TCMA

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).

An Advertisement For TCMA’s 1978 Official Minor League Card Sets

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TCMA was ahead of its time, as evident in this advertisement from the June 1978 issue of The Trader Speaks, which offered a subscription to their 1978 Minor League card sets.

You also got to pick from your choice of a free 1975, 1976, or 1977 set when you signed up.

Based on TCDB’s archives, it looks like TCMA printed at least 27 minor league sets in 1978. A few of the bigger 1978 TCMA minor league cards were the Knoxville Knox Sox Harold Baines, Tidewater Tides Mike Scott, Greenwood Braves Brian Snitker, and the first card for hobby favorite Rusty Kuntz.

An Ad For The Most Gorgeous Cards Ever Produced

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This advertisement from the back cover of the February 1977 issue of The Trader Speaks highlights the most gorgeous cards ever produced: 1976 SSPC!

Why would someone call a collector’s issue one of the most gorgeous sets ever produced? Well, because of the set that influenced its design…

1976 SSPC is a 630-card “collector’s issue” released by TCMA. Dubbed the “Pure Card” set, the design was based loosely on the 1953 Bowman set. The set was available exclusively via mail order and was advertised in the nascent Hobby Media, such as it was in the mid-70s.

Despite the cards bearing a 1975 copyright, the set is considered a 1976 set as it was not released until then.

SSPC was not licensed by either MLB Properties or the MLBPA, and shortly after its release, was sued by Topps. As part of the settlement, SSPC agreed to never reprint their 1976 set, and to never attempt to produce a similar product ever again.

Keith Olbermann, then still in high school, edited the copy on each card.

BaseballCardPedia

Dean’s Cards added that it was the only full baseball card set ever issued during the Topps monopoly, so the hobby saw it as a refreshing change of pace from the predictable Topps issues.

And lastly, if anyone has any other advertisements offering these cards, please get in touch with me.

14 1952 Bowman Unissued Original Artworks

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Christie’s East offered these 14 original 1952 Bowman paintings of never-issued cards in its October 1992 Sports Memorabilia Auction.

They were offered as Lot 93 with the following description:

14 original Bowman paintings of cards that were never issued. Players depicted include C. Lavagetto, M. Martin, J Hopp, C. Van Cuyk, G. Shuba, J. Merson, V Trucks, B Thorpe, T. Moore, B. Addis, J. Wilson, B. McCoskey, R. Gumpert, and J. Dobson. Each card measures 5 x 7 in.

The estimated value was $8,000-10,000.

Christie’s reference to R. Gumpert should have been Bill Henry, the second-to-last card on the bottom. Randy Gumpert has a 1952 Bowman card.

Bowman scrapped more than 14 players from their 1952 set; I previously shared Bill Dickey’s unissued original artwork that Ron Oser Enterprises sold in April 2000, REA sold artwork of an unidentified Detroit Tiger, and The Topps Archives has a post that shares Gelman’s find of 29 original Bowman art pieces including 15 who did not appear in the issued set. Those 15 (the 14 from Christie’s plus Bob Kennedy) were re-printed by TCMA in 1982 as a 1952 Bowman Supplement set (no Bill Dickey or unidentified Detroit Tiger in the supplement set).

Beckett describes the 1952 Bowman extension set as follows:

In 1980, 15 unissued pieces of artwork initially intended to be used by Bowman Gum in their 1952 baseball card set were discovered. This set consists of 15 cards made from this original artwork. The backs have been created to resemble the original 1952 series, and the set has been numbered 253-267 (the next 15 cards in the 1952 Bowman sequence). The facsimile autograph on the original 1952 Bowmans has been omitted from the cards in this set. This set was originally available from the producer for $3 per set.

For completeness, Heritage sold the original art for the 1952 Bowman Bob Kennedy card in May 2020 for $1,110. I’ve also included photos of the unidentified Detroit Tiger and Bill Dickey cards.

Also, check out my earlier post, 1952 Bowman Baseball Original Artwork, Proofs, And Retouched Cards, for more about the Willard Ramsdell and Cliff Mapes cards.