This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/1/2022
Vintage tobacco cards of baseball legends and other Hall of Famers are always highly coveted within the sports card community but it's those rare variations of lesser-known players that the advanced hobbyist often seek to bring their collections to world-class status. Richard Hoblitzell was an unremarkable major-league first baseman, a career .278 hitter over 11 seasons whose greatest claim to fame might be that he won two World Series championships as a teammate of Babe Ruth in Boston in 1915 and 1916. But to T205 master set builders, his "no stats" variation card is as valuable to add to a collection as Babe Ruth. One of the scarcest tobacco cards ever produced, a small number of Richard Hoblitzell’s Hassan cigarette cards were inexplicably issued with no statistics on the reverse side, making it an extremely difficult variation for T205 purists to capture. It is thought that the quantity of specimens in existence is even less than the almost mythical T206 Wagner, Plank, and Magie cards, and like the T206 set that preceded it, many elite enthusiasts scramble to put together a complete set that includes all possible variations. Simply regarded as the Hoblitzell “No Stats” version, we now offer an SGC 5 copy that is one of the finest in existence. This example’s overall aesthetics are excellent, with Hoblitzell’s classic lithographic image projecting a splendid array of blue and flesh-toned hues in exceptional contrast and clarity, supported by an appealing mustard-yellow background, with the entire image showing a tolerable preference for the right side. The gold borders, typically the primary downfall of T205s, have held up well with light to moderate chipping commensurate with the grade. It's been a long time since one of this quality has been available for public sale, so we'll leave you to decide your next move.