First Color Baseball Cards

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Posted By: Sean

what were the first color baseball cards
t206?

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Posted By: Paul

There were several color sets before T206. These include:

1888 N-162 Goodwin Champions
1888 N-28 Allen & Ginter
1894 N-142 Duke Cabinets

There were quite a few others, too, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind. Each of these sets has some great players, including Hall of Famers.

T-206 was probably the first color set that featured nearly every player in the majors. The sets I've listed above were all small (4-8 baseball players, plus players from other sports).

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Posted By: JimB

I believe N28s were produced in 1887, or did recent research reveal they were 1888?
JimB

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Posted By: Ben

The 1887 Buchner Gold Coin set (N284) was among the earliest, and it was fairly large too. I don't have a checklist infront of me, but it was well over 100 cards. Buchners dont get much love from collectors because of the recycled poses, but I think they are pretty nice looking cards.



(Images are from the Library of Congress website)

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Posted By: Joe_G.

Both N28 & N29 were produced in 1888.

Previous threads by Hal Lewis, John Drecker, Jerry Spillman and others point out that Clarkson, who was traded from Chicago to Boston on April 3rd, 1888 is shown with Boston in the N28 set. Also, Bennett's N28 shows him in a "pin stripped" Detroit uniform. Detroit didn't use pinstripes until 1888. The N29 & N43 set were later 1888 issues.

Best Regards,
Joe Gonsowski

<<edited to add more content>>

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Posted By: jay wolt

Ben - The Buchner Gold Coin set has 143 Baseball subjects
w/ 115 different players. When added w/ the Actors, Jockeys,
Police & Fire chiefs, the total most likey more than doubles that.

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Posted By: Ben

Thanks Jay. I'm aware of the non sports subjects, but didn't realize there were SO many of them. I think it's a pretty underrated set. Are you working on it at this time?

That O'Rourke is by far the nicest Buchner I've seen. The red/black striped jersey w/red socks, big moustache, cool looking catchers gear and the richly colored background makes for a gorgeous looking card. Might be the nicest color 19th century card (imo) outside of the N162 set (which is unparalleled I think).

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Posted By: jay wolt

Ben - yes I'm taking a stab at it.
Incl all the cards, not just baseball.

The O'Rourke was my 1st major player and it gave me the push to start
the set. I wrote the Gold Coin article in the SGC Mag (Winter '07) and
that O'Rourke made the front cover.