Anyone here collect 1887 Old Judge baseball cards?

[jcmtiger]

Originally Posted by Joe_G.

I'm one of several who collect only Detroit but enjoy studying the whole set. Collecting by team can be very rewarding. You can start going after a single example of every player and then extend that to all the poses if you're up for the challenge that may very well last a lifetime. Some teams and subsets are easy than others. As an example, the 1887 Detroit cards are easiest, 1888 are most difficult, and 1889 somewhere in-between.

Des Moines would be a tough team set, particularly the players who only have 1888 cards. There are other subsets to consider including Browns Champs, HOFers, particular year or type such as Script or numbered, pose types (2-player, sliding, portraits, horizontals), one from each team in particular League/Association, and the ever popular team subset. The set is loaded with so much history. Hope you enjoy the book when it arrives, it will give you a good idea of what the set has to offer.

One potential subset was just discussed over the past weekend but is probably a couple pages buried by now. It was a discussion on 1889 International Association cards. You might want to check that out as well.

Joe M., keep your focus, the last two cards will surface. If you want to know the players on the 1887 Championship team who weren't introduced to the set until a later year with another team, they are as follows:

Ed Beatin
Charlie Bennett
Fred Dunlap
Henry Gruber
Jimmy Manning
Bill Shindle
Sy Sutcliffe (only played in World Championship)

Between them, they have 38 poses for which I still need a handful. This subset is actually larger than the 1887 Detroit run of 28 cards.

Hi Joe, yes I have those players on my list. Of course I got them from you in previous correspondence. 38 poses is a lot, maybe I will pick up 1 of each.

And the International Association cards are still on my list too. Have 2 right now , Campau and Goodfellow.

joe

[slidekellyslide]

I was collecting the Omaha team for a few years. There are some near impossibles in that subset though and I gave up.

[Zone91]

How do you know for what team the player plays for there is no information on the cards?

[RCMcKenzie]

I have always tried to buy the cards I liked. I have 2 -4 cards of some players, but mostly I buy what I can when I can. Mostly when I see a card I really want, I lose the auction by a mile, but sometimes I win a few.

Follow the cards for a few months at auction and when you see a card that you like that has not shown up before, then try to buy it. Some cards like California Brown are as easy as a T206 superprint, others almost never surface. Another great reference book for the n172 and similar sets is Lew Lipset's The Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards which you can find in paperback on ebay etc. Good Luck...
ojmcgeachy038.jpg

[Zone91]

RCMcKenzie's:

Nice cards!!! I will take my time for sure.

[E93]

N172s are addictive. I started with just a few examples and now have nearly 150 different....and I feel like a beginner compared with many board members here. There are lots of ways to do it and many subsets. Browns Champions are a cool subset. I mostly just collect the ones I like.
JimB

[triwak]

I never get tired of seeing that Comiskey of yours, Jim!! Fantastic card!