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.
I ran across this window sign advertising the circa 1937 R342 Goudy Thum-Movies in Sotheby’s March 1991 auction catalog, which included The Copeland Collection; it’s a cool-looking sign in black and white, but it’s actually red, white, and blue.
Sotheby’s described the window sign as follows:
Goudey Flip Movie Window Sign, circa 1937, red, white and blue, blank on reverse, thin paper and very delicate, depicting a drawing of a flip movie being flipped and also “gum and pictures only 2 cents” which gives it provenance to the R342 set, near mint to mint. 5⅞ in. by 7⅝ in.
The window sign for the R342 Goudey Flip Movies, were meant to be glued to the window of candy stores. This sign still shows the strips of glue along the edges since it was never used.
Their estimate for the item was $1,000-1,500.
Based on the staple holes and a bit of the paper loss, it looks like Heritage resold the same item in February 2017 for $384.
Heritage highlighted that it was the first time they had the opportunity to present this piece to their bidders and that the item was very fragile.
REA sold the following copy, which originated directly from Goudey’s files, in the spring of 2017 for $360.
They wrote that it still had the original strips of clear glue along the vertical sides, which a candy store was supposed to wet to attach the poster to the window. This one also had two clean staple holes, but the paper loss differs from the Heritage example.
Here’s the original artwork Dick Perez painted for the 1984 Donruss Mike Schmidt #23 Diamond Kings card.
Ron Oser Enterprises offered it in a lot with a few other signed Perez originals in April 2001. The lot’s description was a little unclear, but I believe the piece is 11” x 17”.
Here’s the final card, followed by a side-by-side comparison.
In the middle of 2023, @TJisonline shared an incredible item with me: a letter from Sy Berger, the mastermind behind Topps Trading cards, to Fred Corcoran, the agent of baseball legend Ted Williams. It dates back to the intense bubble gum card war of the 1950s. I thought I would use it to explore the story of Ted Williams’ association with Topps, Bowman, and eventually, Fleer during this era, shedding light on the fierce completion that unfolded and the impact it had on a few of the most popular baseball card sets in the hobby.
If you don’t know a lot about Ted Williams, his Wikipedia article is a good starting point. He’s known as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, finishing his career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and 1839 RBIs. He was a 19x All-Star, 2x AL MVP, 2x Triple Crown Winner, 6x AL batting champion, and the last player to hit over .400 in a season. His career also peaked during the Topps/Bowman card wars.
However, Teddy Ballgame’s 19-year MLB career was interrupted twice for military service, from 1943-45 for WW2 and 1952-53 for the Korean War. But first, after WW2, in the post-war era, Williams had cards in the 1948-49 Leaf, 1950 Bowman, and 1951 Bowman sets.
1951 Bowman #165 Ted Williams
Topps wasn’t a real competitor to Bowman until 1952, but the Navy had called Williams back to serve on active duty for the Korean War on January 9, 1952 (he played just six games in the 1952 season before returning for refresher flight training). So, Williams wasn’t in either Bowman’s or Topps’ 1952 or 1953 sets because of his military service. Williams did have a few oddball cards those years, namely 1952 Berk Ross, 1952 Red Man, and 1952 Wheaties.
Williams returned to baseball in 1953 and hit .406, but with only 110 at-bats, he wasn’t qualified for the batting title. At this point, Sy Berger, a Red Sox fan, was desperate to sign Ted Williams, and at the time, exclusive deals were around $100-125 annually.
In December 1953, Berger managed to sign Ted Williams to a five-year contract with Topps because he offered Williams more money than the standard fee: $400 per year. Bowman had to stop production of William’s 1954 Bowman card #66, and Topps double-downed on their star, making him the first and last card of the set (#1 and #250).
1954 Topps #1 Ted Williams
Berger would give Ted Williams premium places in their following three sets; Williams was card #2 in 1955, #5 in 1956, and #1 in 1957. That’s when the letter this article was motivated by comes into the picture, and here it is:
1957 Sy Berger Letter to Fred Corcoran – Ted Williams Topps Extension
You can see that it’s dated October 1, 1957, and is from Sy Berger to Fred Corcoran (Ted’s agent). It references the agreement to extend William’s exclusive deal with Topps for the 1958 season. I suppose this means the original contract was for five years, but both parties had to renew or review it yearly.
1958 Topps #1 Ted Williams
TJisonline picked it up to pair with (then) three of his 1958 Topps Ted Williams cards, #s 1, 321, and 485. The Red Sox team card and checklist, #312, is a fourth “Williams” card, of sorts, in the set. He picked up the letter from a local estate reseller/dealer who supposedly bought a lot of items from Fred Corcoran’s daughter (who was Ted Williams’ goddaughter).
1957 Sy Berger Letter to Fred Corcoran With Cards
At this point, another company was looking to enter the sports card market. The Frank H. Fleer Corporation wanted to grow its gum market share, and they targeted Williams for a single-player set since Topps had the exclusive MLB license by that point. Williams was the only player with the popularity to carry an entire set. Williams signed with Fleer for $5k per year for four years, which deprived Topps collectors of Ted Williams cards for the remainder of his playing days. But fans could grab Topps Ted Williams Manager cards from 1969-1972.
1959 Fleer Ted Williams #80 – Ted’s Goals for 1959
All that said, Topps did sign Ted Williams in 1991 for inclusion in their 1953 Reprint Series. In January 2008, Heritage Auctions sold the contract pictured below for $286.80. So, we have some idea of what a 1953 Topps Ted Williams card could have looked like.
Topps Contract With Ted Williams – 1991
1991 Topps Archives #319 Ted Williams 1953 Reprint
This letter from Sy Berger to Fred Corcoran amplifies the intense competition and significant impact of the bubble gum card wars on the hobby. It helps provide a bit more historical context and another glimpse into a pivotal era when the hobby really developed.
Also, if you want to learn more about cards from this era and the competition between Topps and Bowman, I recommend picking up a copy of Dean Hanley’s The Bubble Gum Card War.
What’s super cool about the 1955 Topps Doubleheaders uncut panels is how clearly they show the continuous artwork designed into the backgrounds on the cards!
Mastro offered this particular copy in their April 2006 catalog. Here’s the complete description:
Collectors of individual ’55 Topps “Doubleheaders” cards appreciate the items’ clever design and 2-in-1 player format, but they might remain unaware of yet another eye-catching feature: when placed side-by-side in the correct sequence, the collectibles’ backgrounds merge into a realistically constructed stadium-setting tableau. That marvelously artistic detail is graphically revealed in the very scarce uncut panel of six “Doubleheaders” cards here offered. In this still-attached half-dozen, which clearly shows that multi-play-er paintings were neatly sectioned to create the original single-card images, the items’ subjects can be seen standing in front of a dugout, a batting cage, and consistent rows of seats. A great display piece! The panel’s cards include: #’s 11/12, 13/14, 15/16, 17/18, 19/20 and 21 Skowron/22. The uncut relic measures 4-3/4″ x 12-1/2″, and presents an EX condition appearance with irregular border cuts and natural handling faults confined to the periphery.
If you want to see all the baseball panoramas featured in the Doubleheaders set, check out this post on The Topps Archives called Double Your Pleasure, which features Roger Nisly’s compiled handiwork from various auction catalogs over the years.
Who remembers when super premium packs were just $5.99?
Anyway, the December 1996 issue of Sports Card Trader had an excellent article about Mike Cramer taking on the industry’s goliaths that I wanted to share.
But, before I share the article, it is interesting that the back cover features an advertisement for Pacific Trading Cards…
The article is still a great read, though!
Cramer also recently published a great book called Cramer’s Choice: Memoir of a Baseball Card Collector Turned Manufacturer. I encourage you to pick up a copy for your own Hobby Library; I’ll post a longer review of it in the future as I did for True Mint and Mr. Mint’s Insider’s Guide.
I ran across an item in Ron Oser Enterprises’ December 2000 catalog that perplexes me. It was described as a 3 1/2” x 5 1/2” flexichrome artwork for Darrell Johnson’s 1957 Topps card, but I always thought flexi’s were used to color black and white images.
I reached out to The Topps Archives, and he pointed out that flexi’s can look different but also thought they were only used to color black-and-white images. He also wondered if Topps just cut out the image with an Xacto knife as it would have already been in color. He pointed out that it sort of looks like an alternate for Johnson’s 1958 Topps card, which has a slightly different pose.
Any ideas? Did Topps have other plans for the 1957 Topps set? Were they going to use the cutout for another set?
Update: 23 December 2024
After I shared the images on X, Keith Olbermann shared that the item was for sale on eBay at the time, with an asking price of $800. He wrote, “The scan is much clearer and suggests your conclusion is right. Look at the trimming around the image of Johnson. If I remember correctly this was a Wingfield photo taken in DC and appears in one of the Jay Publishing ‘unofficial’ Yankee yearbooks 1957-8-9…in b&w.”
The eBay auction description provided a bit more detail, particularly about its source: “Original artwork for the 1957 Topps Darrell Johnson baseball card. Artwork measures about 3 ½ inches × 5 ½ inches and depicts the pose used for the 1957 baseball card. Artwork is in excellent condition and the lot includes a 1957 Topps baseball card of Darrell Johnson. The artwork has a small note that reads: ‘Topps Artwork from the Gelman Collection.'”
Roselle Avenue then shared this cool custom card with all of us.
