Strip cards - your opinion, please.

[Vintagedeputy]

Lately, I’ve been getting into some strip cards with a small collection that I picked up. Condition varies in this group, so I wanted to ask your opinion.

The people here are not important. I’m more concerned about the condition and how you view these. More to the point, these cards were hand-cut, or hand-torn it seems. I guess no one in the 1920’s owned scissors. Would you try to fix them before submitting for grading and encapsulation? (I’m not asking if you would send these particular cards in for grading, so please let’s not go off on a tangent about wasting money on grading worthless cards). I’m really interested to see how collectors view strip cards.

You’ll see that the Hoppe card on the left is pretty straight with the right dotted line border still partially visible. Would you trim that as best as you could along the line, or leave as-is? What do you think it would grade in either case?

Same thing for the Carter card. It’s pretty rough. Would it grade a 1 or A as is? Would you attempt to cut straighter lines? Would that help it?

The Hoppe on the right isn’t bad, except for that torn upper right corner. Would you try to trim it to make it less noticeable? What grade do you think it gets as-is versus trimming it some?

[NiceDocter]

Once you trim you can never go back. I don’t think most cards in these conditions should be slabbed…. sell as raw and let someone else roll the dice on altering/trimming….. by the way, it may just be the camera or lighting but that is some weird looking whitish bluish stock on those cards. None of the hundred or so I have look anything like that. Try eBay or previous auctions to see if you can find any others that look like that color pattern. Of course stocks on these cards varied as they were made to be mass produced…. I think many were sold a whole strip for a penny!!! In any event, proceed with caution! BTW I love strip cards even though there’s a lot of people who hate the cartoonish look. Good luck and congrats on your find! And lastly…..my 1000th post …..I have arrived!!!

[pawpawdiv9]

Love strip cards!!!
I collect the 1916-20 UNC big heads.

As for the cards, they are hand-cut and thus should only receive Auth grades.
BUT- the TPG's allow numeric grades based on the dotted lines showing.
For you, its based on what you like..otherwise i leave them as-be.
You might get lucky with the one on the left, to grade a 1.

[nineunder71]

Love strip cards!! My absolute favorite! Yes, even over T206s.

IMO, NEVER cut a card….period

On a grading note, the Carter has no chance of anything but A, guaranteed. Either of the other two ‘could’ receive a 1 from SGC, a bit less chance at PSA.

Good Luck


P.S. looks like I’m also close to the 1K posts mark, what do we get for arriving? Haha, jk

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by nineunder71

IMO, NEVER cut a card….period

Interesting take. Why? SGC notes that these cards were hand cut so wouldn’t cleaning up a hand cut be the same in your opinion?

[Section103]

I have no issue trimming up hand-cut cards, but you really need to have an idea why you're doing it. I had a raw W573 once that was wildly out of shape top to bottom. I trimmed it to appropriate length. It looks much better and graded 2.5. Im not necessarily a fan of trimming if the card is already below minimum size, but to each their own.

[Fred]

I honestly disliked strip cards that were crude renderings, but everybody has an opinion. Strip cards that had an actual likeness were fine, but I never pursued that issue.

Nothing wrong with them. I'm sure I collect stuff that other people couldn't care less about.

[Exhibitman]

Strips were made to be cut so that's not an issue. What is an issue is making them look better. A card with a ragged torn edge that has extra material from another card would look much better cleaned up. I do the same to Wheaties cards, which I really like, if it makes the card look better. As far as grading, I don't care. I have several graded ones and a bunch more that would score nice grades but won't get slabbed unless/until I plan to sell. And a card:

[nineunder71]

I’m just a traditionalist, I like the old vintage cards as they are, even in poor shape. Scissors aren’t part of my collecting, but thats just me.. and i’m sure I own plenty of cards that others have chopped away at, haha

I guess its the cutting of the uncut strips into individual cards that really bothers me the most.. IMO, Many folks just don’t understand how much more obscure, difficult, and flat out neat those uncut strips are….. then they cut the Ruth out for the hopes of a super high grade

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

Interesting take. Why? SGC notes that these cards were hand cut so wouldn’t cleaning up a hand cut be the same in your opinion?

[nineunder71]

To each their own, I guess

I not only bought this guy, but I taped it back together and sent it for grading (at the time, it was the only graded example, and I ‘needed’ it for my SGC slabbed set)

I still like it today, so…

[JLange]

I bought a strip card with irregular shape and thought I could improve it for my collection. Big mistake. It looks newly trimmed which is exactly what it is, and now it’s also over trimmed. I wish I would have left it alone.

[brianp-beme]

Why trim when you can display an unsightly bulge?

Brian

[Leon]

I am in the camp of not evening the cards up. I almost never take paper away from a strip card. I prefer truly original but to each their own. There is no right or wrong answer.

Just the way they came.....

[ullmandds]

Personally, I believe and leaving my strip cards as I found them. It's fun to imagine how these were distributed. Some people most likely just tore them off while others took a scissor and were more meticulous.

I also think that the grading on these has been pretty ridiculous over the years. There are numerous examples of cards with an a that could have a number, and vice versa there seems to be not much rhyme or reason.

other than that, I only have grown to love strip cards, but only the ones that resemble the players and have added Many Ruths to my stable.

[Shankweather]

This is my preferred method for presenting my W515 Grover Alexander, uncut:

[steve B]

I prefer to not cut cards, but I can see it for handcut cards where the hand cut is both sloppy and leaves room for some improvement.

I don't see that any of the three from the original post would be improved. To me having a typical strip card with a single perfectly straight edge ending in damage would be worse than old rough edges all around.

[Exhibitman]

Well, heck, if you have them uncut, leave them be. I'm not cutting this one:

[gunboat82]

Originally Posted by steve B

I prefer to not cut cards, but I can see it for handcut cards where the hand cut is both sloppy and leaves room for some improvement.

I don't see that any of the three from the original post would be improved. To me having a typical strip card with a single perfectly straight edge ending in damage would be worse than old rough edges all around.

I'm on Team No-Cut, even though strips like this might sell for more chopped into singles. The "Altered" designation likely pertains to a microtear that only affects the Vance, but the "AA" alone is enough to turn off a subset of collectors and keep the value down.

[nineunder71]

Great Cards Everyone, here’s two more, not fifty more, hehe

[nat]

I've got 4/5ths of a strip.

As for the OP's cards: I doubt that any of those will get above an A. The graders want the dashed lines to be visible all the way along the edge of the card (or, at least, those edges on which there were dashed lines to begin with).

[Prince Hal]

I very much enjoy the strip cards because they are often unique renderings and can be an inexpensive way to obtain stars and HOFers.

I like to have mine slabbed by SGC because I think they look great in the "tuxedos". I don't care what the grade is at all.

Enjoy collecting them, I do!

[EddieP]

Strip cards were a reflection of the art movement of the day. What Strip Cards were back then is what Topps Project 2020/ Topps Project70 is today.

[GeoPoto]

Player 119B: Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1932-1935. 117 wins and 13 saves in 12 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 1926-1932. His best season was 1927 with Chicago as he posted a 19-16 record with a 2.98 ERA in 307.2 innings pitched. He finished his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1937.

Thomas' SABR biography talks to his injury-prone career in Washington: Thomas was still having arm problems during the summer of 1932 but still managed to win games on three consecutive days for the Senators in the middle of July. The first two victories were in relief, and on July 16th he threw a five-hit shutout against the St. Louis Browns. At the end of the season, he had surgery to remove a growth in his pitching arm and to relieve what was reported in the newspapers to be a locked elbow. The numerous innings that Tommy pitched during his early days on the mound contributed heavily to the myriad of injuries and maladies he struggled with later in life.

Tommy was a decent pitcher for Washington over the next few years, but the harsh reality was that his arm was never the same after the 1932 operation. The Senators captured the American League pennant in 1933 but lost out to the New York Giants in the Fall Classic. Thomas, playing in his first and only World Series, made two brief relief appearances, allowing one hit in a little over an inning of work.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1701165927
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1701165930
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1701165934

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by GeoPoto

Player 119B: Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1932-1935. 117 wins and 13 saves in 12 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 1926-1932. His best season was 1927 with Chicago as he posted a 19-16 record with a 2.98 ERA in 307.2 innings pitched. He finished his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1937.

Thomas' SABR biography talks to his injury-prone career in Washington: Thomas was still having arm problems during the summer of 1932 but still managed to win games on three consecutive days for the Senators in the middle of July. The first two victories were in relief, and on July 16th he threw a five-hit shutout against the St. Louis Browns. At the end of the season, he had surgery to remove a growth in his pitching arm and to relieve what was reported in the newspapers to be a locked elbow. The numerous innings that Tommy pitched during his early days on the mound contributed heavily to the myriad of injuries and maladies he struggled with later in life.

Tommy was a decent pitcher for Washington over the next few years, but the harsh reality was that his arm was never the same after the 1932 operation. The Senators captured the American League pennant in 1933 but lost out to the New York Giants in the Fall Classic. Thomas, playing in his first and only World Series, made two brief relief appearances, allowing one hit in a little over an inning of work.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1701165927
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1701165930
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1701165934

Is there a strip card connection that I am missing here?

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

While I typically don't care for most strip cards due to the artwork, as some others mentioned, strip cards with photos are actually kind of cool.

I particularly like the W517 cards....large format with good pictures. And although prices have gone up recently (just like everything) still affordable enough to collect for now. Here are a handful of mine:

w5171.jpg

w5172.jpg

[gunboat82]

Originally Posted by thatkidfromjerrymaguire

While I typically don't care for most strip cards due to the artwork, as some others mentioned, strip cards with photos are actually kind of cool.

I particularly like the W517 cards....large format with good pictures. And although prices have gone up recently (just like everything) still affordable enough to collect for now. Here are a handful of mine:

I'm with you on that. I think the W517 Ruth is my favorite of the bunch.

[Exhibitman]

I like the W516s. Remind me of pop art.