Post War Cards – Page 20 – Vintage Sports Cards – Baseball – Basketball – Football

A Fascinating Letter from Sy Berger to Fred Corcoran Extending Ted Williams’ Contract with Topps

November 11, 2024 by John

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Happy collecting!

1955 Topps Doubleheaders Uncut Panel

January 20, 2025November 11, 2024 by John

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.

Check out The Uncut Sheet Archive for more!

Pacific Takes On The Goliaths

November 10, 2024 by John

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.

1935 R89 And R90 Gum Inc. Mickey Mouse Uncut Sheets

January 20, 2025November 9, 2024 by John

Who doesn’t love the mouse? These four sheets from Gum Inc. were auctioned off together in April 2004 and included three from the R89 Mickey Mouse set, and one from the R90 Mickey Mouse with the Movie Stars set.

Each panel includes 24 different card designs that were fully printed on both sides.

The lot included two sheets from the 1935 R89 Gum Inc. Mickey Mouse set, which included card numbers 49-72. One sheet was described as VG/EX condition, while the other was described as EX/MT. The other R89 sheet included cards 73-96, including the popular Walt Disney at his drawing board card 92.

The fourth sheet in the lot was a 1935 R90 Gum Inc. Mickey Mouse with the Movie Stars one, which included card numbers 97-120. At the time, it was thought to be the only uncut full sheet of R90 cards in existence. Unfortunately, the sheet had some significant damage and obvious surface paper loss.

Check out The Uncut Sheet Archive for more!

1954 Topps Hockey Cards Have the Best Backs in the Hobby

November 8, 2024 by John

Topps did well with their first hockey card design in 1954; it’s perhaps their best-designed set across any sport. While the fronts of the cards are sharp, the backs may be the most underappreciated in the hobby. So, I wanted to spend this article dissecting Topps’ first hockey set, emphasizing the design of the backs, since I feel most of us tend to neglect to pay attention to the “other side” of cards these days.

The 60-card 1954 Topps hockey set featured players from the four American teams (Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and New York). The cards were the same “giant-size” Topps had released for baseball at the time, 2-5/8″ by 3-3/4″. While Topps licensed the cards, most hobbyists believe they were only released in Canada. The set’s key card is of the great Gordie Howe.

1954 Topps Hockey #8 Gordie Howe – Front

1954 Topps Hockey #8 Gordie Howe – Reverse

The cards came in one-cent and five-cent packs. Five-cent packs had six cards, gum, and an insert wrapper. Collectors could send off that second wrapper for prizes. One-cent packs had one card and a piece of gum.

1954 Topps Hockey Inner Premium Gum Wrapper

The set wasn’t a huge success, perhaps because Topps released a set of U.S. teams mainly in Canada; collectors wouldn’t see another Topps hockey set until 1957.

The fronts’ design is genuinely awesome. They feature an oversized player photo on a white background, with red and blue colors along the bottom, highlighting the player’s name, position, and team. Plus, the facsimile autograph shows clearly against the background. But the backs of the cards shine, too.

Now, what makes a great card back? To me, it’s about design, color, and information, and Topps nailed all three here.

The design is clean. The card number is large, within a puck-like-shaped circle in the corner. The blue and red stripes highlight the player’s name, position, and team, similarly to the front’s design. Then you have the blue hockey stick separating the player’s vitals from their biography. The cartoon and generic hockey term/fact add some fun to the back, and the statistics from 1953 are an excellent, simple addition along the bottom.

The cards are All-American with white card stock and red and blue ink.

From an information standpoint, the only addition one could ask for (which would make the card too busy) would be career statistics. As it is, though, you can learn a lot about the player and hockey from these cards.

Topps left a fantastic first impression on hockey collectors with this beautifully designed set; the front and back have incredible eye appeal. There aren’t many sets that you can buy that would look as outstanding presented on a wall from either side as the 1954 Topps hockey set; happy collecting!

Top 75 All-Time Classic Baseball And Football Cards

November 8, 2024 by John

In a ‘sort of related’ follow-up to my post the other day about the Top 25 Most Expensive Baseball Cards In 1993, are the Top 75 All-Time Classic Baseball and Football Cards In 1992.

These came from the August 1992 issue of Allan Kaye’s Sports Cards News & Price Guides (Number 9). I call it a ‘sort of related’ follow-up because I flipped through this magazine just after I flipped through the Sports Cards Magazine that had the Top 25 list; they just happened to have been published about a year apart.

I do like that the Top 75 list is organized by year; it’s already rather subjective. Unfortunately for some fans, I don’t think the 1986 Donruss Jose Canseco or 1987 Fleer Will Clark would make the cut on such a list today, nor would the 1989 Pro Set William Perry or 1990 Action Packed Jim Plunkett.

Ranking the Top 5 Topps Baseball Card Set Designs of All Time

November 7, 2024 by John

Many months ago, a collector asked me, disregarding value completely and going strictly by design, what years were my top 5 standard Topps sets. The first two sets that came to mind were the colorful 1969 Topps football cards and the 1954 Topps Hockey backs, which I think are the best in hobby history. But this collector clarified that he just meant baseball card fronts. After browsing through all of Topps’ post-war sets (through 1991), here are my top 5 best looking Topps baseball card designs.

5. 1984 Topps

When you disconnect your mind from the sets being overproduced, there were many great Topps designs in the 1980s. My favorite is the 1984 Topps set with its great dual-photo design. Topps chose some really great action shots to pair with the smaller headshots, and I think the team name in large vertical letters along the side makes for a well-balanced card.

4. 1971 Topps

I love the way this set presents as a whole. The team names along the top really pop out from the black borders, and the white frame around the color photos helps focus your eyes on the player. I also think the facsimile signatures are a bit nicer since they match the black borders, and I like that compared to other sets that feature them.

3. 1956 Topps

While the 1956 Topps design is similar to their 1955 set, with player portraits and in-action photos on the front of the card, what I like better about the 56 designs are the more interesting (rather than single color) backgrounds.

2. 1963 Topps

This might end up being my most “controversial” pick. I like the balance between the large likeness and the smaller black-and-white pictures in circles. I also found many of the set’s themed cards to be well executed.

1. 1953 Topps

The only set I’m confident will always be in my Top 5 is the 1953 Topps Baseball set. It’s stood the test of time from Topps’ early days as one of the greatest set designs ever; the player portraits are gorgeous. Plus, the black or red boxes along the bottom with the player name, position, team, and the diamond-shaped team logo are simple but well-executed bonuses.

A few other sets I considered were 1975, 1960, 1959, 1969, and 1987. What’s funny, though, is if you ask me to put this list together in another few months, you’ll probably get a completely different answer (other than 1953). I’d love your thoughts on the best-looking Topps Baseball card designs. Feel free to share your opinion in the comments or on X/Twitter, and happy collecting!