E98s are an awesome set to collect. I love the vibrant colors and the great sepia tone like images of the players. I echo the thoughts of other experienced/advanced collectors on this site like Rob A. and Bob M. in that a Master Set is possible, yet difficult and tough on the wallet. I have owned as many as 55, almost 2 complete sets, at one time, but am currently down to just a handful. Like many others, I started with great intentions to build a master set, yet for whatever reason, money-patience-boredom, I gave up. Maybe I'll try again someday, maybe not.
Oddly enough, in my experience I found that RED background cards were the easiest for me to find and purchase. My collection was pretty well balanced with the number of Red, Blue, and Orange background cards. It was the GREEN background that I owned the fewest of by far.
To me, Mack and Walsh are the hardest Hall of Famers to find. In the commons I found that Vaughn and Coombs are tough (Although like Bob, I have seen more of these for sale lately). The Tenney always seems to be tough and a McLean in Vg or above is extremely hard to find in my opinion.
As for the Old Put Stamp Back, I wish I knew the story behind those. I have tried to do research on Old Put Cigars and always seem to run into dead ends with no real results. I do agree with the theory that they were probably stamped by a person at their business for advertising purposes and didn't come from a factory stamped. The only problem that I see that throws a wrench into this theory is that all but 1(Leon owns a Blue Clarke, and I believe I read that someone else has seen another Blue backed player with the stamp too. Can anyone confirm that sighting?) of the E98s with an Old Put Stamp have the RED background. Could it be possible that a store owner had a stack of all but 1 or a few E98s that ONLY had a RED BACKGROUND? And NO duplicates for that matter, because of the Old Puts known, there is supposedly only 1 known of each! Who really knows for sure?
***What I would like to know about OLD PUT backed E98s is an accurate registry/inventory of all that exist. On the SGC registry there is a place for Old Puts. It has 1 card a CHANCE. Does someone on the board own that card? Does anyone on the board own an E98 with an Old Put stamp that they are willing to post/ confirm (player and background color please). I do know that Leon owns a Blue Clarke and the Red Bresnahan. (Leon, if you are ever interested in selling, let me know
.) I own the WAGNER SGC 20, the COLLINS PSA 2, the BROWN SGC 30, the YOUNG SGC 30, the MCGRAW SGC 30, and the COBB SGC 40 (Recently purchased through REA, hence the selling of much of my current E98 set on the BST!) Years back, I saw a Meyers Old Put back for sale in a Festberg auction.
If anyone has one, let's see if we can get an accurate checklist of all the Old Puts that exist!
Interesting and entertaining thread!