T209 ??

[Gradedcardman]

I am not familiar with T209. These four have no name on the front. What do I possibly have ?

[Webster]

That's Hoffman, Walsh, Crowell and Gilmore from the T209 Color Set.

Could be cut from advertisement or (less likely) some type of proof, but I am not aware of either. Mike Peich is the expert here.

Do you have an opinion as to whether they are actually "old"?

[wayne97]

what do the backs look like --scan of the back?

[Pat R]

It looks like there's a ghost image of another player in the upper left corner of the Cowell.

[Webster]

Ttt

[ccre]

I'm extremely interested to hear what these may actually be. I've never heard of or seen any proofs with this set. Does seem like it could be some form of advertising?

[Gradedcardman]

I’ll post the back with the ghost mentioned with the advertisement back.

[edjs]

Originally Posted by Gradedcardman

I am not familiar with T209. These four have no name on the front. What do I possibly have ?

I can’t say exactly what you have, but I would like to have one.

[Jobu]

These look like they might be the panels discussed here:

https://t209-contentnea.com/t209-con...-photo-series/

The borders on yours appear to be a bit thicker though.

[sb1]

Yes, they are part of the same group. I picked up those eight cards many years ago. They are now in the collection of a friend. six were part of the unissued series 2 color cards. These four new ones are all in the known first series. Would like to see the back for the slogan, as the ones I had just had parts of the lettering tops.

I am not sure who did the write up on the T209 site, but I did not. I do not think these were proofs but probably an advertising sheet at they are on very heavy card stock. I believe the text on the back will reveal the answer.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by edjs

i can’t say exactly what you have, but i would like to have one.

+1 lol

[Michael Peich]

I just read this thread since I’ve been away for a few days. The cards are interesting, and I appreciate Adam’s posting them for everyone to consider. A few thoughts come to mind although it’s all conjecture until we see scans of the backs.

The players have been correctly identified by Webster as Series One (color) Hoffman & Wilson (top row of scan) and Cowell & Gilmore (bottom row).

I think that these are proofs printed before the color run, and before the player’s name & team affiliation was added. There are some clues that suggest this.

1. The borders exist and they resemble the borders of Series One. They have been miscut but were probably done by hand. Even the shading of the b&w images is similar to the color version.

2. An interesting deletion is the missing stadium background in Hoffman’s Series One card. That image was added when the color run was made but is missing in Adam’s cards. Further, the name & team affiliation of all the cards is printed in blue ink and was also printed when the color run was completed.

3. Another visual element to consider is the placement of the image within the border of the finished color version. Each of Adam’s cards is in exactly the same position within the border as the finished version, further lending credence to the fact that these are proofs.

4. I’ve posted the only other one of these I’ve seen (not owned by me) the depicts Armstrong but as you can see the border was trimmed.

I think these cards were printed to make certain that the image was fine and not damaged before the final printing process was begun. They may have been used to help align the sheets so that the color runs would be in exactly the same position on each card.

Scott referenced the two b&w panels of four players that appeared several years ago (I wrote the description, Scott!) and here’s a link to my website that displays them (scroll to the end): https://t209-contentnea.com/t209-overview/ I am fairly certain these are not proofs for the stated reasons at the website. If they were proofs, there would be printed names & team affiliations instead of handwritten names. Similarly, if they were advertising pieces, they would also include printed names & team affiliations on the card so that a viewer would recognize the cards, a kind of visual branding. As I stated at the website, I think these may have been photographer sample sheets, kind of like a contact sheet, to show prospective clients. Apart from including Hoffman as one of the eight images (and notice the stadium in the background), these eight “cards” aren’t related to Adam’s.

Here is one of the overprints in my collection. It’s the Walsh card and has an overprint on the back of Booles.

I hope this helps and if I’ve erred, I welcome more clarifying discussion. In the meantime, Adam, show us scans of the backs!

Cheers,
Mike

[Pat R]

Just a thought but it's possible that they were some kind of salesman sample.

[Jason]

Amazing find and information provided here! I have said it before, Mike’s website is so well done and holds so much knowledge on the Contentnea brand. Adam, those are truly spectacular examples of the early origins of the set! Amazing!

[gabrinus]

+2 on what Ed said...no idea but they are cool...Jerry

[sb1]

I don't think they are proofs, just unfinished printing's the captions are in color, so they were never printed. Plus, with the back being printed with fronts, printers scrap as we would call it. And probably not related to the two strips of four in any way, as they have entirely different block lettering(Partial) on their backs.