Anybody Want to Trade?

I made an oopsy.

As you know, my collecting goal is to obtain one card of every man to ever suit up in Cubbie Blue.  Seeing as the franchise history extends back into the Ulysses S. Grant administration, that leads to a large swathe of my Cubs All-Time Roster needs being much more obscure than your average Topps or Panini pasteboard.  More importantly, at least to my wallet, this means that many of my wants are expensive antiques that I can't justify dropping beaucoup bucks on without some careful financial planning.

In the midst of a total household remodel, I've been selling a lot of old furniture and knick-knacks on Facebook Marketplace.  This stuff would have been simply dropped off at Goodwill, under normal circumstances; however, with the local thrift shops not accepting donations (or even being open) during this pandemic, I figured I'd try to get the junk piling up by our front door out of the way via capitalism.  Thanks to a Covid-captive audience, that mass of lamps, desks, end tables, etc. was quickly transformed into some rainy day cash.

The wife and I treated ourselves to some date nights through the drive-thru, birthday celebrations, and some new, more aesthetically pleasing wall decorations.  Although, at the end of our clearance sale, there was still some leftover fun money for splurge of a card purchase.  As I usually do when I find myself with bonus bucks burning a hole in my pocket, I opted to cross a pre-war need off of my cardboard shopping list:

Of course, pretty much anyone who knows anything about cards is familiar with the most popular tobacco releases from the first decade-plus of the 20th century - the T206 Honus Wagner has made sure of that.  One "Flying Dutchman" contemporary set that doesn't get nearly as much attention as those brightly colored portraits is the 1912 Imperial Tobacco (C46) release, as seen above.  Not only do they lack color, but the brown, wood grain border of these Canadian cards combined with the dark black & white photography create a rather dreary and bleak-looking product.  Plus, the checklist is absolutely chock full of minor leaguers, focusing on players active in the International League at that time.  Thus, they don't seem to generate nearly the same level of interest as the much more celebrated T206's, T205's, Hassan Triple Folders, etc.

One thing that they do have going for them, compared to their brethren of the era, is a backside dedicated to player bios, rather than advertising space:

This is especially helpful considering the large amount of obscure bush-leaguers which populate the checklist.  The bio truly shines a light on some people that time has forgotten.

Speaking of forgetting, I probably shouldn't have forgotten to double-check my research before pulling the trigger on this purchase.

When I saw this "Phelan" card pop up in my saved Ebay searches, I got a bit excited.  First of all, it was only fifteen bucks, a price point I rarely see tobacco cards offered at unless they are literally missing chunks of cardboard or held together with century-old tape.  Furthermore, it showed up under my saved search for "Art Phelan," a third baseman who played with the Cubs from 1913-15 and who I knew appeared on some tobacco issues back in his day.  When I read that notification, I got caught up in the thrill and quickly jumped, purchasing the pasteboard with nary a second thought.  This listing popping up, in my price range, just as I found myself with some extra funds seemed more kismet than coincidence.

This is where I made my oopsy.

Purchase prints and posters on Houzz

Art Phelan, appearing on one of those contemporary cards, as a Cub

Not even ten minutes later, a creeping doubt began to seep into the back of my brain.  You might notice that both the nameplate on the front of the card and the write up on the reverse only mention the ballplayer's last name, "Phelan."  There's no mention of the first name anywhere on the card.  Although the listing clearly stated "Art Phelan" in it's title and description, the dark thoughts reminded me how easy it would be to misidentify a minor leaguer from before "the Great War" had even taken place.  Although I hoped that I was just being a pessimist, or maybe even feeling a twinge of buyer's remorse since I rarely splurge with double digits on a single card, dread quickly overwhelmed my initial euphoria.

via GIPHY

Sadly, a Google search proved Luke Skywalker correct. 

While Art Phelan was a former Cub with a five-year Major League career John Phelan - better known as Jimmy - shared no such qualifications.  Though he was a ten-year professional, this Phelan never played in the Majors, let alone with the Chicago National League Ballclub.  His career .241 batting average probably had a lot to do with his lack of ascension, especially considering the era in which he played.

Anyway, cue the sad trombone - I was tricked by a Phelan *womp, womp*

 Art - not Jimmy - Phelan on his T207 (left) and Fatima (right) cards.

The fault is completely mine, I should have been more careful about my purchase.  After all, even though the listing was incorrect, I highly doubt the seller was being spurious - there's not exactly a demanding market for the other Phelan, so why intentionally misrepresent.  As a result, I've been quite bummed about my impulsive mix-up, especially considering how rarely I treat myself to one of these comparatively high-dollar acquisitions for my CATRC binder.

On the bright side, tobacco cards always seem to generate interest, even on the low end.  With that in mind, is there anyone out there on the blogosphere who wants to trade for this antique oddity?  Maybe you just so happen to have the correct Phelan on his T207 or Fatima release (off condition, of course).  In the likely event that you do not and are still interested in obtaining this woodgrain, Imperial beauty, I'm interested in any pre-war era Cubs card that features a player still needed for my CATRC.  Please see the "Cubs" tab found at the top of this page for my collection record and who has yet to be obtained for my most hallowed tome.  If I don't have someone from that era, I'll take them in whatever uniform you have to offer - beggars can't be choosers, after all.

Have you ever allowed your excitement to get the better of you when it comes to a hobby purchase?  Did you ever pull the trigger on a card of the wrong player?  Perhaps, in the heat of the moment, you got tricked with a reprint versus the real deal?  Still, you might have accidentally clicked "purchase' before reading the full description of an item and gotten something completely different than you thought you were.  Personally, I've done all three and have screwed up in countless other ways.  Please feel free to vent with me in the comment section below.

In the meantime, I've learned a lesson and next time I decide to treat myself, I won't let my exuberance overwhelm my sense of reason.  Oopsies happen, but this one was particularly frustrating.

Darn tricky Phelans...