Leo Durocher managed the Giants to a World Series title and pitched sugary cereal to kids! Mastro offered this one in their November 2001 catalog.
Here’s the full item description from the catalog:
In the early 1950’s, Leo Durocher managed the New York Giants to two pennants and a World Championship. During those exciting years, the feisty and popular Durocher endorsed a variety of products, and Madison Avenue saw fit to use his image on this store display advertisement for the Sugar Crisp Cereal Baseball Facts and Fun Book. The offered display ad shows a beaming Leo the Lip with his Giants cap on, encouraging youngsters to eat Sugar Crisp. The display is printed on sturdy advertising stock cardboard and is in Near Mint to Mint condition with the exception of some very light creasing to each of the four corners. The sign has never been used and is quite rare, especially in this exceptional condition. In retrospect, all that sugar may help to explain the many tantrums for which Durocher was so well known. An attractive and very colorful 1950’s advertising sign featuring one of the game’s most memorable managers. Measures an impressive 23” x 28”
Minimum Bid $300
In September 2004, Heritage sold a copy of this display for $489.95 but noted it measured 20″ x 31″ at its greatest dimensions and dated it to 1954.
In the Fall of 2024, REA sold a framed copy for $330, approximating its release to 1955.
You can pick up copies of the Post Sugar Crisp Baseball Facts and Fun Book for ~$45 on eBay, where most copies are dated to 1954.
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:
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.
1975 Topps #234 Lee Davis
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.
1975 Topps #245 Travis Grant
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.
1975 Topps #256 Dwight Lamar
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.
1975 Topps #264 George Adams
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.
1975 Topps #274 Tim Bassett
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 #296 Warren Jabali
1975 Topps #305 Caldwell Jones
1975 Topps #317 Jimmy O’Brien
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.
In September 2024, I highlighted a handful of P.F. Canvas shoe advertisements. Well, I ran across another in a March 2000 auction catalog, and I think this one’s my favorite!
I dig the giant baseball in the background.
The piece dates back to the early 1950s when baseball was first on national TV and showcases the game’s top stars endorsing the P.F. canvas shoes (later known as P.F. Flyers). The framed ad was described as 19” x 25”.
In March 2016, Hake’s sold a copy for $707 and they said the ad was a 19.5” x 25-5/8′” stiff cardboard standee w/easel back.
And then, in September 2023, Rockhurst Auctions offered it for sale again, but it failed to meet its reserve.
In May 1995, Trading Cards Magazine ran a piece by Jim Stevens asking which hockey cards were worth buying with $500. I thought it’d be fun to see how John Moore’s picks have held up!
You can see that Moore recommended: One Ken Dryden 1971-72 OPC RC #45, $300; one Patrick Roy 1986-87 OPC RC #53, $140; two Dale Hawerchuk 1982-83 OPC RCs #380, $36; and four Paul Kariya 1992-93 UD RCs #586, $24. Total expense: $500.
Let’s assume he was talking about cards that would grade PSA 8s, which is a bit optimistic, but I need to compare against something.
It looks like Ken Dryden’s PSA 8 RC’s are ~$1475, Roy PSA 8 rookies are ~$330, Hawerchuk’s RC is ~$40 (times two is $80), and Paul Kariya’s UD RC is essentially worthless in a PSA 8 slab. So combined, that’s $1,885 from the original $500. But just a moment, the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator says that $500 in May 1995 has the same purchasing power as $1,043.60 in January 2025.
Not bad by Moore overall. But everyone probably should have stuck to Gretzky’s rookie cards, eh?
In November 2009, Mastro offered for sale an incredible near set of 17 different 1959 Bazooka football cards, 12 of which included the promo tab at the bottom!
Here’s the auction lot’s description:
Collection of 17 different 1959 Bazooka Football cards. The year 1959 was fairly uneventful in Topps’ several entree sports card issues. However, that company’s grist, Bazooka bubble gum, appeared very sparingly in boxed form. The container, a basic cardboard prism, measured approximately 5″ x 3″ x 1″ and held individually wrapped tasty ingots. To lubricate sales, one of an assortment of well-known sports figures would appear, in full-color, on the bottoms of the boxes. Baseball, of course, preceded football. Initially, nine different baseball players were imposed on the boxes. These are scarce. Later, 14 others were added. These are much tougher, and the evidence suggests that sales were listless. Bazooka,under the guidance of Topps, obviously had an investment in preparation, and as kids returned to school, the football segment of the strategy appeared. The marketing scheme was doomed from the start, and very few remains of this misdirected ambition exist today. All that money for one card, which dimensionally disrupted otherwise uniform stacks of cards. Bazooka would later promote the idea by offering panels of three baseball cards. There were 18 different in the 1959 Bazooka football production, and all are very scarce. Of these, three were produced in undetermined shorter numbers and include Conerly, Groza and Tom Tracy. The collection offered here is missing only the Tracy card. Of the 17 cards offered here, 12 include the promo tab at the bottom of the card. Those without the tab are John Arnett, LeBaron, Joe Perry, Kyle Rote, and Tittle. The cards are cut responsibly with very little violation of the dotted lines. Condition Report: Ameche (NR-MT to MT); Arnett (cut slightly inside dotted lines, EX-MT); Brown (very light crease on back, EX+); Casares (NR-MT to MT); Conerly (mild crease on back, EX); Ferguson (NR-MT to MT); Gifford (NR-MT to MT); Groza (light crease on back, EX+); Layne (mild crease through tab, NR-MT ); LeBaron (light surface wear, EX+); Lewis (light crease on back at tab, EX-MT); Matson (mild crease on back, writing on back, EX); Perry (NR-MT to MT); Retzlaff (NR-MT to MT); Rote (very slight miscut on left border, EX-MT); Tittle (left border cut imperfectly EX+); Unitas (mild surface wear, EX-MT).
Minimum Bid $1,500
I previously highlighted the set in a piece about a complete box featuring Frank Gifford in which I mentioned that Larry Fritsch believed that the Chuck Connerly variations were the toughest to track down, but this collection, as stated, was missing the Tracy card, one of the other presumed short prints.
By the way, the cards, particularly Jim Brown’s, are pretty pricey these days. In October 2024, Heritage sold an SGC 5 graded Brown for $9,600.
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 Fleer #76 Paul Lowe
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 Fleer #11 Jim Brown
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.
1961 Topps #1 Johnny Unitas
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 Fleer Football Checklist
1963 Topps: The 170-card set of NFL players was grouped alphabetically by city name.
1963 Fleer #96 Ray Nitschke
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!
