1920-21 W516 IFS Strip Card Set and Checklist

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	W516 Strip
Year	1920-21
Size	1 3/8″ x 2 7/16″
Images	Color
Type	Strip
Number in Set	30

W516 IFS Strip Card Overview

Five variation sets, each containing the same 30 players, make up the W516 IFS series. The sets have differences such as names written crudely by hand or are typed. Other differences include reversed images and the card numbers are not all the same.

The one constant in the set is that each card has an IFS (International Feature Service) copyright. Because some of the cards were reversed, the copyright can also be seen with a reverse.

Fronts include color images and player names, positions, and teams. Backs are blank.

Here are the five types of the W516 issues:

W516-1-1: Handwritten information at bottom
W516-1-2: Same as W516-1-1, but with reversed images
W516-2-1: Typed information at bottom and different numbering with reversed images from W516-2-3
W516-2-2: Handwritten information at bottom but with W516-2-1 numbering
W516-2-3: Typed information at bottom with standard images (opposite of W516-2-1)

In addition to these five types, Old Cardboard cites a similar issue that is unclassified and called the “Blue and Orange” set. The cards used the same images as the ones in this set but have only orange backgrounds with blue ink, different font for the names, and no team, position, number, copyright.

Here are pictures of the 30 different players in the set.

L.A. Becker Cards

w516 becker backs picture While uncommon, a significant number of cards have been found with a mysterious message and the name L.A. Becker.

The message invites collectors to save their ‘tablet fronts’ to win a prize.

While unclear, it appears to be a message to students of some sort with L.A. Becker as the teacher. Numerous mysteries still abound regarding these cards and the identity (and even gender) of Becker are uncertain.

Despite the writing, though, these cards are collected by some. Typically, their value will exceed that of a regular common card. How many exist is, as you would expect, entirely unknown.

Here’s more information on these mysterious cards.