Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	V300 O-Pee-Chee
Year	1937
Size	2 5/8″ x 2 7/8″
Images	Black and White
Type	Canadian
Number in Set	40

1937 V300 O-Pee-Chee Overview

In 1937, O-Pee-Chee produced a 40-card black and white set. The issue, catalogued as V300 in the American Card Catalog, is a die-cut release. O-Pee-Chee also produced a die-cut hockey card set with a very similar look at about the same time with its V304-D series. The cards are already rare and that makes high-grade cards even harder to find.

The Canadian set included several big name players and Hall of Famers. Those in the set included Earl Averill, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Goose Goslin, Charlie Gehringer, Luke Appling, Tony Lazzeri, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Bob Feller, Joe Cronin, Rick Ferrell, Red Ruffing, Lefty Grove, and Rogers Hornsby.

Also included are many early cards of DiMaggio and Feller. Some even consider the Feller card a rookie of sorts as it is arguably his earliest true trading card.

Despite including only 40 cards, the set is full of key players. The cards are black and white and fronts show a player image against a generic baseball field background. The backs have a biography of the player. Oddly enough, the card numbering begins with No. 100 instead of No. 1. I took a closer look at that in a separate article.

One interesting note is that on the Foxx card, his first name is spelled ‘Jimmy’ as opposed to ‘Jimmie’ as it is recognized as today. The ‘Jimmy’ designation showed up in other issues, too, including his popular 1933 Goudey cards.

1937 V300 O-Pee-Chee Checklist

101. John Lewis
102. Jack Hayes
103. Earl Averill
104. Harland Clift
105. Beau Bell
106. Jimmie Foxx
107. Hank Greenberg
108. George Selkirk
109. Wally Moses
110. Gerry Walker
111. Goose Goslin
112. Charlie Gehringer
113. Hal Trosky
114. Buddy Myer
115. Luke Appling
116. Zeke Bonura
117. Tony Lazzeri
118. Joe DiMaggio
119. Bill Dickey
120. Bob Feller
121. Harry Kelley
122. Johnny Allen
123. Bob Johnson
124. Joe Cronin
125. Rip Radcliff
126. Cecil Travis
127. Joe Kuhel
128. Odell Hale
129. Sam West
130. Ben Chapman
131. Monte Pearson
132. Rick Ferrell
133. Tommy Bridges
134. Schoolboy Rowe
135. Vernon Kennedy
136. Red Ruffing
137. Lefty Grove
138. Wes Ferrell
139. Buck Newsom
140. Rogers Hornsby

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