There are 13 poses from the 150 series that were discontinued prior to the 350 series. Among them are Honus Wagner and the Sherry Magie error. These two were pulled from production early on and exist in very small numbers. The remaining 11 are generally referred to as “The 150-Only Subjects”. They are as follows:
- Ames hands at chest
- Browne, George Chicago (misspelled as Brown)
- Brown, Mordecai Cubs on shirt
- Burch batting
- Donlin fielding
- Doyle throwing
- Evers Cubs on shirt
- Pattee
- Pelty horizontal
- Powers
- Reulbach glove showing
Each of these 11 subjects were printed with the following backs:
- Hindu
- Piedmont 150
- Sovereign 150
- Sweet Caporal 150 factory 25
- Sweet Caporal 150 factory 30
Curiously, Powers was also printed with Sweet Caporal 150 factory 649 overprint. For most of these poses, Hindu is the scarcest back with Sovereign 150 close behind. Hindu backs will fetch the highest prices.
American Tobacco Company’s decision to pull this group of cards from production early is hard to understand. Browne, Pattee and Powers were logical candidates to be pulled early, but the same cannot be said for the other eight players. Browne was claimed off waivers by Washington in May of 1909. The caption was changed on his card and he was featured in the 350 series as a member of the Washington club. Pattee played only one season of Major League Baseball, in 1908. Once it was clear he was not going to play in 1909, it makes sense that they wanted to omit him from the 150 series. Powers, likewise, was out of MLB in 1909. He is a curious inclusion to begin with. A journeyman backup catcher and first baseman, he had a career average of just .216. Powers played just one game in 1908 as a 38 year-old. I’m a little surprised he made a strong enough impression in 1907 and previous seasons to be included in the set at all.
I can’t think of an explanation as to why the other eight players were pulled from future printings. Ames, Brown, Donlin, Doyle, Evers, and Reulbach were stars. It makes no sense to stop production of their cards prematurely. Pelty was a solid and dependable starter for St. Louis, and Burch finished the 1909 season 5th in the NL in hits. Each of these eight players are featured on another card that was released later in the T206 print run. The reason for their omission will probably remain one of the mysteries of the T206 set.
Because these 11 poses were not printed with any 350 series backs, they exist in far fewer quantities than a typical 150-350 series pose. As a result, they show up for sale less often, are harder to find in nice condition, and sell for a premium.
