1910-12 T218 Champions Set

‘It’s In The Details’

Title T218 Champions
Year 1910-12
Size 2 1/2″ x 2 7/8″
Images Color
Type Tobacco
Number in Set
153

1910-12 T218 Champions Overview

T218 Keyes BoxingT218 GolfThis large issue is one of the more popular multi-sport sets of the pre-war era. While it doesn’t include any cards featuring the big four American sports, several sports are included, such as boxing, golf, and track and field. Some rarer sports are seen in the set as well, including bowling, billiards, and aviation. Here’s a look at the potential rarity for all of the sports in the set.

While boxing and track and field dominate the checklist, the set is a haven for collectors seeking billiards cards. Nearly 10% of the set is represented by that sport with a total of 15 billiards cards.

The cards look different than most of the early 1900s tobacco issues. Instead of a long, narrow design, these cards are nearly square in shape and look like the gum card issues of the 1930s.

The cards have color lithographic pictures of athletes on the fronts along with their name printed in small capital letters. And, as shown here, they were printed both horizontally and vertically. Some athletes are featured in different poses on more than one card.

While the set is considered one large 153-card release, it is often believed to have been broken out into three sub series with each consisting of about 50 cards. Per the backs of the cards (backs state that Series #2 is for cards 51-00), the breakdown between the three subsets should be:

  • Series 1 (Cards No. 1-50)
  • Series 2 (Cards No. 51-100)
  • Series 3 (Cards No. 101-153)

Despite that, some theories suggest the checklists for those three subsets are slightly off from that.

Backs of the cards indicate they were issued with packages of Hassan and Mecca tobacco cards. However, while those are the two most common backs found on the cards, a few have a far less common tobacco brand, Tolstoi. The Tolstoi-backed cards are easily the most difficult to find.

In general, the boxers from this series are generally the most desirable and the two Jack Johnson cards are usually the most expensive. His legendary opponent in a famous 1910 fight, James Jeffries, is also featured twice in the set. Still, the set contains an odd assortment of characters and cards featuring many of the ‘lesser’ sports are among the more desirable, too. As I wrote here, the card of noted pedestrian/walker Edward Payson Weston is one of the more sought after cards in the set.

Finally, while a standard set of these cards include a total of 153, given that cards are found with different backs, a master set is significantly larger.

Errors

Joe Jeannette T218 Champions BoxingThe set, like many pre-war issues, has some errors in it that were later corrected.

  • Swimmer C.J. Trubenbach has an error with his name spelled as Trudenbach on some cards
  • Hammer thrower Simon Gillis has two errors — one with his name misspelled on the front (Gilles) and a second with it misspelled on the front and back
  • Robert Cloughen has his name misspelled on some backs as Cloughan
  • Joe Jeannette has his name misspelled as ‘Jeanette’ on some backs

The Jeannette error, in particular, is notable for a couple of reasons. First, he was a Hall of Fame boxer and second, it is one that was only recently discovered by a collector and was first mentioned here on this site.

Baseball

Platt Adams T218One of the reasons the T218 Champions set is not as popular as some other multi-sport issues is because it does not include baseball players. But while the set is technically missing professional baseball players, it does, in a way include athletes that played baseball on a big stage.

Three track and field athletes featured in the set, Platt Adams, Frank Irons, and Abel Kiviat hold some baseball ties. Each played for Team USA in a short tournament in the 1912 Olympics that included the Americans facing Sweden (a second game included only U.S. players with one team representing Finland).

While the athletes in the set are featured as track and field stars, playing baseball in the Olympics qualifies them as baseball subjects to a small degree.

Here’s more on the baseball ties in the set.

Dating of the Set

The set is generally listed as a 1910 issue as many of the dates mentioned on the back reflect that fact. I have also seen it as a 1910-11 issue. However, this article, among other sources, cite it is as a 1910-12 set.

It would not appear to be a 1910 only set. For example, one of the biographies, that of champion billiards player Alfredo de Oro, cites a championship he won in November 2010. I suppose the set could have been printed in 1910 but that reference would indicate that it would have had to have been printed very shortly after that.

Jefferson Burdick did not seem clear on the date of production as he did not provide a year for it in the American Card Catalog. Because of the variance in years, I have listed it as a 1910-12 issue here.

1910-12 T218 Champions Checklist

  1. Platt Adams
  2. Dan Ahearne
  3. Abe Attell
  4. Chas Bacon
  5. Matty Baldwin
  6. Patsy Brannigan
  7. Knock Out Brown
  8. Sailor Burke
  9. Walter Bursch
  10. Harry Cline
  11. Robert Cloughen
  12. Tom Collins
  13. Frankie Conley
  14. Young Corbett
  15. Johnny Coulon
  16. Leach Cross
  17. James Crowley
  18. Albert Cutler
  19. Albert Cutler
  20. John Daly
  21. C.M. Daniels
  22. C.M. Daniels
  23. Alfredo de Oro
  24. Al Delmont
  25. Calvin Demarest
  26. Dave Deshler
  27. Young Donahoe
  28. Findlay Douglas
  29. Jem Driscoll
  30. Alex Dunbar
  31. Jack Eller
  32. Ray Ewry
  33. Charles Eyton
  34. W.C. Fielding
  35. John Flanagan
  36. John Flanagan
  37. R.E. Frizelle
  38. Joe Gans
  39. George Gardiner
  40. Jimmy Gardner
  41. S.P. Gilles
  42. H.E. Gissing
  43. Andrew Glarner
  44. Abe Goodman
  45. Jack Goodman
  46. Budd Goodwin
  47. Charley Griffin
  48. Chas. Hamilton
  49. H.J. Handy
  50. J.L. Hartranft
  51. Johnny Hayes
  52. Harry Haywood
  53. William Heins
  54. F. Herreshoff
  55. Harry Hillman
  56. Jack Hobens
  57. Hans Holmer
  58. Willie Hoppe
  59. Willie Hoppe
  60. Arch Hoxsey
  61. Thomas Hueston
  62. Battling Hurley
  63. Dick Hyland
  64. Frank Irons
  65. Joe Jeannette
  66. Jim Jeffries
  67. Jim Jeffries
  68. Harry Jensen
  69. Thure Johansson
  70. Lee Johns
  71. Jack Johnson
  72. Jack Johnson
  73. Ralph Johnstone
  74. Joseph Jordan
  75. Al Kaufman
  76. W.J. Keating
  77. Jerome Keogh
  78. Stanley Ketchell
  79. Bert Keyes
  80. Abel Kiviat
  81. Frank Klaus
  82. Patsey Kline
  83. W.J. Kramer
  84. Sam Langford
  85. Walter Lee
  86. Harry Lewis
  87. Willie Lewis
  88. Gusta Ljungstrom
  89. Young Loughrey
  90. George Low
  91. Emilo Lunghi
  92. Lou Manley
  93. Johnny Marto
  94. J.J. McEntee
  95. Packey McFarland
  96. Phil McGovern
  97. M.J. McGrath
  98. Fred Meadows
  99. Honey Mellody
  100. J.B. Moisant
  101. Owen Moran
  102. Ora Morningstar
  103. Ora Morningstar
  104. Tommy Murphy
  105. Frankie Neil
  106. Battling Nelson
  107. Fighting Nelson
  108. Gil Nicholls
  109. Young Nitchie
  110. Smythe Northridge
  111. Jack O’Brien
  112. Thomas O’Callaghan
  113. Tommy O’Keefe
  114. Tommy O’Toole
  115. George Obermeyer
  116. W.M. Papke
  117. Paul Pilgrim
  118. Harry Porter
  119. James Rector
  120. Glenn Riddell
  121. Frank Riley
  122. W.C. Robbins
  123. Lawson Robertson
  124. J.A. Ruddy
  125. Unk Russell
  126. Harry Sedley
  127. Percy Sellen
  128. Melvin Sheppard
  129. Melvin Sheppard
  130. Martin Sheridan
  131. Alex Smith
  132. C.C. Steinert
  133. Jim Stewart
  134. Harry Stone
  135. Twin Sullivan (Jack)
  136. James Sullivan
  137. Twin Sullivan (Mike)
  138. Johnny Summers
  139. Johnny Summers
  140. George Sutton
  141. George Sutton
  142. E.J. Sweeney
  143. Clarence Tippett
  144. C.D. Trubenbach
  145. Eddie Walsh
  146. Jimmy Walsh
  147. Fred Welsh
  148. Billy West
  149. Charles Weston
  150. Edward Weston
  151. R.P. Williams
  152. Harold Wilson
  153. Ad Wolgast

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