Here’s one of the scarcest non-sport collectibles in the hobby from the Walter Johnson Candy Company, a 1930s Dick Tracy R41 set wrapper.
In November 2000, Mastro offered this one along with a complete set of 144 cards. They dated it to 1934, but others, like TCDB, date the release to 1937. The Non-Sports Bible just calls it a 1930s set.
The auction description said, “The wrapper displays vividly, bright red and blue coloring printed on wax paper. It displays customary wear for such artifacts and grades as an eye-appealing Excellent.”
Naturally, the box is even tougher to track down; REA sold the following example for $1,560 in the summer of 2019.
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.
T.S. O’Connell wrote an excellent article for Sports Cards Magazines’ April 1995 issue about World Series Cards; these were his Top 10. What do you think about the list?
My favorite thing about the hobby is interacting with other collectors and hobby historians and learning about new items. Well, on the morning of May 1st, 2023, a collector contacted me via e-mail after perusing the site with two photos of an empty box of cards I’d never seen before.
1964 Topps Baseball Gift Box
1964 Topps Baseball Gift Box Lid
He thought maybe they were issued around Christmas time in 1964 to sell leftover cards after the season had ended and asked if I knew anything about it. I searched some of my older books and came up empty-handed. He mentioned the box didn’t have any code on it, so I asked if he’d be ok with my sharing it on Facebook to see if anyone else could help.
On Facebook, a collector mentioned he had seen a reference to the box before and shared the following sell sheet.
1964 Topps Baseball Gift Box Sell Sheet
One collector on Facebook commented that the box on the sell sheet looks a lot like a carton of cigarettes! And another was pretty sure Topps only made this product in 64.
The box wasn’t really meant for Christmas; it’s a gift box for any occasion, “what better way to say ‘happy birthday’ or just ‘hello.’ The boxes came 24 per case for $14.40 or 60 cents a box. Each box had 20 5-cent packs (100 total cards), though given the gift theme, I don’t think they were meant to be sold by the pack.
A ton of collectors reached out to me asking if the owner was interested in selling the empty box, but he’s not. Given how much interest it garnered in such a short period, I presume bidding would be intense.
I’m unsure how you’d price such an item, though. However, one collector shared that there was one on eBay many years ago, and he thought it was for $500, or maybe $338, but acknowledged it would go for much more these days. Another collector thinks he saw one around 2004.
The owner later shared three more photos of the box with me.
1964 Topps Baseball Gift Box – Angle 1
1964 Topps Baseball Gift Box – Angle 2
1964 Topps Baseball Gift Box – Angle 3
An interesting thing about the box is that that’s not Whitey Ford’s 1964 Topps baseball card printed on it; it looks like a 1964 design, but with his 1963 Topps photo.
1964 and 1963 Topps Whitey Ford Cards
Some collectors surmised it could have come out as early as December 1963, given the difference in Ford’s card design. And maybe the low item number of 400 (on the sell sheet) indicates an early release, along with the image of the smiling kid being the same as the one on the 1962 Topps Baseball Bucks dealer sell sheet?
1962 Topps Baseball Bucks Sell Sheet
Funny enough, Topps did something similar with the 1964 Topps Giants set; the picture of Whitey Ford on the box isn’t identical to his card.
1964 Topps Giants Box and Whitey Ford Card
If you have more insight into this unique Topps product, please leave a comment or e-mail me.
In 2005, Sotheby’s offered a collection of some of the scarcest Pacific Coast League cards in their “Important Sports Memorabilia and Cards” auction. The lot included 136 cards, plus a few original mailing envelopes, of the four Centennial Flour’s Seattle Rainiers sets issued between 1943 and 1947.
Here’s the lot’s description:
Produced by Centennial Flouring Mills this scarce regional consists of four sets of unnumbered cards featuring only players from the Seattle Rainiers. Includes the following: 1943-Complete Set of 25 mostly NM, 1944 Complete Set of 25 mostly NM/NM+ with original mailing envelope, 1945 Complete Blue Tint Set of 27 all but a couple NM, 1945 Complete Black & White Set of 27 EX-MT to NM but for 1/3 having a water stain in the corner (includes original mailing envelope), 1947 Complete Set of 32 mostly NM/NM+ (includes original mailing envelope).
I hadn’t even been tracking that the 1945 set had both black & white and blue tint variations.
Here’s how you can tell each of the sets apart.
The 1943 cards are 4” x 5”. The bottom of the card backs read “Compliments of / CENTENNIAL FLOURING MILLS.”
The 1944s say, “Compliments of / CENTENNIAL HOTCAKE AND WAFFLE FLOUR.” on the back.
The 1945s are slightly narrow but longer than the two previous releases. They have a borderless photo on the front and the name and team printed in a black bar at the bottom.
The 1947s share the exact dimensions of the ’45s but have a white-framed box with the player’s bio on the back.
Heritage sold a collection of all five of these complete sets (both 1945 variations) in April 2010 for $3,107.
If you got a grand or two, here’s a fun one to add to a baseball card man cave: Lou Gehrig’s Official “Plaball” Baseball Game.
Sotheby’s offered this example in their March 1993 Important Baseball Cards and Sports Memorabilia catalog. They described the piece as follows:
Lou Gehrig “Playball” Baseball Game, table top game pictures Gehrig in black and white batting pose in centerfield, the only thing missing is the original marble, minor aging, slight water stains at the very edges and a few wooden pegs missing but for this particular game the condition is exceptional, overall at least excellent to mint condition. 18in. by 18in.
Leland’s has sold a pair of them; the first went for $417 in December 2003 and included the following description:
A beautiful all-original rendition of this classic baseball board game made valuable by a patent tying it to Lou Gehrig. Vintage to the 1930’s, the green surface is uncommonly crisp with bold colors and almost no fading or damage. Printed with facsimile signature and inscription from Lou Gehrig, “Yours Truly Lou Gehrig” with a photo of the Yankee legend adding style and prominence. All pegs protruding from the board’s face are original and show the expected signs of tarnishing. 90% of all the pegs are still attached. The game is operated by a small mechanism in the top corner through which a marble was dropped and “rolled” onto the board, encountering the many pegs which altered its path to any one of the 21 “traps” denoting a “strike”, “foul out”, “double play”, etc. or a “1 base hit”, “home run”, etc. The title of the board game, as printed behind home plate is “Lou Gehrig’s Official Plaball – by arrangement with Christy Walsh.” Still attached to the bottom of the board, which is constructed completely of wood is the rules of the game, printed on an 8.5×11” piece of paper and the wooden “leg” which elevates one side of the game 1.5”, allowing for the marbles to roll down.
The second Leland’s sale was more recent when they sold a copy in April 2023 for $1,250. The hobby must have learned a bit more about it since they added a few manufacturing details to the description:
Scarce baseball board game, titled “Lou Gehrig’s Official PLABALL,” produced by the Johnson Store Equipment Company of Elgin, Illinois, in 1932. (PLAGAMES was the name given to the company’s series of board games, “PLABALL” is not a misspelling.) This is just the second example of this attractive baseball game we have offered in the past twenty years and we have seen few others at auction during that time. The large game board, constructed of wood, features a colorful depiction of a baseball diamond, with an illustration of Gehrig and his facsimile signature pictured in the centerfield area. The game’s title appears in print behind home plate. This was a bagatelle game, with the “game action” determined by a ball that was released onto the game board. The ball would descend onto the “field” (the game board rests on wooden risers that tilt the board) , where it would be continuously deflected by the dozens of metal rods and wooden dowels until it finally came to rest in one of the compartments that determine the result of the “at bat.” The game board displays moderate use and wear, including several minor stains. Three of the wooden dowels surrounding the “Home Run” compartment have broken off and the original game ball is no longer present. In Very Good condition overall. 18x18x1″.
There’s a copy on eBay (Sept 2024) with an asking price of $1,675.
You know what’s cool? A plastic radio with facsimile signatures of Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle!
Christie’s East offered this example in their October 1993 Sports Memorabilia Catalog.
They described it as a “Circa 1961 Bakelite like plastic radio depicting a baseball player and facsimile plastic signatures of Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. This working example is in excellent/mint condition and has the correct dial knobs of a bat on the tuner and a green baseball diamond on the volume control. Scarce in this condition.”
Their estimate was $1,200-1,500. However, it’s not that pricey today. REA, which dates the radio to 1962, has offered at least nine examples; in 2023, one sold for $720. The coolest one, though, included an original box!
