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Pre-War Card Collector

@prewarcards.bsky.social

190 followers 16 following 170 posts

By Anson Whaley, a pre-war collector of sports and non-sports cards. Beckett and Sports Collectors Daily contributor. T205, T206, T207 baseball cards set builder. Scruffy looking. 2025 SABR Burdick Award Winner. Find my site at www.prewarcollector.com.

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 12h

I know of a few people who have done all three sets. I'd love to know the actual number of folks that have them intact today. T207 is such a slog.

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 17h

Minus my graded cards, here are the 928 cards that comprise the 520-card T206 set and the basic/non-error 208-card T205 and 200-card T207 sets. Out of the binder for scanning and photo ops today. #Cardsky

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 2d

No problem, anytime!

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 2d

I'm not sure that I'm actually collecting P.T. Barnum stuff, but I look out for his cards when I can. Here are some early cards and an original ticket from 1887 for a Madison Square Garden show. #cardsky

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 3d

Took me a while but I finally found a suitable upgrade for the Chief Bender card in my T207 set. #Cardsky

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 3d

Ha -- hard to tell if it's intentional or a stray print mark

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 6d

These 1885 Lichten Bros. trade cards featured child boxers. While most variants of these cards do not provide names, a rarer variant includes the names of heavyweight champion John Sullivan and Paddy Ryan, as a depiction of one of their fights. #Cardsky

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 7d

The basketball cards in the T51 Murad College Sports set have taken the recent attention as they're oft-recognized as the first true cards of the sport. But the Michigan football card has always been a popular one. Here's the rare 'Number on front' 1st series variation. #Cardsky

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 7d

Ha!

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 8d

It's a great one! Though, his E95 is probably my favorite.

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 8d

Hall of Fame Native American pitcher Chief Bender led the league in win-loss percentages three different times. Here's his card in the 1909-11 E90-1 American Caramel baseball card set. #Cardsky

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 13d

Same!

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 13d

1912 Fry's Cocoa!

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 13d

Among the earliest cards of legendary inventor Thomas Edison are these pair of c1879-80 advertising trade cards for Edison's Polyform medication, which used his name and likeness to promote their product. Edison later took the distributor to court for using his likeness. #Cardsky

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 14d

Ice baseball? No, I have not! I have an ice soccer card from a polar expedition set in 1915 and an ice yachting card in a Lambert/Butler set. But besides the common sports (skating, hockey, etc.) those are the less common pre-war ones that come to mind. Post-war I'm sure there are many.

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 14d

There are conflicting dates on when exactly this set of six winter sport cards was issued by Diamantine Schuhputz, a German shoe polish brand. Here are four of the six cards, including the highlight, which is the ice hockey card. #Cardsky

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 16d

I'm sorry but this card was too pretty not to buy. #Cardsky

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 16d

That's awesome -- and I'd never given the idea of uncut ones any thought.

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 21d

I've had thousands of Stollwerck Chocolate cards & know how difficult it is to find ones not in low-grade. Majority of graded ones I see are no higher than a 3 as many have indented corners from being stored in albums for decades. Couldn't pass up this SGC 4 of Ben Franklin. #cardsky

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 21d

Athletics and Red Sox star Jack Barry appeared on the membership cards for the Rovers Junior Baseball League, likely in Canada, in 1919 and 1920. While we don't know exactly how Barry was linked to the league, here are examples of the front of both foldout cards. #Cardsky

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 22d

The original relic cards! prewarcards.com/2020/02/13/1...

The Original Relic Cards: 1889 Duke Postage Stamp Set - Pre-War Cards

This American tobacco card set featured actual postage stamps on the fronts

prewarcards.com

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 22d

1889 N85 Duke Stamps cards picturing -- card collectors in the 19th century. Love these. #Cardsky

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 22d

Been a little while since a new article on the site, but here's the latest on a Civil War CDV with ties to baseball, professional pedestrian (walker) Edward Payson Weston, and a U.S. President not named Abraham Lincoln. prewarcollector.com/2025/09/16/c... #Cardsky

19th Century Fredericks CDV Touts Baseball ‘Founder’ and Civil War Officers

Yikes, it’s been nearly two months since I’ve written anything. Time flies. So I’d first seen this 19th century carte de viste (CDV) featuring Civil War officers a few years back …

prewarcollector.com

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Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 26d

I can't get excited about a 1960s Topps miscut or missing ink error but stuff like this on pre-war cards has always been a favorite of mine because of the rarity. I've got about 3,000 Stollwerck cards and have had/sold thousands more, and these are the first scraps I've seen.

Pre-War Card Collector @prewarcards.bsky.social · 26d

Here's a nice pickup in today's mail. A total of 18 Stollwerck Chocolate cards all missing ink. These all have only red and yellow ink applied and are hand cuts. While I've seen miscut Stollwercks before, these are the first that amount to scraps that I've seen. #Cardsky

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