If you feel priced out of some of the more popular post-war baseball sets, consider collecting the 1952 Wheaties Baseball Player subset. The 1952 Wheaties set has 30 athletes across many supports, but just ten from professional baseball. However, each player has two cards, a portrait, and an action drawing, meaning there are 20 baseball cards to collect.
1952 Wheaties Roy Campanella Portrait
Each panel, the back of a Wheaties box, featured a variety of cards. Individually, the cards are 2’’ x 2-3/4’’ and have blank backs. The drawings are blue on an orange background with an ivory/white border. Under the picture are the player’s name, position, and team.
1952 Wheaties Panel
Many publications say the borders are rounded, and they are if you look at the white border. However, grading companies like PSA seem to grade them inconsistently. High-grade variants exist with borders cut off in squares, with rounded borders including a blue background, and rounded borders at the white edge. Because of this, I’d recommend focusing on authenticity and eye appeal and disregarding the numerical grade.
1952 Wheaties Bob Feller Action
The key card of the set is Ted Williams, but none of the ten players are commons:
Yogi Berra
Roy Campanella
Bob Feller
George Kell
Ralph Kiner
Bob Lemon
Stan Musial
Phil Rizzuto
Preacher Roe
Ted Williams
PSA has graded over 3,300 1952 Wheaties cards across all 30 trading cards. The baseball players average well under 100 combined between both their Action and Portrait cards. Williams has the most, with 162 Action and 150 Portrait cards (in February 2025). George Kell has the fewest graded examples, with 21 Action and 40 Portrait cards.
Mid-grade examples of Ted Williams cards have shot up in recent years, but most other cards can be picked up for ~$50 on average.
1952 Wheaties Ted Williams Portrait
Wrapping up, the 1952 Wheaties baseball subset is a visually appealing 20-card series that, with some patience, remains financially accessible for collectors seeking a graded set. Featuring a distinct design unlike the major releases of its time, these cards make a fantastic addition to any collection.
Do you collect any other 1950s baseball sets? I’d love to hear about them in the comments—happy collecting!
1952 Wheaties Panels
1952 Wheaties Panels
PS: Be careful if you’re buying raw copies. The Standard Catalog mentions that the set was extensively counterfeited around 2002.
Not all sports-themed advertising ephemera is as significant as this piece featuring the 1960 Red Sox; it represented Ted Williams last season and essentially a passing of the torch to Yastrzemski the following year.
This particular Narragansett beer poster was offered in Mastro’s November 1999 Millenium Auction, selling for $1789. Here’s how they described it:
1960 Red Sox Narragansett Beer Poster A magnificent oversized Narragansett Beer poster that features the 1960 Boston Red Sox and measures 47″ × 70″ Advertising Rhode Island’s finest lager, the heavy corrugated paper poster features a color team photo of the Sox at the end of an era, the Ted Williams era. The year 1960 marked the conclusion of the Kid’s four-decade career. There he is, a legend in his own time, along side teammates half his age. The poster has a few minor edge chips, can be easily matted out, bumps, and a slight tear in the caption. About Excellent condition. Makes for a wicked display! Minimum Bid $600
The same picture is used across various products; Lelands sold this one for $298 in January 2015.
Here are some more:
Unfortunately, neither the 1960 or 1961 Topps Boston Red Sox team cards feature this image.
In July 1993, Greg Manning Auctions, Inc. offered a spectacular item in their auction: the original Ted Williams Hall of Fame plaque!
They offered it without a reserve and described it as follows:
This sensational piece of baseball history features one of the greatest players ever to play the game, and the last player ever to have a .400 season. The highest honor any ballplayer can achieve is to be memorialized in bronze at Cooperstown. This is the original plaque presented to Ted Williams on the day he was enshrined at Cooperstown, July 25, 1966.A news photo of Williams accepting this plaque, as well as letters pertaining to its history and authenticity accompany the lot. The heavy bronze plaque measures approx 11 1/2 by 16 inches. A truly once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire one of the most important pieces of sports memorabilia extant.
The estimated sales price was $75k-125k.
SABR included a bit more detail about why this was the “original” plaque in a piece they published called Hall of Fame Plaque Variations in January 2020.
It appears that Teddy Ballgame’s plaque has been changed at least twice. The original plaque that was displayed at his 1966 induction ceremony was subsequently replaced by a plaque bearing a slightly different likeness (on the left in the photo below). That replacement plaque was itself later replaced by a new plaque (on the right) with a drastically different likeness. As to why the changes were made, I note the following from Thomas Boswell in The Washington Post on August 9, 1977: ‘Ted Williams was so incensed by his nonlikeness that he demanded a new plaque.’
A picture of Williams posing (at his 1966 induction ceremony) with his original plaque can be seen accompanyingan article on the Hall’s website.
Author’s question: Was a Hall of Fame postcard produced depicting the original 1966 Ted Williams plaque?
The differences between the original and the plaques depicted on the two postcards are pretty clear.
Here’s an item you don’t see every day: a 1954 Bowman baseball metal printers sheet with Mickey Mantle and, next to him, one of the set’s rarities, Ted Williams! But guess what? It’s got a twin, but I don’t know where either is anymore!
The unique sheet was lot 152 in the 1995 National Sports Collectors Convention Auction, presented by Bill Mastro as “The Best of Yesterday.”
They included a slightly larger photo of the Mantle and Williams cards, too.
Here’s the lots complete description:
1954 BOWMAN BASEBALL METAL PRINTERS SHEET WITH #66 TED WILLIAMS 26 inches by 36 inches metal printers sheet with 32 cards on it (8 across, 4 down) in the upper left corner is Mickey Mantle and immediately to his right is the rarest of all Bowman baseball cards -#66 Ted Williams, many years ago two of these exact sheets turned up, one of which now resides in the Halper collection, the offered sheet has numerous holes and spotting and although it lacks visual appeal it more than makes up for its condition defects with its extreme rarity, framed properly would surely add to its attractiveness, very good condition. MINIMUM BID: 900.00
It’s interesting that Bowman would have made two of these sheets; maybe they weren’t identical. Also, if you weren’t aware, according to BaseballCardPedia, “In 1954, Topps signed an exclusive contract with Ted Williams, which forced Bowman to pull card #66 of Williams from its set. Bowman replaced #66 with a card of Jimmy Piersall who was also featured on card #210.”
Interestingly, I haven’t been able to track down any “regular” 32-card 1954 Bowman baseball uncut sheets, just this absolutely incredible proof sheet from portland_uncut_sheets on Instagram.
But I did find that Heritage sold a 4-card uncut panel featuring Mantle, Wiliams, Mueller, and Gilliam in the same layout as the metal sheet. It sold for $13,145 in May 2016.
Robert Edward Auctions then re-sold the same sheet for just $6k in the fall of 2018. They highlighted that it was cut down from a larger 32-card production sheet
It doesn’t look like a salesman sample; those had a diamond/square sticker on the back, and the 4-card panel shows no evidence of sticker removal. Of course, it could have been intended as a sample but never used as one. Here’s an example of the back of a 1954 Bowman Salesemen’s Sample:
Happy collecting! And check out more uncut sheets on the archive!
I ran across this “very striking” 1950s Ted Williams Moxie die-cut advertising sign in an auction catalog from December 2000.
The item was described as a 10” x 14” brightly colored, fluorescent-toned heavy cardboard sign with a three-dimensional cutout of Williams in his Red Sox uniform. Excellent condition, original easel-back still intact.
It was a little challenging finding more info about this piece. The giant window decal is a BIT more common; however, I discovered that Heritage sold the following copy in May 2022 for $690.
But their description primarily just highlighted the die-cut nature of the piece a bit more:
A third dimension makes this advertising sign particularly special, as the figure of the greatest hitter that ever lived is die-cut to allow it to stand in front of the background portion reading, “It’s a Hit, Says Ted Williams.” Dimensions of background are 8.5×13.5″. Easel back remains in place on reverse. General handling and storage wear is apparent, and the sign originally had a segment upon which the Williams figure stood that is now missing, but otherwise the sign presents wonderfully.
In the middle of 2023, @TJisonline shared an incredible item with me: a letter from Sy Berger, the mastermind behind Topps Trading cards, to Fred Corcoran, the agent of baseball legend Ted Williams. It dates back to the intense bubble gum card war of the 1950s. I thought I would use it to explore the story of Ted Williams’ association with Topps, Bowman, and eventually, Fleer during this era, shedding light on the fierce completion that unfolded and the impact it had on a few of the most popular baseball card sets in the hobby.
If you don’t know a lot about Ted Williams, his Wikipedia article is a good starting point. He’s known as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, finishing his career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and 1839 RBIs. He was a 19x All-Star, 2x AL MVP, 2x Triple Crown Winner, 6x AL batting champion, and the last player to hit over .400 in a season. His career also peaked during the Topps/Bowman card wars.
However, Teddy Ballgame’s 19-year MLB career was interrupted twice for military service, from 1943-45 for WW2 and 1952-53 for the Korean War. But first, after WW2, in the post-war era, Williams had cards in the 1948-49 Leaf, 1950 Bowman, and 1951 Bowman sets.
1951 Bowman #165 Ted Williams
Topps wasn’t a real competitor to Bowman until 1952, but the Navy had called Williams back to serve on active duty for the Korean War on January 9, 1952 (he played just six games in the 1952 season before returning for refresher flight training). So, Williams wasn’t in either Bowman’s or Topps’ 1952 or 1953 sets because of his military service. Williams did have a few oddball cards those years, namely 1952 Berk Ross, 1952 Red Man, and 1952 Wheaties.
Williams returned to baseball in 1953 and hit .406, but with only 110 at-bats, he wasn’t qualified for the batting title. At this point, Sy Berger, a Red Sox fan, was desperate to sign Ted Williams, and at the time, exclusive deals were around $100-125 annually.
In December 1953, Berger managed to sign Ted Williams to a five-year contract with Topps because he offered Williams more money than the standard fee: $400 per year. Bowman had to stop production of William’s 1954 Bowman card #66, and Topps double-downed on their star, making him the first and last card of the set (#1 and #250).
1954 Topps #1 Ted Williams
Berger would give Ted Williams premium places in their following three sets; Williams was card #2 in 1955, #5 in 1956, and #1 in 1957. That’s when the letter this article was motivated by comes into the picture, and here it is:
1957 Sy Berger Letter to Fred Corcoran – Ted Williams Topps Extension
You can see that it’s dated October 1, 1957, and is from Sy Berger to Fred Corcoran (Ted’s agent). It references the agreement to extend William’s exclusive deal with Topps for the 1958 season. I suppose this means the original contract was for five years, but both parties had to renew or review it yearly.
1958 Topps #1 Ted Williams
TJisonline picked it up to pair with (then) three of his 1958 Topps Ted Williams cards, #s 1, 321, and 485. The Red Sox team card and checklist, #312, is a fourth “Williams” card, of sorts, in the set. He picked up the letter from a local estate reseller/dealer who supposedly bought a lot of items from Fred Corcoran’s daughter (who was Ted Williams’ goddaughter).
1957 Sy Berger Letter to Fred Corcoran With Cards
At this point, another company was looking to enter the sports card market. The Frank H. Fleer Corporation wanted to grow its gum market share, and they targeted Williams for a single-player set since Topps had the exclusive MLB license by that point. Williams was the only player with the popularity to carry an entire set. Williams signed with Fleer for $5k per year for four years, which deprived Topps collectors of Ted Williams cards for the remainder of his playing days. But fans could grab Topps Ted Williams Manager cards from 1969-1972.
1959 Fleer Ted Williams #80 – Ted’s Goals for 1959
All that said, Topps did sign Ted Williams in 1991 for inclusion in their 1953 Reprint Series. In January 2008, Heritage Auctions sold the contract pictured below for $286.80. So, we have some idea of what a 1953 Topps Ted Williams card could have looked like.
Topps Contract With Ted Williams – 1991
1991 Topps Archives #319 Ted Williams 1953 Reprint
This letter from Sy Berger to Fred Corcoran amplifies the intense competition and significant impact of the bubble gum card wars on the hobby. It helps provide a bit more historical context and another glimpse into a pivotal era when the hobby really developed.
Also, if you want to learn more about cards from this era and the competition between Topps and Bowman, I recommend picking up a copy of Dean Hanley’s The Bubble Gum Card War.
While I focus this blog on post-war cards, I also write about pre-war cards from time to time and collect them. So, I thought looking at one of the last pre-war issues, the 1939 Play Ball set (WW2 officially started on September 1, 1939), would be interesting. In trying to find an interesting niche in the set to write about and tie together its composition, the iconic Ted Williams rookie card (#92) and its three variations stood out. The Williams rookie is a “big deal”; for example, Joe Orlando included the 1939 Play Ball Williams in his list of the Top 250 sports cards in the hobby.
The three 1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams variations are the reverse with his name in mixed case letters, the reverse with his name in all uppercase letters, and the stamped sample copy used to drum up interest in the set.
1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Mixed Letters
1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Uppercase Letters
1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Sample
The sample cards were distributed (no one recalls the exact distribution method, but one guess is that Gum Inc. inserted them in packs of other products) a few months before the release of the 1939 Play Ball set to get orders and estimate how many the company should print. The entire low-number series of the set (cards 1-115), with names in all upper case letters on the back, have samples. We know this because Goldin auctioned off a complete set of samples in October 2013. The number made and that have survived is incredibly small, so sample cards command huge premiums.
Each sample’s stamp reads, “FREE SAMPLE CARD GET YOUR PICTURES OF LEADING BASEBALL PLAYERS THREE PICTURE CARDS PACKED IN EACH PACKAGE OF “PLAY BALL AMERICA” BUBBLE GUM AT YOUR CANDY STORE 1C”.
1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Sample
Looking at the population report for the 1939 Play Ball set, you can see that PSA has graded almost 1,300 (as of October 15th, 2024) regular Ted Williams cards (they don’t differentiate between all upper-case and mixed-letter backs), while they have only encapsulated nine sample cards.
1939 Play Ball Ted Williams PSA Population
For the Ted Williams card, PSA’s APR shows that a PSA 4 graded sample sold for almost $16k in July 2015, while the last regular PSA 4 sold for $6,216 in February 2024.
Now, when it comes to the other two non-sample versions of the Ted Williams back, the all-uppercase and mixed letter, while it appears that the mixed letter card is a bit rarer, they don’t really command a premium price right now. It’s believed that the mixed letter cards are rarer because Gum Inc. inserted them (mixed case low series cards) into their second series release (cards 116-162), which were short-printed (and generally sell for a premium over the low series). The second series was all printed with mixed case lettering on the back. Also, we know Gum Inc. printed the upper case cards first because 12 of the low series’ mixed case cards correct typos from their all upper case versions.
Now, as a hobby, we may be off a bit here, but folks have done a lot of research, and the overall makeup of a 1939 Play Ball set appears to break down as follows:
There are 161 cards in the set.
Cards 1-115 all have uppercase names and samples.
Cards 116-162 have mixed case names; card 126 was never issued.
Seventy-three cards from 1-115 were also printed with mixed case names, leaving 42 with only upper case backs.
While the bottom of the backs of the cards indicated a series of 250 pictures, only the two previously mentioned series were released. Presumably, Gum Inc. intended to print a third series covering cards 163-250.
While some hobbyists may consider the black-and-white fronts a little boring, it’s hard to argue about the significance of the set’s key card, the Ted Williams rookie card. That specific card is now one of the most important in the vintage card market. So adding any of the three variations (regardless of perceived scarcity between the upper case and mixed case copies) to a collection is a big deal if you can afford it. Happy collecting!
