Satchel Paige – Post War Cards

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.

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.”