Lot # 636: 1915 Schmelzer's Sporting Goods Ty Cobb Advertising Pin PSA EX-MT 6

Graded EX-MT 6 by PSA. Presented is an extraordinary Ty Cobb advertising pinback issued in 1915 by Schmelzer's Sporting Goods of Kansas City. By any measure, Schmelzer's Sporting Goods pins are one of the pinback collecting world's most desirable and legendary rarities. In addition to being the first baseball pin set to combine photos of famous ballplayers with color lithographic artwork, Schmelzer's are among the rarest of all baseball celluloids. Each pin in this striking set features a black-and-white portrait image of the player along with a full-color figure of a generic ballplayer to the left, representing a position, which is also noted above the portrait in red lettering. While Ty Cobb is a staple in many prewar card sets, and his cards can routinely sell for great sums, they pale in comparison in terms of rarity to the Ty Cobb Schmelzer's Sporting Goods pins. Any short list of the era's most desirable baseball pinbacks will include the Cobb Schmelzer's. The pin is in remarkable condition, with a bold image of Cobb, bright colors, and with the original advertising back paper still intact on the reverse. On the curl of the pin, it is indicated, in tiny letters, that these pins were manufactured for Schmelzer's Sporting Goods by The Whitehead & Hoag Company, the premier pinback-maker of the era. Interestingly, Cobb was completely unknown in the Schmelzer's set until REA's May 2006 auction when an exciting find of a dozen Schmelzer's was sold (Lot 932) that included not one but three Cobbs! Please note that PSA has labeled the pin 1910, but research indicates these were more likely issued in 1915. This is a spectacular, high-grade example of one of celluloid collecting's most desirable advertising pinback rarities.