Card Fronts - First Series
The first series of cards offered by Turkey Red consisted of 50 different beautifully produced color
lithographs, highlighting the best of the baseball world in 1910. The offering included the cards of
Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Napolean Lajoie, Tris Speaker and the great Cy Young. No less
than 13 other Hall of Famers were available to collectors in the first series.
During the early stages of production, card #28 showing Harry McIntyre of the Brooklyn Dodgers
was updated to reflect a mid-season team change. While the picture on the card did not change,
the nameplate on the card front was updated to show "Brooklyn now with Chicago Nat'l". Thus
the first variation was born.
Through the years, collectors have speculated as to the existence of a variation of card #40
showing Hall of Famer Vic Willis. Because Willis' card notes the team affiliation as "Pittsburg
now with St. Louis Nat'l" on the nameplate, it was thought that an earlier version noting simply
Pittsburg on the nameplate would exist. After having personally handled more than a dozen Willis
cards, seeing nearly 100 others and discussing the collections and observations of prominent
dealers and Turkey Red collectors over the years, my conclusion is that this card does not exist.
Please note that being proven wrong on this point will cause me no pain. If you find one, I'd love
to know.
Coinciding with the production of the first 50 baseball players was the separately categorized T9
Turkey Red Boxers set. This amazing group of boxing cards were noted as numbers 51 thru 76
on the card checklist back. This website will only briefly cover the T9 set, but this absolutely
beautiful set of cards should not be overlooked. Arguably the most beautiful set of boxing cards
ever produced.
28. McIntyre - Brooklyn
28. McIntyre - Brooklyn now with Chicago Nat'l
McIntire) was traded by the
Brooklyn Superbas on April 13,
1910 for Bill Davidson, Tony
Corrected quite early in the
printing cycle, the corrected
version was made available
with all three back variations
found in the first series.