E121 (SERIES OF 80) Welcomes "Again" Mr. Alexander Gaston - E121 Holy Grail?

[rhettyeakley]

We have had several discussions on this board about the E121 Series of 80 set over the past few years and what actually makes a complete "set" of these cards. We know that there were at least 5 printings as evidenced by there being 4 different backs with there also being variations within the most common Type 1 back.

We have had discussions about who does and doesn't exist and the list just got larger... actually it is having a player that had been stripped from the set restored to the list. We welcome back Mr. Alexander Gaston.

Here are the earlier threads where we discussed this...
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...e121+confirmed
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...e121+confirmed

Here is the Gaston card (I'm sorry my scanner isn't great with the thick SGC slabs)...


Those that care about the minutiae... the card follows the pattern of the tough to find New York players that were produced only with either a (more commonly) Type 2 back but if they are found without that back they will be found only with the Type 3 back. Gaston above exhibits the tough to find Type 3 back. Was he produced with the Type 2 back? Maybe, but it is odd that while the type 2 back is easier than Type 3 the card is only known with the 3. It is possible (although certainly not proven) that Gaston and possibly the recently re-discovered Tom Rogers cards were found exhibiting only the Type 3 back.

That begs the question, Are there more New York players to be found? My guess would be possibly yes-- IMO the most likely to be found are Lou Devormer and Ross Youngs (his position would be R.F. on front). These are the only players not yet found in E121 Series of 80 that were part of the Koester's promotion that were then also produced as E121 Series of 120 cards (That list was 4 cards until recent months...Gaston, Rogers, Devormer, and Youngs). Although very highly unlikely it does hold the possibility alive that there could be a Jesse Burkett E121 Series of 80 card to be found some day!

Anyways, I may one of the very few that get excited about this kind of stuff when it doesn't have to do with the T206 set but I thought the collecting community would like to know.

-Rhett

[kmac32]

Great find Rhett

[cdn_collector]

While I wouldn't consider myself 'excited' about this discovery, I do find it interesting. The E121 issue is one I know very little about, but find stunning every time I see an example from the set. Case in point, that Gaston card.

Keeping consistent with my lack of knowledge about this set, I had no idea there was any debate about what constitutes a full set. Thanks for posting this info, and teaching me something new.


Regards.

Richard.

[old-baseball]

Rhett - Congrats on the card! As you know, I'm one of the handful that really care about this set and it's an abosolute joy to see this card confirmed. No more speculation.

Now I just have to find one!

Great Rhett. Thanks for putting that Toney no trees up in the BIN on ebay I had been looking for that forever.

Tony

[Mark]

Great find, Rhett. I thought that this card was just a myth.

[Jaybird]

Impressive, Rhett. Congratulations. Always a major deal to find a card like this that was previously thought to exist but not confirmed.

[sox1903wschamp]

Nice job Rhett. I hope others are discovered.

[edhans]

Great find, Rhett. If you haven't done so already, you should consider compiling a "super sheet" of the E121/E122 related issues. Would be a terrific resource.

[Matt]

I think it is fantastic that you can make a true hobby discovery at this point, with the amount of research and information readily available. Congrats!

Now for some economics - if Heritage can invent the scarcity of a Green Harrington's card and command thousands for a card that is as scarce as any other in the set which is needed to complete a set almost no one collects, what must this card be worth?

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

Anyways, I may one of the very few that get excited about this kind of stuff when it doesn't have to do with the T206 set but I thought the collecting community would like to know.

-Rhett

Great find, Rhett. Very exciting, but please go find a new T206 to supplement this find!

[sreader3]

Wow Rhett. This is a major find. Thanks for sharing the card--and also your theory on the other "missing" E121-80 New Yorkers. I second Ed's comments about an E121 superset spreadsheet. That would be an invaluable resource.

Scot

[rhettyeakley]

Scot and Ed, I didn't see your responses before the thread was relegated to "Page 2" status.

I actually HAVE been keeping track on a spreadsheet for the past few years on all cards in these sets on a "super-set" spreadsheet. I would estimate that I have cataloged somewhere around 1000-1200 different front/back combinations at this point and currently own roughly 450-500 different so I am actully making some pretty interesting discoveries about them as I go along. This spreadsheet actually helped to cement some theories I had as I was writing the article. Also, with these sets it seems like every time I answer one question another comes out of left field. There are some really wierd anomaly cards in the different sets and many, many more questions to be answered... maybe they will be by the time I die (and I'm not an old man yet).

-Rhett

[brianp-beme]

A late congratulations Rhett on identifying the Gaston E-121 series of 80 card...when I have a chance I will update the thread that listed the previously catalogued but still unverified cards. If I remember correctly this was one of the cards that one of our members here insisted he had never seen. Keep up the good work!

Brian