Vintage minor league regional issues are tough enough on their own, but every so often, one comes along that feels genuinely elusive. The 1966 Royal Crown Columbus Confederate Yankees set is one of those issues, and the promotional album tied to it may be even scarcer.
The 20 cards, issued as panels, were distributed regionally at local grocery stores in cartons of Royal Crown Cola. Collectors were encouraged to assemble a complete album, “available at the RC display at your favorite grocery store,” not just for bragging rights, but for rewards: four free tickets to a Columbus Yankees game and a case of RC Cola. Given that incentive, it’s easy to imagine many albums being redeemed, not saved.
I first encountered that album in a 1997 auction catalog, where it carried a $100 minimum bid and was noted as complete with all 20 cards. Since then, I haven’t been able to track down another example. One of the few complete sets to surface publicly appeared in Lelands’ Spring 2020 auction, selling for $270 and aptly described as “just about as scarce as you can get.”
For a regional issue meant to be traded in from a soda display, survival rates were never going to be high. An intact album with all 20 cards feels less like a checklist item and more like a minor miracle that underscores how fragile and fleeting these local promotions really were.
Happy collecting!
P.S. The Columbus (Georgia) Confederate Yankees were the Double-A Southern League affiliate of the Yankees from 1964 to 1966.
Be First to Comment