Back in 2009, a new baseball card issue was offered to the hobby -- an obscure 1930s gum card set that was distributed by Fleer. Ten years later, the 1930s Whiz Bang Gum cards are still a difficult find and quite valuable. 1930s Whiz Bang Gum Overview In 2009, REA offered a large collection of previously unknown cards in the 1930s Whiz Bang Gum cards. The cards were not in … [Read more...]
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Chasing Tobacco: Winding Down (Part III of III)
This is the final part of a three-part series covering the early history of tobacco cards from the pre-war era. In Part I and Part II of this series, I reviewed the earliest tobacco cards from the 1800s as well as tobacco cards produced from the boom of 1909-11. While tobacco cards remained popular internationally for decades to come, American tobacco cards featuring … [Read more...]
Heritage to Offer Historic Babe Ruth 1933 Butter Cream Card in July Auction
Heritage is gearing up for its big summer auction and one of the headliners is a truly special card. Included in the company's July 18-19 Summer Sports Card Catalog Auction is an incredibly rare Babe Ruth 1933 Butter Cream card. About the 1933 Butter Cream Set While it is a later pre-war issue, the 1933 Butter Cream cards are extremely rare in any condition. Categorized as … [Read more...]
The Wayback Collector: 5 Unique Pre-War Cards of Baseball Veterans
Memorial Day is a time to reflect and remember those that have served this country in the military. And as baseball card collectors, most of us know that some of the game's earliest heroes on the diamond also were veterans. Some players had only brief stints during wartime while others missed several years of their careers. Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson suffered the … [Read more...]
Pittsburgh Show Offers Plenty of Vintage Cards, Autograph Signers
The annual Pittsburgh Card Show was held this weekend and I managed to attend on Saturday. What I found was the usual solid mix of dealers with another good selection of vintage cards at Main Line Autographs' latest showcase. In all, there were somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-80 dealers from all over the country. That is nothing new for the popular show, which has gained … [Read more...]
W554 Baseball Set is Small but Challenging
The W554 baseball card set isn't your typical strip card issue. Nevertheless, these oversized photos are classified as a W-Card release. Here's a look at these unique cards. W554 Strip Card Basics Believed to have been issued in 1930, W554 cards are more like small photographs than your traditional baseball cards. And at 5" wide x 7" tall, they are even larger than other … [Read more...]
Rare 1939 African Tobacco World of Sport Set Features Babe Ruth
The 1939 African Tobacco World of Sport set is proof that tobacco cards spanned the entire globe. Not many tobacco card sets featuring baseball are found from Africa, but this one is an exception. Truth be told, the 1939 African Tobacco World of Sport set is a multi-sport issue with little baseball in it. That is relatively common with international tobacco sets as baseball … [Read more...]
Goudey Had Plenty of Competition in the Pre-War Era
Plain and simple, Goudey ruled the pre-war gum card era when it came to baseball cards. Issuing numerous sets beginning in 1933, the company dominated the time period. Goudey began with an extremely popular, 240-card set in 1933 and continued producing other baseball cards through 1941. They weren't the producers of the first of the gum cards but they quickly became the most … [Read more...]
The Wayback Collector: Two New Baseball Wrappers Checklisted In A Rare Set
It's baseball cards that most collectors are interested in. But a rare set of pre-war baseball wrappers is getting some interest in the news with the discovery of two that were previously unchecklisted. About the R301 Overland Wrappers The R301 Overland Wrappers aren't what most wrappers collectors would expect. Distributed by Chicago's Overland Candy Corporation, these … [Read more...]
5 Baseball Cards of the Legendary Bob Feller as a Teenager
Bob Feller's baseball career began before he was even technically an adult. He debuted at the age of 17 with the Cleveland Indians in 1936 and quickly impressed, going 5-3 while striking out 76 batters in only 62 innings pitched. Feller would continue to improve and really broke through as a star in 1938 at the age of 19. That year, he was named as an All-Star for the first … [Read more...]
