1931 W517 Complete Set in original three-card strip form with the box! Eighteen strips of three cards, for a total of fifty-four cards, many of which are HOFers. Highlighted by two Babe Ruths and a Lou Gehrig among many more, with the likes of Alexander, Cochrane, Collins, Foxx, Hornsby and Traynor, just to name a few. Nearly all of the strips are Exmt+/-, with a few Nrmt and just a few lesser. All present uniformly and have no creases/wrinkles or damage of any kind. This set was issued over at least two years, 1931 and 1932 and perhaps 1933 as evidenced by a few players with team changes and two different versions. The set offered here is an early issue with all on their teams of the 1931 season. Some of the cards had/have a random Green or Pink strip to award a prize as noted on the box, this set has seven with a Green stripe at top or bottom, but no Pink. Obviously the promoters of this did not want to give away the large candy bar! As to how one would win the baseball, it seems likely that no one ever did, as the merchant could continually add to the box.
Much has been learned of this set of late, as Heritage recently auctioned a complete set of the strips that came from the original family, owners of a confectionary store and wholesale candy business. Their set was in nearly identical condition, but without the box. We should state that the box included here is missing the top, per the description of the consignor of the Heritage lot, who had written down notes from when he was a boy, in regards to the cards, and their dispersal.
Unfortunately, no more information about the exact issuer of this novel card set was provided by the box, yet having it makes the card set even more desirable. This is the same set that Heritage also sold originally in 2021 for $9,300, the other complete set they recently sold for nearly double that. What will this set with the box bring this time around?