The Trader Speaks

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

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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.

Unlicensed Treasures – The 1974 Broder 1957-58 Pacific Coast League Popcorn Baseball Card Set

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A single ad in The Trader Speaks can be a window into a whole new world of vintage cards—like the 1974 Broder Pacific Coast League Popcorn set!

That’s Maury Wills, then of the Seattle Rainiers, pictured in the ad, card #1 in the set.

Today, a “Broder” is often referred to as any unlicensed set, but the Broder’s were actually a father/son duo who made a bunch of unlicensed cards starting in the ’70s through the ’90s.

The 2” x 3” black-and-white 1974 P.C.L. Baseball “Popcorn” Cards set is based on the cards that Seattle Rainiers put in popcorn boxes starting in the mid ’50s. The 1974 set was printed on really thin cardstock, and in sheets that were crudly cut, since you’ll see remnants of other cards on the edges of the cards pretty often. The back’s are pretty minimalistic, too. PSA has only graded a handful, but this Steve Watson was listed on eBay in November 2024 for $28.88.

Beckett says the set has more than 200 cards, and that they were issued over two series that were available for $5.75 each. The advertisement above shows two 55 card series for $4.25, but it’s likely the Trader Speaks ad was for an early release (so maybe the set extended into 1975 since the ad was placed in a December 1974 issue) since TCDB lists 235 cards in its checklist and there are complete sets available on eBay for $450 (with a Best Offer option) advertised as also having 235 cards.

For more about the Broder family, the PCL, and these cards, check out this blog post from Wrigley Roster Jenga and this one from SABR.

Jack Wallin’s 1979 Diamond Greats Baseball Card Set

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This 1979 Diamond Greats baseball card set advertisement published in the February 1980 issue of The Trader Speaks offers a fascinating look into Jack Wallin’s tribute to baseball’s icons.

First, Jack Wallin, a collector and dealer and later a Donruss photographer, produced the set, not TCMA. He focused the set on autograph collectors since each of the 400 players was living when he printed it, and he included home addresses for all of them. You’ll find a ton of signed examples across eBay and the major auction houses; for example, Leland’s sold a near-complete set of 380 in June 2021 for $4,041.

I presume this is why he printed the 2-1/2” x 3-1/2” black-and-white cards with blank backs; he wanted collectors to focus on player autographs on the front.

The ad shows that the complete set of 400 cards was available for $23.95, each lettered series (A, B, C, and D) was available for $7.50, and team sets were available for $2.50.

The set’s key cards include Joe DiMaggio, Roger Maris, Willie Mays, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, and Stan Musial, and you can find raw unsigned sets for a few hundred dollars.

While Wallin wrote in the ad that all the players were living at the time of printing, a few died in late 79/early 80, so I’m unsure if a complete signed set is possible.

I’d love to see the original address list, so if you have an example, please e-mail me.

A Pair Of 1983 Card Shows With Special Guest Stars

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I ran across the following pair of advertisements for card shows in the February 1983 issue of The Trader Speaks, so I asked folks on X which they would most want to travel back to 1983 to attend.

The first was the Baseball Card & Memorabilia show at the JFK Travelodge International Hotel on January 29th, 1983, with special guest star Hank Bauer.

The second was for the Sports Memorabilia Show #5 at the Birchwood Manor in Whippany, New Jersey, held on February 26 and 27th, 1983, with special guest celebrities Carl Erskine and Jimmy Piersall.

Folks preferred the JFK show at a ratio of 7:4. However, one collector said the Bauer show was the easy choice because they got both Piersall’s and Erskine’s autos in person before.

Which show sounds the most appealing to you?

1980 Baseball Card And Sports Memorabilia Show With Brooklyn Dodger Guests

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One of my favorite things from back issues of The Trader Speaks is seeing all the game’s greats who were regular signers at card shows. Brooklyn’s second Baseball Card And Sports Memorabilia Show had Cal Abrams, Gene Hermanski, and Billy Loes!

The advertisement was printed in the January 1980 issue to promote the March 1980 show.

Cal Abrams represented a lot of his buddies via a company named Cal Abrams Sports Inc. Abrams, Hermanski, and Loes all played for the Dodgers together. Cal Abrams played for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1949-1952, Hermanski played for them in 1943 and from 1943-1951, and Billy Loes was a Dodger in 1950 and from 1952-1956.

The Trader Speaks printed the following advertisement, a month earlier than the one pictured above, in December 1979.

You can see that the company also represented Clem Labine, Stan Lopata, Willard Marshall, Frank Thomas, Joe Pignatano, Carl Erskine, Sal Yvars, and Ken Raffensberger.