#176 Hank Edwards

#176 Hank Edwards
Progress: 1st of this card
255 of 407  62.6% complete
How Acquired: $6.40 on eBay
Condition: Very Good
This card, or more specifically the price paid for it, is a result of me getting over zealous in my bidding when a seller has multiple needs and combined shipping.  Somehow $6.40 seemed reasonable.  I don't know how I came to that conclusion in retrospect.

This Edwards features two of my least favorite things in the '52 set. One of them is preventable, the other is not.  I'm not a fan of off-centered cards, they bother me more than they do most other collectors.  But what I like even less than off-centered cards, is the "slant" cut, like this Edwards.  This is far from the worst example of "slant" cutting that you'll see, but it still annoys me.  That's the preventable defect.  It's my fault for not looking closer at the listing.  The unpreventable* defect is the white back.  I can't stand the 3rd series run of cards in the '52 with the white backs.  It changes the entire nature of the card for me.

* Yes, I put an asterisk by that "unpreventable" description.  These cards exists in the normal backs.  But they are extremely scarce.  For decades the common theory was that the 3rd series run of gray backs were issued in Canada.  However, the consensus among the active collector's of the gray backs seems to be that they were not issued in Canada.  This Bob Lemke piece is an incredible read, not just for the subject matter, but the idea that these collector's exists and have the time, means, and resources to get so involved.  While there is (mostly) an agreement that these weren't a Canadian issue, there isn't any definitive theory on where they came from.  They exists in two versions as far as the printing on the front goes, with some have a bit of a yellow tint to them.  Both versions are inferior print quality than the standard issued ones.  Why the inferior and differing fronts?  A popular theory is that Topps allowed a 3rd party to print them to be issued with a brand of tissues, and wanted to make sure the Topps product was superior.  Another is they started the 3rd series and ran out of paper and/or the ink was going low/bad, and the initial run was just a general mess of poor printing, off-centered, and miscut cards.  By the time Topps secured new paper and/or ink, the white stock was all that was available.  I don't know whats true, but it's probably better left a mystery.  

Stats: 11 seasons, 613 hits, 51 HR, .281 avg., led AL with 16 triples in '46

Best Hall of Fame Showing: 0.67% 1960