Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
  eNews Issue #143 (March 2016)       www.oldcardboard.com


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Welcome to Old Cardboard, the most complete reference resource for information about collecting vintage baseball cards and related memorabilia.  More information about this eNewsletter and its companion website and magazine are found at the bottom of this page.

Contents:
1. Updated Auction and Show Calendar
2. Set Profile: 1948 R346 "Blue Tints"
3. Latest Additions to the OldCardboard.com Website
4. Preview of Old Cardboard Issue #33 (Spring 2016)
5. News Briefs (A Digest of Recent Hobby Happenings)



1. Updated Auction and Show Calendar

The following is a summary of vintage card events coming up in the next 30-45 days. For the most current listings on additional vintage card shows and auctions, see the Key Events Calendar on the Old Cardboard website.

Have an event that needs to be on the OC Calendar?
Email editor@oldcardboard.com.


OC eNewsletter Sponsor

March 2016

26Internet Brockelman Auctions (see website for details).
31Internet Bagger's Auctions (see website for details).

April 2016

6-7Phone/Internet Clean Sweep Auctions (see website for details).
7Phone/Internet Huggins & Scott Auctions (see website for details).
7Phone/Internet CollectAuctions.com Auction (see website for details).
8-10Chantilly, VA CSA Chantilly Show (see website for details).
9Phone/Internet RMY Auctions (see website for details).
13Phone/Internet Hunt Auctions (see website for details).
14Phone/Internet Sterling Sports Auctions (see website for details).
14Dallas, TX Heritage Auctions (Hi-Grade 1933 Goudey; see website for details).
15Austin, TX Old Cardboard Magazine Distribution of Issue #33 (OC website).
15-17Strongsville, OH Ohio Sports Collector Convention (see website for details).
16-17Long Island, NY Long Island (Hofstra) Show (see website for details).
28Phone/Internet Mile High Auction (see website for details).
23Phone/Internet SCP Auctions Spring Premier (see website for details).
27Internet Sports Card Link (see website for details).
28Phone/Internet Mile High Auction (see website for details).
30Phone/Internet Small Traditions Spring Premium Auction (see website for details).
30Phone/Internet Robert Edward Auctions (see website for details).
30Phone/Internet Goldin Auctions (see website for details).


2. Set Profile: 1948 R346 "Blue Tints"

Taking its name from the blue tint used in printing the cards, this 48-card 1948 set was assigned the designation R346 in the American Card Catalog. They might more appropriately have been designated with a "W" prefix, however, since they were originally produced and sold in vertical strips of eight cards each.

The numbered blank-backed cards are somewhat crudely printed on light brownish-yellow stock. The player's name and team are printed in the lower margin, also in blue ink. The card numbers are located in the lower right corner. All R346 cards have blank backs.

The set is skewed toward New York teams, with half of the set (24 players) identified as members of either the Giants, Yankees or Dodgers.

There are a number of errors and variations in the R346 set. One of the errors (perhaps better described as a "comedy of errors") is the mis-labeling of card number 23.

An example of card #23 is shown at left. The card is labeled "Harry" Majeski, despite the fact that Majeski's first name was "Henry" and most of his fans called him "Hank." All of this may seem a little irrelevant, however, given that the image of the player on the card is actually that of Randy Gumpert!

Variations in the "Blue-Tint" set include some cards (generally those with higher numbers) that are also found printed in black (rather than blue) ink. The images at right illustrate both the blue and the black-printed cards of Hall of Fame outfielder Enos Slaughter (card #34) .

It should also be noted that the last card in the set (card #48, Charlie Keller) is found both with and without the card number printed at the lower right corner. In addition, the team labeling is omitted on two cards in the set (card #29, Lou Gehrig, and #35 Hank Greenberg). Examples of both cards are shown below.

Other variations of note: (1) Card #2 (Leo Durocher) has variations showing him with either the Dodgers or the Giants; (2) Card #18 (Mel Ott) has variations showing him with the Giants and with no team identification.

Proof cards have been reported to have printing on the back indicating that the R346 player photos were taken by Al Weinstein of Brooklyn.

The issuer of the R346 set is currently unknown.

As noted, the series was classified as an "R" (Gum and Candy) set in the ACC. However, longtime collectors even today (nearly 70 years later) remember the cards being sold in strips of eight at dime and novelty stores of day, and not associated with the distribution of candy. Adding to the confusion in nomenclature, the cards are referenced as both "R346" and "W518" in the Sports Collectors Bible.

A Set Profile, Player Checklist and Gallery of Cards for the R346 set is provided on the Old Cardboard website.



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3. Latest Additions to the OldCardboard.com Website

We are continually expanding the Old Cardboard website with more set profiles, checklists and card galleries. Recent (past 30-40 days) additions include:

Set Galleries have been added for:
1888   N154   Duke Presidential Base Ball Club

Updating the website with checklists and full set galleries for additional vintage sets is an ongoing project, so check back often to check out the latest additions. There are now many thousands of card images on the website and the list continues to grow every month. We welcome and encourage feedback with checklist additions, images of cards missing from our galleries, error corrections and suggestions. Please send all feedback to editor@oldcardboard.com.

Beyond the above pages recently added to the Old Cardboard website, we continue to expand and refine our eBay Custom Search Links to make finding vintage baseball cards on eBay easier than ever. The results of these searches are continuously changing, so check back often to find the most recent eBay listings. Samples of a few of these custom searches are provided below. Hundreds more are provided on the Set Profile pages throughout the Old Cardboard website.

E1-Cards
E91 American Caramel
E92 Nadja/Croft's/Dockman
E93 Standard Caramel
E94 George Close Candy
E95 Philadelphia Caramel
E96 Philadelphia Caramel

E2-Cards
E120 Am. Caramel
E121 Am. Caramel
E122 Am. Caramel
E136/137 Zeenuts
E145 Cracker Jack
E254/270 Colgan's Chips

(more custom searches
by major card group)



4. Preview of Old Cardboard Issue #33 (Spring 2016)

Issue #33 (
Spring 2016) of Old Cardboard magazine is on its way to our printer and set to be distributed around the middle of April as scheduled. The issue contains a balance of articles about card sets from the nineteenth century through the early part of the twentieth.

The cover (shown at right) features Hall of Famer John Ward--derived from one of the 14 baseball player cards found in the massive nineteenth century N566 Newsboy Tobacco series of cabinet cards.

The issue includes in-depth articles featuring:

  • the 1895 N566 "Newsboy" cabinet cards
  • the story behind the T206 Chase "Holding Trophy" card
  • a centerfold view of the 1903 (first) World Series
  • a detailed analysis of the 1929 Kashin Publications set, and
  • a collection of Real Photo Postcards (RPPCs) documenting grass roots baseball in the early twentieth century

The above feature articles are in addition to the magazine's regular "Editor's Notebook" and "Collector's Dugout" sections as well as informative messages from our sponsors.

Lifetime subscriptions to the magazine can be ordered for only $20 on the Old Cardboard website at www.oldcardboard.com.. If you have not already subscribed, order yours today and your subscription will start with Issue #33.


5. News Briefs (A Digest of Recent Hobby Happenings)

N154 Presidential Base Ball Club Gallery."   As noted above, a Gallery of all known cards in the 1888 N1545 Duke Presidential Base Ball Club set have been added to the Old Cardboard website. Images for the final two cards needed to complete the gallery were recently supplied courtesy of collector Frank Keetz, a longtime collector of the set. There are now a total of 23 known cards that make up the series.

Plan Now for the "National."   If you have been thinking about attending this year's National Sports Collectors Convention to be held August 3-7 in Atlantic City, now would be a good time to make your reservation. The conference hotels are filling up fast. See the The National convention website for more details. We look forward to seeing you there.


Lyman and Brett Hardeman
Old Cardboard, LLC.

Old Cardboard, LLC. was established in December 2003, to help bring information on vintage baseball card collecting to the hobbyist.  Produced by collectors for collectors, this comprehensive resource consists of three components: (1) Old Cardboard Magazine, (2) a companion website at www.oldcardboard.com and (3) this eNewsletter. The Old Cardboard website contains more than 500 pages of descriptive reference information for baseball card sets produced fifty years ago or longer.  Each of these set summaries has a direct set-specific link to auctions and a similar link to 's powerful search engine for further research.  The website also includes a Show and Auction Calendar, an eBay Top 50 Vintage Sellers List, and much more.  As a result, the Old Cardboard website makes a great "Alt-tab" companion for vintage card shoppers and researchers.  Old Cardboard eNews provides current hobby news, upcoming shows and auctions, and updates to the website and the magazine.  It is published around the middle of each month.  For a FREE subscription to the eNewsletter, or for subscription information on Old Cardboard Magazine, please visit the website at www.oldcardboard.com.  If you find this information resource helpful, please tell your friends.  We need your support and your feedback. Thank you.