My Great Red Whale

Have you ever seen something collectible, outside of white whale cards, that just takes your breath away when you see yet know that you will never own it?

While searching for Mandred von Richthofen cards I stumbled across this first edition von Richthofen autobiography “Der rote Kampfflieger”. The book itself has been on my Amazon Want List for a while, I haven’t ordered it because I have a stack of books already next to my bed that I must catch up on first. 

I am not as concerned about it being a first printing from 1917, it is what appears to be scribbling on the cover above the title (underneath the plane). That would be von Richthofen’s signature. Inside the book is also a CDV where Richthofen wrote “Gruss aus Schweidnitz 1917”, which means “Greetings from Schweidnitz” and is where he grew up.

At nearly $5,000 I will not be adding this book to my collection, but it is nice to have a dream.

Without looking it up, does anyone have a guess as to who replaced von Richthofen as squadron commander?

Vintage Card Of The Month: 1937 Bulgaria Sport / Sorte Nr. Manfred von Richthofen

This month’s VCoM is another Manfred von Richthofen German tobacco card from 1937. You probably are tired of seeing this exact card but trust me they are different. This card is from packs of Bulgaria Sport / Sorte Nr. 16 cigarettes.

OK, it is basically the same card over and over but think about these cards as being similar to the 1909-1911 T206 cards, they were inserted in to various cigarette packs and they each have their own brand on the back with the copy otherwise being the same. If you are wondering, there are 7 total backs and this is my fourth.

Vintage Card Of The Month: 1933 Kyriazi Cigaretters Manfred von Richthofen

This month’s VCoM is another German Richthofen card, this one is from a pack of Kyriazi cigarettes in 1933 and like many of my Richthofen cards this one is an illustration of the Baron. But the uniqueness of the card is that this image is not a common pose that you see and I have only seen used (in complete form) on the cover of the German version of his biography Der rote Kampfflieger while the English version of his biography The Red Fighter Pilot uses a more common photo of him wearing a coat and hat and facing in the different direction.

The card is standard tobacco era stock and is the height of the cards of the period but a little bit wider. The colors are beautiful and the card is in wonderful condition but there are two issues that were caused by someone, one intentional and one unintentional.  The card has been trimmed along the left and right borders, there should be a gold border on each side and they are extremely condition sensitive so someone along the way cut off the borders. The second problem was caused by the seller in his attempt to securely pack the card for shipping from Germany. The card was folded inside an index card and surrounded by cardboard that was taped together and it appears that during shipping the cardboard squeezed down around the left edge and pinched the card which caused some of the paper to rip off in the upper left edge.

I did suck it up and not complain or return the card because this card is very rare and I figured this will be a place holder until I can find something in better condition. It would have been easily avoided had the seller put the card in a rigid top loader but was happened can't be undone.

I did a translation of what is on the back and the top paragraph describes the set as having 240 German leaders from 1640 through 1918. The bottom paragraph seems to say something about the card being for a scrapbook and allowing the cigarette dealers permission to use the card.

Vintage Card Of The Month: 1937 Haus Bergmann Privat Manfred von Richthofen

This month’s VCoM is another tobacco era German cigarette card of the Red Baron; this 1937 Manfred von Richthofen is from a pack of Haus Bregmann Privat and similar to the early American tobacco era cards there are a variety of backs. So far I have seen 6 different backs so of course I will eventually have to track down as many as I can find.

The back of the card says that he was the leader of the most successful squadron of the war but was shot down on April 21, 1918 after his 80^th victory and was replaced by Goering (Yes, that Hermann Goering who became Hitler's #2 man). At the time this card was printed in 1937 there were 9 squadrons bearing his name.

The card is rather thin, almost sticker like, and is not standard tobacco cards size being shorter than most tobacco era cards but wider. Richthofen is in the front (Second from left), I tried searching to figure who the other three men are with him but I was not able to figure it out.

Vintage Card Of The Month: 1934 Basma Manfred von Richthofen

 

This month’s VCoM is another Richthofen card that comes from a 1934 pack of Basma Cigarettes from Germany. The card is about the height of a standard American tobacco card like the T206 cards but wider about half an inch.

 

The downside to collecting Manfred von Richthofen cards is that most, roughly 90-95%, of the cards are of German origination which makes tracking and organizing a bear of a task. In fact, the only American cards of the Baron that I know of are the 1933-34 National Chicle Skybirds, the 2008 & 2009 SP Legendary Cuts Baseball and the 2011 Goodwin Champions cards. But I will not be dissuaded and continue my tasking hunt for the Red Baron.

Vinage Card Of The Month: 1934 Martin Brinkmann Cigarettes Manfred von Richthofen

This month’s VCoM comes from the 1934 Martin Brinkmann Cigarettes release. Martin Brinkmann was a major tobacco company out of Germany and during the 1930s in support of a strong nationalism surge they inserted tobacco era sized cards in to their packs. I have seen a variety of cards, all German related, like military, movie actors and daily life cards. The cards are a little smaller than a T206 and beautifully illustrated.

This is my second Manfred von Richthofen vintage card, the other a 1933 National Chicle Skybirds that I highlighted as the VCoM last April. I have been interested in WWI since I was young and the Red Baron has always been one of my primary interests and a number of his cards are included on my all-encompassing Want List.

The card is wonderful condition and would grade nicely, the only real issue would be some staining on the back of the card. I am very lucky to have this card in my vintage collection and at a very reasonable price.

Vintage Card Of The Month: 1933-34 National Chicle Skybirds Manfred von Richthofen

This month’s VCoM comes straight from my Top 10 Want list. A 1933-34 National Chicle Skybirds Baron Manfred von Richthofen, who was also known as the Red Baron. This set is a bit of a pain because half of the cards were released in 1933 and the other half in 1934 yet all of the cards are listed with a copyright of 1933 so some people tend to get confused about their issue date.

Ever since I watched Snoopy take on the Red Baron when I was a kid I have been interested in Richthofen. Manfred was the top ace of WWI with 80 victories, doubling up his brother Lothar, and was the #1 target of Allied flyers. What most people don’t know is that he actually started as a cavalry officer but became enamored with aeroplanes and realized that the cavalry was a dying occupation so he requested a transfer to the Air Service in mid-1915.

The write-up on the back is interesting, it makes it seem as if Richthofen was a mindless killer saying that he killed 100 men by shooting them, burning them and crushing them. He wasn’t a sociopath, he was actually quite brilliant and a great tactician.

The back also errantly lists that Canadian pilot Captain Roy Brown was the person who downed the Red Baron when in fact it is now believed that he was actually shot by one of three machine gunners (Sgt. Cedric Popkin, Gunner W.J. Evans or Gunner Robert Buie) with the Royal Australian Artillery. He was also alive when he landed the plane behind the Australian lines and remained alive long enough to talk before succumbing to a chest wound. Though I guess the truth of being shot down by an anonymous gunner and landing safely isn’t as glorified as National Chicle’s version.

The card is in beautiful condition, still solid cardboard that has held its shape. The colors have muted a bit, the corners are rounded and there are two thumbtack holes (top left and bottom right) but condition-wise it is my best card of the three National Chicle Skybird cards that I have in my collection. I would love to eventually add a better graded copy with brighter colors to my collection to replace this one.