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1975 Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats Specs
Year: 1975
Title: Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats
Size: 2-3/4″ x 3-5/8″
Number in Set: 18
1975 Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats Overview
Shakey’s Pizza was founded in 1954 and was the first franchise pizza chain. The first parlor was in Sacramento, but the next two were opened in the Pacific Northwest (Portland and Albany, Oregon), which is closer to where this collector-issued set was sponsored and released.
This set of 18 cards was sponsored by Seattle area Shakey’s restaurants in conjunction with the 1975 Washington State Sports Collectors Convention – who were instrumental in helping the hobby become more mainstream in the 70s. Only 2000 sets were printed, and all the included players in the set are connected to the West Coast (birthplace, home, or Pacific Coast League team members). However, I think only 1000 Joe DiMaggio cards were printed, as they were given to the first convention attendees as a sample. DiMaggio’s back had a special coupon for $1.00 off family-sized pizzas through October 31, 1975.
The cards feature black-and-white player photos on a white card face. The Red Shakey’s logo is on the card’s lower left side, and “WEST COAST GREATS” is printed diagonally on the upper left side. The lower-right side of the card’s front side has the card number, player name, position, and connection to the West Coast printed in red text. A few black stars are printed along the right side, and a red star is printed on both sides of the black-and-white photo. The backs have red text advertising four Seattle-area Shakey’s Pizza Parlor locations (Bellevue, Lake City, Aurora, and West Seattle).
PSA has graded 192 cards across the set; most are 8s (57) and 9s (71). PSA has also deemed 28 to be Gem Mint 10s. Ted Williams has the most graded card with 27, followed by Duke Snider with 16. SGC has only graded eleven cards from this oddball set: one Paul Waner, one Earl Averill, three Ted Williams, and two Joe Dimaggio cards.
1975 Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats Significant Sales
The set is relatively inexpensive, given how few were printed and its star power. Huggins and Scott sold a lot of three different 1975-1977 Shakey’s Pizza Sets for $96 in August 2017. Only the 1975 was a complete set; the 1976 one had 159 cards (considered a partial set), and the 1977 was a near set with 21 cards.
Five complete sets were listed on eBay (in November 2023): one for $115, one for $124.99, one for $125, another for $149.99, and another for $199.99. Here are the photos from the $149.99 one (since it included excellent scans of the front and back of each card).
However, this 1975 Shakey’s Pizza set sold on eBay for less than $75, so don’t overspend if you want a set.
Here are a few examples of individual card sales from the 1975 Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats set:
- 1975 Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats Ted Williams PSA 7: $17 in February 2016
- 1975 Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats Joe DiMaggio PSA 7: $46 in July 2020
- 1975 Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats Casey Stengel PSA 10: $38 in February 2018
- 1975 Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats Duke Snider PSA 9: $29 in February 2018
One of the coolest cards I’ve seen for sale is this Ted Williams signed copy; as of the writing of this page (November 2023), it was listed on eBay for $572.68.
1975 Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats Example
1975 Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats Key Card
The set’s key cards belong to Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.
1975 Shakey’s Pizza West Coast Greats Checklist
1 Joe DiMaggio
2 Paul Waner
3 Lefty Gomez
4 Earl Averill
5 Ernie Lombardi
6 Joe Cronin
7 George H. Burns
8 Casey Stengel
9 Sam Crawford
10 Ted Williams
11 Fred Hutchinson
12 Duke Snider
13 Hal Chase
14 Bobby Doerr
15 Arky Vaughan
16 Tony Lazzeri
17 Lefty O’Doul
18 Stan Hack