The 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders set is among the most ambitious tobacco issues ever produced. Each card combines two hand-colored player portraits flanking a central black-and-white action photograph, and the format has made the set a perennial favorite with pre-war collectors.

This example features one of the most celebrated panels in the entire issue, "A Desperate Slide for Third," highlighting the legendary Ty Cobb. The center photograph captures a cloud of dust as a Detroit runner slides hard into third while the fielder reaches down to apply the tag. Flanking the action are portraits of Cobb, set against a vivid red diamond, and his Tigers teammate Charley O'Leary, framed in green.

The reverse is equally compelling. Cobb's biography notes that in 1911 "he batted .420, making 248 hits, the greatest number ever made by a player in one season." The center panel calls him "the champion base stealer of the world" and adds that "Joe Jackson is about the only other player that knows how to slide like Cobb, and he was taught by Cobb himself." The O'Leary panel recounts his Chicago roots and his 1911 season, when he "fielded .966 at second, and batted .266." Hassan Cork Tip Cigarettes advertising, "The Oriental Smoke," runs across the bottom.

This example presents with excellent eye appeal. The portraits are bright and well registered, the central photograph is sharp and the borders are clean. Light wear along the folds and corners is consistent with the grade, and the reverse is clean and fully legible. A premier Cobb triple folder. Graded EX 5 by PSA.