot of research and fact-finding. When it came down to it, I wanted a project that was

1.) Challenging, but not impossible
2.) Very attractive, at least according to my judgement.
3.) A set with immense upside that is a little out of the mainstream.

I found all of those attributes in the 1933 R305 Tattoo Orbit set. In October 2007, I purchased my first card from the setA signed Burleigh Grimes. Today, after much searching, the final piece of the puzzle came with Mule Haas. Im ecstatic with this collection, as each of them are graded by SGC (to protect them from my children). Scans and grades for each card are found in the link below!


http://www.sgccardregistry.com/set.aspx?cat=1&set=30&userset=2583


Some Observations, and feel free to correct me if I am wrong. First the team breakdowns: (15) Chicago Cubs, (6) Boston Red Sox, (6) Chicago White Sox, (6) Cleveland Indians, (6) Philadelphia Athletics, (6) St. Louis Browns, (5) St. Louis Cardinals, (3) Cincinnati Reds, (3) Philadelphia Phillies, (2) Brooklyn Dodgers, (1) Boston Braves and (1) Pittsburgh Pirates. There are no cards in this set from members of the Detroit Tigers, New York Giants, New York Yankees or Washington Senators.

A couple of myths, or old wives tales surrounding this set.

1.) The Andrews, Blaeholder and Hornsby cards are shortprints (only one of those is really a shortprint, with many more difficult).

2.) Despite what many E-Bay sellers purport, the R305 issue apparently was not released in those pirate ship wrappers

From my obersvations, the Top 5 most difficult cards in the set.

1.)Dick Bartell
2.)Mule Haas
3.)James Levey
4.)Rogers Hornsby
5.)Ernie Lombardi

Although my collection has taken quite a hit over the past few months, Im grateful Ive held this together. Next project? 1909-1911 T206 Baltimore team set with tough backs.

Thanks for reading and for all those on this board who helped in this journey!

James

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Posted By: Matt

James congrats on the accomplishment!
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who gets me cards slabbed to protect them from my kids

My Trade/Sale Page

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Posted By: Jim VB

Congrats James! A great looking set, for sure.

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Posted By: Sean

Im surprised to see Bartell as your #1 toughest. That was the only one I ever owned. i got it signed but have since sold it.

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Posted By: J Levine

I agree with Bartell being the toughest. It is still on my Phillies list. Andrews was really easy to acquire and I actually have owned 2 over the years and seen several. I have only seen 3 or 4 Bartell's in the last 10 years.

Great set, congrats!

Joshua

PS If anyone has a lowgrade Bartell for sale...lmk.

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Posted By: barrysloate

James- Congratulations on finishing the set. Not a single Yankee or Giant in there- do you have a theory why that is so? You would think all those famous names would be a big draw back in its day.

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Posted By: Bob

Congrats James! I can echo how tough the Bartell card is, it's definitely in my top 5. Levey is a killer because he was Jewish and there were collectors who didn't necessarily collect the TO set who went after his card. Hornsby and Lombardi were tough because they are HOFers. I would slip Alexander (thanks again for the upgrade) and Haines in my top 5 of most difficult.
What's your next project?
Bob M.

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Posted By: James Feagin

Bob,

Thanks for your insight.

I would absolutely rank #6 Alexander, #7 Haines

As for why no New York teams? The Orbit Gum Company was a midwestern firm. I would think that the larger northeast conglomerates (Delong, Goudey) had some sort of agreement for the 1933 season that made the New York players exclusive to their firms. That's the best half-baked theory I can come up with!

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Posted By: Brad Green

James:

Could you please make some observations regarding cost (total cost as well as most expensive cards) to put this set together? Be as specific or general as you wish.

Thanks!

Brad

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Posted By: James Feagin

The most expensive cards in order of cost are



1.) Rogers Hornsby SP (paid $400 for my SGC 50, I got a great deal and eventually re-submitted to
a SGC 60)

2.) Dizzy Dean (traded $600 value for my SGC 60)

3.) Jimmy Foxx (paid $250 for my SGC 40)

4.) Connie Mack (paid $350 for my SGC 50)

5.) Lefty Grove (paid $250 for my SGC 60)



Commons generally follow



SGC 30: $20

SGC 40: $30

SGC 50: $50

SGC 60: $60

SGC 70: $80

SGC 80: $100-125



The majority of "common" Hall of Famers average in the $75-125 range in mid-grade. The stated shortprints tend to get a bit more than stated common prices. However, the unannounced shortprints are more costly. I spent or traded about $6000ish for my set. There is a very very nice SGC 80 Foxx on ebay right now. He is a tougher Hall of Famer in the set and very undervalued. The last SGC 80 Foxx sold for $700-725.



James



James

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Posted By: Joe D.

Congratulations.

What a very cool looking set! great cards.

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Posted By: bruce Dorskind

One of the more interesting pieces in our hobby collection is a 1975 letter
from the CEO of Wrigley Gum which reviews the history of the Tattoo Orbit product
and talks a bit about the company's marketing strategy in 1933

We also have letters from Goudey's last President which discuss Goudey, Delong and George
Miller

These letters will all published when we write our book on the History of the Hobby

Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List

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Posted By: Steve Murray

Couple of upgrades and you can pass Richard.

Congrats.

P.S. Knowing that TBOB is also working on this set is the only thing keeping me from trying.

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Posted By: Kenneth A. Cohen

Very nice James. Wouldn't you consider Grube one of the more difficult cards? I've been looking to upgrade it for my set but have rarely come across it.
Ken

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Posted By: James Feagin

Absolutely, Grube is very tough! I might have to revise this list!

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Posted By: Sean

DAMN!
i WISH i KNEW THAT! I sold my SIGNED Dick Bartell in 2005 on ebay for $22. Ill go cry now

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Posted By: Bob

Hi Steve. You can start the set without any fear from me I've completed the set, Alexander was just an upgrade.
What's funny about this set is the wide price swings on ebay from month to month, commons and HOFers. I have never noticed such a big difference in selling prices in any other set I have tracked. It seems timing is eveything with collecting this set.
Bob

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Posted By: JDRUM

James,
Congrats on finishing the set! One of my favorites.
Jeff

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Posted By: Rich

Good job James, I've been slowly working on the set for some time. Tattoo Orbit was a lower end product put out by Wrigley. It's no wonder that the Wrigley owned Cubs were on 25% of the cards. Back in the early 1970's Orbits were very hard to find. A major "find" was the made around that time that produced most of the cards on the market for many years. This "find" had large amounts of every card except Andrews, Hadley, Blaeholder and Hornsby. This is where the the single print status of those cards started.

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Posted By: James Feagin

I believe Mastro said that approximately 5000 cards were found in the 1970s. I guess that would mean 70-80 of each card?

James

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Posted By: Jeremy

Congrats James ! I have always loved that set and thought it did not get enough love...

One of my favorite HOF cards in the set is the Al Simmons.. I never get tired of that card...





~ Jeremy ~

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Posted By: Bob

Rich- That makes sense and accounts for the myth of the Blaeholder, Andrews and Hadley cards being rare. The truth is that these 3 cards are offered frequently on ebay while Levey, Alexander and a few others rarely appear. I've always felt that a collector putting together a complete set card by card gets a real sense of which cards are and which cards are not scarce within the set.
Bob

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Posted By: David Atkatz

Barry asked:

"Not a single Yankee or Giant in there- do you have a theory why that is so? You would think all those famous names would be a big draw back in its day."

Bruce offered:

"One of the more interesting pieces in our hobby collection is a 1975 letter
from the CEO of Wrigley Gum which reviews the history of the Tattoo Orbit product
and talks a bit about the company's marketing strategy in 1933

These letters will all published when we write our book on the History of the Hobby"

Rather than offer any information, Bruce simply takes advantage of another opportunity to let us all know how wonderful his collection truly is.

Thanks so much for sharing, Bruce.

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Posted By: J Levine

Can't wait to borrow the book from someone...
Joshua

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Posted By: Michael Steele

James,

Congrats on finishing the set. Good luck on your next (T-206) challenge.

Michael

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Posted By: Bob

This is what I meant by the wild price swings on these cards:
Heres a supposedly rare SP Blaeholder SGC50 which one seller has listed with a BIN of $450 going for $52. I threw a $51 bid on it even though I had the card and if it had not been for a snipe, I would have won it.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEDWX:IT&it em=380109128717

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Posted By: Michael Steele

I agree that the card went crazy cheap although I do not think it was won with a snipe as the winning bid came with 45 minutes or so left in the auction.

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Posted By: James Feagin

Bob,

That was my card I sold. I was expecting something similar to that price. Surprisingly, one of my "shiny" 1/1 cards got $81, about $50 more than expected. The "shiny" market dwarfs the pre-war market in terms of interest. I have been buying huge lots of modern game-used/auto and making huge profits, then using that profit to buy pre-war

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Posted By: Bob

Michael- You are right, not a snipe, just a late bid with about 35 minutes or so left. I had bid the day before and to be honest just forgot about it while watching college basketball I really expected it to go for around $125-150. Someone got nice deal!

James- Didn't know this was your card or I would have chased it to either buy it or to have made you more money on it even if I didn't get it. That's great you are able to make money on the shiney stuff and then plunge it back in to pre-war cards. I wasn't aware that the shiney market was still doing well, I get so caught up in the pre-war stuff (and once in a while stray in to the late 50's and early 60's football sets which I think is still way undervalued and has lots of growth room, especially as pro football continues to grow and be so popular), that I lose track of what post-war and recent baseball cards are doing.

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Posted By: Mark Holt

Congratulations on completing the set and thanks for posting your thoughts on it.

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Posted By: Doug

Congratulations on finishing your set!

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Posted By: dan mckee

I can't argue with that list of the last 5 James, I remember those as being tough for me as well. Dan.

www.danmckee.com/pictures/types001.jpg>