1949 Bowman "Blank Backs"????
 

Yesterday at our monthly card show I say hi to my dealer friend Mike who is still setting up, and he tells me he brought a "special box" that I might want to look at. Mike is a great guy and knows his stuff, but I rarely buy cards from him because his cards are in mostly nicer condition and priced accordingly. The "special box" included several 1963 Bazooka All Time greats (I did not buy), ten 1961 Golden Press cards including two Babe Ruths (I did buy these), a 1935 Goudy card I needed for my set (which I bought), and some "blank backed" 1949 baseball cards which he says are legit. There was also a reprint of some Caramel card:rolleyes:
I break out my magnifying glass (I left my loupe in the car!!!!) and the cards look and feel real. I did a quick google search, and find a story that SGC had recently slabbed some 1949 Bowman blank back cards that were going off to auction. Mike gave me a “money-back” guarantee that they are real, and I bought them for $5 each. There are twelve cards total, all but two have names on the front, so I have determined which cards I have these numbers 75 91 146 149 159 166 167 169 178 199 200 212 all commons. Back in my car, under the loupe they look legit.
When I got home I compared the cards to those in my set and they are the same except Myron “Mike” McCormick the card in my set background is more of a mustard color. These do have the appearance of being “hand cut”. They look, feel, and smell real LOL! Some of the back cardboard is more of a grey some is more of a brown I think you can see this in the scan. Under the loupe, on some of the edges, you can see where the thin white paper of the card front ends, and you see a tiny sliver of just cardboard, you can see this on the left and lower edge of the Cecil "Tex" Hughson card. Also notice the top right edge of the Jeff Heath card where part of the thin white card front is torn but the cardboard underneath is perfect. Almost like the fronts were printed on thin paper, glued to the cardboard, and then hand-cut. LOL they sound fake! But I trust this dealer very much and he assured me a money back guarantee if not legit. Under the loupe the printing is an exact match with the cards in my set.
When I look at the thickness of the cards using the loupe, you can see the different paper from the card front attached to the cardboard, but I see the same thing on the cards in my set. The thickness of these "blank-backs" and the cards in my set appear to be the same.
Looking for feedback on these cards, and thanks
Larry
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1949
 

Neat pick up Larry, and for $5 bucks you could hardly go wrong. If Mike felt they were real proofs or error cards I am surprised he would let them go for that price, even though some are a little beat up. If SGC has stabbed some maybe you can send one into them and see what they do with it. If the real deal I think you got a nice bargain.... and a money back guarantee too :)

Thanks for the feedback Al. I'm getting a group of T205s ready to send to SGC and I think I will include one or two of these. I may call SGC before I mail them off. I'll report back here.
Larry

Update: I submitted two of the "blank-backs" (Boris Martin and Jeff Heath) along with my regular order of 19 different T205 cards to SGC, and my order was accepted on 9/10. Just a few minutes ago I got an email from SGC advising me that my return order had shipped, and the grading results were available for viewing.
Both "blank-back" 1949 Bowmans received the grade ALTERED

I'm not exactly sure what this means, but I assume it's not good:D
And I also assume the cards were not slabbed?
Larry

Maybe because they appear to be hand cut? I know very little about grading companies in general, but the backs don't look to be stripped of any layers to me, so the only other explanation I would think to offer is that they were not professionally or factory cut.

Thanks for the response Curt. On the SGC submission form, I did authorize SGC to:

"encapsulate any trimmed or color enhanced card (that is authentic) with the A designation"

SGC provided tracking says my order should arrive Wednesday, so I don't have to wait long!

Larry

I'm a big fan of blank backs. I'm working on a run of one from each set 1948-1979. I agree that they don't look like the back has "peeled" like many "blank backs" I've run into. The fronts look like they might have been exposed to something.( light, moisture, smoke)
I am far from an expert. Do you think they might have been hand cut from some sort of trade or advertising piece?

Edited to add: Am I remembering this wrong or are there a lot of hand cut 49 PCL Bowmans?

SGC shipment arrived today, and the cards are "re-backed". I guess this means the card fronts are real, "skinned" off original 1949 Bowmans, and then glued onto some plain cardboard. Maybe the backs were damaged and the previous owner wanted to improve how they looked. Maybe the previous owner wanted to try to pass them off as "blank-backed" cards. Oh well it was a learning experience and I am out $14 grading fees after I get my refund.
Larry
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