Hi,
I have just managed to secure this cigarette card of Fred and thought I would update the blog.
This is the first time I have seen this card, although it is of a fairly common photograph of Fred. Similar to the Wills cards, which came out at the same time and used the same photographs, however the Clarke's cards are much harder to come by.
A wills card will set you back between £5-£20 with some of the high profile players costing more. Billy Meredith went of around the £50 mark not so long ago.
The Clarke's cards start at £30.
For the most part ebay has reduced the cost of cigarette cards but there are still some that fetch big money. A Cohen and Weenan card of GO Smith went for £206 a couple of months ago.
I'm not 100% sure but I think the Cohen and Weenan cards may have been the first football cigarette cards. they appeared around 1897-98 time and I believe that there is one of Fred in the set. Part of me hopes that it never comes up on ebay as I'm not sure I want to spend that £150 on a cigarette card, maybe Fred isn't worth as much as that. I do own the Jack Earp card from the set and I didn't pay any where near that money for that, but have always considered it a lucky purchase.
There are only 6 cards of Fred (not including the Wednesday 1896 winners card, which is worth £1) I now own 3 out of the 6, with the Guinea Gold card as my 3rd. Guinea Gold cards are my favourite types and seem to go from anything from £1 to £100. The Archie Brash and Alec Brady cards are very nice cards.
Things are still moving with the book I'm pleased to report, but nothing much to report other than that.
If you are a Sheffield Wednesday supporter you may like to check out Jason Dickinson and John Brodie's new book 'The Complete Record'http://www.dbpublishing.co.uk/buy/sheffield-wednesday-the-complete-record_1105002501.htm
I have recently moved house and it's been sent to the wrong address, so I have not seen it yet. I have been reliably informed that it is a cracker, but that is what I have come to expect from these two. With '100 years at Hillsborough' and 'The Wednesday Boys' both being superb and unrivaled volumes.
