One of the rarest team-issued photo sets, the 1950 Pittsburgh Pirates Picture Pack is a 26-photo gem, with several images used as the basis for 1951 Bowman cards. Kiner is the set’s highlight, but its original envelope is rarer and nearly impossible to find.
Mastro and Stenbach’s August 1997 Fine Sports Auctions Catalog offered this example.
The Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards describes the 26-card 1950 Pittsburgh Pirates Photo Pack as follows:
The player photos in this picture pack that was sold at Forbes Field measure 6-1/2” x 9” and are printed in black-and-white on heavy, blank-backed paper. A facsimile ‘autograph’ is printed on front of each picture, though all were written in the same hand. Several of the photos from this set were the basis for the color paintings found on 1951 Bowman Cards. The unnumbered pictures are checklisted here alphabetically.
A few past auctions have said that perhaps the set only has 25 photos, noting that maybe the Dillinger didn’t exist. However, the Standard Catalog includes it, and I found the following photo of one on eBay as part of a complete set that was listed for $160 in November 2024.
The eBay asking price of $160 is reasonable considering how few set sales I managed to track down and because Huggins and Scott sold a partial set of 20 for $172 in August 2022.
Also, contrary to the standard catalog, some auctions mentioned that the photos are on thin stock, not heavy-backed paper.
Finally, here are two photo pack images, Bell and Law, that were the basis for the ’51 Bowman cards.
I believe Pete Castiglione, Cliff Chambers, Murry Dickson, Vic Lombardi, Bill Macdonald, and Clyde McCullough are the others who match.
Update 16 December 2024: After I shared the article on my socials, SABR Baseball Cards shared the following photo of Pirates GM Joe L. Brown with a stack of the photos!
Here’s another great mid-90s article from Sports Cards Magazine about the unopened collecting niche; this one from Doug Koztoski includes info from Mark Murphy, the Baseball Card Kid.
Here are a few key takeaways:
“For every pack that is opened from a particular year, all remaining packs are that much rarer.”
Doug interviewed Mark Murphy, the Baseball Card Kid, for insights; he was the Steve Hart (The Baseball Card Exchange) of the hobby then.
Murphy said that Wax was the pack of choice with unopened collectors; I think that’s still true.
At the time, a 1-cent 1933 Goudey Sports Kings pack was ~$600
The article highlighted that ’59 football penny packs were pretty common, but a penny pack from ’60 is tough to find.
A run of 1950s baseball nickel packs was estimated at $61,500 in the mid-’90s.
Fake packs were already very commonplace at the time.
After REA sold a 1954 Topps One-Cent Wrapper for $480 last October, I wondered if there were any complete packs out there. Yup, here’s an example Mastro offered for sale in April 2006.
By the way, here’s the 1954 Topps One-Cent Wrapper from REA.
It turns out there are a handful of these packs out there, but the most interesting one of these dated varieties has Jackie Robinson showing on the back. REA sold it when it was in a GAI holder in the Spring of 2018 for $1,645.
The owner then crossed it to PSA before selling it with Memory Lane Inc. for $3,392 in May 2011 (this pack would have to be at least an order of magnitude more expensive if it came to market today)
Speaking of Memory Lane Inc., they have sold a few other copies: GAI 7.5 for $2,603 in December 2007, one in a PSA-8 slab (but without the one-cent designation on the flip) for $1,261 in May 2008, and another GAI 7.5 for $2,921 in January 2015.
And to satisfy my OCD, here’s a copy of the 1954 Topps One-Cent Dated Display Box.
There are a lot of unique sets in the post-war hobby, but many more exclusive releases exist, not entirely fitting the traditional classification of an oddball set like individual promotional issues. These cards are usually only known by folks who collect specific players but not the rest of the hobby. In this article, I’ll spotlight one such hidden gem: the 1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra promotional card.
The card itself is 5″ x 7″ and features a black-and-white photo of Berra in a squatting catcher’s pose. Along the bottom, an endorsement in white script reads, “Ride Shelby, The Winner’s Bike, Sincerely, Yogi Berra.” The back is blank.
The following example currently sits in the current #1 Yogi Berra Master Set on the PSA Set Registry
1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra
The date of issue on this card is conjecture. The first driver is the familiar photo of Yogi Berra that Shelby used for this card. Robert Edward Auctions sold a circa 1949 Yogi Berra Original New York Yankees (their propriety stamp is on the back of the photo) PSA/DNA Type I image that was used for the Shelby Bicycles promo, his 1950 Bowman card, and his 1950 Drake’s card; it sold for $2880 in August 2023.
Here’s the front and back of the Type I photo.
Yogi Berra New York Yankees Type 1 Photo – Front
Yogi Berra New York Yankees Type 1 Photo – Reverse
And here’s Berra’s 1950 Bowman baseball card.
1950 Bowman #46 Yogi Berra
The second reason the hobby dates the card to around 1952 is from the advertisements featuring Berra promoting Shelby Bicycles. While you will see many of them referenced to 1954 and 1955, Shelby Cycle Company only manufactured bicycles in Shelby, Ohio, from 1925 to 1953 before being purchased by AMD in 1953. One specific advertisement features the Shelby Cycle Company name (and a Shelby, Ohio address) and features an illustration of the offered promotion card. It was free, along with a 16-page catalog, to anyone who requested it.
Shelby Cycle Co. Ad Featuring The 1952 Berra Card
That advertisement, along with three others (AMF moved bicycle production to Cleveland in 1953, which is where Shelby is addressed to in the next three ads) and a PSA 2.5 copy of the 1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra card, was sold by Robert Edwards Auctions in October 2015 for $1320. The card was part of Al Johnson’s All-Time Finest Yogi Berra Master Set, but that was retired in July 2017, so I suspect he purchased it.
Yogi Berra Shelby Ad
Yogi Berra Shelby Ad
Yogi Berra Shelby Ad
1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra – REA
At the time of sale, that PSA 2.5 graded Berra was the only one that PSA or SGC had graded. Its sales history after the initial REA auction and I suspect the retirement of the Master Set, is fascinating.
Heritage Auctions resold the PSA 2.5 for $430.20 in November 2016. They noted that the card has a vertical crease.
1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra – HA
Memory Lane Inc. then got its hands on the item in August 2017, but it went unsold with an opening bid of $300. It was still described as the only example ever graded by either PSA or SGC. But today, PSA shows five cards and two autographed cards in their pop report, while SGC shows a single copy.
1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra – Memory Lane Inc.
Clean Sweep Auctions sold one of those signed PSA-encapsulated cards in February 2022 for $775.20.
The 1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra card is a particularly significant post-war collectible. It’s rare, features a Hall of Fame Yankee, and is directly connected to a classic American company and a post-war classic Bowman set.
This 1979 Diamond Greats baseball card set advertisement published in the February 1980 issue of The Trader Speaks offers a fascinating look into Jack Wallin’s tribute to baseball’s icons.
First, Jack Wallin, a collector and dealer and later a Donruss photographer, produced the set, not TCMA. He focused the set on autograph collectors since each of the 400 players was living when he printed it, and he included home addresses for all of them. You’ll find a ton of signed examples across eBay and the major auction houses; for example, Leland’s sold a near-complete set of 380 in June 2021 for $4,041.
I presume this is why he printed the 2-1/2” x 3-1/2” black-and-white cards with blank backs; he wanted collectors to focus on player autographs on the front.
The ad shows that the complete set of 400 cards was available for $23.95, each lettered series (A, B, C, and D) was available for $7.50, and team sets were available for $2.50.
The set’s key cards include Joe DiMaggio, Roger Maris, Willie Mays, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, and Stan Musial, and you can find raw unsigned sets for a few hundred dollars.
While Wallin wrote in the ad that all the players were living at the time of printing, a few died in late 79/early 80, so I’m unsure if a complete signed set is possible.
I’d love to see the original address list, so if you have an example, please e-mail me.
I ran across the following promo for the 1993 Yoo-Hoo Baseball Legends set in the Summer 1993 issue of Topps Magazine. Berra had a promotional relationship with Yoo-Hoo dating back to the ’50s.
The ad covers most of the set’s basics, but after some research, there’s no difference between the design of the two series cards. However, the Standard Catalog says Series 1 had Yogi Berra, Joe Morgan, Duke Snider, Steve Garvey, Jim Rice, Bob Feller, Pete Rose, Rod Carew, Gaylord Perry, and Graig Nettles while Series 2 had Johny Bench, Lou Brock, Stan Musial, Willie McCovey, White Ford, Phil Rizzuto, Tom Seaver, Willie Stargell, Brooks Robinson, and Al Kaline.
There was another ’90s Yoo-Hoo set issued in conjunction with Rawlings in 1994.
Rawlings sponsored the Gold Glove award, so the set features past winners. The set is relatively common, but apparently, Yaz signed a few copies that were randomly inserted, though I haven’t found a copy, and apparently, they weren’t certified on the card in any way. BaseballCardPedia wrote that the 1994 set was released in two, 10-card series consisting of eight player cards and two fact cards which is backed up by this piece I found on eBay.
Also, note that since the set’s weren’t licensed so all the team logos were airbrushed out.
In the world of baseball collectibles, few items hold the mystique of the elusive 1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard, a collectible so scarce that most collectors won’t ever lay eyes on one in person. Luckily, for avid fans of Willie Mays seeking a connection to the baseball legend’s collaboration with ALAGA, there exists a moderately more accessible treasure — an advertising poster. In this piece, I’ll chat about the details and scarcity of both items while also discussing a few of ALAGA’s magazine and newspaper ads featuring Mays and another baseball luminary, Hank Aaron.
The Alabama-Georgia (ALAGA) Syrup Company
According to their website, the Alabama-Georgia (ALAGA) Syrup Company was established by Louis Broughton Whitfield, Sr., along with his wife, Willie Vandiver Whitfield, in 1906. The first can of ALAGA syrup was packed in January 1907, and by 1920, “Alaga Syrup had grown into a national brand thanks to the revolutionary manufacturing methods which brought ALAGA syrup to customers throughout the country in metal cans, a remarkable packaging and distribution feat for its day.”
ALAGA Truck
WSFA News 12 published a piece about the company in celebration of it being over a century old. In it, they mention that the company has had some pretty big names endorse the product over the years, including Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Clark Gable, Bear Bryant, Shug Jordan, and Nat King Cole.
1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard
The year of issue of the 1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard is approximate. Mays is pictured in a New York Giants cap (they moved to San Francisco in 1957), and ALAGA syrup ads featuring Mays started showing up in 1955 in Ebony Magazine, among other publications, making a 1954 date seem reasonable.
The front of the 3-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ postcard features a borderless black-and-white portrait with a facsimile autograph.
1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard – Front
The back has an advertisement for ALAGA syrup, which states, “Willie Mays says, ‘I was raised on ALAGA Syrup’ on the left side with a postage stamp square on the upper right and space to write a note to the right of the ad.
1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard – Reverse
PSA has only graded the previously pictured example (it resides in the current number 1 ranked Willie Mays Master Set on the registry), and unfortunately, I can’t make out any postage cancels for dating. While the SGC Pop Report doesn’t include the card, and I haven’t run across any Beckett-graded examples, the Trading Card Database includes the following example:
1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard – TCDB
Given the postcard’s rarity and Mays’s popularity, I couldn’t even begin to estimate its price.
Now, if you’re a Willie Mays fan and enjoy having syrup with waffles (order intended) as much as I do, you might want to try and grab one of the 1960s Willie Mays ALAGA syrup Advertising Posters for your collection. They’re approximately 10″ x 20″ and one-sided; it reads ALAGA Syrup along the top, followed by a picture of Mays in the middle with a quote from him reading: “Say hey! Love that real ribbon cane flavor”, followed by a bottle of soup with waffles along the bottom. Goldin sold the following example in April 2017 for $255.
The posters aren’t super common, but they aren’t as scarce as the postcard. There was a single copy on eBay in Nov 2023 for $539.99 (it was framed and JSA authenticated), and besides the Goldin copy I already mentioned, there have been a few other sales over the years, too. For example, SCP sold a framed copy in November 2010 for $428. Heritage has sold a handful of them, including a framed copy in October 2020 for $192, a lot of three in 2019 for $264, a single copy for $120 in October 2017, another for $199.50 in December 2016, and another in June 2016 for $203.15.
Willie Mays and Hank Aaron ALAGA Syrup Newspaper and Magazine Ads
I mentioned earlier that ads featuring Mays and ALAGA started appearing around 1955; they had quite a nostalgic appeal. In two of the following examples, Mays says he was “raised on Alaga Syrup.” And one says, “It brings back bright memories every time I taste it.”
ALAGA Ads Featuring Willie Mays
I believe the ads ran for about ten years, starting in the mid-50s; the rightmost Mays Ad, dated to 1963, uses the same image of Mays but includes french toast instead of waffles.
Hank Aaron was featured in various similarly written ads for ALAGA syrup, and the right most of the following four was published in 1966. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any Hank Aaron postcards featuring the ALAGA brand. Also, the third Aaron ad may actually be a poster.
ALAGA Ads Featuring Hank Aaron
This ad featuring Mr. and Mrs. Aaron is my favorite; those pancakes look delicious!
ALAGA Ad Featuring Mr. and Mrs. Hank Aaron
Conclusion and Further Reading
I actually didn’t know the 1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard existed until I stumbled upon it while flipping through the first few pages of the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards. Though ownership remains a distant prospect for almost everyone, the poster is a more attainable quest—a cherished piece rumored to have found favor with Mays. I also love it when there are items that bridge the gap between collecting, baseball history, and Americana!
