This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on:
7/30/2010
Directly after the Japanese infamous December 7, 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Naval Fleet, Admiral Yamamoto delivered his legendary quote “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve”. Synonymous with the “sleeping giant” phrase, there are a number of cards within the illustrious hobby that have not peaked in both desirability and value. One of those cards just happens to be the highly coveted T204 Ramly Eddie Plank, carrying the iconic Carl Horner Eddie Plank portrait pose made famous by the T206 Eddie Plank subject. Unquestionably, the T206 Plank ranks as one of the top five “giants” of the card circuit. If the T206 Honus Wagner is our hobby’s “Holy Grail”, then its T206 Eddie Plank neighbor should be classified as the “Mona Lisa”.
We are all familiar with the legacy of the T206 Wagner and how his disdain for tobacco products prompted him to discontinue the distribution of his tobacco Sweet Caporal advertisement card, resulting in a mere few in existence today. Likewise, there are a select few of Eddie Plank T206 subjects available; however, the cause for the Plank shortage remains a mystery. Many advanced enthusiasts now believe the shortage was not attributed to the original “broken printing plate” myth. If there had truly been a printing plate issue, why not replace have it, and did a broken printing plate prevent the production of Nationally distributed tobacco brand Plank cards for the T201, T202, T205 and T207 ultra popular issues from that era? The answer is most likely, “no”, with common sense leaning us towards the alleged scarcity reasoning that similar to Honus Wagner, Plank was not willing to promote tobacco products. The fact remains that only a handful of Plank tobacco cards were issued in 1909 including the T206 and T204 Ramly’s. Like Wagner, subsequent tobacco issues for the next several years only included remote regional issues whereby the player may not have known of their existence, and the rarely seen T5 Pinkerton cabinets.
Additionally supporting the Plank tobacco card theory are the shortage of T204 Ramly Planks listed on both the SGC and PSA “pop” charts with only a combined 26 graded examples at the time this was written! Incredibly, the 26 graded Ramly Plank’s are only 60% of the total SGC and PSA graded T206 Wagner’s and a meager 33% of the T206 Planks! Furthermore, it would not make sense for any of the major tobacco companies to inadvertently omit one of the game’s premier pitchers from their checklists, with Plank easily on his way to being a 300 game winner and Cooperstown inductee. While we may never achieve full resolution on why there is an obvious shortage of Plank tobacco cards, statistically speaking it certainly appears Plank withheld his permission for various tobacco companies to utilize his image (whether for a disdain of tobacco products or not being sufficiently funded we will certainly never know for sure). Seldom offered at auction, the T204 Plank remains one of the significantly tough cardboard prizes to capture, and one of the most ornate and aesthetically brilliant baseball cards manufactured from the dead ball era, via their gold embossed designs. Fortunately for collectors, presented here is one of those rarely seen Eddie Plank Ramlys in an outstanding SGC 60/5 holder. Substantiating the aforementioned “pop” chart rarity is SGC listing only 10 other T204 Planks, with a single other copy at this tier and a mere 2 graded higher (both graded SGC 70/5.5). PSA’s “pop” figures indicate only 15 graded subjects, with a mere 2 at this solid mid-grade level and 4 graded higher. Undeniably, the population reports indicate there is not an abundance of T204 Planks circulating throughout the hobby, with magnificent growth potential for this highly underrated card.
The presented example portrays high-end mid-grade qualities commonly sought after by any elite enthusiast. Eddie Plank’s iconic black & white Carl Horner pose is virtually pristine, depicting breathtaking contrast and clarity. The ultra attractive ornate network of gold embossed vines and flowers still retain all of their original gold color, set against a superb ivory colored background. The complete image is well centered “side to side” and only slightly favors the upper edge. While the usual technical stigma for the T204 issue is gold border chipping (similar to T205’s), atypically all four borders have managed to defy a century of potential wear and miraculously retain a majority of their original regal gold color. While no obtrusive obverse side defects exist, the only minor blips include some mild toning situated on the upper right ivory surface as well as the lower right corner tip revealing some diminutive touching. The reverse side “RAMLY-TURKISH CIGARETTES” advertisement is exceptionally bold and only some moderate soiling exists along a few of the edges. Both sides are free of any creasing, and the four corners are relatively square, the final compliments to one of the finer mid-grade Ramly’s you will ever see.
While we are certainly not suggesting that the T204 Ramly Eddie Plank will be the next hobby “Holy Grail”, one cannot ignore the simple fact that it is one of only two major tobacco Plank issues from that era. To reiterate, all of the other major tobacco manufacturers omitted Plank from their issues, and we cannot possibly believe this was a mere oversight, especially considering the relatively minimal remaining T206 and T204 subjects included on both the SGC and PSA “pop” charts. This is why we have chosen to label the T204 Plank one of the hobby’s “sleeping giants”, with unlimited investment potential. While the “true” account relating to the T206 Plank shortage or his inexplicable omission from other major tobacco brands may never be resolved, what we can attest to is the sheer paucity of BOTH the T206 and T204 Plank issues, justifying why the time is now to capture this remarkable Plank memento!