Summer Premium Card and Memorabilia Auction Closing August 7 & 9
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/8/2021
Graded EX 5 by PSA, one of just five examples at its tier. Among a total of forty-one copies listed in PSA's census reporting, only three specimens have achieved higher levels. The legend of Joe Jackson is widely known to all baseball enthusiasts. Unfortunately for modern collectors, the great player's career was abbreviated by scandal, and his inclusion in contemporary card sets was correspondingly limited. Besides a strip card, a few black-and-white issues and a caramel card from his early days with the Athletics, there are very few period mementos of the legendary hitter's career. Accordingly, Cracker Jack's decision to include Joe Jackson in the company's inaugural 1914 offering is a particularly fortuitous one. The Cracker Jack issue, on the basis of an aesthetic brilliance that yields unparalleled visual splendor, is clearly the industry's collectible of choice with respect to the revered, yet tragic, figure. This example's design provides the classic, colorful batting pose of Jackson, placed against the brightest-imaginable background. Stylized letters identifying the card as one of the "Cracker Jack Ball Players" decorate the top edge of the design's boundary. As advanced hobbyists are well aware, Cracker Jack's 1914 cards are much more difficult to locate than their 1915 counterparts due to the fact that they were only distributed directly with the candied popcorn and were not available as part of factory set. The offered card boasts bold colors, and its image is positioned just slightly toward the obverse's right side. The corners exhibit very mild and natural wear that's pleasingly uniform in degree, and the release's typical amber-hued product stains – seen mostly at the piece's left edge, and on the reverse – are generally light. The card's surfaces are commendable, and devoid of the creasing and handling faults that are often associated with the issue. A treasure, in Excellent condition.