The Game of Sports Set and Checklist

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	The Game of Sports
Year	c1900
Size	2″ x 3″
Images	Single Ink Color
Type	Game Cards
Number in Set	12

The Game of Sports Overview

This a card set believed to have been issued around 1900. The cards are part of a matching game that was issued in Germany.

A total of 12 cards are included with six different sports represented. Each sport corresponds with a letter, A through F:

Football (Soccer)
Cricket
Golf
Wrestling
Baseball
Lawn Tennis

The cards are printed on low-quality card stock, similar to other game issues of the early 1900s, such as the Lion Coffee sets. Each card has a single-ink cartoon depiction of the sport in blue ink. The cards do not picture known athletes. All cards include titles at the bottom except or the baseball cards and tennis cards.

The set is quite rare and I’ve personally only seen two sets. Thus, determining a true value for it can be quite difficult.

The game is a matching game. Cards were equally distributed among players with players then drawing cards from each other to make matches with the letters/sports. Once a match was made, those cards were placed to the side and out of play. Whichever player had both ‘F’ cards (Lawn Tennis) at the end was the winner.

The cards were issued inside of a thin paper ‘box’ that wrapped around them.

The front of the box includes a full color image of a soccer player with the set’s title, “The Game of Sports” at the top. The bottom includes the country of origin with print that reads, “Made in Germany.” The color image is actually printed onto a separate piece of paper that is affixed to the box/wrapper.

Collectors should note there are at least two different box/wrapper styles known. Both have the same image of the soccer player but one has a white background while the other has a red background. It is not known which is rarer or even if there are additional types.

Baseball

While all of the cards are desirable, the baseball depictions are obviously the ones that would command the most interest.

The two baseball cards are notable in that the depictions are a little different from your standard baseball pictures. One shows what appears to be two players throwing a ball in a game of catch. The other pictures a single player preparing to throw a ball.

Both, of course, are baseball images and confirmed by the ‘Baseball’ title on the card. But it is interesting that the artist opted to not show a player with a bat.

The Game of Sports Checklist

Each of the six sports corresponds with a letter. Below are the 12 cards in the set. Cards are not numbered but I have listed them below in alphabetical order according to their letter on the card.