Hobby’s best signed 1948 Leaf set?

[Bleeckerstreet2]

About five years in, I thought this group might enjoy seeing my progress on the set and could potentially be a help if there are any signed Leafs out there sitting in forgotten PCs or storage boxes. This is my favorite set for many reasons. I know in this form that it’s unlikely to ever be complete, but it’s been such a fun hunt and way to build connections with other collectors of all generations and connections to the players who held and maybe appreciated each of their cards shown below before putting their stamp on it for us lucky collectors.

Some stats:
- There are 98 cards in the set, but only 61 have at least one signed example in the pop report
- I have 55 of those 61, but that means only 56% of the 98
- PSA has graded 315 total signed 1948 Leaf cards across the set, so about 5 on average per card with a known signed copy
- There are 17 pop 1’s of which I own 15 of them
- 30 of the SPs have no signed example in the PSA pop report, though I have seen old sales of 5 of them in SGC/jsa slabs
- Despite the old joke that the only thing rarer than a signed Bob Feller card is an unsigned one, he only has two in the pop report and I do not have one
- Babe Ruth has a signed example in the pop report but I believe that to be signed by his wife or daughter given the recent confirmation that the set was released in 1949 and Ruth passed in late 1948
- There are still many raw ones out there waiting to be graded, including an Honus Wagner I have seen a picture of, despite him being the first in the set to pass away in 1955
- The most recent passing is Bobby Doerr in 2017, there are no living subjects of the set
- 70 of the 98 cards in the set are rookie cards which is incredible by todays standards and largely a result of the dearth of sets during WWII
- 18 HOFers in the set
- This was the first candy/gum set issued in color post war and is the first “integrated” card set given it features the RCs of Jackie, Satch, and Doby
- The highest graded card in the signed pop report is a 7.5 and it is Jackie Robinson’s rookie. No one I know has seen a picture of it. Isn’t that nuts? Probably a $3-5m card given an authentic creased one did $600k last year.
- For more reading on the set, check out my friend Brian Kappel’s new book re:Leaf. It’s awesome, an easy read, and available on Amazon.

Thanks for the help and don’t hesitate to reach out if you think you can help or just want to chat cards.

























































Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MiamiMarlinsFan]

Wow! Amazing collection you have here. Thanks for sharing.

[OhioLawyerF5]

That is mind-blowing! Way to go. I dare say you collect harder than Puddlemonkey.

[hammertime]

Incredible! That Teddy Ballgame is insane.

[Poorboy]

that is truly amazing.......wowwwww

[Emergency Donut]

This is an unreal project and collection! Thanks for sharing the info and pics, and good luck.

[here2havefun]

Originally Posted by Bleeckerstreet2

- The highest graded card in the signed pop report is a 7.5 and it is Jackie Robinson’s rookie. No one I know has seen a picture of it. Isn’t that nuts? Probably a $3-5m card given an authentic creased one did $600k last year.

This is crazy. I didn't know about this!

[rats60]

The Babe Ruth autographed card is 100% fake. Ruth didn't die in late 1948, he died on August 16, 1948. If you read the backs of the 1st series cards, almost all reference the player's 1948 season and some reference the World Series which ended on October 11, 1948. The earliest possible date for the release of the set would have been October 1948.

For those that argued a 1948-1949 release, that has always been their argument, that the cards were released after the season in 1948 for the first series and in 1949 for the second series. However, that begs the question, why did Leaf print copyright dates for some of the first series cards as 1949 if they released them in late 1948? We have known the answer since the early 80s, over 40 years. The copyright date was when the player signed their contract with Leaf. So for over 40 years we have known that it is impossible for the set to have been released in 1948.

The dating problem begin in the 70s when Beckett first started pricing cards. Without any evidence or using common sense, they gave the set a 1948-49 date even though the hobby always dated cards the year after the last stats on cards. When presented with evidence, they have refused to correct their error. Eventually, SCD did correct it a called it 1949 Leaf. PSA and other grading companies used Beckett's wrong date and PSA's registry has compounded the problem.

The hobby never really cared about the Leaf set until people started putting together registry sets. Collectors given the option of 1948 Bowman or 1949 Leaf for RCs of HOFers like Stan Musical or Warren Spahn chose the second year cards because they were color rather than the black and white cards of Bowman. That has made the set more popular today than it was during the 80s & 90s.

It is really no surprise that graders would be ignorant of the hobby or the issues surrounding the 1949 Leaf set. This has resulted in them authenticating a Babe Ruth signature on a card that was printed after he was dead.

[Bleeckerstreet2]

thanks for the perspective. as i said, i dont believe its a Babe Ruth signature (real or fake) on the card - I believe it to be a Babe Ruth card signed by a family member in the family member's name, but the PSA/DNA pop report doesn't have a way of showing who signed a card... only that a card has been signed. it's similar to when multi-player cards show up as signed in the pop report, but there's no way of knowing if it was signed by all the players on the card or just one.

i would also challenge you on the idea that the really hobby didn't care about the Leaf until set registry came around. it certainly trailed bowman / topps sets because it was basically a one-hit wonder, but its skip numbering and SP's had created a popularity and allure of mystery around the set for many experienced collectors (listen to Dr. Beckett talk about his 70's/80's memories in his podcast many many times and how everyone was trying to figure out what a complete 48/49 Leaf set really was... discovering SP's that were released only in certain regions before Bowman sued Leaf).

and FWIW, many card sets have hung on to initial mislabels or being imprecisely labeled before the internet, information age, and forums where experts can debate and agree on the facts. another top 5 vintage set - the 1909-11 T206 "set" is a similar example, which would've been broken up into various ad back sets and different production years had it come out later into the hobby's maturity. so I wouldn't blame graders for staying consistent with hobby standards.

Originally Posted by rats60

The Babe Ruth autographed card is 100% fake. Ruth didn't die in late 1948, he died on August 16, 1948. If you read the backs of the 1st series cards, almost all reference the player's 1948 season and some reference the World Series which ended on October 11, 1948. The earliest possible date for the release of the set would have been October 1948.

For those that argued a 1948-1949 release, that has always been their argument, that the cards were released after the season in 1948 for the first series and in 1949 for the second series. However, that begs the question, why did Leaf print copyright dates for some of the first series cards as 1949 if they released them in late 1948? We have known the answer since the early 80s, over 40 years. The copyright date was when the player signed their contract with Leaf. So for over 40 years we have known that it is impossible for the set to have been released in 1948.

The dating problem begin in the 70s when Beckett first started pricing cards. Without any evidence or using common sense, they gave the set a 1948-49 date even though the hobby always dated cards the year after the last stats on cards. When presented with evidence, they have refused to correct their error. Eventually, SCD did correct it a called it 1949 Leaf. PSA and other grading companies used Beckett's wrong date and PSA's registry has compounded the problem.

The hobby never really cared about the Leaf set until people started putting together registry sets. Collectors given the option of 1948 Bowman or 1949 Leaf for RCs of HOFers like Stan Musical or Warren Spahn chose the second year cards because they were color rather than the black and white cards of Bowman. That has made the set more popular today than it was during the 80s & 90s.

It is really no surprise that graders would be ignorant of the hobby or the issues surrounding the 1949 Leaf set. This has resulted in them authenticating a Babe Ruth signature on a card that was printed after he was dead.

[Bleeckerstreet2]

Originally Posted by Emergency Donut

This is an unreal project and collection! Thanks for sharing the info and pics, and good luck.

thank you for the well wishes and support! it's been a blast to chase.

[Bleeckerstreet2]

Originally Posted by hammertime

Incredible! That Teddy Ballgame is insane.

thanks HT! That one was my favorite for awhile and is the most common card to get a "wow" when I show friends or bring some PC cards to a local show. personally I favor the Doby, but that Ted is a close second and wins most of the eye appeal awards in my set.

[Bleeckerstreet2]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

That is mind-blowing! Way to go. I dare say you collect harder than Puddlemonkey.

Haha I gotta say I was a little inspired by him posting his epic PC, and am glad I am not going head-to-head with him in the signed vintage world.

[joecarterfan]

OMG...

[ScooterD]

Yea - this is epic to see. Thank you for sharing and continuing the journey

[Qubits]

This is magnificent. Thank you for sharing this.