M101-2 Supplements in Memory Lane

[the-illini]

Those signed supplements look great - I am surprised that they could even be signed without damaging them, given their fragility

[nolemmings]

Those are beautiful signed m101-2s. I have no objection to Beckett's grading on these, but their slabs, at least in the past (maybe they have improved) are awful. Here is an example of what I mentioned earlier--notice how wavy the sides of the premium look as it won't sit flat. Also, for those of us old enough to remember, the thickness is akin to three 33 1/3 LP record albums. Imagine how bulky that would be if you wanted to store most or all of the set, when a three-ring binder would do the trick and look nicer too.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Those are beautiful signed m101-2s. I have no objection to Beckett's grading on these, but their slabs, at least in the past (maybe they have improved) are awful. Here is an example of what I mentioned earlier--notice how wavy the sides of the premium look as it won't sit flat. Also, for those of us old enough to remember, the thickness is akin to three 33 1/3 LP record albums. Imagine how bulky that would be if you wanted to store most or all of the set, when a three-ring binder would do the trick and look nicer too.

Thick is for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if you could drive a car over those without damaging them.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Those are beautiful signed m101-2s. I have no objection to Beckett's grading on these, but their slabs, at least in the past (maybe they have improved) are awful. Here is an example of what I mentioned earlier--notice how wavy the sides of the premium look as it won't sit flat. Also, for those of us old enough to remember, the thickness is akin to three 33 1/3 LP record albums. Imagine how bulky that would be if you wanted to store most or all of the set, when a three-ring binder would do the trick and look nicer too.

They upgraded the holders a couple of years ago, and are now much thinner. Not much room to get "warped" so to speak.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by the-illini

Those signed supplements look great - I am surprised that they could even be signed without damaging them, given their fragility

They weren't 110 years old when they were signed though. But you're right, I wouldn't necessarily want someone to try writing on one of them today.

[the-illini]

Originally Posted by BobC

They weren't 110 years old when they were signed though. But you're tight, I wouldn't necessarily want someone to try writing on one of them today.

Good point - I am sure they were much less fragile 50-60 years ago. It is amazing how many survived in decent condition.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by the-illini

Good point - I am sure they were much less fragile 50-60 years ago. It is amazing how many survived in decent condition.

Yeah, there seems to be a lot more of these out there than you would have thought survived all these years. The paper on some of the ones you come across are actually still in pretty decent shape and probably not much different than when they were originally issued. You probably could still safely write on some of them today if you really wanted. I think the trick there is how they were stored over all these years and what kind of heat and humidity they were subjected to.

Also seems like 10-20 years ago you would see a lot more of them for sale than you do now though. Could just be me, but I wouldn't be too surprised if a lot of these are sitting in private collections now. Great pieces, great images, and pretty much every star of the day in this one set. Plus they are 8" X 10"s so you get a really good, detailed look at these players that you usually only see drawings of on smaller sized cards.

My guess is that them being flat and thin actually helped them to survive. Figured people just stuck them in a drawer or an album, and then forgot about them. Cards are smaller in overall size, but thicker and maybe more difficult to stash in a drawer or stack and put away safely. They didn't have top loaders and binder pages like we do today to store our cards.

One thing I always thought would make a really great framed display was if you could find a nice copy of one of these old Sporting News issues, and put it alongside the M101-2 supplement that was originally issued with it. Never seen anyone try that before. Might have to look into that now............