A fun oddity to keep an eye for are the “Big Factory 30s”. Certain poses from the 150-350 series can be found with a large “30” right in the middle at the bottom of the back, like this Tannehill above. It appears that the large “30” was used to differentiate sheets of Sweet Caporal 350 factory 30 from Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25, and vice versa.
There have not been any of these “Big Factory Numbers” found on Sweet Caporal 150 backs that I know of. My guess is there were some problems in the print shop during 150 series production that lead to them adding these large numbers to the sheets for the 350 series, so that the process of getting them out to the correct factories would run more smoothly. This article focuses on the Big Factory 30s, mainly because we have more data about them. There are 22 different poses that have been found with a “Big Factory 30”, while I only know of two players who have been found with a “Big Factory 25” (Ames portrait and Steinfeldt portrait).
Here are the 22 poses which have been found with Sweet Caporal 350 “Big Factory 30s”. I expect that more will be discovered, but for now this is the known checklist. Thank you to Erick Summers for keeping track of these over on the net54 forum.
Ames (portrait)
Beaumont
Clarke (portrait)
Cobb (bat on shoulder)
Dahlen (Brooklyn)
Dooin
Durham
Gilbert
Hemphill
Johnson (portrait)
Jones, Fielder (portrait)
Keeler (with bat)
Killian (pitching)
Mathewson (portrait)
McGraw (no cap)
Merkle (portrait)
Overall (portrait)
Seymour (batting)
Spade
Steinfeldt (portrait)
Tannehill (“L” on front)
Wagner (bat left)
Erick and others have been keeping track of these oddities for the last few years in this thread on net54baseball.com. If you have or know of any Sweet Caporal 350s with Big Factory Numbers at the bottom (either 25 or 30) please stop by that thread and add your card or scan to the list.
For the most part, each of these checklist entries represents a unique card. However, some of the above poses have been found more than once. I have seen three different Steinfeldts for instance. Because not everyone knows about these cards, there are probably quite a few of them out there that have not been noticed yet. Often the top of the “30” is just barely visible, and doesn’t look like much more than a bit of red ink. This is another reason why these cards tend to fly under the radar.
These are some of the cards from my first try at collecting the entire T206 set
I’ve had a really busy last couple weeks with family stuff and haven’t been able to devote the amount of time that I normally do to the site. I don’t have a new article ready to go for today, so I figured I would write a little blog post. A recent post on net54baseball.com caught my attention. Titled “Collecting: The Journey or the Destination?”, it examined our motivations as collectors (click here to read it). It’s a topic that I have thought a lot about and find quite fascinating.
About 7 years ago, when I got back into collecting, I asked myself a lot of questions about what I wanted to collect, and why. I found a handful of T206 that I had acquired as a teenager and pretty much fell in love with them immediately. I spent a lot of time researching the set online. As I scrolled through posts on net54, I kept seeing incredible cards and collections posted by the members of the site. I felt some jealousy, but mainly I felt discouraged. I remember thinking, “Why should I even start collecting these cards, when I have no chance of ever having a collection like xxxxxxx on net54?”
As I was thinking about how I should proceed, I realized that I was feeling jealous and deflated just because of looking at some scans of cards online. Then it occurred to me, “Do I even need to own the cards? Why? Could I just collect scans?” If scans could make me jealous, maybe I could just assemble the greatest scan collection of all-time? After some more thought, I decided that it really wasn’t about scans or what cards other people owned. It’s about the connection to the game I love, and a bygone era. The scan collecting idea was a little bit tongue-in-cheek, but I am an analytical person by nature, and I’m used to trying to look at something from all angles in order to understand it. When you do that, collecting sure seems like an odd activity (especially when you look at it from the perspective of someone who doesn’t collect). There is a lot of joking amongst collectors that we all have a touch OCD, and there is probably some truth to it.
It seems that most collectors are all about the hunt. In other words, searching for the cards they want is what brings the most happiness and satisfaction. It’s very common for someone to spend a long time putting together a set, only to sell it soon after in order to work on a new project. A smaller percentage of collectors enjoy owning their cards more than searching for the cards they need.
When I first started collecting, I was all about the hunt. I was working on a lower grade T206 set and was trying to complete it as quick as I could. One day, I realized that approach was not working for me. I was searching ebay for new cards every evening after work and placing some bids. The problem was that on my desk, about a foot away from my mouse, were two bubble mailers. I knew that the mailers contained a John McGraw finger in air in Fair condition and a Bob Groom in similar condition. In the two weeks they had been sitting there, I hadn’t felt the inclination to open up the packages and look at them. At that point I knew my priorities were not in line with what would actually make me happy. I sold off the majority of the lower grade cards I had acquired just to check a card off my checklist and took a break. I still loved T206, but I wanted to find a new focus that I would enjoy more.
This is one of my favorite cards in my current collection
For me, back collecting ended up being what I was I really passionate about. Over time, as I built my new collection (I sold all but about 10 cards from that first collection, keeping the ones with sentimental value) I began to enjoy the actual owning of my cards more and more. Now, I enjoy looking at my cards much more than searching for new ones (though I still enjoy that too). In my opinion the reason for the change is threefold. First, I made a point of trying to align my collecting focus with what actually appeals to me, rather than trying to collect the set in a way that may work for other people, but didn’t for me. Second, I made a conscious effort to find ways to enjoy my collection more. I researched the players, I dove into all the old threads on net54 to learn as much as I could about the set. And most importantly, I spent more time enjoying the cards I already owned than I had in the past. The third reason inevitably follows the first. Over time, my collection improved and as it did, it was more fun to look through and enjoy. I imagine this occurs with all new collectors. It takes a little while before your collection feels substantial and exciting. I imagine that advanced collectors with huge, impressive collections spend a lot more time enjoying the fruits of their labor than searching for new items. That’s just a guess though. Maybe some day I’ll find out.
