[Michael Peich]

Thanks for starting this thread, Patrick. I'll weigh in with one more example of an OM cabinet. I agree with Barry, John, and Leon--I think the OM cabinets are much scarcer. That being said, John's Obak cabinets are gorgeous, especially the Weaver, which I have had the privilege of examining.

John's point on variations is interesting and can be traced, perhaps, to different poses being taken for the same player. I am fairly certain that photographers took multiple photos of each minor league player, and then sold their photos to the cigarette manufacturers: Old Mill, Red Sun, Contentnea, etc. (See the T209-II article that I wrote with Tim Newcomb in the latest Old Cardboard) The result is that a photo of a player in one set might have an almost imperceptible visual difference from another photo of the same player in a different set. There could even be alterations to the same photo. I have included my OM cabinet of Simmons along with the T209-II and T210-7 versions of Simmons. In each card the same photo is reproduced. Upon closer inspection you'll see that the ball in the T209 version lays on the ground, outside his glove (I think the original placement), while the OM and 210-7 show the ball in his glove. Moving the ball could have been achieved with a crude version of alteration, i.e., physically moving the ball in the photo--the ball looks fake in both the OM and 210-7. My point is that the differences are often slight, but, I am certain, go back to different, but similar photos being used, and in some cases altering the original photo. Enjoy.

Cheers,
Mike