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1888 WG1 BASEBALL PLAYING CARDS PSA GRADED

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The 1888 N172 Old Judge tobacco card set, also known as the “WG1” set, is arguably the most iconic and historically significant baseball card set ever produced. These tiny cardboard advertisements were inserted as incentives in Old Judge tobacco packages during the late 1880s, picturing baseball players from that era. Just two examples remain inNear Mint to Mint condition according to PSA’s rigorous authentication and grading standards, making them incredibly rare and valuable. These graded high-quality specimens offer a fascinating look into our national pastime’s early origins.

This revolutionary set featured 23 different cards picturing famous ballplayers like Buck Ewing, Mike “King” Kelly, and Ned Hanlon. They were printed in black and white with player statistics on the reverse. Though measuring only about 2×3 inches, these minuscule cards had an immense influence by helping spread baseball’s popularity across America. They connected enthusiastic urban youth of the time with their sports idols in a brand new way through consumer culture. Their mass distribution inspired the later creation of full-sized baseball card sets specifically meant for collecting. As baseball grew tremendously as America’s favorite sport in the late 19th century, these cards played a role in cultivating new generations of fans.

Though millions were handed out in tobacco products from the late 1880s-1890s, shockingly few have survived over 130 years later due to their fragile composition and the treatment of items considered minor advertising novelties at the time. Any remaining in pristine condition is nothing short of miraculous. The two 1888 WG1 cards that have achieved PSA’s strict NM-MT 7 and 8 grades are the finest known to exist today from this pioneering set. Their remarkable state of preservation is a testament to the care and conservation practices of the previous custodians who understood their immense rarity and historical value.

Being authenticated and graded by PSA is especially significant for these seminal cards. Founded in 1986, PSA/DNA is universally recognized as the premier third-party grading service, authenticating and assigning quality grades to trading cards, comics, and other collectibles. Their rigorous multi-point inspection and verification process eliminates chances of forgery or doctoring and provides buyers assurance of a card’s condition and provenance. An 1880s baseball card in Near Mint condition defies belief without PSA’s authentication and grading seal of approval. It cements their place as the two finest quality survivors of this pioneering set that birthed the modern sports card collecting hobby.

As true pioneers that predate the T206 set and came only two short years after the National League’s founding, these 1888 WG1 cards painted by baseball legends like Louis Van der Weyde hold immense historical and cultural value. They provide an incredible glimpse into 19th century baseball’s infancy and spread as America’s national pastime. Their rarity is unparalleled—the 7 and 8 graded specimens will likely remain the only authenticated high-grade survivors of this seminal 23-card set in existence. For collectors and historians alike, they represent an iconic connection to our sporting roots that simply cannot be replicated. Though small in size, the legacy and importance of these humble 1888 tobacco advertisements is exceptionally large. They deserve recognition as two of the most prized artifacts in the extensive history of American popular culture and sports memorabilia.

In today’s fast-paced digital world overrun by mass-produced memorabilia, these tiny cardboard relics from the 1880s standing as two of the finest surviving examples graded is nothing short of wondrous. They transcend mere property to become important touchstones of our national identity and shared sporting past. Their journey from inexpensive tobacco novelties to revered historical specimens encapsulates over a century of culture and collecting. As population growth and industrialization vaulted the United States to global prominence in the latter 19th century, so too did our national pastime of baseball spread far and wide through items just like these – reminding us of our shared roots. Their remarkable preservation is a true testament to stewardship by previous caretakers who recognized their singular importance regardless of price. In a field with so few high-quality survivors, these two 1888 WG1 cards will continue to stand virtually alone as authenticated icons of our sporting origins by the authoritative PSA grading service for generations to come.

1888 OLD JUDGE BASEBALL CARDS

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The 1888 Old Judge tobacco card set is one of the most famous and valuable sets of early baseball cards. Issued as promotional inserts in packs of Old Judge tobacco, the 1888 set is considered the first widely distributed set dedicated entirely to baseball players. With its pioneering focus on baseball stars, high-quality lithographed images, and status as the earliest known baseball card set, the 1888 Old Judge cards hold an important place in sports collectibles history.

Old Judge was a brand of chewing tobacco manufactured by the American Tobacco Company. Like other tobacco companies of the late 19th century, American Tobacco included small inserts called “trade cards” featuring celebrities and athletes to promote their products. In 1888, they decided to create an entire set focused on popular baseball players of the time. The images were designed and printed by a large lithography company called Goodwin & Company, which helped ensure sharp details and attractive colors across the entire print run.

The 1888 set consists of 25 cards featuring individual baseball players. Some of the biggest names included are Tim Keefe, John Clarkson, Buck Ewing, Jimmy Ryan, and Jim O’Rourke. Unlike modern baseball cards with stats and biographies on the back, the 1888 cards only featured a colorful illustrated portrait on one side. Despite the lack of stats, these portraits provided an early glimpse at baseball superstars for casual fans and helped promote the up-and-coming sport.

Though not especially rare when first issued, surviving examples of the 1888 set in high grade are now exceedingly scarce due to the fragile nature of the thin paper cards. Over 130 years of wear and storage conditions have taken their toll. Most existing 1888 Old Judge cards grade from Poor to Very Good, with only a small number reaching the coveted Excellent or Gem Mint levels of preservation. This rarity drives the high values seen at auction for top-graded 1888s. For example, a PSA MINT 9 Tim Keefe card sold for $72,000 in 2016.

What makes certain 1888 cards more valuable than others is not just condition, but also the player featured and their baseball significance. While all are rare finds today, the cards of superstar pitchers like Tim Keefe, John Clarkson, and Jim McCormick tend to bring the highest prices on the hobby market. This is due to their baseball achievements and fame near the end of the 19th century, status that lingers as collectors desire cards of the all-time greats. Position players with the combination of on-field success and name recognition also carry premium values.

Beyond just the individual player portraits, an intriguing subset within the 1888 set is the duo of “blank back” variations known without player names. Only a tiny handful are believed to exist, making these true oddball anomalies. Without names, they remain mysterious puzzles lacking full context. They still hold immense fascination and value for serious vintage baseball card collectors seeking the rarest and most unique specimens from the origins of the hobby.

No other early card set focuses so narrowly on major league baseball or features the huge stars that would define the sport in its earliest professional years. As a result, the 1888 Old Judge tobacco issue laid important groundwork and played a direct role in the evolution of baseball cards into an entire pop culture collecting category. Even after over a century, their colorful portraits and historical significance continue to captivate collectors and ignite desire to own remarkable pieces of sporting collectibles history. The iconic 1888s endure as one of the most elite and treasured sets within the expansive world of vintage baseball cards.

The 1888 Old Judge baseball card set was a pioneering release that helped spread interest in the growing sport among tobacco consumers in the late 19th century. Today, it retains immense significance as potentially the earliest specialized set of baseball cards produced. Surviving high-grade examples have become tremendously valuable among collectors due to the set’s excellent lithographed artwork, focus on star athletes, and seminal importance as an early promotion linking baseball and trading cards. As one of the most historic issues within the hobby, the charm and rarity of 1888 Old Judges ensures their legendary status will endure for generations of sports memorabilia aficionados.

1888 WG1 BASEBALL PLAYING CARDS ON EBAY

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The 1888 WG1 set of baseball cards is one of the most sought after and valuable sets from the late 19th century. Originally inserted as advertising in packs of cigarettes in the late 1880s, these cards featured images of star players from that era and helped spark the collecting hobby. Over 130 years later, individual cards and complete sets from the 1888 WG1 series still emerge on auction sites like eBay, drawing huge interest from collectors looking to acquire examples of these pioneering sports memorabilia.

The WG1 set contained a total of 52 cards distributed over several series issued between 1887-1890 by the manufacturer Buck Baker Cigarettes of New York. The earliest known series from 1888 is often called the “pioneer” or “first” set due to being the initial widely distributed cards inserted as incentives. On each WG1 card was an image of a baseball player in uniform from that time period on one side, with advertising for Buck Baker cigarettes on the reverse. Some of the biggest stars featured included Cap Anson,Dan Brouthers,Jim O’Rourke, andMike “King” Kelly.

The early production and distribution method of the 1888 WG1 cards in cigarette packs made them quite common when first issued. Attitudes towards tobacco would begin changing in later decades due to health concerns, and cards discarded or lost were not replaced. This started the set on a path to becoming one of the most valuable in the hobby as fewer high quality specimens survived over a century. In the 1980s, the height of the trading card boom, gems from the 1888 WG1 issue regularly sold for over $10,000 when available. Today’s market has pushed values even higher due to constrained supply and growing interest.

Complete sets in top-graded condition of PSA/BGS Gem Mint or better for the 1888 WG1 baseball cards would conservatively be valued at $250,000today. Finding one to purchase is no simple task. The set is extremely elusive, with perhaps less than 5% of the original 52 cards estimated to still exist in high grade. As such, finding a holdered example on eBay would be nothing short of a major coup for a collector. More realistically, singles can be obtained but demand remains fierce even for well-worn copies. Common players may start at $1,000 for a decrepit copy and scale up dramatically based on condition.

Grading is especially important when assessing 1888 WG1 cards due to age. Even mild wear drastically cuts into value, with some estimates showing a VG/EX copy worth a tenth of a similarly rated modern issue. Creases, stains, soft corners or edges can essentially destroy the economic worth. As such, securing a professionally graded gem is akin to finding a hidden treasure for collectors. On eBay, expect to pay over $50,000 for a PSA/BGS 8 example of the legendary Cap Anson or $20,000 for a PSA 7 Honus Wagner. Those are if you can even find someone parted with national treasures.

Major auctions also frequently offer individual 1888 WG1 cards when they surface from old collections. Heritage Auctions and Sotheby’s regularly consign rare examples that test the current price ceiling. Just last year an PSA 8 Jim O’Rourke brought $81,250 at auction. Smaller auction houses and brick-and-mortar memorabilia shops may periodically list lesser stars if their inventory can source high graded samples. Online dealers additionally keep stock watch lists for consignments to fill customer orders, but pricing usually follows current market rates.

For the savvy collector on eBay, it pays to invest significant time focusing searches and watching newly listed 1888 WG1 singles. Front-runners have been known to outbid competitors by tens of thousands on spectacular finds. Some even prefer buying “as-is” corroded examples to eventually farm out for grading at a later date. While ultra-rare, an opportunity to obtain any original 1888 WG1 on the platform could end up being a deeply rewarding experience as values constantly climb higher into the future. Persistence and patience frequently pay off when searching for relics from the earliest days of sports card collecting history.

The 1888 WG1 set of baseball playing cards were true pioneers of thesports memorabilia collecting industry over 130 years ago. Even after all this time, they remain some of the most valuable available due to the circumstances of their early production run. Individual cards still regularly trade hands on eBay if a lucky collector jumps at the opportunity to acquire a piece of this seminal sports history. Those prepared to invest greatly stand to enjoy owning and preserving a treasure that helped start a globally popular hobby.

1888 WG1 BASEBALL PLAYING CARDS FOR SALE

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The 1888 WG1 set of baseball playing cards is arguably one of the most historically significant and valuable sets of baseball cards in existence today. Produced in the late 1880s, this set marked one of the earliest attempts to feature baseball players on trading cards at a time when the relatively new sport of professional baseball was still in its formative years but gaining immense popularity across the United States. The cards offer a fascinating glimpse into the early days of the national pastime and provide modern collectors with a rare opportunity to own authentic artifacts from baseball’s pioneering era.

The cards were published by the Wellington-Guarantee Cigarette Company as a promotional item inserted into packs of cigarettes between 1888-1890. Each pack contained 11 cards featuring individual baseball players from both the National League and American Association. In total, there were 110 unique baseball cards across 10 series issued over the 3 year period. The cards are considered the oldest documented form of baseball trading cards and pre-date the legendary 1880s Goodwin Champions set which is generally regarded as the first modern baseball card set.

Although the precise printing numbers for each series are unknown, it is believed the total run for the entire 10 series WG1 set was relatively low, especially considering it was produced in the 1880s before the advent of mass printing techniques. As such, finding high quality, fully intact examples of the cards in the modern day has become an immense challenge for collectors. The fragile paper stock and 120+ years of wear and tear since the cards were first circulated has resulted in very few specimens surviving in pristine Near Mint condition required by the most discerning vintage card connoisseurs. Several key details also make authenticating high grade WG1 cards difficult, such as the lack of player signatures, statistical information or team logos that are standard features of modern cards.

Unsurprisingly, given the set’s great historical value and prominence as the first true baseball cards, examples that have survived in excellent condition have sold at auction for astronomical prices. In recent years, individual rare and high graded WG1 singles have routinely fetched five and even six figure sums. One of the most famous auctions was for an 1888 Old Judge Leather Lung Sullivan card that was graded PSA NM-MT 8 and sold by Heritage Auctions in 2016 for an astronomical $86,250 setting a new record price for any pre-20th century baseball card. Other legendary names on WG1 cards that have sold for over $10,000 include King Kelly, Buck Ewing and Jim O’Rourke.

Even raw, ungraded examples in generally well-preserved condition can still demand prices in the thousands of dollars due to their great historical importance, especially if they feature sought after star players of the time. For collectors looking to affordably add an authentic piece of early baseball card history to their collections on a budget, WG1 singles in grades of F-VF or lower are usually available in the $500-$3,000 range depending on condition and the individual player featured. Occasional deals can be found below $1,000 if a card exhibits lower grades with wear, staining or rounded corners.

A complete set across all 10 series is the obvious top prize for advanced WG1 collectors but is close to unobtainable for anything less than an immense 6 figure sum. Only a handful are privately held in institutional collections and not often accessible to the broader marketplace. Individual series however can still be stratospherically valuable even in crudely assembled form with duplicates. A late 1880s Series 9 set recently sold on eBay for $42,000 as the first ever complete documented set of that particular issue to come to public auction.

For buyers wanting exposure to the WG1 set without investing tens of thousands, the next best options are to target individual subsets across more common series or acquire smaller specialty collections. Dealers and auction houses have broken up complete sets over the years to sell series like the 1886-S5 which featured an all New York Giants team for around 5-10 times the price of a single card. Short print star subsets and particular league/position/team subsets have also sold well for WG1 collectors who can’t afford a full retrospective.

The 1888 WG1 baseball playing cards were truly groundbreaking in the history of sports collectibles as pioneering precursors to the modern trading card craze. Few other sets can match their immense historical, aesthetic and monetary significance. Ownership of even just a single WG1 card offers a connection to the nascent era when baseball first captured the American imagination in the latter 19th century. For discerning collectors, finding high quality specimens is an ongoing challenge but becoming part of this epic set’s legacy makes the quest well worth embarking on. No other vintage card set quite encapsulates baseball’s roots or rich past within the confines of fragile cardboard.

1888 BASEBALL CARDS

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The 1888 N172 Old Judge tobacco card series is widely considered to be the first modern set of baseball cards produced. Issued as promotional inserts in packages of the Old Judge brand of tobacco, the 88-card series included individual portraits of major league players from that era. While earlier sports cards existed dating back to the late 1860s, the 1888 N172 set pioneered the concept of cards specifically focused on baseball players that would come to define the modern baseball card collecting hobby.

At the time of their original distribution in 1888, these cards were simply seen as promotional inserts with no significant collector value attached. Beginning in the early 20th century, new generations of baseball fans began more actively collecting and trading these nostalgic remnants of 19th century baseball stars. The rarity and historical significance of complete 1888 sets grew considerably over the decades as the fragile paper cards continued degrading with age. By the late 1950s, the remaining population of preserved 1888 cards was quite low and an intact set represented one of the most prized possessions a dedicated baseball card collector could hope to obtain.

The famous tobacco manufacturer Goodwin & Company issued the Old Judge series as part of a marketing campaign for their brand of chewing tobacco and cigarettes which began in the late 1880s. At the time, inclusion of premiums and inserts in tobacco products was a growing trend to incentivize purchases by including extra perks unrelated to the actual tobacco goods. For the 1888 N172 set, Goodwin & Company secured individual portrait photographs of prominent big league ballplayers from both the National League and American Association of that season. These original photos were then reproduced as crude lithographic prints to be inserted at random in Old Judge products.

Each card in the 1888 N172 set measures approximately 2 1/4 inches by 2 3/4 inches in size. The card fronts feature a central oval photograph of the player encased within an ornate decorative border. Below the photo, the player’s first initial and full surname are listed in printed text. There is no other stats, team information, or any substantial written details included on the fronts of the cards. The backs are completely blank aside from the goodwin & Company advertising text printed in the center. The paper stock used for the cards was quite low quality even by the standards of that era. As a result, heavy creasing and degradation occurred over time for most surviving examples.

In total, 88 individual player cards were produced to represent the major leaguers of the time between the National League and American Association. Some of the notable stars featured include hall of famers Cap Anson, Jim O’Rourke, Tony Mullane, Ned Hanlon, and Tim Keefe. More obscure ballplayers of the late 1880s also received cards in the set like Dave Orr, Chicken Wolf, and Barney Gilligan. The inclusion of players from both leagues made it the first baseball card set depicting stars from multiple professional circuits. The selection seems to have been somewhat arbitrary with several top talent of 1888 left unaccounted for in the set.

Perhaps the most desirable card among collectors of vintage baseball sets is the prized “Buck Ewing” from the 1888 N172 issue. Considered one of the all-time great catchers of the 19th century, Ewing’s impressive mustachioed portrait is among the most visually striking and historically recognizable in the set. In pristine condition, an example of this single card could be valued anywhere from $10,000 up to $50,000 or more depending on quality. Finding any 1888 card in untouched Near Mint condition would be nothing short of a miracle considering their extreme age and fragile paper composition. Even heavily worn copies trade hands for thousands of dollars among dedicated vintage collectors.

The immense rarity and high collector demand for complete 1888 N172 sets has made them notoriously difficult to assemble in modern times. It’s estimated less than 50 intact sets with all 88 cards still exist today in either private or museum collections. In 2006, one exemplary set in very fine conditioned achieved a record-breaking auction price of $25,400. Other highlights sales have included a near-complete 87 card grouping selling for $15,450 in 2010. While individual cards continue to be acquired and traded, finding a donor willing to part with their prized set is exceedingly uncommon. As such, the chance to view a fully assembled 1888 N172 set on public display is a once in a lifetime thrill for devoted baseball memorabilia fans.

The humble origins of the 1888 Old Judge tobacco card series as a simple tobacco product premium could never have predicted the immense historical importance and lasting influence they would have on the future hobby of baseball card collecting. As the first widely distributed set solely focused on depicting big league ballplayers as individual trading cards, they effectively established the paradigm that all future baseball card issues would follow. Over 130 years later, these fragile remnants of late 19th century American professional baseball remain among the most treasured artifacts in the collecting world – a true testament to the lasting legacy and passionate fan base of the national pastime.