Pacific Trading Cards

Pacific Takes On The Goliaths

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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.

1977 Tucson Toros Baseball Cards

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Before Cramer Sports Productions became Pacific Trading Cards, it competed with TCMA in the 1970s to produce minor league sets; I ran across this ad for a set they made for the Tucson Toros in the September 1977 issue of The Trader Speaks.

The 24-card set was available directly from the team for $3. Here’s the front and back of outfielder Keathel Chauncey’s card.

Notice the awesome orange border and the C.S.P. (Cramer Sports Productions) copyright on the back.

You can still pick up complete sets for around the same price as when they were issued, $3, but nowadays, you’ll probably have to add $5 for shipping, so $8 total.

More interestingly, and it wasn’t advertised as an available item from the team, is the following 24-card uncut sheet of the then Texas Rangers affiliated Triple-A team. I saw it listed on eBay in August 2024 for $80.99.

One more Cramer-related fun fact about this set that a collector shared on TCDB, Rick Stelmaszek’s card, features Cheryl Cramer sitting in the background (the wife of Mike Cramer).