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365 DAYS OF RED SOX DAY 41 - KENNER SLU 1988-2001 VARIOUS YEARS

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jeffv96masters

Well-known member
Aug 14, 2008
2,095
1,223
DAY 13 VARIOUS DISC SETS

Okay folks was asked more about discs so I'll try and show a bunch more discs from my collection. As stated prior Michael Schecter and Associates produced discs for various food companies in the 70-80's. His very first foray came in 1975 with a test disc set. Not sure if I am remembering correctly but I thought I saw it initially at a show in Brooklyn NY in November of 1975 next to some Candy Lid items. But anyways-- the disc was unusual. Looked cheap and had a raised edges that felt like baseball stitches only on the left hand side. The right side of the disc was smooth. Below is my test Fred Lynn Disc I obtained. As you can see the colors are light and the printing rather light as well. Not sure whether it was a first production run or the printers were out of fluid but its been this way and not seen sunlight since I obtained it. The back is blank backed as you see plainly.

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Remember a few posts back when I said I used to have a bunch of Yaz and Tiant discs ?? Well I went looking for the Tiant's-- and did not find them but discovered I still had some Yaz left. The fronts all look the same ( see top pic) so I'll show the backs and give some biographical info on the companies again

We already discussed Isaly's / Sweet Williams so I'll leave you to read prior posts

TOWNE CLUB is a northern Midwest Detroit Michigan originating soda "pop" seller. You'd grab a wooden crate and go thru their store/warehouses picking out the various flavors you wanted. The most interesting brand they sell is Honolulu blue- named after the Detroit Lions team colors ! The closest thing I had when I lived in Connecticut was the Foxon Park brand cream soda brand around New Haven.

ORBAKERS is a regional drive in / restaurant located between Rochester and Syracuse in a town called Williamson off state Route 104. Its the type of drive in that you'd remember if you stopped in. Many of our board members have been to Cooperstown NY and maybe gone a little further to Oneonta to a place called the Neptune Diner - this place is just like it. Reminds you of a 1950's diner / drive in.

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I also came across a whole bunch more of my Fred Lynn discs so I'll bring up some more good discussion on sources.

We have discussed several of the backs already. TOWNE CLUB see above . Detroit Ceasars Slo Pitch is a VERY interesting read. Suffice to say rather than bore you with a 10 page story I'll defer people the Wikipedia entry - go look it up for a great read.

The DETROIT CEASERS SLO-PITCH club was owned by Mike Illitch-- ring a bell ?? It was his very first professionally owned sports team. He joined the first professional slow pitch pro league in Detroit called the American Professional Slow Pitch Softball League (APSPL). To those who are unfamiliar with Mike Illitch before he owned Little Caesars pizza chain -- he was a former Detroit Tigers "prospect" who decided the pro's weren't his deal and he moved into business. I'd say he made the right choices in life ! Quite a few former professional baseball players played in the slo pitch pro softball league that was formed whose commissioner was - get this-- former Yankees star Whitey Ford !! Who says you do not learn anything in life by collecting cards ??

ZIP'Z is an ice cream shop that used to have tons of locations. Their claim to fame was service ice cream in miniature baseball caps !!! People used to bring their kids to the various locales where they'd get to eat the ice cream then keep the mini helmets they were served inside. Get enough different ones you could trade with people. I have included one of the ZIP'z ads for people to see.



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Some of the below is going to date me so here goes.

SAFELON was a 1960-70's era type of re-sealable bag meant for the freezer- this is long, long, long before Hefty bags and plastics were really developed. You had to put the product in the baggie-which was super thick- and then leave about 1/2 inch at the top. You'd use a rubber band ( or string) and tie off the bag then put it into the box it came in into the freezer. Talk about labor intensive ! It was meant to help save stuff in the freezer. Makes those of us who are older appreciate what a Hefty baggie does for us now .

BUCKMAN'S was a dairy and ice cream place in Rochester NY . A guy by the name of Ralph Destefano owned it and it was the largest dairy / milk delivery service there for years. This guy was unbelievable- he WORKED until he was in his 90's before retiring. The discs helped promote the ice cream store and I'm sure anyone from Rochester would agree the place is worth it.

CHILLY WILLEE Frozen Drinks is your typical slush type drink-- a favorite of mine was rasberry. Back in the 70's a number of northeastern stores carried slushie products ( my local golf driving range had one) so people could cool down from the summer heat or enjoy a winter treat. I have NO idea where the NY ones were located and never saw a single one outside of the NY / NJ areas. My favorite shows in Yonkers NY always had them. I've been told they were other places but frankly never saw one outside that area.

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These last three for today for my Fred Lynn stuff were two miniature versions and another large one. The blank backed on is the 1981 MSA Blank backs while the second is the 1982 On Deck Cookies


Here's a challenge for you - find me a 1982 On Deck cookies AD anywhere inside an original sports related book = and we will discuss your enrichment further .

The holiday Inn hotels are world famous-- but to add some info here for learning - a historical reminder == the Siege of Sarajevo during the 1984 Olympics occurred at a Holiday Inn. We had one in Marlboro MA when I was younger.


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Down below are additional disc sets with Red Sox I'll try and locate and discuss. Some are genuinely tough to find even today= internet or not.
===================================================================================

1983 FBI Discs
1982 FBI Discs
1977 Saga Discs
1976 Red Barn Discs
1977 Wendy's Discs
1977 Customized Sports Discs
1976 Wiffle Ball Discs
1981 Promo Discs
1985 Thom McAn Discs
1985 Subway Discs
1977 Burger Chefs Funmeal Discs (think I have a full box)
1976 Blank Back Discs
1976 Carousel Discs
1978 Saga Discs
1976 Buckmans Discs
1981 Peter Pan/Sunbeam Bakery Discs
1977 Pepsi Cola Baseball Stars
1978 Big T/Tastee Discs
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,087
As I indicated before, you can pretty much tell that MSA was all about the East Coast. Most of those names are foreign to me, outside of the card world. Would have been interesting to collect those one at a time. My first foray into "1 per" collectibles (aside from Kellogg's & Hostess, because how many boxes of cereal and snack cakes can a kid manage to burn through during a season? Unfortunately I never saw the Hostess Twinkee cards when they were used in the individually wrapped single packs) is probably the Slurpee coins from 1984. Damn, I loved getting those slurpees and peeling away that little cardboard disc that hit the coin on the bottom of the cup. Still, very hard to get any quantity when you had to buy an entire Slurpee each time!
 

jeffv96masters

Well-known member
Aug 14, 2008
2,095
1,223
365 DAYS OF RED SOX- DAY 14 - 1971 TOPPS GREATEST MOMENTS

A set I wished had been mass produced is today's post. In 1971 Topps had a test issue called 1971 TOPPS GREATEST MOMENTS where they issued a test set detailing great accomplishments. It was oversized and perhaps this was another test issue seeing if people would buy into it.

Back in the 1970's the 1971 Topps wasn't really " in vogue". Their black borders really didn't pop out and the cards had a bland look to them. Remember kids were the target market all the time. What attracts a kid-- colors !! Its why the Kellogg's sets were more popular back then from early 1970 thru late 79. While I collected the 71 Topps regular sets I never saw these anywhere.To be honest no one I know in the 70's or 80's could tell me anything about where and when they issued this test run. I looked repeatedly at shows all over MA, CT and RI and had to travel to NY City proper to locate any of them. I never had any real interest in the 1971 Topps Greatest moments Yaz as I wanted the Petrocelli and the Aparicio.

I never once saw a box or pack ever at any shows in MY City, PA, CT, MA -- anywhere the normal hobby channels were strong. This is unusual and frankly I often wondered if they kept it local in NY City for a reason. Topps HQ was there and lots of times stuff never made it out of that local market.

Anyways a copy of the Aparicio is shown below in an older slab. These are in the same sized slabs as the 1981 Topps Scratch off Panels ( A post on the 81 set to follow) .


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I've also been showing some additional info of interest and today will be no exception.


A few years ago this wrapper and box came up for sale on eBay. Trust me there was a lot of bidders interested. I watched in amazement as the wrapper zoomed past 4 grand and finish just shy of $4500. A major player in this industry owns that item now and trust me there's a few people who wished they did. Its just that rare. The box also was sold and that one was just as furious with a price tag to match. I often wondered who owned that box and what happened to the other wrappers that may have been inside ?? The fact just a single wrapper and box has shown recently shows just how rare this test set was for a 1970's product.


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[MENTION=4047]mrmopar[/MENTION] = the West Coast was and always has been Death Valley to distribution of items back in the day. I have lived on both coasts - the sheer distance problem on the Western side of the US was a killer for distribution costs. No one wants excessively high costs when margins are paper thin. Also the high cost of shipping back in the day comparatively meant less stuff headed west. Its only in the last 10 years distribution channels have increased and additional warehouses been constructed that make cost-effectiveness better for many producers and suppliers to supply West Coast markets.




NOTE : In case anyone cares to know why Yaz wasn't on my cookie list--1975 personal run in . Treated a kid with the type of disdain & disgust that turns me off. I never forgave or forgot what I witnessed. Never once wanted to see a card of his again and have sold every card of his I have gotten in package deals immediately. I can only treat that scene as a defining moment of how I should make sure I always treated others respectfully whether they angered me or not. Life lesson learned.
 

smapdi

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
4,397
221
Holy crap, I never saw that 71TGM wrapper. When I was heavily involved in the PSA registry, that set was one of my targets, and I got to know a couple of the big collectors and they told me a lot about the set, including how limited and unknown distribution was. Like, possibly just a few outlets in Brooklyn, IIRC. The box came up for sale years ago, I want to say like 8-10 years ago, and it sold for $2K or $4K, something like that. But no one had seen a wrapper. That's pretty amazing. I would have gone after it myself, and been pitifully outbid.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,087
I seem to remember hearing about or reading the box auction listing and from the looks of it, it seems to be more of a mock up or post-production piece. I am guessing the box itself was never used to actually hold or distribute the packs. I have a few cards, but thankfully nobody I really collect was included. The Munson would be a great one to have, although the base card is still 100X cooler, but I don't have enough interest in the set to pay the price for one.
 

jeffv96masters

Well-known member
Aug 14, 2008
2,095
1,223
Day 15 - 1981 Topps Scratch Off Panels and Cards

Today's post needs to be short and sweet as I'm pressed for time. Also to answer someone who PM'd me- I'm not showing older 60's and prior stuff because its mostly stored in MA where I haven't been home to since 2015. I'll be going back next year and will try and get some of that stuff out here.

Came across a Rice 1981 Topps Scratch Off panel cleaning up so I'll discuss this particular set quickly but not in much detail as I'll provide you with some good links to go read that I think are worth of reading if you want to spend a short amount of time learning about the set.

Topps monopoly as we know was busted in 1981 and began to change the landscape of cards. They began in earnest to solidify their place and decided to branch out with new items for kids to become interested in. One such item was the 1981 TOPPS SCRATCH OFF PANELS that they sold.

Each pack had 6 card panels in it per pack. Each card panel had 3 players on it.
Each pack included three American League panels, three National League panels, and a stick of gum
The AL panels were Red, the NL panels were Green

You could separate the panels by the perforations and make 3 individual cards- or keep the panels as is.

I am showing the sell sheet below so that info can be confirmed


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My Rice Panel I came across is below. To show you how long ago it was graded this is WELL before PSA started labeling the variations. It came from my PC and I slab PC items from my youth not for monetary value but so I can enjoy them without additional damages occurring.


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Anyways- some of the panels had variations on the backs. To make things short and sweet- they occurred on AL players from card # 37 thru 54 and on NL players from card # 91 thru 108

I always fancy myself open to learning new knowledge or reading an article from someone who took the time to get stuff looked at. I notice PLAYER completists tend to be the ones who do such research. My buddy Tony Leyman ( huge Yount collector) wrote a great article last year on this set . It well worth the read . Includes a bunch of pics I will not show here due to time constraints.

TONY LEYMAN ARTICLE ON 1981 TOPPS SCRATCH OFFS


I also found a GREAT listing of the actual variations not on Beckett's site but better organized at the Trading Card database website which shows which back variations exist with a list view and a gallery view available-- check it out at your convenience


VARIATIONS GUIDE



I'll also show the box pic and pack pics for your enjoyment. I do have more info but will do so at a later date and time.
The box is deceptive. Its actually quite large as it holds 24 packs and since these were panels its roughly about 13 inches long and 8 inches wide.



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jeffv96masters

Well-known member
Aug 14, 2008
2,095
1,223
DAY 16 - 1990 SCORE MCDONALDS

Today's short post is about the 1990 MCDONALD's SCORE Red Sox specifically Roger Clemens since I collect him.

Four cards and 1 trivia card with the purchase of an order of large french fries and a drink were given out to everyone who purchased those items at 11 different McDonald's restaurants in rural Idaho and eastern Oregon during a 3 week period in the Spring of 1990 I believe right around college Spring break in April if I am not mistaken ( someone from that area correct me if your memory is different).

If you want to talk about a tough regional 1990's set- this is one. I can't imagine what it must have been like for some rural area getting people traveling stopping in regularly to get happy meals and drinks and being bothered about "baseball cards". Anyways word made it out at the 1991 National and I remember grabbing some packs from dealers and a bunch of full sets in plastic holders. Buried of course but I did dig up a pack picture and my Clemens here in storage. The graded one I've had for a while the raw just purchased on eBay within the last year or so for cheap ( believe it was a $5.00 BIN).

I'd love to see any ads or promotional material if anyone has any. They advertised a World Series trip on the packs so I'd like to have the McDonald's promotional materials to go with it.

My raw and graded below. Before thinking that this Mint condition one could be upgraded - tried 25 copies before I got one good enough. Its DIFFICULT to say the least. Limited production- not like most 1990's McDonald's promotional items in the millions.

Life sized pics as always contained in my album



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And if you never saw an unopened 1990 Score McDonald's pack or even a picture before- now you have !!!
See me if you own an unopened pack I am always looking for more to purchase :D




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zyceoa

Active member
Sep 2, 2012
270
42
I used to be really fascinated with that set and owned a Barry Bonds back when. Score also released a Red Sox Pepsi set from that year IIRC.
 

jeffv96masters

Well-known member
Aug 14, 2008
2,095
1,223
Todays post is about the 1999 TOPPS SUPER CHROME set. Short and sweet as not much to talk about on this product

We all like bigger . Bigger meals, Bigger raises, Bigger cars etc. Topps of course is famous for oversized products throughout thee years. In 1998 and 1999 they decided to up size the standard Topps Chrome set. The 1999 product had 36 players and each box contained 12 packs with 3 cards per pack . Refractors were randomly inserted. I never saw much interest in these items in either year of production. Of course years later we all go back after completing years and realize we still need some oversized card so the player completists among us tend to like the set anyways.

Below is my Nomar Garciaparra Refractor version. Below that is an unopened 1999 box from storage I'll crack later this week in the box break section .

I never really liked the base cards as they were quite boring. I thought colors would add some interest. The Refractors of course hold ones attention and this one held mine of course. I honestly thought the mid 80's oversized cards were a lot better- once again because they at least added some color. These are very mundane although the reverse of the cards are quite nice. Hopefully you can see the back clearly on the Garciaparra but the team logo is sorta a nice background blend in with the stats and biographical info. Its the one and only redeeming quality I see from either years sets.

My opinion of course,,,,,




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finestkind

Well-known member
Aug 17, 2008
3,986
901
Massachusetts
I quit buying new cards when the card companies started doing refractors, super refractors, different color this and that. It got too confusing for me.
 

yankeesinthews

New member
Oct 18, 2016
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0
Ok for todays post going with an old favorite of mine the 1978 PAPA GINO'S disc .Papa Gino's is a company that started where I worked in East Boston and slowly moved out into other areas of MA and New England before expanding in the 90's elsewhere. Back in the 1970's and early 80's Papa Gino's would hold annual promotions with various items that were designed to get customers in the doors and tried to appeal to kids more than adults. Various promotional items were offered that were reusable- a big deal in those days was anything you could keep and re-use. Multi-taskers meant less money spent on stuff you didn't need to buy

Cups were the most common promotional item but my favorite is the 1978 disc set .This disc set consisted of 40 players--the first 25 being our local Red Sox , the last 15 various other players. If you read online they'll say it required the purchase of a large drink. While some Papa's may have had this it sure wasn't at my local Papa Gino's in Hudson MA . Not only did you have to buy a drink you had to pair it with a food purchase. Then they handed you the disc. Most people would come in and get pizza with the large soda. I hated their pizza as it was the thick, fluffy type of crust which I dislike -- so I would buy the lasagna and add bread sticks along with the large drink. Good eats for me !!

Rice was my favorite player back then so of course I have dozens of loose Rice discs floating around. The Dwight Evans PSA slab is also mine bought recently as my versions all have been dented due to numerous moves. Saw one cheap on eBay and bought it for my Evans collection. Wish I were home as I'm pretty sure I have the 70'S ads to the promo somewhere in my MA storage.

Like a lot of the 1970's and 1980's food promotions the Players Association always gave approval to promote stuff. So all the items have the Player Association approval seal but are missing the MLB Team logos' etc. So when people start in on this "doesn't have the MLB logo's so I'm not interested " rant about some card producer not showing logo's on sports cards - its been going on in food items for over 100 years . That's fine people don't like non-logos = because those of us who do not mind that fact buy them up !!

Many of those sets without logos from the late-70's to the early-90's were produced by a company called MSA (Michael Schlecter Associates). And as far as cards with no logos being illegitimate, even Topps football in that era didn't have logos!
 
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jeffv96masters

Well-known member
Aug 14, 2008
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Many of those sets without logos from the late-70's to the early-90's were produced by a company called MSA (Michael Schlecter Associates).

Yes sir I avoided talking about Mike's company in the Papa Gino's post because I already planned on discussing it elsewhere
Please see DAY 9 and DAY 13 posts about the various MSA discs I have readily available
I'll discuss more MSA in future posts as well.

I appreciated your feedback though :)
 

jeffv96masters

Well-known member
Aug 14, 2008
2,095
1,223
DAY 18 - 1989 SCORE RED SOX VARIATIONS

Today's post is about two 1989 SCORE BASEBALL RED SOX ERROR CARDS for Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs

A little history about Score. Originally called Optigraphics the company produced 3-D cards for Kellogg's for years in the late 70's and early 80's before they released a set of baseball cards called Sportsflix in 1986. I loved those cards ( will include a post later on that one also). Anyways two years later in 1988 Optigraphics changed its name and released a set into the hobby called 1988 Score Baseball. We all remember that colorful set !! They were successful enough in 1988 to again produce another set in 1989. Its football counterpart is unbelievably successful as we all know.

In 1989 almost all the new sets included cards of the hottest rookie of the day Ken Griffey Jr. The one set that didn't include him ? 1989 Score !! As to why they did not put one of the expected hot rookies in the set ?? Who knows but they did include rookie cards of Craig Biggio, Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield, and John Smoltz. Griffey for some reason ended up in their Rookies & Traded set. I haven't spoke with any Score/Pinnacle people in at least 15-20 years so I couldn't tell you what their thinking was. The set had the six color variation theme and was well planned and executed.

As usual erroRs appeared and two were Red Sox.

Roger Clemens card had an error in his wins total. Instead of 78 it was 778.
Wade Boggs back was later discovered to have a spelling variation in " season" on the reverse.








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Jan 14, 2009
595
5
Today's post is about two 1989 SCORE BASEBALL RED SOX ERROR CARDS for Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs

As usual erroRs appeared and two were Red Sox.

Roger Clemens card had an error in his wins total. Instead of 78 it was 778.

There are four total variations on Clemens’ card. The two you’ve mentioned and two airbrush transitional variations.

(1) with first 7 in 778 mostly airbrushed out with small speck(s) of blue ink still visible

(2) with first 7 in 778 crudely airbrushed with a whiteout effect (quite scarce among Score errors, see also 1990 Milt Cuyler)
 

jeffv96masters

Well-known member
Aug 14, 2008
2,095
1,223
There are four total variations on Clemens’ card. The two you’ve mentioned and two airbrush transitional variations.

(1) with first 7 in 778 mostly airbrushed out with small speck(s) of blue ink still visible

(2) with first 7 in 778 crudely airbrushed with a whiteout effect (quite scarce among Score errors, see also 1990 Milt Cuyler)


This is why I love posting on this board. I've collected that set for years and while people would think you'd hear this stuff come up regularly it just doesn't. Thank you very much sir for new error information :cool: A couple variations I'll need to check out for and find if and when I finally go back to filling in missing holes. I wish they had a "thanks" button ( hint: Gilmo & crew - get on that one will ya!!)



Just got my Clemens from the eBay seller. I never realized the entire time through reading your entry or when I found one on eBay that it was oversized. I don't mind that it is, I just assumed it was standard 2.5 x 3.5

Sorry about that sir and I appreciate you bringing that to my attention -- will make me a better writer in my posts. One of the problems with my recent "quick" posts is I tended to quickly spout out info. When doing so one tends to forget to provide perhaps some "key" info. Sadly what gets left out people just may want to learn. I'll try and do my best in my future posts to include size / dimensions of stuff.

I'll be doing a post later this morning right now catching up on last 3 days worth of emails & business stuff.

Jeff
 

jeffv96masters

Well-known member
Aug 14, 2008
2,095
1,223
DAY 19- 1978-81 Sports Photo Associates Photo Buttons

As an aside I have located my Luis Tiant Red Sox discs along with several other of my disc sets- will scan and post about those later this week
As a 2nd aside- someone asked if I'd sell and of the stuff I post- the answer is " as long as I no longer collect the player or series or have dupes - yes feel free to ask."
I still collect a lot of these players but guys like Yaz, Eckersley and others I no longer do. I also have tons of dupes- just ask. Also I no longer collect anything but cards so anything that is not a card yes is available.
As a 3rd aside- just tab the pic or go into the pic album to see jumbo sized in most cases


Anyways - today's post is about the 1978-1981 SPORTS PHOTO ASSOCIATES PHOTO BUTTONS = specifically the Red Sox versions
I have pictured below my Jim Rice and Fred Lynn copies I located here . There also were Yaz, Eckersley and Evans Red Sox buttons in this series as well.

These roughly 3 inch buttons were made by Sports Photo Associates out of Hawthorne NJ. The company also produced a set of 25 Hall of Fame buttons in 1978 that are very well known. The pins were packaged in a plastic bag attached to a blue "Baseball Photo Button" hang card, that measured about 4"x 5 1/2" with company and licensing information. The buttons were sold all over the place but Fenway is where I saw mine.

When Fleer was awarded the right to produce cards again in 1981 they apparently got together with Sports Photo Associates because they had an extensive picture file and Fleer was looking for cost cutting ways to produce a set cheaply. Since the buttons already existed- voila instant pics!!. If you look at a whole bunch of buttons from this series you'll see they very closely resemble the 1981 Fleer set. Not all of them- but enough of them that its obvious where Fleer got their pictures from.
[MENTION=4047]mrmopar[/MENTION] I am sure has his Steve Garvey and I bet the unnumbered button matches his 1981 Fleer picture !!


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ORIGINAL PACKAGING OF THE BUTTONS ( this original product photo is courtesy of 4192 cards- I sure don't have mine in original packaging !! )

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The 1981 Fleer baseball card wrappers had two variations that I am aware of I am sure a pack expert may have found more.
The picture below shows the two pack variations. As you can plainly see the Sports Photo buttons are clearly being advertised
I have included some pics from another good website ( see info on that below)

WRAPPER VARIATIONS SHOWING AD FOR THE BUTTONS



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As an aside--- a couple good videos below of ripping 1981 Fleer if you care to look


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9QWd2mhTqg


Also I encourage people to go to two different links to learn more about the series

One is from our own FCB Hensley Meulens collector Jason
CLYDE BLOG

And the other from an advance collector of the button series called Stephen Keyman of Keyman Collectibles
KeymansSPAButtons
 
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