Series I. Old Judge cigarette cards, 1886-1890

"Old Judge" cigarette cards were printed from 1886 until 1890 when Goodwin & Co. became part of the American Tobacco Company.

The first issue was a limited series in 1886 featuring twelve members of the New York National League team. This set has a different ACC classification number than the others, N167. The images were waist-length portraits of an individual player in a uniform the prints were made from woodcuts created by photographer, Joseph Wood.

All "Old Judge" cigarette cards issued after this point have the ACC classification, N172. The first full issue series appeared in the fall of 1886 and continued production through 1887. The baseball player cards were part of a larger set composed of boxers, actors and actresses, and other notable people. These cards are divided into three different categories: Script Series, Short Number Series, and the 0 Number Series. The Script Series can be identified by the player's name written in script in the photo portion of the card. The words "Old Judge Cigarettes" appear in a darkened arch in the upper portion of the card. This series contains thirty-five baseball poses, including sixteen portraits, known as the Spotted Ties, featuring the members of the American Association New York Mets. The Short Number Series can be identified as cards with a number that doesn't start with 0. The 0 Number Series has numbers that start with 0 and contains players from all eight National League teams as well as from the American Association Brooklyn team. There are two types of 0 Number Series cards, Type A and Type B. Type A cards show the 0 number in the upper right hand corner and have "Old Judge Cigarettes" featured in an arched banner at the top of the card. The Type B cards have the 0 number in the lower left of the card, written in script, and "Old Judge Cigarettes" is featured in a rectangular.

The 1888 issue of "Old Judge" cigarette cards covered all of the National League and American Association teams as well as eight of the Western Association teams which was a minor league circuit. There are two types within this set, classified as Fa or Fb, the distinction coming from the typeface and font size.

The 1889 "Old Judge" cigarette set includes all of the previous teams and also includes twenty teams from the California League, Atlantic Association, International Association, Central Interstate League, and the Tri-State League. The cards are distinguishable by the "Old Judge Cigarette Factory" copyright line. These are classified as Fc. Cards from this printing may have a degree of pink tinting as experimentation with photographic techniques was popular at this time.

The 1890 "Old Judge" cigarette cards are exactly the same in style as the 1889 release and have the same Fc classification. However, they only include the National League and the short-lived Players' League and are distinguished from the previous year by the addition of (NL) or (PL) on the image area of the card.