Tag: Sovereign 350

Is Eddie Collins finally getting the respect he deserves from T206 collectors?

When I got into collecting T206s in 2010, I remember thinking Eddie Collins and Nap Lajoie were priced lower than I would have expected based on their status as all-time greats.  It didn’t take too long for me to get acclimated to “the way it is” in the T206 marketplace, and I kind of forgot about that notion for a number of years.

It seems something interesting is happening with Collins’ T206 lately, at least in higher grade.  Back in June, a PSA 5 Old Mill Eddie Collins sold for $1,302 in a PWCC auction.  It caught my attention because I owned the same card not too long ago.  I sold it back in December 2017, for $689.  That’s a pretty big price jump in just six months.  My price wasn’t crazy low either.  I think the card sat in my eBay store for three or four months before it sold.  A similar (and arguably nicer) PSA 5 Old Mill sold for $700 on eBay in February 2017.

A similar thing happened with a Collins Sovereign 350.  On August 12, 2018 a PSA 5 sold for $1,327, also via PWCC auction.  Back in November of 2016, Heritage sold a different PSA 5 Sovereign 350 for just $454.  In my opinion both cards are equally nice.

Obviously, two cards selling for surprisingly high prices doesn’t necessarily indicate a trend.  However, it does appear that some Piedmont and Sweet Caporal backed examples have followed, at least to some extent.  Back in April 2018, a PSA 5 Piedmont 350 sold via Buy It Now on eBay for $850, which is $183 more than the closest sale I could find on VCP.  A PSA 3.5 Piedmont 350 sold for $390 on eBay three weeks ago.  There’s no recorded sale on VCP that comes close.

So, is this a legitimate trend, or something else?  I’m skeptical of the recent PSA 5 Sovereign 350 and Old Mill sale prices, but I do think we’re seeing an increase in value that is long overdue and likely to become the new “way it is” for Collins.

 

Why Was Carl Lundgren (Chicago) Printed With So Few Backs? And What Do Hughie Jennings and Sam Crawford Have to do With it?

Carl Lundgren’s Chicago T206 is one of the more sought-after cards in the set.  Lundgren was a very good starting pitcher for the Cubs from 1904 to 1907 (he also turned in solid seasons in 1902 and ’03), but that doesn’t have anything to do with the popularity of his Cubs card.

Here’s What We Know:

Lundgren (Chicago) was pulled early in the 350 portion of 150-350 Series Production.  It was printed with El Principe de Gales and Piedmont 350 backs before being pulled from production.  Lundgren (Chicago) fits nicely in the “Elite Eleven*” group with other poses that were pulled after being printed with EPDG backs and a small amount of Piedmont 350 backs.

The decision to discontinue the pose makes a lot of sense.  In 1907, he went 18-7 with a 1.17 ERA.  It was his fourth straight standout campaign.  However, in 1908, his innings pitched dropped to 138.2 and he posted a record of just 6-9 to go with an ERA of 4.42.  In 1909, when Lundgren (Chi) was printed with Piedmont 150 backs, he appeared in just 2 games before being sold to Toronto of the Eastern League.

We also know Lundgren was not printed with Hindu, Sovereign 150, or Sweet Caporal 150 backs.  His is the only pose in the 150-350 Series that was not printed with any Sweet Caporal backs.  Let that sink in for a second.  That’s just weird.  In fact, the only other non Southern Leaguers that weren’t printed with any Sweet Caporal backs are the Demmitt and O’Hara St. Louis cards, which were printed only with Polar Bear backs*.

And Here’s What We Don’t Know:

It’s not known why Lundgren (Chicago) was left off the Hindu, Sovereign 150 and Sweet Caporal print-runs.  I do have a theory, but it doesn’t explain everything.  Awhile back, I wrote an article about Hughie Jennings (Portrait) and Sam Crawford (Throwing) (which can be read here).  Those two poses were also left off the Hindu and Sovereign 150 print-runs.  In fact, there are only five poses in the 150-350 Series that appear with Piedmont 150 backs but not with Brown Hindu or Sovereign 150 backs:

Crawford (Throwing)
Jennings (Portrait)
Lundgren (Chicago)
Plank
Wagner, Honus

I theorize that Lundgren is somehow related to Jennings (Portrait) and Crawford (Throwing), both of which were added to the Piedmont 150 and Sweet Caporal 150/30 print runs after production of the 150-350 Series had already started.  Both Crawford and Jennings were left off the Brown Hindu and Sovereign 150 print runs (like Lundgren).  Both Crawford and Jennings were printed with SC 150/30 backs, but left off the SC 150/25 print run.**  The fact that Lundgren was not printed with an SC 150/30 back makes the connection somewhat tenuous, but the three poses do have a lot in common.

Like Lundgren, Jennings was printed with an EPDG back, although Crawford was not.  All three poses were printed with Piedmont 350 backs, although Lundgren was pulled early and the others were not.  Jennings and Crawford went on to be printed with Old Mill, Sovereign 350, Sweet Caporal 350/25, and Sweet Caporal 350/30 backs.

In my earlier article about Jennings (Portrait) and Crawford (Throwing), I put forth the idea that those two poses could have replaced Plank and Wagner when they were pulled from further production.  There’s no way to know for sure, but it does make some sense given the late arrivals of Jennings and Crawford.  Where Lundgren might fit into that scenario is not immediately clear.

The biggest unanswered question surrounding this pose is why Lundgren (Chicago) was not printed with Sweet Caporal 150 backs.  That he wasn’t is one of the more interesting T206 mysteries.  I don’t imagine that question will ever be answered to my satisfaction, but if I come up with the answer, or even a crazy theory, I’ll be sure to let you guys know.

*Southern Leaguers were printed with Old Mill Southern League backs, Piedmont 350 backs, and 34/48 players were printed with a Brown Hindu back.

**Crawford is listed as confirmed with SC 150/25 back on T206resource.com, but I know of a few people who have been looking for one for a few years (if not longer).  It either exists in extremely low quantities, or does not exist at all.  If one surfaces, it will add a very interesting wrinkle to this puzzle, but for now I am going to assume it was not printed.

An Interesting Discovery: McCormick Sovereign 350 with Strange Background Shading

I recently found this McCormick Sovereign 350 with a strange orange/red background.  The odd background shading stuck out to me immediately.  At first glance, it looks like to me the red ink was brushed or wiped in some way while wet.  The problem with that theory is if the ink were disturbed while wet, it would have spread across the white borders, which it obviously didn’t.

I reached out to a couple friends who I thought may have seen something similar over the years.  My friend Steve Birmingham replied with some very interesting insight on how the streaking effect was created:

It’s another interesting one, your thought that it was wiped while wet is really close, and you’re right that that should have caused red being spread into the borders.

What that’s from is the pressman wiping the inking rollers while operating. A bit sloppy, and not all that safe but it’s done.  If the result didn’t look too bad it probably would have been allowed to slide through. Especially late on a Friday 🙂

Sometimes the ink will be too heavy, or will start to dry on the inking roller leaving bits of dried ink that can cause a bunch of flaws. Usually over-inking just gets adjusted away.  Drying ink is a bigger problem, and can come from under-inking.

The exact roller washed in this case would be the final inking roller that transferred the ink to the stone. The ink is in a bin of sorts, and a series of rollers spreads it evenly onto the final roller. Washing the earlier ones wouldn’t usually show up on the final product except as a bit of under-inking; wiping the last roller would get transferred to the plate as a streaky impression like this card has.

We don’t see more of them because that wiping isn’t a regular thing, usually only being at shift/days end, or during a changeover to a different ink or job. Having the ink get too dry to spread is really unusual, I think I only saw it happen once in a bit over 2 years. It has to be a very dry day with a really light ink pass (Either from not having enough flow or if a light coating is required).

The solution to massive over-inking or drying ink is basically the same. The ink flow gets adjusted, and if the problem doesn’t seem to sort itself out the inking rollers need to be washed. Basically wiped down with a rag soaked in solvent.  As you can imagine that leaves some really uneven ink until the rollers even it out and things get back to normal.

It’s also done at the end of the day to wash off the rollers for sitting overnight. Pretty much the entire press gets washed. The inking system cleared out and cleaned, plate and blanket cleaned. That way it’s clean and ready for the next day, or next shift or next job or color.

This card would technically be one of those tweener scraps. It shouldn’t have been released. On the other hand it’s a neat insight into the process and practices used at ALC at that time.

A big thank you to Steve for being kind enough to share his expertise with us!

Back Scarcity in the T206 150-350 series: Part One

T206 Rube Waddell back run

In this series of blog posts, I’m going to take an in-depth look at the different backs that make up the 150-350 series (also referred to as Print Group 1).  The truly rare backs were not printed until the 350 series (Broadleaf 350 and Drum) and 460 series (Broadleaf 460, Lenox, Red Hindu, and Uzit).  Because the 150-350 series is made up of backs which are considered relatively common, many very tough front/back combinations fly under the radar.

Cards from Print Group 1 can be found with the following backs:

Hindu
Piedmont 150
Sovereign 150
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 25
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 30
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 649
El Principe de Gales
Piedmont 350
Sovereign 350 Forest Green
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 30
Old Mill

pg1-backs-collage-2nd-layout

Many of the most iconic portrait cards in the T206 set were printed in the 150-350 series.  Finding a card with one of these backs is easy, but finding a specific front/back combo can sometimes be quite difficult.  For example, if you want a Green Background Ty Cobb portrait with the scarcest back, you need to find one with an Old Mill back.  It might seem like this should be an easy task because Old Mills seem pretty common, but it could take you a few years to locate one.

I’m going to start with a very broad overview and drill down into the individual backs to see if we can find any patterns that will help us understand the 150-350 series better.

 

By the Numbers

There are 159 cards in the 150-350 series.  Here is the checklist (thanks to the fine folks at t206resource.com).

Below is a breakdown of the backs that make up the 150-350 series (also known as Print Group 1 and abbreviated here as PG1):

T206 back Scarcity 150 350 series

 

As you can see, the vast majority of PG1 is represented with these backs:

Piedmont 150 (98%)
Sovereign 150 (94%)
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 25 (96%)
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 30 (96%)

 

The percentage is a bit less with these backs:

Piedmont 350 (91%)
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25 (83%)
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 30 (84%)
Old Mill (81%)

 

The percentage is much lower with these backs:

Hindu (64%)
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 649 (21%)
El Principe de Gales (51%)

Sovereign 350 Forest Green (50%

 

In some cases, the reasons for differing percentages are known.  Often, certain players were traded or they retired during production of the set.  These players were removed from subsequent printings.  For the most part, this is why players are missing from Piedmont 350 and both Sweet Caporal 350 print runs.

In other cases, the reasons are not known.  Hindu backs were issued in 1909 near the start of T206 production.  They had access to the same 150 subjects that were used for the Sovereign 150 printing, but only used 102 of them.  For the the El Principe de Gales print run beginning in 1910, only 81 poses from PG1 were used.  Likewise, only 80 PG1 players were used for the Sovereign 350 print run.

Were these omissions chosen randomly?  Or is there a pattern?  Let’s find out.