Satchel Paige – Post War Cards

TCMA’s Early Days: A Look at Their 1972 Advertisement in The Trader Speaks

March 12, 2025 by John

Here’s a historically significant ad TCMA placed in the April 1972 issue of The Trader Speaks—one of their first as a newly incorporated company that year.

Unfortunately, I’m unaware of a definitive source of TCMA sets and checklists; the major catalogs are all missing at least a handful. That said, The Standard Catalog does include the 504-card 1972 TCMA The 1930’s set. Here’s what they wrote about it:

Extending to over 500 cards, this was one of TCMA’s first ventures into the business of creating collectors’ edition card sets of former players. Over the length of the series there were a number of style differences. The set was issued in 21 series of 24 cards each. All cards were printed in black-and-white (except for Series 18-19 printed in blue) and feature player photos on usually borderless fronts. Dimensions were about 2” x 2-3/4” for most series, with Series 15-16 in a 2-1/2” x 3-1/2” format. Except for a TCMA copyright line on some of the earlier cards, there is no other printing on the front. Back have player identification, team affiliations, TCMA copyright and, after #72, a card number. Production is reported as 1,000 sets. Blank-back version and uncut panels of 12 exist.

But there’s another great source of information for the 1930’s and reprint sets from TCMA’s ad, and that’s Bert Sugar’s 1975 The Sports Collectors Bible.

And why is that? Well, Mike Aronstein wrote the section on “Collectors’ Issues!”

He’d have had a good idea three years later what he printed! Here’s the intro that he wrote:

Next, in the first two pages of the 1930s set, notice that the first three are described as unnumbered, and Aaronstein included information about distribution. Series No. 1 was issued separately, with 2 through 19 issues in pairs.

A few pages later, on the bottom of page 346, Aronstein included information about the company’s reprint sets. Some of these are mentioned in The Trader Speaks advertisement.

Happy collecting!

Robert Laughlin’s 1976 Gems: Fleer Baseball Firsts and Indianapolis Clowns

January 26, 2025 by John

Robert Laughlin’s creative sets have become super popular lately. In March 1976, he advertised two great 42-card sets in The Trader Speaks: the 1976 Laughlin Indianapolis Clowns and the 1976 Fleer Baseball Firsts.

Here’s a quick primer on these vintage gems!

First, naturally, let’s cover the 1976 Fleer Baseball…Firsts! The Standard Catalog says, “This 42-card set from Fleer is titled “Baseball Firsts” and features several historical moments in baseball, as captured through the artwork of sports artist R.G. Laughlin. The cards are numbered on the back, which is gray card stock with black printing. The set is not licensed by Major League Baseball.”

Obviously, based on the ad, Laughlin was allowed to sell these sets directly for $3.75 each, but TCDB also says that “These cards were inserted into packs of Fleer MLB Real Cloth Baseball Patches as stabilizers and are not mentioned on the pack itself.” However, the display boxes mention a color trading card in each pack, along with the four patches.

The set’s key cards are #5, Four Straigh Homers (Lou Gehrig), and #12, Baseball Cards.

Regarding the 1976 Laughlin Indianapolis Clows, The Standard Catalog shares that “in a departure from the style of most Laughlin issues, this 42-card set does not use his artwork but rather black and white photos framed by a light blue border. The cards are oversized at 2-5/8” x 4-1/4”, with red printing on front and back. The cards are numbered on the front.” It’skey cars belong to Hank Aaron and Satchel Paige.

Did you notice the special to subscribe to Bob Cards’ Inside Pitch? I’d love to get a run of these; let me know if you have any for sale.

1973 Topps “1953 Reissue” Test Set: More Than Just a Reprint!

January 20, 2025January 7, 2025 by John

In July 2000, REA sold two 1973 Topps “1953 Reissue” Test Sets in their internet/telephone auction held in partnership with eBay. The cards are awesome, but I dislike that PSA calls them reprints on the flips; they’re a little more unique than a “reprint!”

I’m not sure if there’s been some more modern research into the cards, but here’s what my Standard Catalog says about them:

Long before Topps reprinted virtually the entire 1953 set in its “Archives” program in 1991, selected cards from the ’53 set had been reprinted in a rare eight-card issue. Some sources say the cards were produced as table favors at a Topps banquet, while at least one contemporary hobby periodical said they were sold on a test-issue basis in Brooklyn. It was said only 300 of the sets were made. Unlike the original cards in 2-5/8” x 3-3/4” format, the test issue cards are modern standard 2-1/2” x 3-1/2”. Three of the players in the issue were misidentified. Card backs feature a career summary written as through in 1953; the backs are formatted differently than original 1953 Topps cards and are printed in black-and-white.

Sounds like something more unique than a re-print to me!

Here’s a complete PSA-graded set that REA sold for $1,140 in the spring of 2018, the description for which hypothesized that the cards came out of Sy Berger’s personal collection of Topps banquet keepsakes, “lending credence to the Topps banquet theory.”