1948 R346 Blue Tint Baseball Card Set and Checklist

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Specs

Year: 1948

Title: R346 Blue Tint

Size: 2″ by 2 5/8″

Number in Set: 48

Overview

One of the most interesting things about the 1948 Blue Tint Baseball card set is that no one is sure who made them. But the set was probably produced in New York (Brooklyn) because of the heavy influence of New York-based players (24) amongst the set and because there are proofs with printing on the back showing that Al Weinstein of Brooklyn was the photographer.

The set has taken the Blue Tint name from the blue color used to tint the pictures and text.

The fronts feature the player’s full name and team, centered in capital letters, beneath the photo, with the card number in the lower right corner. The backs are blank.

PSA writes that collectors can find cards 25-48 in black-and-white and that the set has a few variations in team presentation that I captured in the checklist below. Also, Beckett points out that collectors also can find cards 41-48 with or without numbers.

Update: March 2023

The American Card Catalog gave this set the R346 designation, categorizing them as a candy/gum set. But, for a long time, many felt it deserved a W designation since there’s no candy/gum distribution evidence, and the cards were believed to have been printed in strips.

1948 R346 Blue Tint Strip

This vertical strip of eight made many theorize that they were issued with cards numbers 1-8, 9-16, 17-24, 25-32, 33-40, and 41-48 together.

However, Collect Auctions sold a complete set of 1948 Blue Tint R346 cards on an Uncut Sheet on March 31st, 2023; with the buyer’s premium, the final price was $2664. It verifies the strip order but counters the notion that the cards were printed in strips. Here is the complete auction description:

Presented is a true rarity, an uncut sheet of the elusive 1948 Blue Tint R346 set, with the entire 48-card set featured in a neatly matted and framed presentation. The sheet of approximately 23-by-17 inches, is matted in navy blue and white with an attractive blue frame, bringing the measurements to 25-by-18 inches. The sheet presents decently, but a number of the 2-by-2 5/8-inch cards have significant damage as noted below. Each of the cards have been scored with reasonable precision along the bottom edge; the set includes 15 Hall of Famers. Several cards (7) have notable damage that would likely dictate a Fair designation if the cards were adjudged individually: No. 2 Durocher, No. 3 Marion, No. 5 Lindell, No. 35 Greenberg, No. 38 Elliott, No. 43 Feller and No. 46 Vander Meer; a second group of 10 cards have significant creasing that would likely dictate a Good designation if adjudged individually: No. 12 Masi, No. 13 Shea, No. 20 Spahn, No. 21 Reynolds, No. 26 Edwards, No. 27 York, No. 28 Black, No. 29 Gehrig, No. 34 Slaughter and No. 36 Robinson.

1948 R346 Blue Tint Complete Set on Uncut Sheet

Example

1948 R346 Blue Tint #16 Joe DiMaggio – Front
1948 R346 Blue Tint #16 Joe DiMaggio – Reverse

Key Cards

The key cards in the set are Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, and Ted Williams.

Checklist

1 Bill Johnson

2a Leo Durocher (Brooklyn)

2b Leo Durocher (New York)

3 Marty Marion

4 Ewell Blackwell

5 John Lindell

6 Larry Jansen

7 Ralph Kiner

8 Chuck Dressen

9 Bobby Brown

10 Luke Appling

11 Bill Nicholson

12 Phil Masi

13 Frank Shea

14 Bob Dillinger

15 Pete Suder

16 Joe DiMaggio

17 John Corriden

18a Mel Ott (New York)

18b Mel Ott (No Team)

19 Buddy Rosar

20 Warren Spahn

21 Allie Reynolds

22 Lou Boudreau

23 Hank Majeski

24 Frank Crosetti

25 Gus Niarhos

26 Bruce Edwards

27 Rudy York

28 Don Black

29 Lou Gehrig

30 Johnny Mize

31 Ed Stanky

32 Vic Raschi

33 Cliff Mapes

34 Enos Slaughter

35 Hank Greenberg

36 Jackie Robinson

37 Frank Hiller

38 Bob Elliott

39 Harry Walker

40 Ed Lopat

41 Bobby Thomson

42 Tommy Henrich

43 Bob Feller

44 Ted Williams

45 Dixie Walker

46 Johnny Vander Meer

47 Clint Hartung

(48) Charlie Keller (No Number)