
Front

Back
Fast Facts
Year(s) Issued: 1931
Set Designation: W517-1 (Standard Size), W517-2 (Mini)
Number Cards: 54
Card Size: 3″ x 4″ (1.75" x 2.75" for Mini version)
Common Card Value (Good Condition): $25
Scarcity Rating: (1 to 10, 10 scarcest): 6
W517 Strip Card Set
Keys For Collectors
W517 Summary:
I love the look of the W517 strip cards as it gets away from some of the crude artwork of prior year strips and provides a full size photo strip card. Card #20 of the 'Babe' showcases the stern side of Ruth, while the set includes a whole host of Hall of Famers including two Ruth cards, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Eddie Collins and more. The production of these cards included a smaller version, along with various color variations, making it nearly impossible for any collectors to piece together all of the produced cards. The confusing part is that mini sized card versions were only produced for a select few subjects. It is also believed that the differing color variations is due to erroneous printing runs and not due to any plan to issue different colored cards.
W517 Counterfeits - Tips on Identifying
There are a lot of W517 counterfeit cards in circulation and for the untrained eye the reprints are quite convincing. The most common reprints have 'W517' printed on the bottom left corner, so if you see that, it's a guaranteed fake. Also known as the 'Spigler' reprints, as these were produced by Jim Spigler. These were also issued in three card vertical strips. Of course, the scammers are likely to trim the bottoms off to remove the obvious sign, so it can often be a lot harder to tell if the borders are narrow. Below are uncut reprint strips with the 'W517' in the bottom left corner.

Here's a fake W517 Ruth that has been noticeably trimmed a bit extra where the 'W517 text should be. This sort of cut should be a dead giveaway:

Of course, there are also known W517 full size counterfeits which DO NOT have the W517 text on the bottom. The only true way to identify these reproductions is to get very high resolution scans or if you can look at the card in person, examine with a loupe. Take a look at the light brown colored borders under magnification; if the cream color is made up of tiny dots of different colors (black, pink, yellow and blue), they are definitely fakes. And if it is real, the brown borders will only show brown dots. In addition, the dots within the circle that contains the card number should be white without dots.
The paper stock on the W517 fakes is also an important key to look out for. The 'Spigler' reprints were made with a slightly whiter card stock, as you can see in the comparison of the back images below. The differences are hard to tell with a naked eye, but the fakes have a brighter card stock which would flouresce under bright light; the real cards have a darker greyish color and a thinner card stock.

Back of a 'Spigler' W517 Reprint

Back of an authentic W517 card
W517 Cards for Sale on eBay
1931 W517 Strip Card #8 of George Earnshaw, Philadelphia Athletics, Fair
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1931 W517 Jimmie Foxx #21 Strip Card SGC 4 VG-EX!!! Hall Of Fame!!!
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1931 W517 Baseball Strip card # 36 Dazzy Vance HOF F-G crease
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1931 W517 Baseball Strip card # 52 Eddie Collins P-F HOF
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1931 W517 Baseball Strip Card #23 Bill Terry
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1931 W517 large strip card Goose Goslin Washington bxmt
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(33) 1931 W517 BASEBALL (11) 3 CARD STRIP LOT (RUTH-GEHRIG)
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1931 W517 Baseball Strip card # 12 Travis Jackson HOF F-G
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1931 W517 Baseball Strip card # 33 Lefty O'Doul G-VG
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1931 W517 Strip Cards *Mini* -WILLIE KAMM (Cleveland Indians) *RARE MINI* Brown
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1931 W517 Baseball Strip Card Lefty O'Doul TOUGH Brooklyn Variation
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1931 W517 Baseball Strip card # 9 Bucky Harris VG-EX HOF Card is trimmed
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1931 W517 Baseball Strip card # 27 Tony Lazzeri F-G see scans HOF
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1931 W517 #10 Chuck Klein Philadelphia Phillies HOF PURPLE VARIATION SGC 4
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1931 W517 #23 Bill Terry New York Giants HOF RED VARIATION SGC 4
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1931 W517 Baseball Strip card # 54 Mickey Cochrane VG-EX HOF
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1931 W517 Baseball Strip card # 16 Frank Frisch G-VG no creases HOF
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1931 W517 Strip Baseball Card #46 Joe Sewell
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1931 W517 Rube Walberg #41 Bill Terry #23 Bill Shore #7 baseball card strip
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1931 W517 #26 PETE DONAHUE *SGC 86 (7.5)* *134 WINS* REDS GIANTS RED SOX INDIANS
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