365 DAYS OF RED SOX DAY 40 - 1986 TRUE VALUE SUPERSTARS

[jeffv96masters]

Love this thread [MENTION=2322]jeffv96masters[/MENTION]. Looking forward to seeing more of the cards from my childhood. I still have a few of the odd ball stuff (coca cola, hostess, etc.) but nothing like this. Keep 'em coming.

We will touch more on the other odd ball food stuff later on.

Great stuff. I lived in Worcester until 1988. I didn't know they sold sports cards before that.

You would have known it had you know which door to go in. It wasn't advertised nor did it last long. Probably 1986-90 range if my memory serves me. The front entrance was the mattresses / furniture. The side entrance in back was where he had his "hobby' set up with Jeff running the show and 2-3 other employees who I can't remember assisting him. I'll try and dig out some of his old ads in the SCD stuff I have buried. Used to have cases up front and the singles buried in back. I purchased my unopened original Jordan sealed Star sets from them along with other Red Sox related sealed Star sets as they were one of the original Star dealers selected ( info on that coming in another post). Also bought a lot of card sheet protectors as well from them.

I'm prepping Day 9 now will post it later on today

jeff

[jeffv96masters]

Back in the 1970's and early 80's the MLB player association dealt with a lawyer named Michael Schecter, who formed a company called MSA ( his name plus "Associates" since he had an entire office staff assisting him), to put out various sponsored food items approved by the MLB Players Association. During that period the easiest way of all to promote your business was getting people to eat something - thereby promoting your project easily.

Several disc sets were produced in the Midwest and Northeast regions. The most common of these revolved around numerous makers / suppliers of foods.

The 1976 Isaly disc set was regionally produced and distributed throughout the Pittsburgh area by Isaly Dairy and Sweet William Restaurants. Isaly’s was a chain of family-owned dairies and restaurants which began in Ohio . Dairy Isle was another Ohio based ice cream chain. Both sets frequently made their way out of those states into the general populace and we saw them regularly at shows here in Massachusetts.

Below are the two discs I have of Fred Lynn slabbed from Isalys/Sweet William and Dairy Isle








We all may have also heard of the Cranes Potato Chips Disc set. Cranes has a rather interesting history as a potato chip business.
Cranes had a rather turbulent start and changed ownership & names more often then Steinbrenner Sr did managers

Crane's Potato Chips began as Licek Confectioners in 1938 under the ownership of Paul Licek. It was renamed Licek Potato Chip Company in 1938 and in 1939 the company was sold . It was sold again to Curtis Pretzel in 1940 when the company relocated. In 1944 Ollie Crane purchased the company and changed its name back to Licek Quality Potato Chips. Crane also began marketing chips under the Crane name at the same address = with Licek producing the chips and selling them to its sister company, Crane Potato Chips, which then resold them into the market. In 1950 the company's name was officially changed to Crane Potato Chips. with no more differentiation. What a weird way to start a potato chip company with so many ownership and name changes.

My Fred Lynn Crane discs are below. I also will try and locate my Tiant ones which I know I have here in Vegas just can't find them right away. FYI- I sold all my Yaz years ago-- he's on my " Do not own" list now.









EXTRA NUGGET

Many people may not be old enough to remember a 1960's Crane Potato Chips promotion ( you'd have seen it in the 70's frequently). In the years between 1960 and 1965 Cranes produced PIN inserts into the chip bags. Mnay teams had multiple pins and various combinations. I'm no pin expert and will defer to various others but I've seen these in multiple shades of color variations. Not sure how many exist variation wise I sold almost all my pins back in the mid 2007-2008 range before moving to Vegas so I am totally devoid of any but the one below which I kept.
If I locate where I put it will show the back later by updating the post.

[finestkind]

Thanks for posting all the Red Sox information. It's a great read. I saw the ads for Rotmans Sports Cards in SCD after I moved to Boston.

[mrmopar]

I was in Connecticut earlier this year for business and saw a Papa Gino's in person for the first time, although I didn't try to eat there. It's funny, because these food issue names (those mentioned above along with Carousel, Red Barn, Saga, etc) are almost second nature to me, but many of them feature businesses that I had never heard of outside of the disc issue or ever frequented. Now the majority of my life has been spent on the West Coast (minus about 1.5 years in Florida and Ct for the Navy in the late 80s), so I'm sure we have our favorite establishments that East Coasters don't have, but since the food issue game is all but dead these days, there will never be that same factor of recognition we saw in the old days. As much as there is for selection in the 70s/80s, I wish there was still more to choose from. Great sports stuff all around from food sponsors.

[rebelpawn]

I love this thread, thanks so much for doing it....

Man I want some Papa Gino's so badly right now....

[jeffv96masters]

A part of hobby lore is the 1991 TOPPS DESERT SHIELD Red Sox cards.

If you were gather a group of people today and discuss the five most collected 1990 series this is sort of what the discussion might have inside its voted Top 5 ( not necessarily in the order listed below-- just showing a list folks !! ) :

1. 1998 Donruss Crusade
2. 1993 Finest Refractors
3. 1996 Select Mirror Gold
4. 1991 Topps Desert Shield.
5. (chose your poison)

This set was initially not as highly thought of when it came out. Boring Topps set combined with "supposed" shortages plus add in all sorts of fakes and what you had in the late 1990's and early 2000's was just a bunch of dedicated hobbyists who knew about the set and enjoyed collecting it = and others who felt it wasn't worth much more than the base set and looked barely different than the Tiffany versions.

This all changed when CHIPPER JONES and the Braves began their remarkable mid to late 1990's run. All of a sudden this "limited" supply item of 7,000 "supposed" sets became the go to set of the 90's for the average Joe wanting a Chipper Jones Rookie different than the base sets others had. Where there is money to be made- out come the hucksters, fraudsters and their ilk.

I watched it grow in popularity until it has come to the point of being a highly collected set. Team collectors, player collectors, and even set collectors enjoy it.


A few of my Red Sox Desert Shield raw cards below along with a fake DS card. I have a complete raw set somewhere back home and these are the loose Red Sox I have here in Vegas along with the slabs I have in storage. These two slabs I kept as these cards were my own personally issued cards that I toted around with me everywhere I went until I got them home to MA.





These are some raw items and a fake DS card






I thought I would add some interesting asides today. Numerous board members have blogs they post on- a lot have dealt with this set. Some are worthy looking at



From our very own board member Patrick ( Radicards)= a great Video discussing






And another great video of an authentic pack being opened by Leighton Sheldon of Just Collect - another board member here and on Net54





The below is about the only advice I'll offer when looking at 1991 Desert Shield cards-- take it with a grain of salt =

Tell # 1 = The card should fluoresce under Ultra Violet (UV) light. The RED 40th Anniversary should jump out under UV light as well. Buy yourself a UV light and you'll see this easily.

Tell # 2 = The tip of the palm leaf should be pointy and almost looks like it is dripping from rain drops and will mostly come down between the letters "R and A" in Operation. Its not always the case= but the real deal displays this trait more often than not



Jeff

[finestkind]

More great stuff. Thank you doing all this.

[jeffv96masters]

Today's write up is short and sweet. On most player collectors list of favorites is the 1988 TOPPS CLOTH test experimental issue. Tough to locate individual items and was mythical in the pre-internet days.

Word around is that about 100 sheets made it out. Judging by the amount of available slabbed items- either that total is inaccurate or as unusual underestimated.

I have a complete set of cut raw items both loose and in slabs. If your ever able to pick up your player- do it.
Took me years to locate a Clemens at a good price and I'd buy more if they were priced in my wheelhouse.

This issue is thin and has a weird, smooth surface . Its easily damaged and if you handle without gloves you can bet the item will pick up whatever dirt is on your hands. The only comparable series that is close is the 2000 Pacific Wild inserts which took after this set. It crinkles at the slightest touch and is so easily damaged only experts can get this cut professionally without damaging. I know the owner of the BGS registry complete set and I'm on his A list for buying it if he ever sells.

Without further ado-- my Roger Clemens Red Sox version. I have buried my Boggs and other Red Sox but see below for some other tidbits of interest !!






And if you have never seen a full sheet- well now you have !!










And some of my slabbed 1988 Topps Cloth versions of other players. Hopefully the video works


1988 TOPPS CLOTH

[Ct Sox Fan]

Great thread Jeff! I am learning a lot about some of the cards I have in my collection thanks to you!

[jeffv96masters]

Lets talk about food again. My favorite subject !! We all remember years ago when we were young. Relaxing days spent doing nothing but schoolwork, homework, and play after those were done. We'd rush home and what's the first thing we think about ?? Snacks baby snacks !!

I know when I hit my house after school back in the day I was searching for cookies or Hostess. So today going to show off a little Hostess product. Hostess as a brand/company started back in 1925 with the infamous " Wonder Bread". During the Depression of the 1930's a guys comes up with an inexpensive snack- one which we all love- called a Twinkie Sponge cake. Millions of sales later and well into the 60's ( 1967 to be exact) two of my all time favorite Hostess snack were invented- Ding Dongs & Ho-ho's !!

I came across one of my 1979 Hostess panels this morning so I figured I'd show it off but I also remembered a very famous story I figured would make people think twice about the power of sugar. Back in 1978 I read in the paper about a guy killing the Mayor of San Francisco and some other guy and claiming that his eating of sugar and other unhealthy stuff-- in this case Twinkies of all things- led to him killing these two people. He didn't claim the snacks made him do it-- just that eating tons of the snacks were an indirect way of showing he wasn't thinking like the rest of us and was major league depressed .

I remember headlines screaming 'Twinkie Defense successful !!" after the guy was acquitted of murder and instead charged with manslaughter. I just went online to look up and see if I could get the info and lo and behold-- its online and part of I guess the lexicon of legalese as the "Twinkie Defense". If it wasn't such a serious situation ( 2 people murdered is never funny and a guy being let off easy isn't either) I'd have laughed out loud. Instead I just shook my head and reminded myself I've heard crazier things since then . And that what he called " depression" (eating unhealthy snack foods) I call Happy Days !!

But anyways-- back to the food !! I figured I'd show off some box panels. Below are the side panels of some complete boxes showing Red Sox star JIM RICE. Also shown is my cut off player panel with Mr Rice front and center.

I remember specifically looking for his panel in 1979 because he had such a monster season in 1978 and wanting anything I could find of him and Fred Lynn.

Enjoy !!! BTW go into my album to see true life size pics. This site makes stuff smaller I guess so its more "phone" acceptable.

[finestkind]

And Twinkies still have no expiration dates on the packages. I never collected the bottom of any food boxes. Cool stuff tho.

[jeffv96masters]

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.







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.






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.









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.





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.


















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]

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]

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) .








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.







[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]

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.