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JulieThe pirate-like gentleman in the colored disk is Victor Starffin, a great Russian pitcher (lifetime 2.09, w 303, l 176)--all in Japan, between 1936 and 1955, with time off for incarceration in a detention camp during WW2, after which he resumed his very successful career. This is a "menko" ("round face") card, mostly used in children's games, and was made fairly late in his career, though menkos were known in the early '40s. bGary Engel's auction.
The Mayo Ewing you may recognize from Barry Sloate's auction--the one which sold for 1900 in November, and then was declared to be "touched=up by PSA. By golly, Barry thinks it IS touched up! The upper right hand corner, although worn like the other three, is black on BOTH LEVELS of the card while you can see white on the other three corners. It doesn't shine or anything, and was probably done many years ago. Got it 1K cheper--and the image is gorgeous (back is normal black Mayo back).
