Hobby Library

Joe Garagiola’s 1973 Topps Business Card: From Bubble Gum Blowouts to Baseball Card Lore

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I only recently learned about this 1973 Topps-style Joe Garagiola card from the April 1986 issue of Baseball Cards Magazine. They wrote that Joe used it as his business card, but there’s a little more to it than that!

The Topps Archives has a series of posts about the card; the first, from February 2009, identifies it as part of “a small but distinct list of baseball issues from Topps that consist of a single card. The most famous of these is Joe Garagiola’s 1976 NBC Business Card that is a dead ringer for a ’73 Topps baseball card.”

Then, in June 2009, The Topps Archives connected the card to Joe Garagiola’s Bazook Big League Bubble Gum Blowing Championship that gave us the classic 1976 Topps card of Kurt Bevacqua!

And from a photo from the event, The Topps Archives pointed out the uncut sheet behind Joe G., writing, “That, ladies and gentlemen is Garagiola’s ersatz 1973 Topps business card. I think it highly likely said pasteboards were created for him to hand out at this event. The card does have a 1976 copyright on it and I have to think the contest was held after the end of the ’75 season based on the Joe G. card copyright date.”

A pair of articles from the Baseball Hall of Fame explain the competition further. You can also watch the event on YouTube, which originally aired on October 14th, 1975, before Game 3 of the 1975 World Series.

The Topps Archives then shared a few photos of Garagiola’s card as reprinted in 1991.

BaseballCardPedia summarizes the entire story of the card as follows:

Sometime in the mid-1970s, Topps produced for former Cardinals catcher and then-current NBC broadcaster Joe Garagiola a business card done in the style of a baseball card. The front of the card has the design of the 1973 Topps set, while the back is set up like a 1976 Topps card. 

It is unknown exactly when this card was produced; however, a framed uncut sheet of the card was seen in the background of a 1975 made-for-TV bubble gum blowing contest hosted by Garagiola for NBC. The contest was sponsored by Topps and was commemorated with a card (#564) of winner Kurt Bevacqua in the 1976 Topps set.

A second run of this card was produced in the early-90s, to coincide with Garagiola’s appointment as co-host of NBC’s Today Show. This card is identical to the 70s card, with the addition of both a Topps and Today Show logo to the front.

However, there’s still one more mystery. You can see up above the back of the variation I shared above has a 1976 copyright and Garagiola’s phone number on the back. There’s another version with a different phone number and 1976 copyright along with the 1991 reprint!

Happy collecting!

From Grand Prize to Auction Block: The Fall 1992 Topps Magazine Centerfold Signed by Mantle, Mays, and Snider

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The Fall 1992 Issue of Topps Magazine featured a great competition. The grand prize was an autographed copy of the 9th Topps Magazine’s centerfold illustration featuring Mays, Mantle, and Snider.

This copy was sold by Collect Auctions for just $264 in July 2021.

I presume this was the Grand Prize for the “In The Ball Park” Game Time competition pictured below.

I guess a collector could have removed the centerfold from the magazine and had the players sign it, but the Beckett LOA and the auction description don’t specify whether this was the case.

This Topps Magazine centerfold features Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider and Willie Mays, with signatures from each. Each signed in fiber-tip marker over their images, with each signature authenticated by BAS with a full LOA.

Collect Auctions Description

Happy Collecting!

The Rare 1938 R83A Gum, Inc. Lone Ranger Promo Sheet

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A blast from auction history past: In October 2007, Mastro, via his Classic Collector Auctions, offered this incredible 1938 R83A Gum, Inc., Long Ranger Premiums Store Advertising Promo Sheet.

Unfortunately, the catalogs for these “internet-only” auction events from Mastro Auctions didn’t include an item description. However, several promo sheets have been auctioned off over the years. For example, REA sold a lot of three of them for $420 in the spring of 2015.

Here’s what they wrote about them:

Extremely rare collection of three advertising sheets, issued by Gum, Inc., in 1938, promoting the company’s “Lone Ranger” premium cards (R83A). The front of each 8 x 10-inch paper flyer pictures a montage of all five premium cards offered, while the reverse provides complete instructions for boys and girls on how to obtain them (it involved buying a lot of “Lone Ranger” Bubble Gum!). As noted on the reverse, the premium cards depict scenes from Republic Pictures’  The Lone Ranger, thus promoting the movie serial as well. While nearly all collectors are familiar with the actual premium cards, this promotional flyer is seldom encountered and is a perfect complement to any advanced R83A collection. In many ways, it represents a “sixth premium” to the set. The reason for its rarity today is obviously related to its purpose (it is an advertising piece) and limited distribution, as well as its extremely fragile nature. Printed on thin paper stock, few survived the rough handling they endured at the hands of young children as they ran from the candy store to show their parents exactly why they needed more money for “Lone Ranger” Bubble Gum. Parents too were probably quick to toss them in the trash as soon as their son’s or daughter’s interest shifted to the next “must have” premium. The offered advertising sheets were recently discovered by our consignor at a garage sale. (The entire find consisted of five examples, the other two of which were sold in REA’s fall 2014 auction.) The three advertising sheets are in Excellent condition overall, displaying only very tiny touches of wear at the corners and no creases or heavy wrinkles. This is a very rare collection of three desirable advertising pieces relating to this popular series of premiums! 

As for the five-card premium set, which together can sell for well over $1k, James Watson, in his fantastic Non-Sports Bible, wrote that the set was “actually issued prior to Gum, Inc. card set, these premiums contain artwork that is not reproduced on any of the regular issue R83 cards. Attractive artwork is one attribute that certainly contributes to their popularity. The majority of premium #1 contain the hero’s mask ‘drawn in by hand,’ but is absent in this original variation. This set was originally listed as R83A in the American Card Catalog.”

Happy Collecting!

PS, here’s a larger scan so you can read the back!

Uncut Treasures: Rediscovering Rare Sheets From a 1982 Baseball Cards Magazine Ad

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I ran across an advertisement from Stephan R. Juskewycz in the Spring 1982 issue of Baseball Cards Magazine offering some cool and scarce uncut sheets, so I tried to find them and tracked down six of seven.

1981 Donruss Baseball Uncut Sheet

These are probably the most common sheets on Juskewycz’s list, and they were also the cheapest in 1982. Here’s an example of one of the sheets.

1981 Granny Goose Uncut Sheet

The advertisement initially motivated me to write a dedicated piece on the 1981 Granny Goose set, but this was the one uncut sheet I couldn’t track down!

1977 Burger King Yankees Uncut Sheet

The advertisement said it was a sheet for a single set, and I found that REA sold a lot of 10 progressive proof uncut sheets back in 2008 for $588.

Heritage also sold this complete one in October 2024, along with a 1983 Topps Gaylord Perry Peanut Farm uncut sheet for $750.

1977 Cloth Stickers Uncut Sheet

REA sold this sheet with two complete sets for $630 in the fall of 2019.

1977 Cloth Stickers Puzzle Cards Uncut Sheet

REA failed to sell this example in the fall of 2018 when its reserve was $300.

1971 Topps Coin Proofs Uncut Sheet

Lelands offered this example in 2004, but the sheet failed to meet its reserve.

1969 Topps Uncut Proof Sheet of 9 1969 Deckle Edge Cards

I wrote about this sheet back in August 2024.

Happy collecting!

PS, check out The Uncut Sheet Archive if you’re into this hobby niche.

The PSA 8 Graded 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Sotheby’s Auctioned In 2005

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In June 2005, Sotheby’s offered this gorgeous PSA 8 graded 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle in their Important Sports Memorabilia and Cards catalog. The expected sales price was $40-50k! It’s now a million-dollar card after changing hands at least two more times!

I’m unsure what Sotheby’s sold the card for, or if it changed hands again, but in November 2014, it showed up in SCP’s Fall Premier Auction, where it sold for $268k.

Then, in May 2017, Memory Lane had the same card in their Spring Holy Grail Rarities Auction, where it sold for $462k.

I’m unsure if that buyer sold it since, but the PSA Card page for the cert shows that it was re-slabbed. Behold, over a million dollars in its plastic tomb!

It would be pretty cool if someone would trace the lineage of all the high-grade (PSA and SGC 8+) 1952 Mickey Mantle cards. It’s sort of just happened that I’ve started such a task with the T206 Wagner cards:

Happy Collecting!

The Set That Never Was – The 1976-77 HRT/RES 1947 Bowman Baseball Cards

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Ted Taylor and Bob Schmierer created three series of 1947 Bowman Baseball cards in 1976 and 1977 to promote the 2nd and 3rd Philly Baseball Card Shows! They placed this advertisement in the July 1976 issue of The Trader Speaks to promote the show and cards!

Here’s what The Standard Catalog has to say about the 1976-77 HRT / RES 1947 Bowman Baseball Cards:

Advertised as “The Set That Never Was,” this collectors’ issue from Ted Taylor and Bob Schmierer used a 2-1/8” x 2-1/2” black-and-white format and gray cardboard stock to replicate the feel of the first post-WWII baseball cards. The set was issued in three series with advertising on back promoting the second (1976) and third (1977) annual EPSCC ‘Philly’ shows. Series one (#1-49) was issued in 1976; series two (#50-81) and three (#82-113) were 1977 issues.

PSA has graded more of these than I expected, considering it’s a bit of an odd collectors’ issue. There are 32 total PSA-graded cards across the 113-card set; here’s an example of one I found on eBay, card #17, in the 1st series, Jackie Robinson.

I found two complete sets for sale on eBay (January 2025); one was asking $295, and the other $285.

The $295 set included a T206 Honus Wagner promotional card, a sort of 114th card.

The seller of the $295 set also added a bit more information. First, they mentioned that the set was patterned after the 1948 Bowman baseball cards; surprisingly, The Standard Catalog didn’t write that; maybe it’s too obvious. They also said that Ted Taylor was HRT and Robert Schmierer was RES, adding that they printed 2000 series one sets while limiting series two and three to just 1000 sets each.

Happy collecting!