Most overrated pre-war card?

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by rats60

There's no subjectivity. The t206 is the most important. It was the first largely distributed baseball card set. It's followed by the 33 Goudey set, the first bubble gum cards. Then the 52 Topps set as Topps first major issue. Each owes its existence in part to those that came before it. Those 3 sets are the backbone of the hobby.

Ruth's first card is the Baltimore News. The M101-4 is just another card. It's not a rookie card. It wasn't nationally distributed. It wasn't sold in any package. You can't buy a pack of M101-4 cards. It wasn't a "normal" issue like t206 where you could buy a pack a cigarettes and get a Wagner or Cracker Jack/ E-cards that came with candy. The Wagner is extremely scarce within its set. The Ruth is a common card. Any post WW2 card with the same characteristics as the Ruth would be ignored by the hobby.

The Wagner never broke out. It has always been the card to have. The first catalog of baseball cards recognized it as the most valuable card and it has been so since. The problem with the M101-4 Ruth is that for most of its history it was irrelevant to the hobby. It was a common card in an obscure set. A some point, someone got the idea to hype this "fake rookie" as the Ruth card to have. All it took was two people buying into the hype to drive the price up and the hype snow balled. It is the definition of overhyped.

1. There is much subjectivity.
2. N172 was the first largely distributed baseball card set.
3. "Scrapps" are the first bubble gum baseball cards.

Anyone care to fact-check paragraphs 2 and 3?

[1963Topps Set]

See, I just learned something. I honestly thought pre - war cards was before WW2 (1941)

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by 1963Topps Set

See, I just learned something. I honestly thought pre - war cards was before WW2 (1941)

Well maybe this is just me?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

Well maybe this is just me?

I have always thought of Pre-War to mean Pre-1945 but then again, I don't always follow too well. And the 1912 Zeenut Halla is a bit over hyped to me. (and I own one, top left)

[AndrewJerome]

Hey Scott,

Well, you asked for it!

Andrew

[ullmandds]

i rescind...i misspoke...I also agree prewar should be construed as pre 45...or 41...so then the goudeys can stay...but the 52 topps most certainly cannot! There can'r be many 45' issues out there?

[oldjudge]

Todd--this whole "rookie" card thing is dealer contrived to make some extra money. The M101 Ruth never had the reputation it has had in the last ten years. It was a Ruth card, but an ugly, common one. The Boston Store/Collins McCarthy from that period was always the preferred card. The funniest thing is when some unscrupulous auctioneers hype the blank back Ruth's as the first of the M101 group. Most likely these were just unsold sheets that were later cut up.

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by 1963Topps Set

I honestly thought pre - war cards was before WW2 (1941)

And I thought we were only supposed to collect cards from 1860, 1897, 1913, 1938, or 1949.

Seriously though, you were correct. The generally accepted meaning is that it includes all cards issued prior to the U.S. entry into WWII -- 1941 Play Ball being the last major pre-war set.

[RGold]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

1. There is much subjectivity.
2. N172 was the first largely distributed baseball card set.
3. "Scrapps" are the first bubble gum baseball cards.

Anyone care to fact-check paragraphs 2 and 3?

Shelby Gum Company is known as the originator of bubblegum. One of their laboratory employees, while trying to come up with a preservative to extend the shelf life of gum, accidentally came up with bubblegum.

During the 1930's, Shelby Gum Company issued several sets of trading cards. Hollywood Picture Stars was the most popular set, and was reprinted several times.

Gum has been around since ancient times. Many attempts to make bubblegum starting in the late 1800s were not successful and the results not marketable until Shelby Gum Company in the mid 1920s.

The 1933 Goudey Indian Gum set was followed by the Goudey Baseball set that same year, and is given credit for being the first major baseball cards issued with bubblegum.

For you youngsters, Joan Blondell, real name Rosebud Blondell, was a former Miss Dallas and runner-up in the 1926 Miss America Pageant. You might remember her as the diner waitress in Grease.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Ron that card is overrated.