The Industry – Page 2 – Post War Cards

Warren Spahn, an Original News Photo, and his 1949, 1950, and 1951 Bowman Baseball Cards

April 28, 2025 by John

Back in the middle of 2022, I was browsing through X (then Twitter), and a fellow hobbyist shared a photo of a 1951 Bowman Warren Spahn baseball card they picked up for their collection. It reminded me of three things:

Early Bowman baseball cards are incredible.
The hobby underappreciates Warren Spahn (and pitchers in general).
The image Bowman used to produce the 1951 Spahn card was used a few other times.

Warren Spahn won 363 games in Major League Baseball, the most by a left-handed pitcher in the game’s history. He made 16 All-Star Games for the Boston/Milwaukee Braves, leading the team to three pennants and one World Series Championship in 1957, the year he won the Cy Young award. He had remarkable longevity, proven in 1963 when he threw against Juan Marichal in the greatest game ever pitched. He retired in 1965 with those 363 wins, 2583 strikeouts, and a 3.08 ERA. Spahn was a first-ballot hall of fame inductee in 1973 and, to me, is one of the game’s most underappreciated players.

In researching Spahn’s early cards, I ran across an original news photo that REA sold for $960 in the summer of 2019.

Warren Spahn Original News Photo – Front

Warren Spahn Original News Photo – Reverse

The photo’s letter of authenticity from PSA describes it as being from the 1940s and the one used in the production of Spahn’s 1950 Bowman baseball card.

Warren Spahn Original News Photo – Letter of Authenticity

But, that famous pose, featuring Spahn as a member of the Boston Braves (hence it has to be pre-1953), was also used for the 1949 and 1951 Bowman baseball cards.

In terms of early Bowman baseball cards, I’ve long believed that their 1950-52 run is the hobbies best trio from a single manufacturer. Obviously, a lot of collectors love the 1949 Bowman set, too. And the 1949 Bowman Warren Spahn’s bold red background pops and gives the card a great look. This PSA 9, which uses the same image as the Type 1 photo described above, sold for $9k in the Fall of 2021 by Robert Edward Auctions.

Spahn’s next card in this identical photo run is his 1950 example, card #19, which is a more complete replica than the 1949 example. There aren’t a lot of high-end copies of early post-war cards, and this 1950 Bowman Spahn example is the only Gem Mint 10 around. Memory Lane Inc sold it for $28k in their Spring 2021 Rarities Auction.

Finally, there’s Spahn’s 1951 Bowman card. Memory Lane Inc sold the pictured PSA 9 in their Winter Classic 2019 auction for $3,888. The same card, cert 02107600, was resold on eBay for $5,500 in February 2021. Memory Lane sold another PSA 9, more recently in May 2023 for $17,764. One PSA 10 does exist and appears in Donald E. Spence’s collection on the PSA Set Registry; I’ve never seen a picture of it.

Despite Spahn’s popularity being limited by not being an everyday position player on a small market team, his incredible accomplishments warrant any of these cards additions to a post-war baseball card collection, happy collecting!

A Piece of Yankees History: Thurman Munson’s 1973 Payroll Check

April 26, 2025 by John

Here’s an original New York Yankees payroll check signed by Thurman Munson—a tough and highly sought-after autograph from the beloved captain.

Mastro sold the check in April 2006; here’s what they wrote about it:

In 1973, Thurman Munson had already established himself as a New York Yankee mainstay. He enjoyed one of his finest seasons that year by batting .301 and smashing a career-high twenty home runs. This colorful Yankees payroll check measures 3-1/2” x 7-7’16” and presents in overall EX/MT condition. Dated December 14, 1973, it is made payable to Thurman Munson for the amount of $1,740.54. Munson has endorsed the back “Thurman Munson” in blue ballpoint. The signature is clearly readable, projects “10” in strength and is free from any back stampings. A small area of peripheral paper loss on the reverse is removed from Munson’s quality endorsement. The Yankee captain and seven-time All-Star tragically died in 1979 in an airplane crash. A very difficult signature to acquire on an official New York Yankees check. LOA from Steve Grad/PSA DNA and LOA from James Spence Authentication

Minimum Bid $300

REA sold this exact check in the spring of 2010 for $1,998. But more recently, checks like this have been selling for ~$4k.

Happy collecting!

An Extremely Rare 1950 Royal Pudding Salesman’s Booklet

April 20, 2025 by John

The rarest of the rare — here’s a 1950 Royal Pudding salesman’s booklet. It’s the only example I’ve ever seen and was available in an April 2003 auction catalog.

This is an accordion-style booklet containing 11 highly desirable trading cards produced by Royal Desserts during the early 1950’s. The “Royal Pudding” cards (listed as F219 in the American Card Catalog) are super-scarce in their own right. Veteran collectors consider themselves lucky whenever they find a single example from the series, most often at the National Convention or similar large venue. Due to their method of distribution as box panels, the cards are usually in rough shape when they do surface. They’re all tough, and every item in the set is a “key.” The offered mini-collection is even rarer than an assembly of high-grade singles. Carried outside the company only by sales representatives, a few booklets like this one were presented to favored contacts. When folded, the 4-1/4″ × 5″ booklet’s cover only hints at the remarkable contents: “23 New Stars to Help You Crown Your Royal Sales.” Opening the small volume reveals a gallery of nearly perfect Royals, including numbers 1-14 and 16 picturing baseball subjects and 1-6 depicting film stars. (The actual cards total 21 by our count, but the company must have felt its gelatin spoon and batting tips offers, also featured on the booklet’s pages, qualified as additional ‘stars.) Fully unfolded, a long slogan emerges above the cards to act as a display advertisement in banner form. The baseball stars included in the booklet form an amazing roster. Hall of Famers Stan Musial, Pee Wee Reese, George Kell, Warren Spahn, Phil Rizzuto and Luke Appling are among the baseball luminaries whose cards appear on leaves of this booklet. Dom DiMaggio, Andy Patko, Bobby Thomson, Ewell Blackwell and Tommy Henrich are among the other ballplayers present, and Forrest Tucker, Farley Grander, Tony Curtis, Joan Evans, Ann Blyth and Allan “Rocky” Lane represent the promotion’s movie star category. Externally, condition is a well-preserved and gently handled Excellent, and individual pages approach Mint in a number of cases. The booklet is dated “7/50,” in small print on the back cover. This is an almost never-seen item, created to promote an extraordinarily difficultspecialty issue.

Please get in touch if you have more information about this item and happy collecting!

The Original Artwork for Card #13, ‘The Training Station’ from the 1941 Gum Inc. Uncle Sam Set

April 18, 2025 by John

Here’s the original artwork for Card #13, The Training Station, in the 1941 R157 Gum, Inc. Uncle Sam set.

It was offered in Mastro’s Classic Collector Internet Only auction held in October 2007. Pricing data for original art from this set is all over the place today, with lots selling for between $250 and $925.

Here’s the final product, plus the back.

Happy collecting!

A $50 Deal for Cardboard History: Willie Mays’ Signed Topps Check for His 1954 Baseball Card

April 15, 2025 by John

In December 1953, Topps cut Willie Mays a check for a whopping $50 to appear in their 1954 baseball card set—less than what a torn copy of his card is worth today.

Here’s the item description from Mastro’s March 2000 catalog, in which it appeared as lot 663:

In late 1953, Topps Chewing Gum and Willie Mays agreed on the terms of a 1954 baseball card contract with an option for 1955. Mays would receive a lusty $50 for the use of his picture on the 1954 Topps baseball issue (May we note that today, a ’54 Topps May, torn in half, is worth more than this original compensation). We have here for your collecting pleasure that very check. The December 17, 1953 check from Topps Chewing Gum Incorporated is made out to William Howard Mays and signed on the back “William H. Mays Jr” in fountain ink. Sarah Mays, Willie’s mother, has also signed on the back, including her address in Fairfield, Alabama. This unique check shows fold lines and a paper loss on the left border, giving it a technical grade at about Very Good; however, it has a terrific full name autograph and provides that historic link of Willie Mays with Topps. A magnificent relic realized through pitiful exploitation. Kevin Keating and James Spence LOA’s.
Minimum Big $300

Here’s the back of the check with the terms and Mays’ (and his mother’s) endorsement:

Happy collecting!

The Only Topps Basketball Release to Feature the San Diego Sails

April 14, 2025 by John

The 1975 Topps basketball set was unique for two reasons. First, at the time, it was the largest basketball set ever produced (330 cards), and it was the fifth and final time Topps included ABA cards (the ABA-NBA merger would occur in 1976). In this article, I will focus on a unique situation and “subset,” in that the 1975 Topps basketball set was the only major card release to have featured the San Diego Sails basketball team.

I’m not saying that Topps ignored the San Diego Sails basketball team in its previous sets; the Sails only existed for a single year! The franchise did play three previous seasons as the Conquistadors, who were the ABA’s only expansion team. But the team was purchased in 1975, and the new owner brought in a new coach, changed the entire roster, and re-branded the team as the Sails. On the Team Leaders card for the Sails, you can see that the back of the card lists leaders for the Conquistadors.

1975 Topps #285 – San Diego Sails Team Leaders – Front

1975 Topps #285 – San Diego Sails Team Leaders – Reverse

Unfortunately, no one in San Diego seemed to care about the team, and only 3000 fans showed up to the team’s home opener. It got worse, as under 2000 fans came to their third home game, which was the last for the franchise. The owner was told the Sails weren’t a part of the ABA-NBA merger, so he shut down the team on Nov 12, 1975, with a final record of 3-8.

The NBA took four ABA franchises: the Spurs, Nuggets, Nets, and Pacers. Three other ABA teams also folded: the Spirits of St. Louis, the Kentucky Colonels, and the Virginia Squires.

However, a team did return to San Diego when the Buffalo Braves came to town and changed their name to the Clippers, keeping the nautical naming theme. But in 1984, the Clippers moved to Los Angeles, and San Diego (the Country’s 8th largest city) has been left without an NBA team since.

Now, going back to the 1975 Topps basketball set, I’ve always been a fan of it—and all 1970s basketball sets, for that matter. The cards have nice portraits and action shots, a lot of star power, and Moses Malone’s rookie card. Because the set has cards from both leagues before the merger, it features subsets from both leagues’ statistical and team leaders, along with playoff cards and team checklists.

Topps featured the Sails on 11 cards, the same number of games the team played! I’ve been sharing the Sail’s cards throughout the article, but here is the checklist and photos of the rest of the cards:

#234 – Lee Davis
#245 – Travis Grant
#256 – Dwight Lamar
#264 – George Adams
#274 – Tim Bassett (He signed with the New Jersey Nets and had Topps cards in 1977, 1978, and 1979)
#285 – Team Leaders
#296 – Warren Jabali
#305 – Caldwell Jones (He signed with the Philadelphia 76ers and had Topps cards in 1976 and 1977)
#317 – Jimmy O’Brien
#328 – San Diego Sails Team Checklist
#328 – San Diego Sails Team Checklist – Hand-Cut

1975 Topps #328 San Diego Sails Checklist

The hand-cut team checklist is a PSA pop three card that collectors acquired as part of an uncut sheet from the Topps Sports Club for $2.50 and a wrapper.

1975 Topps #328 San Diego Sails Team Checklist Hand Cut – PSA 2

1975 Topps Basketball Team Checklist Uncut Sheet

If not for Topps and the hobby, the San Diego Sails might have faded completely from memory. Thankfully, the hobby is more than just cardboard—it’s a living archive that helps preserve and celebrate forgotten chapters of sports history.

Happy collecting!

A Quick Look at NFL and AFL Trading Card Rights in the Early 1960s

April 10, 2025 by John

In the middle of 2022, on X, I shared a handful of 1961 Topps and 1961 Fleer football unopened products, and someone asked how it was that both Topps and Fleer had a license to print AFL and NFL cards in the same year. We also noted that it was weird that it was midway through seemingly exclusive 4-year deals for each brand. Honestly, after more research, I still don’t know why or how this happened, but I thought I would share some information about NFL and AFL trading card rights in the early 1960s.

This all started with the founding of the American Football League in 1959 and its inaugural season in 1960. They were challenging the established National Football League, who, as PSA wrote, “…had a fan base. They had connections with college athletes, and they had Topps bubble gum cards. The popular trading card company had issued its first professional football set featuring NFL players in 1956, which began an uninterrupted streak of Topps football sets featuring contemporary players that ran through the 2015 season.”

So, just as the leagues were competing against each other, Fleer and Topps would also. Fleer printed football cards from 1960 to 1963, having the rights to the AFL players in 1960, 1962, and 1963, and Topps had the rights to the NFL players during that time. Somehow, in 1961, both companies had players from the AFL and NFL.

Here is the year-by-year breakdown of each set.

1960 Fleer: The set has 132 cards, 125 with players and seven showing head coaches. It was Fleer’s first football set and was made up entirely of AFL players. And since it was the first year of the AFL, most players were coming into the pro ranks out of college, so Fleer showed them in college uniforms.

1960 Topps: The 132-card set only has NFL players and showcased the expansion Dallas Cowboys.

1961 Fleer: Fleer released the 220-card set in two series, the first with 132 NFL players and the second with 88 AFL players.

1961 Topps: The 198-card set featured NFL players in the first series (#’s 1-132) and AFL players in the second series (#s 133-197), with card 198 being a checklist.

1962 Fleer: The set has cards of 88 AFL players, and many collectors believe it had the lowest print run of any of the Fleer football sets.

1962 Topps: The 176-card set features NFL players

1963 Fleer: The set features 88 cards of AFL players and a great unnumbered checklist. The set is known to have three of the most sought-after vintage football cards of the ’60s (the Checklist, Charles Long, and Bob Dougherty).

1963 Topps: The 170-card set of NFL players was grouped alphabetically by city name.

Things got interesting after that. In 1964, the Philadelphia Gum Company obtained NFL rights through 1967, and Topps printed AFL-only sets between 1964 and 1967, leaving Fleer with no product in football (or baseball). Then, in 1968, after the NFL and AFL agreed to merge, Topps got the rights to both leagues.

I can make a lot of guesses about exclusivity and printing rights in the early 1960s that led to the 1961 sets from Fleer and Topps having both AFL and NFL cards, but I really don’t have any facts. If anyone knows what happened, please let me know in the comments and happy collecting!