The awesome thing about flipping through old catalogs is running across random cards and sets that pique your curiosity and make you learn more about the hobby; that’s precisely what happened when I saw this 1921 W551 Babe Ruth/Ty Cobb Strip in Mastro’s August 2006 catalog.
This example is graded 88 NM/MT 8 by SGC, but I found the 1922 date on the slab and the auction’s title interesting. I used to collect Babe Ruth strip cards and swore this was a 1921 card. So I double-checked Old Cardboard and PSA, and they both date the W551 set to 1921, and it turns out SGC does now as well. Weird…
After some more research, I learned that, if anything, someone could reasonably confuse these W551s with W514s since nine of the 10 baseball player strip card poses are the same. However, the text below the picture is a little different, and Ruth’s picture is entirely different.
Anywho, back to W551, here’s PSA’s set profile:
The 1921 W551 baseball card set consists of 10 cards, each measuring approximately 1-3/8” x 3-1/4”. The unnumbered cards were printed in strips, with each front revealing a color drawing of a National Pastime hero. The player’s name and team name are printed in the bottom margin. The backs are blank. The W551 set is made up of Frank Baker, Dave Bancroft, Jess Barnes, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Wally Pipp, Babe Ruth, George Sisler, Tris Speaker, and Casey Stengel. Ruth’s example is by far the most desirable item.
And here are a few more W551 fun facts:
The cards are 1 3/8″ x 2 1/4″ (but vary drastically from hand cutting).
The set has 40 cards (boxers, other sports, movie stars) but only ten baseball cards, but it does have Gene Sarazen (golf) and W. Tilden’s (tennis) rookie cards, which are pricier than you’d think
8/10 of the baseball players are Hall of Famers
There are really good reprints with blue labeling; there are also a lot of fake two-card strips (including fake Ruth/Cobb pairs)
The cards came in strips of 10
Also, despite there being a ton of them out there, including 13 Ruth/Cobb Panels from PSA and 8 from SGC, 168 PSA and 91 SGC Ruth strips, and 139 PSA Cobb and 76 SGC strips, these cards aren’t cheap. Happy collecting!
Here’s Christy Mathewson’s official National League Player’s Contract for the 1903 season, dated September 15, 1902.
Robert Edward Auctions (then a division of MastroNet Inc.) & eBay presented the item in their July 2000 Baseball Cards and Memorabilia auction. Here’s the lot’s description:
Official National League Player’s Contract for the season of 1903 has been signed by Giants owner John T Brush (10/10), Christy Mathewson (signed “Christopher Mathewson”, 10/10), and manager John McGraw (signed “John J. McGraw, 10/10) as a witness. The contract is dated September 15, 1902. When this contract was signed Mathewson had a 34-37 lifetime record and had just finished a 14-17 season. In 1903 he pitched the first of three consecutive 30 game winning seasons, and 12 consecutive seasons of winning between 22 and 37 games per year, including four seasons of thirty or more victories. It is especially significant that then rookie manager John McGraw (who was just about to embark on his first full season as the Giants manager) served as the witness to this signing. McGraw managed Mathewson’s entire career with the Giants and the two are forever linked as the heart and soul of the glory days of the Giants’ Dynasty years during the early twentieth century. An extraordinary document from one of the game’s greatest stars. Very Good to Excellent condition with flawless signatures. LOA.
The contract’s reserve was set at $10,000.
I’m unsure what it sold for, but REA sold Mathewson’s 1902 player’s contract for $41,125 in the spring of 2011, which RRAuction resold in February 2019 for $68,482. Also, Heritage sold Mathewson’s New York Giants rookie contract for $72,000 in August 2020.
Christie’s offered this incredible Junge’s Bread For Energy advertising poster in their October 1993 Sports Memorabilia catalog auction. These are some of the toughest cards to find in the hobby.
Christie’s described the Bread For Energy Label Advertising Poster as follows:
The scarcest of all sports bread end label sets is the 48 label “Bread For Energy” set. It includes 16 Movie Stars, 16 Western Stars and 16 Sports Stars four each of boxing, basketball, wrestling, and football. This rare advertisement for Jungle Bread contains an uncut sheet of 16 labels in color including the following sports subjects, Johnny Lujack, Buddy Young, Kid Gailan, Joe Fulks, Gene Stanlee and the very rare Rocky Marciano. In excellent to mint condition.
The expected price was $1,800-2,200.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much information available about the set. While Christie’s said the set has 48 labels, Beckett’s online directory says the set has 44 cards, while the seller of the following sheet on eBay says 42. And if this is the D290-12 set, my American Card Catalog says there are 64 cards.
That seller on eBay wrote,
This 14 inch by 22 inch magnificent piece of sports and movie nostalgia is the only known, uncut bread-end label sheet and advertising poster for the 1950-51 D290-12 “Bread For Energy” series of 42 different multi-sport and Hollywood celebrities. The labels were distributed on the ends of loafs of various brands of breads & bakeries. Junge’s Bread was not previously known as a D290-12 bread label bakery brand and this advertising poster is as fresh and beautiful as the day it was printed and prepared in 1950.
A 16-card, 11 inch by 11 inch, uncut sheet of 16 different bread labels, which were originally exclusively identified with Fischer’s bread, have been affixed to a cardboard poster. These Junge’s Bread, “Bread for Energy labels” are brand new except for a slight crease that runs from Bing Crosby’s head to the bottom of the William Bendix label. The Kid Gavilan, Edgar Bergan, Joe Fulks are all affected. The sheet contains 3 of the 5 keys to the set including Johnny Lujack, Joe Fulks, and most importantly, a rookie issue of Rocky Marciano.
Curiously, they wrote that their poster, with an asking price of $10k, is the only known piece, when there is another one on eBay with an asking price of $6k, and none of the three, compared to Christie’s, look the same.
Also, Leland’s has sold three of these Junge’s Bread-style posters. The first two have the same look as the previous three I’ve shared; the first sold for $1,364 in December 2020, and the second sold for $1,240 in February 2021 (this appears to be the $10k eBay one).
However, Lelands also sold this Junge’s Bread for Energy poster for $1,364 in April 2021. Notice that it has a few different cards on it!
If you want to see more examples of the cards, BMW Sports Cards has a nice directory. If you know anything else about them, please get in touch with me.
You have to admire the creativity that went into vintage non-sport display boxes. They’re attractive, colorful works of art; the comparison is more fitting since vintage boxes are also scarce and fragile!
These were part of a lot of 14 different that were auctioned off together in the spring of 2008. Today, auction houses would almost certainly list each of these boxes individually.
This grouping, offered by Mastro, included: 1964 Topps Beatles/Color Photos, 1965 Philadelphia Gum James Bond/Movies, 1965 Philadelphia Gum James Bond/Thunderball, 1965 Topps Man from U.N.C.L.E., 1966 Donruss Marvel Super Heroes, 1966 Topps Batman/Real Photos, 1966 Topps Superman, 1966 Donruss Monkees/2nd Series, 1967 Donruss Monkees/3rd Series, 1967 Donruss Monkees/2nd Series Canadian-issue Blue Box, 1968 Becker Laugh-In Rings, 1968 Philadelphia Gum Dark Shadows/Pink, and 1970 Donruss Odder Odd Rods.
The boxes were generally described as VG/EX to EX/MT in presentation quality.
Who doesn’t love a scarce vintage regional basketball issue?! Here’s an “ultra-complete” set of 13 1970-71 Phoenix Suns A1 cards.
Mastro offered this grouping in their November 2000 Fine Sports Auctions catalog with a minimum bid of $500. They explained that the scarce advertising cards were produced as six-pack inserts with A1 Premium Beer depicting Suns players in black-and-white photographs, formatted underneath a logo and price header, and distributed in only a very limited regional area. They then started talking a bit about the ten players in the set, plus the variations, but my 2003 Standard Catalog of Basketball Cards (6th Edition) explains it better with a checklist.
That Tuff Stuff guide explains that the cards measure 2-1/4” x 8-3/4” overall and
…feature a black-and-white photo of the player and his name printed beneath the photo at the bottom of the card. The top of the card features “Phoenix Suns picture special,” the A-1 Premium Beer logo and either a 95-cent price (most common), 98 cents (harder to locate) and no price printed. The player photo measures 2-1/4” x 3-3/8” and showcase the player in a posed position. The backs are blank and unnumbered.
Here’s the complete checklist:
Mel Counts (95 cents)
Mel Counts (98 cents)
Lamar Green
Clem Haskins
Connie Hawkins (98 cents)
Greg Howard
Paul Silas
Fred Taylor
Dick Van Arsdale (Error – reversed negative, no price)
Dick Van Arsdale (Corrected – no price)
Neal Walk (95 cents)
Neal Walk (No price)
John Wetzel (No price)
That Tuff Stuff Standard Basketball catalog priced a near-mint complete set at $1950 in 2003, and the prices appear to have stood up.
The following 12-card set is available on eBay (July 2024) for $3,600 from BMW Sports Cards and Memorabilia.
Scottsdale Baseball Cards has the following complete 13-card master set available on its site (and eBay) for $2,500.
However, Goldin sold the following 12/13 near master set, graded by SGC, for only $420 in June 2022. However, at the time, they wouldn’t have been my top choice for selling a set like this.
That Goldin set was also missing the Dick Van Arsdale error, which is one of the tougher cards. The priciest, though, is the Connie Hawkins.
If you’re looking for a graded sample, PSA has only slabbed 67 in total.
PS, while the cards say “12 oz. Bottles” on the front, if you want to augment a collection of them, think about hunting down these four A1 Premium Beer cans; from 1967-1974, the Phoenix Roadrunners were a WHL team.
Morean Auctions sold the pictured lot of empty beer cans for $527 in September 2023.
Pig League Chewing Gum! Christie’s offered this George Chastain parody painting in their October 1993 Sports Memorabilia catalog.
In the description, Christie’s wrote:
An original painting in acrylics by George Chastain, parody artist known for his pulp magazine, science fiction and movie parodies. The painting spoofs the 1933 Goudey Ruth card No. 181 and refers to ” Pig League chewing gum ” and substitutes peanuts, hot dog, beer and Porker Snax for the bat on the actual card. The painting measures 11 x 14 inches and is one of a series of baseball card parodies done by Mr. Chastain. The lot does not include any publication rights.
The estimate was $800-1,000.
Precious Paper has it now (July 2024) and is selling the painting for $2,500. Here’s a screenshot in case it’s sold and removed from their site—you know, to document hobby history!
Today, I’m wrapping up my five-part series of articles focused on 1978 Topps baseball and its associated sets and promotions. Here are the previous four articles, in case you missed them:
In this one, I’ll discuss the six-card 1978 Topps uncut panels that came inside issue 47 of Scholastic Inc’s Dynamite Magazine. As a hobby library guy, I find this collectible super appealing.
Dynamite Magazine 101
Scholastic Inc.’s Dynamite Magazine launched in March 1974 and continued to be released through March 1992 (165 total issues). It was Scholastic’s most successful publication and inspired four other magazines you might be familiar with if you were a kid aged ~8-14 at the time; Bananas, Wow, Hot Dog!, and Peanut Butter. It was a bit of a pop culture update and included articles, comics, puzzles, and other interactive content like puzzles, games, masks, etc. They’d often contain inserts like stickers, glow-in-the-dark items, 3-D posters with glasses, and of course, baseball cards.
Dynamite Magazine Issue 47, April 1978, Happy Birthday, Mad!
The issue that included 1978 Topps baseball cards was number 47, released in April 1978, titled “Happy Birthday, Mad!” This edition has over a dozen features, with the headline being “a look at the MADmen and their MAD magazine on its 25th birthday.” Other blasts included a feature about the magazine’s one-year-old horse, how to decorate bicycles, and mini-skits that kids could perform. Shorter pieces, “bombshells,” included cartoons, sneak peek calendars, jokes, puzzles, and advice. The magazine also had a bike poster and, of course, “Free Baseball Cards!”
Dynamite Magazine – Issue 47 – Front Cover
Dynamite Magazine – Issue 47 – Back Cover
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Details and Examples
The 1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panels are the same as regular 1978 Topps cards. They’re a six-card strip from an uncut sheet, then folded to fit in the magazine. No one’s really sure if the whole set made it into the magazines. While my 2010 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards wrote that just three six-card panels of 1978 Topps baseball issues had been found at the time, there are definitely more than that, but likely not the entire set because an 11-card wide sheet doesn’t make an even number of 2×3 card panels.
Of the four examples I’ll share, three are cut from Sheet A and one from Sheet B. The Standard Catalog shares two other examples, one with Steve Kemp, Reggie Smith, Roguish Jackson, Rick Burleson, Duane Kuiper, and Davey Lopes, and another with Toby Harrah, Gary Carter, Jeff Burroughs, Fred Lynn, Bucky Dent, and Jim Rice. Both are Sheet A cards. If you’ve seen some from other sheets, please let me know in the comments.
Here’s the example in my library; it features Wayne Garland, Lerrin LaGrow, Enrique Romo, Rick Waits, Rick Manning, and Jim Kern. I bought it for $15.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 1 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 1 – Image 2
Here, you can see where the six-card panel was on a regular 1978 Topps uncut sheet (Sheet A).
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 1 Highlighted
This second example includes Ellis Valentine, Steve Stone, Willie McCovey, Mark Belanger, Willie Montanez (of Topps Zest Fame), and Mitchell Page.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 2 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 2 – Image 2
This panel was cut from the left edge of Sheet A.
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 2 Highlighted
This third example is the most famous one and was documented on The Chronicles of Fuji blog in June 2013 after the author sniped it off of eBay for $22.50 + $3.95 shipping. It features Eddie Murray, Amos Otis, Ruppert Jones, Bobby Bonds, John Mayberry, and George Scott.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 3 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 3 – Image 2
The Eddie Murray panel was cut from the lower right corner of Sheet B.
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 3 Highlighted
By the way, ToddUncommon on Twitter mentioned that there’s a cottage industry of hand-cutting Murray cards from sheets and passing them off as pack-pulled since the in-card pack Murray’s are often terribly off-center.
The following example is slightly inconsistent with the other three, which is interesting since it features superstars Dave Winfield and George Brett, Roy White, Bobby Murcer, Jim Barr, and Cesar Geronimo. It’s been listed on eBay for $49.99 before.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 4 – Image 1
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panel Example 4 – Image 2
You can see that it’s also a Sheet A cut panel, but it seems to have been inserted oppositely. The first three examples all look the same, with a pair of cards over the edge of the poster on top of the magazine’s index.
1978 Topps Dynamite Magazine Panels – First 3 Examples
1978 Topps Uncut Sheet A With 1978 Topps Dynamite Panel Example 4 Highlighted
If you’re looking for individual panels, they’ll all have a bend across them, just like this 1983 Topps Hot Dog Magazine example.
1983 Topps Hot Dog Magazine Panel and Sheet Placement
A handful of examples advertised as Dynamite or Hot Dog panels without bends are probably legitimate cards but not magazine inserts.
Topps partnered with Scholastic for many years, so you can also find examples for other baseball (and football) sets.
1978 Topps Series Wrap Up
That wraps up my 1978 Topps baseball series! From the base set to partnerships with Burger King and Zest Soap, the mail-in checklists, and these six-card panels, Topps certainly maximized their brand’s reach! And I acknowledge that I COULD have included a review of the 1978 O-Pee-Chee baseball set in this series. Do you think I should have?
