I ran across this super cool cardboard display sheet, advertised as being from the 1950s, in an older auction catalog from December 2000. I’ve found a few more examples online, but with no additional historical info.
The copy above was described as an 11” x 16” cardboard display sheet featuring 144 assorted 3/4” pin-back buttons still attached. It included a bunch of “Team” pins of the White Sox, Browns, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, and Dodgers, along with a few “Slogan” pins, including a bunch of “I am a Yankee Fan” and “I am a Giants Fan” examples. The sheet was described as being in VG condition, while the buttons were mostly NM/MT.
Inside The Park Collectiblesauctioned off the following example in June 2021. However, it went unsold with a $350 minimum bid.
They mentioned it was the first time they had seen the display, which they described as “50’s/50’s.” They also said the display was 12.5” x 15”.
I still have a few button books to pick up for The Hobby Library, so in the meantime, if you know anything about these displays, please share!
I ran across this “very striking” 1950s Ted Williams Moxie die-cut advertising sign in an auction catalog from December 2000.
The item was described as a 10” x 14” brightly colored, fluorescent-toned heavy cardboard sign with a three-dimensional cutout of Williams in his Red Sox uniform. Excellent condition, original easel-back still intact.
It was a little challenging finding more info about this piece. The giant window decal is a BIT more common; however, I discovered that Heritage sold the following copy in May 2022 for $690.
But their description primarily just highlighted the die-cut nature of the piece a bit more:
A third dimension makes this advertising sign particularly special, as the figure of the greatest hitter that ever lived is die-cut to allow it to stand in front of the background portion reading, “It’s a Hit, Says Ted Williams.” Dimensions of background are 8.5×13.5″. Easel back remains in place on reverse. General handling and storage wear is apparent, and the sign originally had a segment upon which the Williams figure stood that is now missing, but otherwise the sign presents wonderfully.
In 1966, Fleer sold the last of its baseball player contracts to Topps after fighting them in court for its aggressiveness in securing exclusive player contracts. Fleer actually initially won their case at the Federal Trade Commission but lost on appeal. Despite a challenging landscape, Fleer embraced innovation and diversity and ventured into non-sports cards pretty hard to help sell their bubble gum. One really intriguing outcome of this experimentation was the emergence of the 1965 Fleer Weird-Ohs and the 1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs.
1965 Fleer Weird-Ohs
Kudos to The Sport Americana Price Guide to The Non-Sports Cards for details about these two Fleer Weird-Ohs sets; there isn’t much else written about them. They point out that the wrapper design tells you what this set of cards is all about; it features a monster wearing an “SCTA” hat (Society for Cruelty to Animals) flagging down prospective victims.
1965 Fleer Weird-Ohs Wax Wrapper
The 66-card set is packed with similar bizarre characters based on characters developed by the Hawk Model Company – who have a copyright on the back of the cards.
1965 Fleer Weird-Ohs #3 Francis The Foul – Front
1965 Fleer Weird-Ohs #3 Francis The Foul – Reverse
The front of each card features a unique cartoon character, their name, and a brief description of their “proclivities.” The green card backs all feature Francis the Foul on the left-hand side and a detailed description of the character in black text underneath a clearly marked “Weird-Ohs” trademark.
1965 Fleer Weird-Ohs #4 Davey – Front
1965 Fleer Weird-Ohs #4 Davey – Reverse
1965 Fleer Weird-Ohs #7 Terry Tent – Front
1965 Fleer Weird-Ohs #7 Terry Tent – Reverse
1965 Fleer Weird-Ohs #13 Pop Fly – Front
1965 Fleer Weird-Ohs #13 Pop Fly – Reverse
1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs
Despite “baseball” being in the set’s title, the hobby has always categorized the 1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs as a non-sport set.
Fleer stuck with the weird-oh design and basic card format in a spin-off to poke fun at baseball with this 66-card set. The fronts again feature colorful artwork designed by artist William Campbell with a caption (that usually rhymes) below it within the card’s white border. The backs have the “Baseball Weird-ohs” set title, the card title (not the same words as on the front), and a descriptive back story of the character that often describes something comically violent on the right side, with “Doug Out” from card #1 on the left side which has an orange background.
1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs #1 Doug Out – Front
1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs #1 Doug Out – Reverse
1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs #2 Texas Leaguerer – Front
1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs #13 Newton Nervous – Front
1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs #13 Newton Nervous – Reverse
1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs #62 Hey Hey Harry – Front
1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs #62 Hey Hey Harry – Reverse
In 2020, REA auctioned off a few of Campbell’s original art pieces. Each piece is approximately 4-3/4″ x 6-1/8″—the four pieces sold for $810.
1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs Oringal Artwork
The art for card #62 featuring Hey Hey Harry sold for $355 in October 2013.
1966 Fleer Baseball Weird-Ohs Hey Hey Harry Original Artwork
Wrap Up
When it comes to the Fleer Weird-Oh sets, collectors seem to either love ’em or hate ’em without a lot of in-between. That divide has left a unique market dynamic where collectors can track down complete sets for a modest, though not “super-cheap” price range between $70 and $90. The set has maintained a certain level of popularity, evidenced by its re-issue in 2007/2008, though no new items were introduced.
Here’s the original flexichrome artwork for John Huarte’s 1965 Topps #117 Football card.
Ron Oser Enterprises offered it in their December 2000 auction catalog.
They described it as a “Very desirable 3 3/4” x 5 1/4” flexichrome artwork of Huarte’s Short Print rookie card #117 from Topps’ popular 1965 ‘over-sized’ issue. Beautiful condition, neatly affixed to a 7” x 11” black paper backing, accompanied by an example card (EXMT).”
Welcome to the Uncut Sheet Archive! This is the hub for all the articles I’ve written about uncut sheets, sorted by sport and set. My goal is for it to be the definitive source of uncut sheet information on the web, offering insights into distribution, production quirks, and the factors behind why some vintage cards were so condition-sensitive, even out of the pack!
If you have any rare sheets to share, shoot me an e-mail.
Here’s one of the scarcest non-sport collectibles in the hobby from the Walter Johnson Candy Company, a 1930s Dick Tracy R41 set wrapper.
In November 2000, Mastro offered this one along with a complete set of 144 cards. They dated it to 1934, but others, like TCDB, date the release to 1937. The Non-Sports Bible just calls it a 1930s set.
The auction description said, “The wrapper displays vividly, bright red and blue coloring printed on wax paper. It displays customary wear for such artifacts and grades as an eye-appealing Excellent.”
Naturally, the box is even tougher to track down; REA sold the following example for $1,560 in the summer of 2019.
Welcome to the relaunched Unopened Archive! It used to have pages with photos of packs, wrappers, boxes, and cases from all the big pre- and post-war releases. This 2.0 version is more of a hub for all my blog posts about different unopened material. Over time, I’ll bring back the old content and add way more—like info about fakes, finds, sales, collation, and all the known products out there.
If you’re looking for a particular unopened product photo, shoot me an e-mail.
