1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint? EDIT new card added.

RandomH · Mar 17, 2011

1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?.. (BACK FROM THE DEAD) RESULTS

EDIT: Check the last page for results. This thread finally has a conflusion!

Hey guys, as some of you know I purchased a lot of two autographed lefty gomez index cards and it included a "old baseball card" for 10.50$ dlvd.

$(KGrHqR,!j!E1NPEVRk1BNcr6Kwsuw~~_12.jpg

The card in the picture was a 1940 play ball of Gomez. Now the only question is if it's a reprint or not?
I got the lot in the mail today and the card seems a bit iffy? Like the back seems really sharp. Seems too good to be true. I'm thinking reprint.

I'm NO vintage expert so I would love to hear some thoughts on if this card is real or not.
Here is a scan of the front and of the back.

Thanks a bunch!

EDIT: Check the last page for results. This thread finally has a conflusion!

gracecollector · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

Play Balls have a much bolder font than that card. It's too crisp everywhere. Reprint.

jeff_bichel · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

I gotta tell ya, looking at the age discoloration on the front and comparing font styles, I think you got really lucky.
I believe it to either be real or an incredible, impossible fake

Moonlight Graham · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

Interesting that there seems to be fade marks on the front of the card in the upper left corner and lower right corner, seemingly suggesting that the card appears to have been mounted in a photo album.

jeff_bichel · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

and that would make it good as gold

scotty21690 · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

Looks good to me, H.

RandomH · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

I really appreciate all the thoughts guys! The front seems kinda okay, but the back has me confused. I mean I paid 10 dollars for it so it's not a huge loss if it's a reprint. I will check back on this thread when I get home later. Thanks again FCB :grouphug:

gracecollector · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

Sure looks to me like that card has halftone dots as opposed to continuous color. Under magnification, are you seeing printing dots? A real card would be solid sepia color, no dots. I see it especially around the pennant on front, which should be a smooth line.

ronfromfresno · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

I have no idea, you might also try posting the card on the vintage board and contact Frank (fwk) on the board he seems to have limitless knowledge on all things vintage.

scotty21690 · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

Not sure what you mean, Brad....authentic Play Balls have printing dots, as well.

Tick-Tock-Man · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

gracecollector said:
Sure looks to me like that card has halftone dots as opposed to continuous color. Under magnification, are you seeing printing dots? A real card would be solid sepia color, no dots. I see it especially around the pennant on front, which should be a smooth line.

I agree, it looks like printing dots in the pennant and in the players outline.
It looks like it's a older reprint (70's).

BunchOBull · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

The solid black lines, not the black color in general. The card stock seems too thin and I agree the printing appears suspect.

RandomH · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

A couple of things I noticed:

I checked the back of the index cards and they had to be from some kind of album.
What throws me off and has me now thinking reprint/fake is, the border near the bottom of the bat has a faint "spacing" don't know if that was a printing error or what not.

I again appriciate all the comments.

smapdi · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

I collect '41 PBs, and it looks real to me. And, except for the corners, it would grade probably pretty well, depending on how lenient they are on the discoloration. Great pickup.

Too bad the autographs are fake :lol: Just kidding.

RandomH · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

smapdi said:
I collect '41 PBs, and it looks real to me. And, except for the corners, it would grade probably pretty well, depending on how lenient they are on the discoloration. Great pickup.

Too bad the autographs are fake :lol: Just kidding.

:lol: That was why I bought the lot!

fkw · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

On these cards, the thing I do is try to prove its a reprint, not prove its authentic.

On this card I cant prove its a reprint at all, everything looks normal. The only small thing I notice is the card stock seems thinner??? but that may be just for the fact that the edges and corners basically have no wear.

Then you tell yourself, is the 1940 PlayBall Gomez even reprinted? Ive seen hundreds of Jackson's, Williams', and DiMaggio's, and a few Greenberg's........ but never noticed a Gomez.

The print, is very crisp both front and back and that NOT a characteristic of a reprint. Look at the small dots that make of the shadow design around the bat and glove, they are very crisp. Everything looks good to me.

I would borrow or buy a common R335 and compare it with yours side by side in person.

I googled "1940 PlayBall reprint" and one set comes up so there are reprints of it somewhere, but the link doesnt show a good picture. The most common reprints seen of these are bad, and will say reprint at bottom of the back below "Inc. Phila."

Id say authentic if I had to choose. Nothing jumps out as it being a reprint, and the scans you show are very clear.

hofmichael · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

fkw said:
On these cards, the thing I do is try to prove its a reprint, not prove its authentic.

On this card I cant prove its a reprint at all, everything looks normal. The only small thing I notice is the card stock seems thinner??? but that may be just for the fact that the edges and corners basically have no wear.

Then you tell yourself, is the 1940 PlayBall Gomez even reprinted? Ive seen hundreds of Jackson's, Williams', and DiMaggio's, and a few Greenberg's........ but never noticed a Gomez.

The print, is very crisp both front and back and that NOT a characteristic of a reprint. Look at the small dots that make of the shadow design around the bat and glove, they are very crisp. Everything looks good to me.

I would borrow or buy a common R335 and compare it with yours side by side in person.

I googled "1940 PlayBall reprint" and one set comes up so there are reprints of it somewhere, but the link doesnt show a good picture. The most common reprints seen of these are bad, and will say reprint at bottom of the back below "Inc. Phila."

Id say authentic if I had to choose. Nothing jumps out as it being a reprint, and the scans you show are very clear.

If there is one guy I would trust on the subject this is him.

RandomH · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

fkw and others: I greatly value everyone's comments on this. It seems like it's split 50-50 here! :lol: , I'm still undecided myself. Personally it's one of those "too good to be true moments" so I'm doubting it.

I sent the guy an email asking him if he had ANY information regarding the items and he said that he bought a bunch of items from the daughter of some guy that passed away. He said he was an autograph collector as a kid and that the index cards were gotten "in person". He clearly had no idea how to deal with this kind of stuff because he sent everything PWE. The signed index cards and the 1940 Play Ball were put in this see through envelope dated "9/9/42" and along with a cardboard cut out they were shoved in a PWE.

I'm really hoping it's real and I'm open to all thoughts and opinons!

Thanks
-H

BunchOBull · Mar 17, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

It's really going to come down to the solid black ink. If you can scan the pennant at 600 dpi and post the image, an almost absolutely definitive answer could be given. To me, the pennant outline looks pixelated. If it is, it's not authentic.

RandomH · Mar 19, 2011

Re: 1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint?

BunchOBull said:
It's really going to come down to the solid black ink. If you can scan the pennant at 600 dpi and post the image, an almost absolutely definitive answer could be given. To me, the pennant outline looks pixelated. If it is, it's not authentic.

I've tried scanning it like that and I can't get the image down. The whole thing comes out blurry when I zoom in and I don't really know how to operate this scanner.

To update, I bought this 10$ lot from the seller. And included is a 1940 Play Ball of Charley Keller, so hopefully it will give me further info when it comes in. I'll update this thread once it comes in.

$(KGrHqF,!k0E1FuSQV8BBNdOb,J4Wg~~_12.jpg

Welcome to our community

Be apart of something great, join today!

1940 Play Ball Authentic or reprint? EDIT new card added.

Active member

Well-known member

New member

New member

New member

New member

Active member

Well-known member

Active member

New member

New member

Active member

Active member

Well-known member

Active member

New member

New member

Active member

Active member

Active member

Similar threads

Log in