W517 unnumbered variations- So now there are two?

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

Paul, when a guy fails to explain himself properly, he creates ignorance regarding the point he is trying to get across. Please allow me to be less lazy and set some groundwork.

w517 cards which were used in the Champion Draw application cited above, when found with the Champion Draw box, always (in my experience) contained strips with identical (to each other) positioning of the players cards on each strip.

For example the following strips are associated with Champion Draw t-b: 45/51/16, 46/6/44, 47/4/30, etc.

Looking at the last one: 47/4/30 - this indicates that card #47 is in the top position on the Champion Draw strip. However, Rhett's card is a bottom position Goslin. (I betcha those ten year olds from the candy store are rolling with laughter around now) What this means to me is this: previously there was no divergence from the standard Champion Draw sheet printing matrix. Now there is.

All other incidences of printing set up differences previously encountered had been dismissed as "well, maybe there was an application for these cards other than Champion Draw". But Rhett's card is a Champion Draw card, evidenced by the red stripe on the back.

So what? You might ask. Well, Im a bit of a nut, for one. But to me, I don't believe that a printer once set up to produce sheets of cards in a specific order would voluntarilly change that set up. Therefore, I conclude that Rhett's card was produced by a different printer, with a different set up, producing cards for the Champion Draw application.

So what? You might ask. Well, if that second printer produced Rhett's card, he probably produced others as well. Maybe he even produced all others - and there are a lot of strips which do not match the Champion Draw/printer #1 matrix. Possibly in conjunction with other printers with different sheet set ups.

So what? You might ask. Well, if all w517s were produced for a single end product application, then those who believe that the set should be named Champion Draw, and should be classified as an e-card; have a new significant piece of ammunition in their arsenal. I was of the school that the different w517 sheet set ups were attributable to different printers producing cards for applications other than Champion Draw. And while I am not abandoning that posture, my case has been severely weakened. But I really don't care - I have no vested interest either way.

Gee, I hope this rambling is clear. If not, please let me know.

Edited to add: Well I guess that I answered a question which you did not ask. You were interested in Frank's card, not Rhett's.

There is no clear definition which I am aware of which specifies exactly what the baseball related terms which appear on some cards actually refer to. However, one source has indicated that these cards were used to play a game called "Legends of the Game". How the game was played and whether this information is correct - I do not know.