Salesman Sample

The 1939 Play Ball Baseball Set and its Three Ted Williams Rookie Card Variations

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While I focus this blog on post-war cards, I also write about pre-war cards from time to time and collect them. So, I thought looking at one of the last pre-war issues, the 1939 Play Ball set (WW2 officially started on September 1, 1939), would be interesting. In trying to find an interesting niche in the set to write about and tie together its composition, the iconic Ted Williams rookie card (#92) and its three variations stood out. The Williams rookie is a “big deal”; for example, Joe Orlando included the 1939 Play Ball Williams in his list of the Top 250 sports cards in the hobby.

The three 1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams variations are the reverse with his name in mixed case letters, the reverse with his name in all uppercase letters, and the stamped sample copy used to drum up interest in the set.

1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Mixed Letters
1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Uppercase Letters
1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Sample

The sample cards were distributed (no one recalls the exact distribution method, but one guess is that Gum Inc. inserted them in packs of other products) a few months before the release of the 1939 Play Ball set to get orders and estimate how many the company should print. The entire low-number series of the set (cards 1-115), with names in all upper case letters on the back, have samples. We know this because Goldin auctioned off a complete set of samples in October 2013. The number made and that have survived is incredibly small, so sample cards command huge premiums. 

Each sample’s stamp reads, “FREE SAMPLE CARD GET YOUR PICTURES OF LEADING BASEBALL PLAYERS THREE PICTURE CARDS PACKED IN EACH PACKAGE OF “PLAY BALL AMERICA” BUBBLE GUM AT YOUR CANDY STORE 1C”.

1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Sample

Looking at the population report for the 1939 Play Ball set, you can see that PSA has graded almost 1,300 (as of October 15th, 2024) regular Ted Williams cards (they don’t differentiate between all upper-case and mixed-letter backs), while they have only encapsulated nine sample cards.

1939 Play Ball Ted Williams PSA Population

For the Ted Williams card, PSA’s APR shows that a PSA 4 graded sample sold for almost $16k in July 2015, while the last regular PSA 4 sold for $6,216 in February 2024.

Now, when it comes to the other two non-sample versions of the Ted Williams back, the all-uppercase and mixed letter, while it appears that the mixed letter card is a bit rarer, they don’t really command a premium price right now. It’s believed that the mixed letter cards are rarer because Gum Inc. inserted them (mixed case low series cards) into their second series release (cards 116-162), which were short-printed (and generally sell for a premium over the low series). The second series was all printed with mixed case lettering on the back. Also, we know Gum Inc. printed the upper case cards first because 12 of the low series’ mixed case cards correct typos from their all upper case versions.

Now, as a hobby, we may be off a bit here, but folks have done a lot of research, and the overall makeup of a 1939 Play Ball set appears to break down as follows:

  • There are 161 cards in the set.
  • Cards 1-115 all have uppercase names and samples.
  • Cards 116-162 have mixed case names; card 126 was never issued.
  • Seventy-three cards from 1-115 were also printed with mixed case names, leaving 42 with only upper case backs.
  • While the bottom of the backs of the cards indicated a series of 250 pictures, only the two previously mentioned series were released. Presumably, Gum Inc. intended to print a third series covering cards 163-250.

While some hobbyists may consider the black-and-white fronts a little boring, it’s hard to argue about the significance of the set’s key card, the Ted Williams rookie card. That specific card is now one of the most important in the vintage card market. So adding any of the three variations (regardless of perceived scarcity between the upper case and mixed case copies) to a collection is a big deal if you can afford it. Happy collecting! 

1964 Topps Salesman’s Sample Featuring Mickey Mantle

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This 1964 Topps Salesman’s Sample Ad Card featuring Mickey Mantle was auctioned off in August 2006.

It’s encapsulated as “authentic” by PSA and was used to drum up interest and give a sneak preview to dealers and collectors for the 1964 Topps Baseball series. The triptych (a picture or carving in three panels side by side) measures 7-9/16” x 3-1/2” with Mickey Mantle, Jim Davenport, and Boog Powell on the front. While the auction didn’t include a photo of the back, they described it as having information about the prospective series’ special features and insert products and also had a Mantle card back as a design example.

Heritage resold the same item in December 2020 for $7,200; they wrote, “One of the fuels that drove the Topps machine was the salesman sample. They featured three cards but had Topps sales propaganda or a sticker selling the set on the reverse. For their 1964 effort, they wisely picked baseball’s best in HoFer Mickey Mantle to promote the upcoming 587-card series. Mantle is joined by fellow major leaguers Jim Davenport and Boog Powell but it is Mantle’s card used for the reverse example.”

If you own any salesman samples, I’d love to chat with you about them for my research.

1958 Topps Roger Maris Salesman Sample

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I was pretty excited when I saw this hand-cut 1958 Topps Roger Maris Salesman Sample card graded authentic by SGC pop up on eBay back in July 2024; it’s a really cool piece of hobby history.

Back in Newsletter #28, I wrote:

As the name implies, salesman-sample sports card panels were used by salesmen as samples to vendors (e.g. grocers and candy-store owners) to illustrate an upcoming release of cards to promote sales. These panels were produced in limited numbers, making surviving samples quite rare.

The front of the panels looked like regular-issue cards, while the back had a small advertising pitch for the new product. In some years, the backs also had redemption information or a sample card back.

Here’s an example from Heritage Auctions of a complete 1958 Topps Salesman Sample.

On the front, you can see that the three cards are just a random strip of three from an uncut sheet, while the back has advertising copy and an example card’s back. So, depending on a card’s location on an uncut sheet, it could be on any position on the front and, therefore, have any piece of the back (unless Topps placed it on a sheet’s edge). So a salesman sample with a 1958 Roger Maris front could go Frank Bolling/Wally Burnette/Roger Maris, or Wally Burnette/Roger Maris/Del Rice, or Roger Maris/Del Rice/Bill Fischer.

The cut Maris pictured above has the top of the back printed on its back, but it could have any; however, this SGC authenticated one is the only one in either PSA’s or SGC’s Pop Report.

The SGC-graded 1958 Topps Roger Maris “#47” cut Salesman Sample card sold on eBay for $785 on July 8th, 2024. Unfortunately, the buyer didn’t pay, and the owner had to relist the card. It was sold again on July 23rd for $538. The $538 price is reasonable when you compare it to other examples. REA sold a Don Drysdale cut sample for $156 in February 2023, and a Hank Aaron sold for $1,499.99 on eBay in April 2024.

The Maris sample card appears to have been purchased by another dealer who re-listed it on eBay with a Buy-it-Now price of $949.99.

1957/58 Kahn’s Wieners Basketball Salesman’s Sample Brochure

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Here’s an incredible piece I ran across in a 2008 auction catalog that I’m desperate to find more information on (and add to the hobby library): a 1957/58 Kanh’s Wieners Salesman’s Sample New Customer Campaign Brochure!

First, Kahn’s series of basketball cards were released between 1957 and 1965 and are one of the few basketball food issues of the era, so they’re pretty rare, particularly in excellent condition (since they were packaged with hot dogs).

Kahn’s was a Cincinnati-based meat processing and distribution company (now owned by Tyson Foods), so for their first release in 1957, all 11 cards in the set were Cincinnati Royals players.

Based on the brochure’s cover, it looks like Kahn’s provided this album to help out the company’s salespeople; Mastro highlighted that fact in the lot’s description:

Long the fare at Cincinnati sporting events, Kahn’s Wieners are as much a Queen City institution as Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Boomer Esiason. Offered here is a decidedly scarce and unique item: a Kahn’s Wieners 1958 salesman’s sample brochure containing four sample cards Maurice Stokes, Jack Twyman, Dave Piontek, and George King. This 8-1/2″ x 11″ twen-ty-page booklet is secured at the spine by three staples and reads as a “how-to” guide for the company’s salespersons. Entitled “New Customer Campaign,” the guide stresses the importance of new customers and offers detailed advice on how to handle various types of potential buyers including the “stone faced type,” ” the agreeable type” and the “prejudiced type.” The guide also details “promotional help” in the form of Cincinnati Royals basketball photo cards (to be placed in each one-pound package of “The Wiener the World Awaited”) with tips for budding players on the reverse. The booklet displays EX/MT condition. The approximately 3-1/4″ x 4″ cards are about EX/MT in frontal appearance (sharp corners but with adhesive show-through) and are firmly secured to the pages.

This photo of the cards was included in the catalog.

Please get in touch with me if you have any more pictures or info about this brochure.

1939 Playball #26 Joe DiMaggio With Rare Ad Back

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A small number (cards 1-115) of 1939 Gum, Inc. Playball cards were overprinted on the reverse and given away to generate interest in the set. But PSA didn’t designate “sample” on the card flip in its early days, like with this DiMaggio that remains in an old flip today.

To date, PSA has slabbed 30 1939 Playball #36 Joe DiMaggio Sample cards, but the one above (from a November 2001 auction catalog) isn’t included in that thirty unless it was cracked and re-submitted.

The highest-graded DiMaggio samples are a pair of Nm-Mt 8s. REA sold this one in the fall of 2019 for $3600.

More about these free sample cards and their red advertising message in the future, so don’t forget to subscribe to blog posts so you don’t miss it.

1952 Topps Separated Three-Card Advertising Panel

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I’m a huge fan of salesman samples, and here’s a unique one from the 1952 Topps release that I found in Ron Oser Enterprises’ April 2000 catalog.

This one is interesting because it was once complete, but the owner cut the three cards into “singles” a long time ago. The fronts include Eddie Joost, Willie Jones, and Gordon Goldsberry. When the cards are fitted together, you can see the copy on the back pretty clearly.

It wasn’t uncommon for folks to cut up salesman samples, as someone just (May 23, 2024) sold this salesman sample single of Mel Parnell on eBay for $173.26.

I know I’ve been promising it for a while, but I am still working on a long-form (magazine-like) piece on salesman samples. But it might now be the second one I release. Stand by!

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