1921-22 W575-1 Walter Johnson

[ninjaonesix]

Hello all. I wanted to see if I can get some clarification on this card I'm interested in purchasing. I've done a good bit of research so far on here, and other boards, and I feel like I'm getting some conflicting information on cards from this era. So I'm hoping the experts on here can set the record straight. I'm basically wanting to know if this Walter Johnson is a 1921-22 W575-1.
The back of the card is blank, except for a previous owner who wrote their name on the back. With that name on the back, how much does it generally impact the desire for cards from this era?

This would be my first 1920s card for my PC, so I'm pretty excited about potentially having it.

First post, so please forgive me if I've not done something correctly.

[oldeboo]

It indeed appears to be a W575-1. Here is a pretty good write up if you're interested in learning about the W575-1 cards(and others):

https://prewarcards.com/2016/10/05/1...trip-card-set/

W575-1 cards are similar to the E121 series and a few others. The main difference being the W575-1 are considered a strip card with a blank back. Here is some info on the E121 cards for comparison:

https://prewarcards.com/2016/10/03/1...n-caramel-set/

Here are a couple more links to dig around from the grading companies that show population reports and such:
https://www.psacard.com/cardfacts/ba...22-w575-1/6113
https://gosgc.com/pop-report/result/...575-1/Baseball

Handwriting on a card typically makes a card less desirable, but also more affordable. In some cases with rare cards it's hard to be overly fussy. For many, any Walter Johnson card is a good Walter Johnson card. As far as determining a fair price, that's up to you as a buyer. Maybe others will chime in on that.

[Leon]

I don't think writing on the back of a blank back card, in that condition, hurts value much. Nice card and good luck with it. I like W575-1s

btw, the Johnson above, imo, is not hand cut as the flip says...

[ninjaonesix]

Thanks for the feedback on this card, and other information y'all provided, Oldeboo and Leon. Those links are great Oldeboo.

I certainly won't be paying for the price shown, I already have the price well below asking. And the writing on back doesn't bother me, in some ways it adds a story to the card, for me.

Leon, thanks for the info on it not being hand cut. How is it easy to identify if it's hand cut or not with these cards? I imagine dimensions are one determination, but curious of the others.

[ValKehl]

I don't mind a card that has writing on an otherwise blank back, especially when I'm able to obtain an otherwise nice card at a reduced price.

To the OP and anyone else who is interested, IMHO, the best source of info re the W575-1, E121, and related cards is the Old Cardboard article written by Rhett Yeakley, Net54's resident authority on these card issues. This article appears in the Fall 2011 - Issue #26 of OC Magazine (https://oldcardboard.com/ref/BBC-ind...il.asp?id=1269). Unfortunately, the OC magazine articles are not available online, however, a back issue of this magazine issue can be ordered from OC's website.

Re the W575-1 cards, Rhett states in his OC article that "A common misconception is that these cards were 'strip cards,' but this is untrue, and the vast majority (over 95%) were factory cut and produced as an insert with a product. Essentially, these cards are blank backed E121 cards. The vast majority of these cards are found with blank backs, however they are sometimes found with a company name rubber stamped on back."

I have seen instances where TPGs have misidentified W501-2 cards as W575-1 cards. W501 cards were produced in vertical strips or rolls, hence the top and/or bottom border is very often a rough or slanted cut. The W501-2 cards do not have "G-4-22" and a card # printed at the top border like the W501-1 cards do, which is why the W501-2 cards are sometimes mistaken for W575-1 cards.

[Tyruscobb]

A few early legendary collectors wrote their name on the card’s back, or wrote the collector’s name that traded them that card on the back. Sometimes this information is denoted on the flip (a graded card’s label) and can make the card more valuable.

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by Tyruscobb

A few early legendary collectors wrote their name on the card’s back, or wrote the collector’s name that traded them that card on the back. Sometimes this information is denoted on the flip (a graded card’s label) and can make the card more valuable.

Some early collectors wrote even more, such as on the back of my W575-1 card of Sam Rice:

[rhettyeakley]

Originally Posted by ninjaonesix

Hello all. I wanted to see if I can get some clarification on this card I'm interested in purchasing. I've done a good bit of research so far on here, and other boards, and I feel like I'm getting some conflicting information on cards from this era. So I'm hoping the experts on here can set the record straight. I'm basically wanting to know if this Walter Johnson is a 1921-22 W575-1.
The back of the card is blank, except for a previous owner who wrote their name on the back. With that name on the back, how much does it generally impact the desire for cards from this era?

This would be my first 1920s card for my PC, so I'm pretty excited about potentially having it.

First post, so please forgive me if I've not done something correctly.

Looks like a nice example of a W575-1 Walter Johnson. Not a bad card for the given grade. If you can strike a good deal on the card it is hard to go wrong with a tier 1 Hall of Famer.

[ninjaonesix]

I agree it's hard to go wrong with a legend like this. For those interested, here's the writing on the back. I'm pretty sure the name is "William McCormick". In a lot of ways, it makes the mystery of all the hands this card has passed through during it's lifetime more intriguing.

[rhettyeakley]

That back on a normally blank backed card would not bother me in any way. I used to be a bit of a stickler for writing on cards when I first started collecting but once I began collecting Zeenut cards I was cured of that quickly as they are blank backed and for whatever reason the original collectors of those cards really enjoyed writing on the backs of the cards and are often found that way. All that being said I still hate any writing on the front of cards!