This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/26/2009
Graded NM/MT 8 by PSA. Of the 138 examples of this card that have passed through the grading room at PSA, the offered example is 1 of just 8 copies to grade an amazing NM/MT, with only one example grading marginally better. DeLong Gum Company of Boston, MA issued what may have been the perfect sidecar along with its gum product at the entirely wrong time. DeLong issued a 24-subject baseball card issue at the same time the Goudey Gum Company, also of Boston and the chief rival of DeLong, was completing plans on a 240-card issue. Both editions were to usher in a new era in the genre of collectible baseball cards as these two sets were the very first national issues to be a compliment of chewing gum. DeLong's issue would be its first and last as the company seemingly bowed to the competition of a much larger and better organized national distribution from Goudey versus the Northeastern US distribution process of the undermanned DeLong Gum Company. All of that said, what it means today is a profoundly scarce baseball collectible that enjoys a die-hard furor collector base of these art deco styled pasteboards. Offered here is the coup de grace of DeLong "menkos" (Japanese noun for stiff cardboard with player's face on it) featuring a stunning silhouetted image of the "Iron Horse," Lou Gehrig, cast against a baseball stadium in an image that styles the Yankee siege gun as a larger-than-life hero for the youth of America. The four corners stand at the precipice of the opined grade, literally at the door of the next grading tier. The centering from left to right appears to show an ever so slight bias in favor of the left edge but surely falls within PSA's stringent guidelines for the grade, while the top to bottom centering appears astute. The color is magnificent with a stunning robins egg blue serving as the sky surrounding the esteemed slugger, while the bottom name plate glares back at the onlooker with an attention-grabbing fiery yellow. As well, the registration and contrast of image are especially noteworthy for the issue, and the reverse is splendidly inked in a deep black set against a perfect slightly off-white stock that offers a noteworthy appearance. An American classic offered in emotionally stirring and technically strong NM/MT condition.