Cuban "Polar" Cards

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Posted By: Ryan Christoff

Has anyone considered the possibility that these were indeed printed on authentic, old stock paper? I'm saying, and have thought from the beginning, that these were made recently, not 1957 or 1960, but recently, ON OLD PAPER.

Is someone now saying that because Mike's experts date the paper to be from 1957 to 1960 that these are legit cards? I don't think that's was Mike is saying. He's just reporting to us the findings of his research.

Since my September post I have held one of these cards in my hands and agree that the text on the back was printed, not stamped on. I do still believe that this is not a real issue and was not produced by Polar.

I also find it interesting, Mike, that in all your research you never noticed anything similar about every one of the photographs used. Is there anything you found out in your research about the images, themselves? How about this: Every one of the photos used is a George Burke photo. All of them.

Someone on this board must collect George Burke photos and be an expert in all things George Burke. If not, with all the lawyers on this board it would be easy enough for someone to find out who has the rights to the photos and contact them to see if they ever gave permission to Polar to use their images on baseball cards. Certainly a company as large as Polar (which still exists, by the way) would not have stolen the images and produced cards without legal consent.

Anyone looking to convince themselves that these are legit cards, just contact the Burke estate and Polar Brewery and show us the documentation you find. I'll be shocked and amazed, but I'm perfectly willing to eat crow and publicly declare I was wrong if I was wrong.

-Ryan