I recently came across an incredible piece of hobby history in Mastro & Steinbach’s November 1997 Fine Sports Auctions catalog: an uncut sheet of 1934 R327 Diamond Stars cards featuring cards 37 through 48, which includes Rogers Hornsby!
Collectors are probably more familiar with the legendary uncut sheet of unissued Diamond Stars cards from the extension set, a sheet I previously wrote about in a piece titled Uncut Sheet of Unissued R327 Diamond Stars. But this sheet is something I don’t remember seeing discussed anywhere else before.
The sheet includes a dozen cards from the issued portion of the set and features several production notes on the reverse.
The auction noted that Red Lucas’s card (#46) had his card number crossed out, with “#106” written above it in blue pencil. Card #106 in the set was also assigned to Red Lucas. There also appear to be notations around his age and record, matching the updates made between the production of his two cards.
For a bit more background about the backs’ different colors, Pre-War Cards’ overview of the set points out that
…earlier cards were printed in green and backs printed in blue were printed later. More specifically, while green ink was used for the biographies on the back in 1934 and 1935, the company switched to blue for some 1935 cards and for its final year of printing in 1936. Thus, if you have a card with green ink, it is from either 1934 or 1935. If you have a card with blue ink, it is from either 1935 or 1936.
According to Mastro’s description, when Bill Zagrapan discovered the National Chicle artwork and sheets in 1981, there were only a handful of baseball card sheets among the find. This particular sheet was one of just four baseball examples, with several others being only partial sheets or strips.
The sheet was described as having several light creases that were more noticeable on the reverse and minor edge wear, but that its flaws could “hardly detract from this visually attractive rarity.”
My question is if anyone has seen this sheet since it appeared in the 1997 Mastro & Steinbach auction catalog? I’d love to see a clearer image and know who has it in their permanent collection.
Happy collecting!
Check out Uncut Sheet Archive for more!
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