This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/14/2008
The offered protuberant E90-1 Joe Jackson RC card exhibits a pinhole just beneath its top border that sets the enthusiast’s mind reeling along the infinite possible trajectories this purple cardboard jewel may have traveled in its century-long journey to its next owner. Judging by its preserved colors and clean white borders, this caramel candy relic probably traded hands a few times in its infancy as young sticky-fingered fans paraded their prized caramel cards around town, swapping their favorite players (beating them to shreds, no doubt) and boasting about their stats, like Shoeless Joe’s .408 season of 1911 or his 26 triples the following year. At some point in this parade, a young fan perhaps pinned this cardboard sugarplum to a wall or a board that hung near his bed, where he’d gaze at it in between his own “fields of dreams.” After a short life on this wall, this relic almost certainly went into hiding, perhaps packed snuggly away in the furthest recesses of an empty nest. How else could the borders remain so unfaded and the reverse so creamy white? However the offered collectible survived the last century, each stage in its journey into a GAI 1.5 holder is no doubt marked by the immense joy shared by each of its owners, young children and older gentleman alike. Fairytales and blockbuster films aside, the offered E90-1 Joe Jackson is among the most presentable examples we’ve had the privilege to offer. In addition to the aforementioned pinhole, the low grade reflects a pea-sized area of paper loss along the top left edge of the reverse as well as four diagonal yet mostly unobtrusive creases running from the lower left border to the upper right border. The centering noticeably favors the right border but leaves an adequate area of alabaster white on each edge to afford the image the feel of a frame. The image itself is as precise as any we’ve ever seen, with perfect registration and bold, alluring colors suggestive of royalty and immortality. Most impressive of all, however, is Joe’s discernible boyish countenance. Virtually every other example extant features a less than accurate application of red ink to Joe’s lips, creating an odd and almost deformed frown on an already inferior image. Not so on this specimen! Offered is a gently smiling Shoeless Joe on a caramel relic long recognized throughout the hobby as Jackson’s rookie card and single most significant issue.