1930 W554 Strip Card Set

Keys For Collectors

• Oversized issue (5″x7″), which features a variation of sepia or black & white (more challenging to find) player photos.
• The images are identical to the W553 Strip Card Set and the Kashin Publications (R316) cards.
• Cards feature a facsimile player auto on the front of the card.
• Some card variations have the player name, position, and team printed on the bottom, while others have no text.
• Rarer cards have advertising backs, but the majority of backs are blank.
• While initially thought to be hand-cut, the border edges on the existing population show that these cards were sheet-cut, although no uncut sheets have been discovered.
• Of the eighteen cards in the set, thirteen are Hall Of Famers, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx.
• The cards are hard to find; PSA has graded only ~70 cards from the set. 

W554 – A Closer Look At The Print And Back Variations

The W554 is a beautiful, hard-to-find set with many variations that collectors should know.

First, the cards were issued in two different colors—a black-and-white variation and one with a more sepia tone.

In addition, most sepia-colored cards were issued with text at the bottom, whereas the black-and-white version has no text.

See the W554 Ruth card below for an example of this:

W554 Ruth Sepia variation

W554 Ruth black and white version

In addition to the print variation, some cards were issued with advertising backs, some of which make this set more of a head-scratcher.

The one that has me wondering more about this set is the ‘Lucky Yo-Yo’ advertising back, which means one of two things: Was this set issued in a wrapper? Or is that ad referring to the 1929 W553 Movie Stars set, which we know was issued in pack form?

I’d say the latter is likely, as it is quite possible those packs would be sitting on the shelves, and we know that the cards share the same images as the W553 baseball set.

I don’t know what to make of the A. Bonemery Ice Cream Confectionary stamp, however. As Pre War Cards notes, this was likely to be a northeast issue given the Springfield, MA address.

It might also explain the W553 Movie Star pack/gum issue. Thus, it is highly likely that A. Bonemery issued the W553 and W554 cards.

Still many unknowns about the issue of this set, so if you have any clues, let me know at help@allvintagecards.com

W554 Cards for Sale on eBay