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Joe_G.Cincy, great team to collect.
Unless you have some 1890 Old Judge cards (NL vs PL rarities), all your Cincy Old Judges are 1888 & 1889 American Association cards. Cincy joined the NL in 1890 and there are a couple 1890 NL Cincy cards. The reason you find no 1887 cards stems from the fact that Goodwin and Company focussed the 1887 issue on the 8 National League Teams and Brooklyn of the American Association. Two additional American Association teams are represented in 1886/1887; the 13 card Browns Champs subset & the NY Mets "spotted ties". It wasn't until 1888 that Goodwin & Co. expanded to the other American Association Teams.
Are you ready to be humbled?? If you reference the Cartophilic Listing, you'll find 21 different players for a total of 93 different Cincinnati Old Judges. There was also an error card that shows Lady Baldwin playing for Cincinnati in 1889, I didn't include this card in the above totals. It was likely a mix-up with Kid Baldwin who did play for Cincy and was issued several cards as such.
It is interesting to note that none of the Cincinnati cards were previously issued in 1887 with other teams.
Gypsy Queen was an 1887 issue and can explain the lack of Cincy cards. N284s were also very light on American Association representation, no Cincy cards there.
Best Regards,
Joe Gonsowski