Heinie Groh Card Adds (Again) to the 1921 Self Developing Strip Cards Checklist

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Pre-War Cards

A collector steps forward with yet another addition to the 1921 Self Developing Strip Cards Checklist

Recently, I wrote about six new additions to the rare 1921 Self Developing Strip Cards set. Turns out, that actually brought another new card out of the woodwork.

After reading about that discovery, collector Jed Thorn dug into his own collection, finding a card he’d wondered about for a long time. Thorn had a card that looked quite a bit like the new ones discovered.

And it turns out, he’s got yet another card that needs to be checklisted.

Thorn’s card is for Cincinnati Reds pre-war star Heinie Groh. Groh isn’t a Hall of Famer but was a solid player. He helped the Reds to two World Series titles and led the league in numerous categories during his career, including hits, runs, doubles, walks, on base percentage, and OPS. He was a career .292 hitter over 16 years in the big leagues, also suiting up for the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Thorn has had the card for some time, it turns out. “I bought it at an antique mall in Cincinnati in 1998 or 1999,” he said. “Because it was a Reds player and I found it in Cincinnati, I always thought it was some oddball local issue, like a local baking or candy company.”

What Thorn didn’t count on was having a very rare card but also one that was previously unknown on hobby checklists.

Groh’s card fits into the 1921 timeline for the set. That was the final year of his Reds career. The addition of Groh now brings the known checklist to 22 cards. An odd number for a set, it would not surprise me to see the checklist expand in the future.