Set building was a much bigger part of the hobby in the late 1970s and early 1980s. That really stood out when I was flipping through the January 1978 issue of The Trader Speaks and saw how ads for 1978 Topps Baseball Vending Boxes/Cases were written.
Before we go through each of the four ads, a couple of things: first, there was no mention of wax or cello products, and second, these were pre-sales with expected delivery in March/Early April.
The first ad related to 1978 Topps was an early bird special from Stephen Garrihy.
First, he targeted set builders directly, offering one, two, or three. Then, he offered 500 ct boxes (vending) for $6.50 for one, $11.50 for two, and $6.00 for each additional. You could also order a case of 24 boxes for $94.00. What’s interesting is the offer of ten free cards for folks who bought two boxes to fill in missing numbers within a set build.
The second ad was from Okey Blankenship.
He also first offered complete sets and then single vending boxes, as well as vending cases for sale.
Edward Mathewson chronologically had the third 1978 Topps baseball ad in the ‘zine. He offered a similar missing card offer for collectors who ordered two vending boxes.
The final ad was from G. S. Gallery. They offered one, two, or three vending boxes with a guaranteed 726 card set.
They also offered credits toward future purchases, ‘vinyl see-through pages,’ and a ‘1978 Baseball Yearbook’ for sale.
By the way, here’s what 1978 Topps Baseball Vending Boxes (~$3k these days) and Cases look like.
I shared Dr. Jim Beckett’s first price survey results a few weeks ago. Well, the following year, he kicked off an update with the following bit of hobby history that I scanned from the January 1978 issue of The Trader Speaks: Dr. Jim Beckett’s Price Survey Update!
David Kathman on the net54 boards pointed out that SCD published the 1978 survey update results in their July 15, 1978, issue, with an abbreviated version in the 1978 edition of the Sport Americana Baseball Card Checklist book. I believe The Trader Speaks published the updated results in their April 1978 issue; I just don’t happen to have that one in the Hobby Library to be able to include a scan.
Then, in 1979, Beckett’s first price guide book, The 1979 Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide, was published with the help of Dennis Eckes.
Marc Sarchet highlighted the incredible 1982 Union Oil Dodger Player Portraits in the March 1983 issue of The Trader Speaks with some information that seems to have been lost to the modern (digital) hobby. So, I’ve decided to highlight the set on my site.
Beckett includes the following information about the 26-card set on its website:
Artist Nicholas Volpe drew members of the Dodgers for a Union Oil giveaway. These color portraits are painted in pastel; one portrait a week was given away at the stations. The cards measure 8 1/2″ x 11″ and the backs contain statistics and other biographical information. An album which contained 20 plastic sheets to hold these cards was sold by the Dodgers for $6.
So, Beckett didn’t include information about the set’s extension beyond 20, the timeline of its release, the confusion from station owners, the lag between the 20th and 21st prints, the cost of sets or 100 print boxes, or that the Dodgers sold an album to house the set; here are a few photos of it.
Neither Beckett nor Sarchet mentioned that Volpe also painted fantastic Dodgers sets in 1962 and 1969. Also, elsewhere, I’ve read that the portraits were free if you bought at least 8 gallons of fuel at 76 Gas Stations.
One of the most colorful and unique hobby-adjacent collectibles you can add to your collection is a circa 1941 Joe DiMaggio’s Restaurant Linen postcard. I picked up this variation and its souvenir envelope for just $27.
Ron Menchine wrote a few books on baseball postcards and said, “The most famous and probably the best of the brothers who have played baseball were the DiMaggios. They grew up near the San Francisco waterfront, so it’s not surprising that they parlayed their fame and money into a popular restaurant on Fishermen’s Wharf.”
The variation with the three brothers along the top has the following specs, according to Menchine in his 1999 Baseball Postcard Collection book:
Publisher: Joe DiMaggio’s Restaurant, San Francisco, CA
Manufacturer: Curt Teich Co., Chicago, IL
Type: Linen
Postmark: Not Used
Value: $100-$150
The other variation of the restaurant’s postcard has two interior, an exterior, and a Joe DiMaggio picture on the front.
If you’re into graded items, PSA has graded four with interior views and seven with all the brothers, and SGC has added two of each of those copies. SGC also has two labeled as ‘Joe DiMaggio’ in their Pop Report, but I think those are old-flip three-brother combos, like the following example. I’ve also seen a Beckett slabbed postcard before.
There are certain pictures you’ll run across quite often in the hobby, like the 1952 Topps Baseball Woolworth’s display or the 1974 Topps production line photo. Well, there’s another set of images you’ll see a lot from the Topps production line in Duryea, Pennsylvania, during the development, printing, and packaging of the 1991 Topps Baseball set. In this piece, I wanted to save everyone the trouble of tracking them down and share all the photos, plus some information about the magazine they’re from, along with a scan of the complete article; I’ll add a few more details.
Topps had its own magazine for a few years during the peak of the junk-wax era. The 1991 Topps production images came from an article published in the Winter 1991 edition called Volume 2, Number 1 in the table of contents and Collectors’ Edition #5 on the cover.
Topps Magazine – Winter 1991
The specific article was part of a special section of the magazine highlighting 40 years of Topps Baseball cards. The other pieces in this section are fantastic, covering the beginning of Topps baseball cards, a factory tour in Duryea, photos of a card from each Topps set, a look at the key players from each decade, plus a pair of articles dedicated to the classic 1952 Topps set.
Topps Magazine – Winter 1991 – Table of Contents
A Day In Duryea Overview
The article dedicated to the tour of the Topps baseball factory is just a two-page spread on pages 32 and 33; I’ve included complete scans at the end of this article. They start by explaining that Duryea is a small town south of Scranton with a population of just 5415 but that, since 1965, it’s where Topps has produced its baseball cards. The factory was described as 450k sq. ft., operating three shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Then they explained that development of the set began in January 1990 at Topps HQ in Brooklyn, where the Sports Department assigned photographers to shoot players at spring training to capture action shots. All the while, card design options were developed/submitted, and, presumably, an executive selected one of them in the summer. Then, Mike Drewniak (GM in Duryea) set the production schedule. By November, the Sports Department had sifted through photos, and stats/bios were written. The art staff prepared twelve giant boards, each with 66 card fronts and backs, and the cards got okayed.
That’s when the article’s tour begins, and Drewniak and Quality Control Manager Ron Werner explain the production process step-by-step.
Metal Printing Plates
Each of the four pieces of color film (black, blue, red, yellow) is inspected before being developed onto metal printing plates.
A Day In Duryea – 1991 Topps Printing Process – Image 1
Printing
Five four-color presses print sheets of cards around the clock.
A Day In Duryea – 1991 Topps Printing Process – Image 2
Samples Are Pulled
As uncut sheets come off the end of the press, samples are pulled.
A Day In Duryea – 1991 Topps Printing Process – Image 3
Checks
Those samples are checked to ensure the inks and varnish spread evenly.
A Day In Duryea – 1991 Topps Printing Process – Image 4
Cutters
Stacks of uncut sheets are shipped to the cutting and collating department. The sheets are fed into slitting machines, which cut and collate individual cards.
A Day In Duryea – 1991 Topps Printing Process – Image 5
Cards Are Stacked
Individual cards are stacked into coded boxes and sent to the packaging department.
A Day In Duryea – 1991 Topps Printing Process – Image 6
Plastic Wrap
On this particular day, the plant was testing a new plastic wrap called polypropylene, which later that year was used for its 50-cent packs instead of a wax wrap that historically stained cards.
A Day In Duryea – 1991 Topps Printing Process – Image 7
Heat Sealing
The packs were heat-sealed and stacked into retail boxes.
A Day In Duryea – 1991 Topps Printing Process – Image 8
Shipping Cartons
The boxes were then placed in corrugated shipping cartons (cases).
A Day In Duryea – 1991 Topps Printing Process – Image 9
Shipping Department
The cases were then sent to the shipping department, where trucks would carry them to distribution centers nationwide.
A Day In Duryea – 1991 Topps Printing Process – Image 10
This photo of hundreds of cases in the factory is one of the images you’ll see most often and shows how many cards were printed in 1991. It’s said Topps printed 4-5 million of each card!
In the photo, you can see a bunch of wax cases and what I think are cases that held the “rarer” $1.49 40-card packs.
From 1921 to the 1970s, Exhibit Supply Co. (ESCO) of Chicago, Illinois, released over 14,000 different cards. While there are numerous articles I could write about “Exhibits” here on the blog, covering various aspects of the company’s history, including the postcard-like design style, distribution and machines, and key sets/cards, there’s a select group of cards that are particularly scarce, about which very little is known in a topic I’m genuinely passionate about, Checklist cards!
Before I delve into Exhibit’s wrestling, football, baseball, and boxing checklist cards, I want to address a few important points.
Firstly, I want to clarify that I’m not an exhibit expert. These cards have a poorly documented history that’s challenging to unravel, and there are some hot debates about some of them in the hobby. However, my interest in learning more about them has been growing over the years. The topic of checklists, in particular, has been on my mind for some time. I decided to take the plunge and share my thoughts, hoping that fellow collectors might reach out to me and engage in conversations or provide additional insights. So, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you notice any errors or have more information to share.
Next, kudos to Adam Warshaw and his book, Exhibit and Related Sports Arcade Cards. I’ll reference it throughout this post; it’s an awesome resource.
Exhibit and Related Sports Arcade Cards – By Adam S. Warshaw
Lastly, before diving into the cards, you should be aware of one critical Arcade/Exhibit-related topic – slicks. Slicks are paper versions of the cards produced on “slick” glossy paper. They served as exact replicas of the typically thick postcard-like cards and were designed to be affixed to headers on the front of exhibit vending/arcade machines. Adam pointed out that ESCO likely produced them because paper is more cost-effective and lighter than cardboard. When manufacturing and mailing tens of thousands of these each year, every penny saved matters.
To illustrate, here’s an example of a vending machine with a header sign with a bunch of slicks pasted on it, advertising “Baseball Stars” and “Football Stars.”
Exhibits Vending Machine With Baseball and Football Stars Header
This is a different sign, but notice the glue on the back of each one.
Exhibits Baseball Stars and Football Stars Header/Slicks
Exhibit Wrestling Checklist Card
The following Exhibits “Wrestlers” checklist card was sold in a lot of 34 items by Robert Edward Auctions in April 2023 for $1320. REA described the checklist as “extremely rare” and having a typed address on reverse, but otherwise in fair condition. I’ve also read that the postcard is not on standard Exhibit card stock.
Exhibit Wrestling Checklist Card – Front
Exhibit Wrestling Checklist Card – Reverse
A scan of the same card appears in Warshaw’s book (with a photo of a boxing and baseball checklist). He wrote that the checklist cards from the 1950s are “actually salesman samples, as proven by the example addressed to arcade owners.” However, he only shows the back of the wrestling card, which has sale information, so I think we can call, at least this known example, a salesman sample checklist card.
I also think there may be another pair of 1955-59 Exhibit Supply Company Wrestler series advertising checklists featuring Lou Thesz. One has Don Eagle on the list, and the other does not. Both were supplied with each order of 1000 cards and only exist without cardboard backing and have blank backs.
Exhibit Boxing Checklist Card
Here’s a scan of the Exhibit Prize Fighters checklist card from Warshaw’s book.
Exhibit Boxing Checklist Card – Example 1
And here’s another I found on Google Images. I think they’re the exact same item, given some of the wrinkles.
Exhibit Boxing Checklist Card – Example 2
Because I haven’t seen a scan of either back, I’m unsure if they’re slicks or a salesman sample item/postcards. Also, Warshaw explains that even though Jake LaMotta and Rocky Marciano are both listed on the card, they were part of different sets/series, with La Motta being part of the Salutations series from the ’40s while the Marciano card came out years later in another series. I’ve also seen folks date the boxing checklist card to 1950 (just like the wrestling card).
Exhibit Football Checklist Cards
Things start to get even more complicated when it comes to Exhibit Football checklist cards.
First, there’s definitely a slick version. Sports Collectors Digest shared a pair of machines with headers, one of which features both a Joe DiMaggio baseball and Chuck Bednarik football checklist.
Arcade Machines – Baseball and Football Stars Checklist Slicks
Next, Robert Edward Auctions sold a lot of Exhibit football cards in April 2015 for $2700; its title was 1948-1952 W468 Football Exhibits Complete Set (59) Plus Rare Checklist. They describe the checklist as “paper thin” and in fair condition due to “adhesive on reverse.” So, I think it’s safe to call it a slick.
W468 Football Exhibits Plus Rare Checklist
REA also wrote that the football cards were released between 1948 and 1952, black-and-white between 1948 and 1951, and sepia-toned in 1952. However, Warshaw thinks the cards may have been issued on an ongoing basis from 1948-1955, with certain cards being replaced over time. He also shares that the checklist card is interesting because it specifies which cards were made in the particular year of its creation (cards were issued in 32 card series). He writes that the checklist card is undated and wasn’t mailed, so we can’t conclusively say it’s a 1950 card.
Tuff Stuff says the cards were released in three groups of 32 in 1948, 1950, and 1951, with the 1951 series being the easiest to find. They also wrote that the checklist was produced in 1950 in black-and-white and green – they also mentioned a nine-card ad display with the Bendarik checklist. Beckett online also says the checklist was produced in 1950 in both black-and-white and green and lists 32 players from the 1950 set on the front.
Speaking of, I pulled this black-and-white exhibits football checklist from TCDB. It could be a black-and-white photo of a green/sepia-tone card, but the back shows glue, implying a slick.
Exhibit Football Black-and-White Checklist Slick
Last, I ran across this photo in Google Images. I can’t quite tell if it’s thick like a normal W468 card, but this thread on net54 implies there’s a Bednarik checklist that’s not a slick.
Exhibit Football Checklist Card
SGC shows three 1948-52 Exhibits (W468) checklist cards with Chuck Bendarik pictured in its Pop Report.
Exhibit Baseball Checklist Cards
I know of two 1947-66 Exhibits baseball checklist card variations. One has ‘Yogi Berra Listed First,’ and one has Al Evans listed first.
Here’s the SGC-graded example of the one with Yogi Berra listed first.
1947-66 Exhibits Checklist Yogi Berra Listed First
The SGC Pop Report also lists two cards with the description ‘Joe DiMaggio Pictured,’ including the following example – but note that it has Al Evans listed first. I’m unsure if the other SGC-graded example is the same as this one – but if you look above, the Yogi Berra Listed First card also features Joe DiMaggio.
1947-66 Exhibits Checklist Joe DiMaggio Pictured – Al Evans Listed First
Let’s discuss the ‘Yogi Berra Listed First’ copy. It’s a slick, given the tape residue on the back of the card. Robert Edward Auctions sold the pictured SGC-A card in August 2022 for $840, and I regret not bidding more for it! They noted that it was the first of its kind that they had seen but were aware of the existence of others (I presume they are referring to the variation with Al Evans listed first). REA mentioned the glue residue showing on the blank back. By the way, that Sports Collectors Digest arcade find I referred to earlier, with the baseball and football checklist, the baseball one is a ‘Yogi Berra Listed First’ slick.
The SGC graded Exhibits baseball checklist I shared, with Al Evans listed first, was sold by Heritage Auctions in a lot of 182 Exhibits for $1135.25 in May 2012. Here are a few other cards from that lot.
Heritage Auctions Exhibit Lot With Checklist Card
Heritage explained that they were calling them 1940s to 1960s Exhibits, but they may be something more unique. Given the previously unknown checklist, they thought their origin could be Canadian, and a few of the Salutation series subjects included in the lot suggested a unique circulation apart from the massive distribution in the United States.
In a 2013 auction for 42 and a 2015 auction for 44 more similar Exhibit baseball cards, Heritage wrote, “NOTE: The primary origin of these cards appears to be Canada and one find even yielded a checklist card. The print quality of these cards matches that of the accepted Canadian color tinted baseball exhibit cards. Third party graders still do not accept these and simply write them off as reprints. Please take this into consideration when bidding.”
There was a 64-card Canadian Exhibit baseball set (two 32-card sets), often referenced to 1953, but its checklist doesn’t match the checklist card. The Canadian Exhibit baseball cards are also numbered. PSA writes, “Cards tinted green or red number from #1-32, while cards #32-64 were printed in blue and reddish-brown. Strictly printed in 1953, the cards possess action or portrait style photographs with the player’s name seemingly hand-printed at the bottom of each with the year’s issuance printed below as “53”. The grey stock cards are numbered in the upper right corner.”
Also, the Al Evans checklist lists the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies who played in the 1950 World Series, but the Phillies are crossed off, and New York Giants are written in, who the Yankees played in the 1951 World Series.
Warshaw dedicates some time to the team cards in his book. He wrote that from 1949 to 1957, except for 1953, ESCO issued a team card for each pennant winner. Noting that a card that says “1955 World Champions” wasn’t made for the 1955 print run. It had to be made after the September/October 1955 World Series.
Therefore, Warshaw references the Al Evans listed first checklist card as one for the 1951 print run (Yankees vs. Phillies in the 1950 World Series).
Wrap-Up and Further Reading
Again, if you have any more information or photos of these cards, please get in touch with me via e-mail, in the comments, or on Twitter. And if you’re into Exhibits, be sure to pick up a copy of Warshaw’s book Exhibit And Related Sports Arcade Cards. I’m super excited to learn more about this hobby niche and suspect there is still a lot to uncover about Exhibits.
Happy collecting!
PS, I think there’s a chance the Exhibit Supply Co could have printed the baseball and football slicks for a 1955 revised release as wrestlers, prize fighters, baseball stars, and football stars all appear together on the following catalog page with a note to “Combine In One Machine” (and there is that arcade machine with both the baseball and football checklist card slicks on it).
