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

[mrmopar]

Thought I had written a blog entry on pins, but alas I did not. My motivation may be growing to resume it though...we'll see. I do like to procrastinate!

I do have the Garvey, and a few others from the same set and a later issue as well.



I am finding that this thread has me opening the site and immediately looking for the thread and the newest entry to see what surprise awaits me. I am sure I won't connect with each item discussed, but it is like the fun of a radio (or iPod on shuffle for you younger folks) where you never know what the next song will be.

[jeffv96masters]

Today's short post is about a FULL CARTON ( quart sized) of chocolate milk from MEADOW GOLD SUPERSTAR SERIES from 1986 I came across cleaning. Sorry on delays posting I've been busy lately with work and health appointments ( plus being under the weather the last 3 days). I am aware of course of the other 1986 Meadow Gold items produced = but this is the one I'd like concentrating on today . I'll touch later on the other forms of food promotions Meadow Gold held in 1986 when I come across more Boggs or Fisk items.

First as usual a little history

In 1901 the U.S. Patent Office granted the Continental Creamery of Topeka a trademark for the name 'Meadow Gold". The name was actually used by a Hawaiian company in 1897 when a co-op formed of 7 dairy's - sadly because they didn't become a state until well into the 1900's Continental maintained control over the name stateside.

Continental was then purchased by Southern Beatrice Foods Company , which was then purchased by Borden and changed its name to Borden/Meadow Gold Dairies in 1986. Lo and behold with Borden's well known name & advertising might we collectors started seeing a whole bunch of food related promotions with baseball players. Borden went with what worked and lo and behold a bunch food stuff came out with sports stars plastered all over.

My memory of how I came across the full carton is fuzzy. I believe I picked it up in the late 90's on eBay. The thought of anyone saving a full carton blew my mind back then. They'd have to clean it out and prevent the mold build up. Then it occurred to me the guys in the factory probably took it out before milk ever saw it to make a little extra cash. Perhaps encouraged by the company to do so knowing it would promote the product.

If you look at the pic closely guess who is involved again in promoting it in the 1980's?? You guessed it-- Mike Schecter Associates ( MSA) as usual with the MLBPA as well signing off. The man's company was busy I can tell you that much.


Below is the full quart sized carton of chocolate milk of Wade Boggs I own. I went and looked on eBay seems there are other players available as well. Feel free to post yours. It came in pint, quart, and gallon sized. Mine is a quart sized.

BE ADVISED : These come in 3 color variations depending on product sold - black, brown and blue. So be aware you may have the item in your collection but I'd suggest looking for other color variations. Mine is chocolate milk and is BROWN.

As you can see the carton is so large had to put it into a 11 inch tall holder then cut another holder over that and tape it. I encourage people to go into my album to see the life sized pics.








Meadow Gold had a long history going back well into the 1930's of having sports stars on its products to help sell its items. See below pics from its 1964 cartons both of which are HIGHLY sought after for obvious reasons !!

The first is a 2% Milk carton= props again to Stephen Keyman who actually showed the carton in his 1964 Aurovision record segment. The second one is a variation regular milk box and is from a Huggins and Scott auction years ago

[mrmopar]

Garvey never made the milk issue, so I never chased any of those, but he is in the Ice Cream set.

I came across these a few years back and thought it would be a neat item that many may overlook. I have a box full of empty, but still assembled (not flattened) cartons. They are individual sized and believe they were a school lunch item in So Cal.

[jeffv96masters]

Garvey never made the milk issue, so I never chased any of those, but he is in the Ice Cream set.

I'll be looking at that one in a bit


Today's short post is about the 1984 O'CONNELL & SONS INK sets

As a heads up searching for these I located a trove full of MORE discs from various years again including my Tiant's and a ton more Red Sox players from various issues. I will handle a 3rd post on discs, Hostess products, and some others later next week when I get done scanning and have time to write another post probably this Thursday coming up. I also located some nice mid 70's items that will be of interest to many ( even Yankee fans I promise) coming in the next day or so. I also have an unopened item just waiting for me to get out of storage I need to scan for another article of interest as well. If all goes well have about a weeks worth of writing almost finished just tidying up some stuff.

Back in the mid and late 1980's an artist by the name of T.S. O’Connell issued a "Baseball Greats Series" set of 20 color cards of Baseballs All Time Greats that were 4 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch blank-backed cards he had drawn himself and then had professionally produced in 1983. This is the set we call 1983 O'Connell & Sons All Time Greats (shortened to ATG)

When these ATG sets became somewhat popular he decided so do a mini series of cards as well . He decided on the players he wanted to draw then chose a bunch , drew them, then produced mini cards of them He barely had time to breathe when he finished one group of drawings he moved on to the next grouping . Imagine spending 8 years of your life as an artist and all your doing is trying to create art of sports figures you admired and enjoyed. Not as easy as it sounds. After nearly 8 years he had hit about 250 items. He began selling these thru various magazines and shows back then.

We are all aware of Rob Broder and his "Broder" items. Between Broder and T.S. O'Connell lets just say many dealers and hobbyists were thrown into the very uncomfortable position of " Do I sell this item and risk legal exposure?" or do I just bypass and later on when its sorted out deal with the product. Many sellers chose not to get involved. No one wanted to take on MLB Properties division-- they were not known for being nice. Lets just say that reputation is well deserved. Think I'd want to protect my "turf" if I had an item that could earn me money IF its properly licensed but if it isn't could take away my bread and butter.

In the early 1990s after being contacted by the MLB Properties division and spending some time discussing the issues with them T.S. signed a formal agreement to stop producing his items. He did work out a deal with them to have his prior productions approved so that he was able to continue selling what he had produced already he just couldn't produce any more ( legally). I remember Bob Lemke getting these into the SCD back then and Beckett deciding once it heard they were approved deciding they would allow sellers to sell them in the ads in the magazine ( this is 4 years before Beckett's internet website creation in 1995)

A Really good article by [MENTION=2659]tpeichel[/MENTION]right on this website discussed these a few years ago




Now-- they have the following items T.S. produced that I am aware of :

Standard 2.5 by 3.5 prints ( size of a regular baseball card but they called them "mini" some reason )
Large sized 4.5 by 6.5 inch prints (used in the baseball Greats series)
Jumbo 8.5 x 10 inch prints ( multi use)
Uncut sheets of 20 cards PLUS the original order sheet ad for the Baseball Greats series


Below is pics of the MINI ( Roger Clemens ) The Baseball Greats 4.5 by 6.5 ( Honus Wagner and my Jim Rice) and a complete uncut sheet



*** As always life sized pics in the album itself --the sheet is huge !! **

[finestkind]

T.S. O’Connell is a great writer for Sports Collectors Digest too. Those cards are cool.

[jeffv96masters]

Today's post is about the 1988/TARA PLAQUES and part 2 will be a followup on the 1975-1979 HOSTESS sets posted earlier in the DAY 12 post.

These plaques were produced over a 2 year period by Tara Toy Corporation .They were founded in 1975 (not 1977 as some list them starting) and are based in Hauppauge, New York out on Long Island and still exist today- just a phone call away for the curious. As far as I am concerned- and I've tried for 30 years to verify otherwise = there is NO 1989 issue. They produced the items over a 2 year period ( 1988 and 1989) and while plans were in place to do a second issue no such thing occurred. I haven't talked to Bruce Pearl in a very long time ( he ran Tara Toys back then ) but I stopped looking years ago for 1989.

They did produce two types of issues. One is single plaque with an individual player. The other was a team issue group of players for that team. I can't locate my package pics of the team issues but then again I haven't looked in a long time for that set of pictures.

You will discover that the lists that were provided at the time to Beckett and many others were never vetted and were NEVER researched by their OPG staff or any other party who bothered listing the checklist. You'll also discover what's printed on the back of the packages themselves is inaccurate as many players not even listed on those backs can be found ( they were in the team packages).

Several players do not appear in the Beckett checklists- my personal belief is there were 52 players. Ron Darling ( see below) and Gary Carter (see below) I have pics. I emailed my Beckett OPG guy by the way as it looks like they never added the two above- I am sending them the pic to show proof of existence.

Kevin McReynolds and Danny Jackson are two that supposedly exist. I'll need picture proof before I take that as gospel. I have yet to see the prototype Bo Diaz that I've been told exists but would love to= he was shown on the mock ups. If I get pics of either the two missing guys or the prototype I'll get them cataloged by Beckett


MY CLEMENS IS BELOW




PROOF THAT THE CARTER AND DARLING EXIST IS BELOW









**** NOTE : AS OF 10/09/2018 THE TWO MISSING PLAYERS ( DARLING / CARTER) HAVE BEEN ADDED TO BECKETT'S OPG. SYSTEM SHOULD UPDATE AND YOU'LL SEE NOW

[finestkind]

Interesting stuff. But, those are ugly.

[MisterT]

This thread is fantastic...but man, does it show me how much I don't know about my hobby.

Keep it up!

[jeffv96masters]

This is DAY 22 PART 2 the HOSTESS UPDATE. I thought I would show some more years panels and also show other related Hostess materials.In re-reading the Hostess post it reminded me I also didn't give out the history lesson. This was a crucial miss I'll apologize for and make up for today. You'll learn some stuff you never knew for sure and it will surprise you to learn it I'm sure.

As stated I found a bunch more Hostess panels here from 1975, 1976, and 1977. I believe the post in Day 12 showed just the 1978 Jim rice panel I had found. I also located a Hostess display pic, an old Hostess ad piece, and two ballpark hostess displays ( cool pieces) online from two separate years in 1978 and 1979 you may not know existed (the stuff you might learn when you read the ad materials !!!) So it should be interesting material. The 1976 year is by far my favorite Hostess set.

I seem to also have forgotten in that Hostess post to give a little company history. Spoke about the snacks but not about how the company business developed into the 1970's. The company started as Nafziger Bakery in 1905 and eventually by 1937 had grown and been absorbed into the 5th largest bakery in the US called Interstate Bakeries. It continued growing into the 1970's when Data Processing Financial and General Corporation (DPF), a computer-leasing company, purchased them. DPF spent a ton of money investing in the operations of Hostess and other bakery buildings. They began buying other locales, building up various brand recognition but really not having a focused vision on what they wanted to do with what they already owned. Their unions began clamoring for the usual- better wages, retirement benefits, etc and like many companies of the 1970's and 80's these demands began to take a toll on the company and its profits began to suffer. Poor upper management and lack of effective leadership at the most important upper levels generally results in bad things happening = and this company was no exception.

They began a long, long, long march towards Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At the time when they first filed little did anyone know it would be the longest Chapter 11 case in US business history until that time period

Since this will involve other food products I will be bringing up in other posts I thought it would be educational for people to learn who bought what once the company was finally forced by its bankers and investors to sell in its second Chapter 11 filing. Its amazing that stuff you never knew was tied together actually was part of the same company just different brands and areas. Little did we the general public know while it was happening around us ( like the rest of the world we see only what we care to see nothing more nothing less). I knew most of this company stuff because I was in the field and had to extend some of these places credit lines before their filings.


Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos and Co = > paid $410 million for HOSTESS SNACKS and DOLLY MADISON. You may recognize Dolly Madison if I say they produced Zingers. Now you know them ??

Bimbo Bakeries ==> paid $31.9 million for the BEEFSTEAK BRAND ,FISHERMAN'S WHARF BRAND, and JJ NISSEN BREADS BRANDS. We all know about JJ Nissen and the two other are also well know hopefully to most people. The Beefsteak Brand eventually was purchased by Mexican bakery king Grupo Bimbo.

Flowers Foods ==> paid $360 million for 20 bakeries and a whole bunch of distribution centers for WONDER BREAD, HOME PRIDE, BUTTERNUT BREAD, MERITA BREAD AND NATURES PRIDE. Personally I ate all of these except for Merita Bread which I didn't eat until well into my 30's as it was sold in southern states like Alabama instead of the Northeast where I was living

McKee Foods ==> paid $27.5 million for DRAKES SNACK CAKES BRAND. Ah- another food product we'll discuss later !!

All and all I'd say the breakup had some very, very, very interesting connections to sports cards wouldn't you say ??



AN AD PIECE FOR THE 1975 HOSTESS SERIES
Shows the ad placed in a magazine for the Hostess products and and a box mock up




MY 1975 HOSTESS PANELS I LOCATED ARE BELOW







MY 1976 HOSTESS PANELS I LOCATED ARE BELOW







MY 1977 HOSTESS PANELS I LOCATED ARE BELOW







A PICTURE SHOWING THE 1978 AND 1979 BALLPARK HOSTESS AD PIECES
I never knew these even existed until 1990. I'd love to own either of these original pieces IF I had the space in my apartment !!





HOSTESS DISPLAY PIECE TO STORE HOSTESS BOXES ( people could buy these for their homes)
This particular ad piece as you can see is inside a home not a business

[jeffv96masters]

Today's post is about the 1977-79 SPORTSCASTERS RED SOX. I was able to find just three of mine - the Yaz Hidden Ball Trick and the second shows Bernie Carbo sliding into home on the Thurman Munson card; and one sealed package ( the Money Game which shows Red Sox pitcher Dennis Eckersley).

This item was available via a mail in subscription thru multiple sources in the US and various other countries via a publishing company called Atlas Editions. This company was a publishing company that produced various sets of informative cards in 9 different countries I am aware of from 1975 thru 2001 when they folded . They also produced a ton of different sets- they covered sports, airplanes, cars, motorcycles, the US Civil War , military related subjects and even Star Trek.

You may have one player but that player may just have multiple variations from the various countries. Do not trust Beckett's OPG nor the Trading card DB as neither is fully complete. Your best searching until you can't locate a variation you don't have as all I'll recommend.

These subject matters all followed the same pattern and the cards themselves were 5 inches by 6 inches. You received a bulk package when you initially ordered along with something to put them in and document as you went long. Each subsequent package contained a set number of items ( varied with each subject matter) and you could cancel the subscription at any time. People who got in early on the sets wound up with rare ones because invariably the company would change a checklist or package and a card wouldn't be found in later subscriptions.

I won't go into long detail but many people have put together various sports checklist. I'll refrain from posting my own just go online you'll get "some" info. I saw a recent post on CU that reminded me to look for my own sets. Found just a few here the rest I'm sure buried somewhere in storage as usual. There was a guy who used to have a Sportscaster site who I guess didn't bother asking for donations and let in run dry. Too bad I'd have contributed towards keeping it up and running it was a great resource.




Below are some of the Red Sox and Yankees ones I have here in Vegas and the unopened pack example as well. Reminds me I need more top loads of this size !! The whole bunch of them are printed in ITALY . Yes that is two Dimaggio's one is a sepia the other B&W. Whether its a variation unsure its always looked this way. I tossed in Aaron and Seaver for some variety.

RED SOX
========














YANKEES
=========








TWO OTHERS YOU MAY KNOW
====================

[MrMet]

Today's post is about the 1988/TARA PLAQUES and part 2 will be a followup on the 1975-1979 HOSTESS sets posted earlier in the DAY 12 post.

These plaques were produced over a 2 year period by Tara Toy Corporation .They were founded in 1975 (not 1977 as some list them starting) and are based in Hauppauge, New York out on Long Island and still exist today- just a phone call away for the curious. As far as I am concerned- and I've tried for 30 years to verify otherwise = there is NO 1989 issue. They produced the items over a 2 year period ( 1988 and 1989) and while plans were in place to do a second issue no such thing occurred. I haven't talked to Bruce Pearl in a very long time ( he ran Tara Toys back then ) but I stopped looking years ago for 1989.

They did produce two types of issues. One is single plaque with an individual player. The other was a team issue group of players for that team. I can't locate my package pics of the team issues but then again I haven't looked in a long time for that set of pictures.

You will discover that the lists that were provided at the time to Beckett and many others were never vetted and were NEVER researched by their OPG staff or any other party who bothered listing the checklist. You'll also discover what's printed on the back of the packages themselves is inaccurate as many players not even listed on those backs can be found ( they were in the team packages).

Several players do not appear in the Beckett checklists- my personal belief is there were 52 players. Ron Darling ( see below) and Gary Carter (see below) I have pics. I emailed my Beckett OPG guy by the way as it looks like they never added the two above- I am sending them the pic to show proof of existence.

Kevin McReynolds and Danny Jackson are two that supposedly exist. I'll need picture proof before I take that as gospel. I have yet to see the prototype Bo Diaz that I've been told exists but would love to= he was shown on the mock ups. If I get pics of either the two missing guys or the prototype I'll get them cataloged by Beckett


MY CLEMENS IS BELOW




PROOF THAT THE CARTER AND DARLING EXIST IS BELOW









**** NOTE : AS OF 10/09/2018 THE TWO MISSING PLAYERS ( DARLING / CARTER) HAVE BEEN ADDED TO BECKETT'S OPG. SYSTEM SHOULD UPDATE AND YOU'LL SEE NOW

Man, I have a couple of these somewhere...I think they are all Phillies players tho...still in the packages too


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board

[jeffv96masters]

Today's post is about the 1991 TOPPS CRACKER JACK promotion.

In 1980, David Stolz, a former Borden employee who was a partner for an ad company, began working as Cracker Jack’s prize supplier. The guy was hooked on baseball and had tried for years to get Borden to use cards in Cracker Jacks promotions. He was not too successful.

Borden didn't exactly like the idea as the 1982 Promotion using sports cards didn't exactly take off. The guy didn't give up == so he continues bugging people for almost 10 years. In 1991 he goes to New York with Cracker Jack brand manager Geoff Campbell to meet Sy Berger of Topps . Yes folks- THE Sy Berger of almost 6 decades at Topps !! The guy takes his idea and pitches it to Sy Berger. Berger comes up with mock ups and they show them to Borden.

The guy at Borden finally caves in after the meeting and being bugged forever and lo and behold Mr Stoltz finally gets his wish for the card promotion.

So the 3 of them come up with a two card series of 36 mini-cards featuring players. Each mini-card was an exact, one-quarter size duplicate of Topp’s 1991 regular issue ( same card just pint size ). Topps is already producing mini cards that year so Cracker Jacks are just another line they can use to promote and get $$ on.

They send sales reps out with uncut proof sheets for dealer premiums and even decided to do a mail in for an album holder. The normal uncut proof sheet produced was 20 cards wide by 22 cards tall. Individual cards were packaged in the Cracker Jack boxes as a prize of course. Each card was 1-1/4'' x 1-3/4'. Again the normal sheets were 20 cards wide by 22 cards tall. Anything otherwise is a cut down.

Once the cards hit the market they sold like Cracker Jacks sell - tons & tons and tons !! Series I sold over 75 million boxes of Cracker Jacks , with Series II selling almost 60 million more boxes . Dealers went crazy over the uncut proof sets. Everybody is into it and a total of 25,000+ people decide to send in a mail in offer for the albums.

One year wonder sadly- the next year Borden went cheap and decided to use Fleer- sales drop into less than half and bam a great idea goes down the tubes. Donruss follows the following year . Sadly that 1st year can't be duplicated and its a case of don't keep tapping a well that should have been tapped just once in a 'while".

Now- here is the part that gets complicated when it comes to proving stuff you'd love to have the major industry players acknowledge. I have all the backup to the normal stuff- pics,redemption letters,etc etc. I'd like to see if ANYONE can prove to me how the 1991 Cracker Jack 4 in 1 cards were distributed. As in distributed to the general public and not cut off a sheet. I have seen plenty of unopened 4in1 panels sold. Show me an order form, or an original mailer with proof, or anything that has the exact proof these came as seen in the hobby. Until I can get the proof that the panels were not cut off sheets I'll never be able to get them approved for Beckett or elsewhere. You'd think a promotion 27 years old wouldn't present such an issue in the age of the internet. Well-- there is a lot of 1990's stuff that is now presenting us with that issue. I know tons of people who own a 4in1 panel. Not a single one can say anything other than "bought it at a show, bought it off eBay" etc, etc. Proof is what I need I say. Until I can get proof they got distributed that way they'll never get formally acknowledged by anyone except collectors who like oddballs.




Below is my Roger Clemens Cards from this set both in single and 4 in 1 form





This is what the Album Mail in offer they sent out looks like






This is what the Album outside looks like- inside just has a bunch of slots for the mini cards just like 1991 Topps Minis album does






And here's what the Cracker Jack box looked like with the card offer ( special thanks to the Cardboard Connection on this one! )






And if you happened to send Borden a direct request this is what you would get back







And lastly a pic of what unopened prizes looked like ( I'd like to crucify the Etsy seller who never shipped me my product)





And a Series 2 smorgasborg that I wish I had seen for sale when they went up would have snatched them up in a heartbeat. This pic though is causing me untold amounts of grief- its like great lots of uncut 4 in1 - where did the lot of them get generated from ? Did someone gets sheets cut professionally or did they get them in a mail in? Hence my need for backup !!

[WizardofOz1982]

Toda'ys post is about the 1991 TOPPS CRACKER JACK promotion.

In 1980, David Stolz, a former Borden employee who was a partner for an ad company, began working as Cracker Jack’s prize supplier. The guy was hooked on baseball and had tried for years to get Borden to use cards in Cracker Jacks promotions. He was not too successful.

Borden didn't exactly like the idea as the 1982 Promotion using sports cards didn't exactly take off. The guy didn't give up == so he continues bugging people for almost 10 years. In 1991 he goes to New York with Cracker Jack brand manager Geoff Campbell to meet Sy Berger of Topps . Yes folks- THE Sy Berger of almost 6 decades at Topps !! The guy takes his idea and pitches it to Sy Berger. Berger comes up with mock ups and they show them to Borden.

The guy at Borden finally caves in after the meeting and being bugged forever and lo and behold Mr Stoltz finally gets his wish for the card promotion.

So the 3 of them come up with a two card series of 36 mini-cards featuring players. Each mini-card was an exact, one-quarter size duplicate of Topp’s 1991 regular issue ( same card just pint size ). Topps is already producing mini cards that year so Cracker Jacks are just another line they can use to promote and get $$ on.

They send sales reps out with uncut proof sheets for dealer premiums and even decided to do a mail in for an album holder. The normal uncut proof sheet produced was 20 cards wide by 22 cards tall. Individual cards were packaged in the Cracker Jack boxes as a prize of course. Each card was 1-1/4'' x 1-3/4'. Again the normal sheets were 20 cards wide by 22 cards tall. Anything otherwise is a cut down.

Once the cards hit the market they sold like Cracker Jacks sell - tons & tons and tons !! Series I sold over 75 million boxes of Cracker Jacks , with Series II selling almost 60 million more boxes . Dealers went crazy over the uncut proof sets. Everybody is into it and a total of 25,000+ people decide to send in a mail in offer for the albums.

One year wonder sadly- the next year Borden went cheap and decided to use Fleer- sales drop into less than half and bam a great idea goes down the tubes. Donruss follows the following year . Sadly that 1st year can't be duplicated and its a case of don't keep tapping a well that should have been tapped just once in a 'while".

Now- here is the part that gets complicated when it comes to proving stuff you'd love to have the major industry players acknowledge. I have all the backup to the normal stuff- pics,redemption letters,etc etc. I'd like to see if ANYONE can prove to me how the 1991 Cracker Jack 4 in 1 cards were distributed. As in distributed to the general public and not cut off a sheet. I have seen plenty of unopened 4in1 panels sold. Show me an order form, or an original mailer with proof, or anything that has the exact proof these came as seen in the hobby. Until I can get the proof that the panels were not cut off sheets I'll never be able to get them approved for Beckett or elsewhere. You'd think a promotion 27 years old wouldn't present such an issue in the age of the internet. Well-- there is a lot of 1990's stuff that is now presenting us with that issue. I know tons of people who own a 4in1 panel. Not a single one can say anything other than "bought it at a show, bought it off eBay" etc, etc. Proof is what I need I say. Until I can get proof they got distributed that way they'll never get formally acknowledged by anyone except collectors who like oddballs.




Below is my Roger Clemens Cards from this set both in single and 4 in 1 form





This is what the Album Mail in offer they sent out looks like






This is what the Album outside looks like- inside just has a bunch of slots for the mini cards just like 1991 Topps Minis album does






And here's what the Cracker Jack box looked like with the card offer ( special thanks to the Cardboard Connection on this one! )






And if you happened to send Borden a direct request this is what you would get back







And lastly a pic of what unopened prizes looked like ( I'd like to crucify the Etsy seller who never shipped me my product)





And a Series 2 smorgasborg that I wish I had seen for sale when they went up would have snatched them up in a heartbeat. This pic though is causing me untold amounts of grief- its like great lots of uncut 4 in1 - where did the lot of them get generated from ? Did someone gets sheets cut professionally or did they get them in a mail in? Hence my need for backup !!

Great post about one of my favorite oddballs from the '90s. I'm still working on putting together a full set of the 4 in 1s. I wish I'd seen that lot for sale too.

[jeffv96masters]

Today's post is about the 1990 MSA ALL AMERICAN BASEBALL TEAM RED SOX. Was able to find my Clemens of course couldn't locate my Fisk. This is one set if you have info I don't I'd love to hear about it. Whether its pics, ads, etc anything not shown pop in and post please I'd love to have more backup . Tomorrow I am going to pop back to the 1970's again !!

As usual a history lesson first . RC was originally created in 1905 in Columbus, Georgia by a pharmacist who sold soda by the name of Claud Hatcher and later refined by a chemist he hired. I remember drinking Tab and Diet RC at my grandmothers back in the early 60's. I also remember chomping moon pies while I was at it since the two seemed to go well together. Turns out the reason my grandmother liked those two items is they were in a can and she disliked bottles ( they broke) that children could break. She also liked Ronald Reagan ( the future president) who at that time was married to Jane Wyman and he promoted RC Diet soda which she drank.

A little known fact in the new generation is RC was the first company to use cans (1954) and it was the first company to use aluminum cans when they were developed. In 1959 they developed a new 16 oz bottle- again a first. I remember commercials in the 60's-70's that had a taste test- an lo and behold people chose RC over Coke and Pepsi (my guess is they showed just the people who chose RC = but hey that's a debate for another day! ). The company continued to sell but was always a distant 3rd in the soft drink races and I'll attribute this to a stubbornness not to change what worked , which in my book is always a good quality. They eventually got sold in 2000 to Cadbury
Schweppes.

This photo is courtesy of the Columbia, Georgia Historical Society and shows an early RC location photo







This Clemens is from the 24 card set produced by - guess who - MSA again - and was issued in soda 12 packs of RC, Squirt etc solely in Wisconsin . According to the Beckett almanac they were glued to the sides of the packaging and were hard to get off. Not exactly folks. They used the same stuff back then that companies used to stick magazine labels on. A little patience is all one needed. Singles began cropping up immediately at shows. I noticed the same thing with other soda distributors- a lot of stuff never made it into the 12 packs and instead wound up being taken home and sold to people. I've always loved the colors of these cards. I don't have access to many of my older magazines but could someone check ads and see if they could dig up one for these ?? Would love to have it for historical reasons. I'd also love to see any local Wisconsin related promotional material for this set if you have it.









You'll also see a poster out there which was the source for the yellow border variations . I'd love to know how to get the poster as I never saw an ad for one and since the cards were limited to distribution to Wisconsin when produced I don't have any backup to how the poster even got out. MSA of course probably made sure one was produced but I never saw one come my way up north. If you own a poster see me I'll pay very well for the full poster sheet ( and even for a cut Clemens & Fisk if you have a yellow one!

This pic below of the yellow themed poster is courtesy of board member [MENTION=2659]tpeichel[/MENTION] and his supercollector website. I noticed one in a Mears auction after the fact of course back in July. Had I seen it would have bid on the lot just to get the poster and given the majority of the rest away. Sadly noticed it in September well after.

[WizardofOz1982]

Today's post is about the 1977-79 SPORTSCASTERS RED SOX. I was able to find just three of mine - the Yaz Hidden Ball Trick and the second shows Bernie Carbo sliding into home on the Thurman Munson card; and one sealed package ( the Money Game which shows Red Sox pitcher Dennis Eckersley).

This item was available via a mail in subscription thru multiple sources in the US and various other countries via a publishing company called Atlas Editions. This company was a publishing company that produced various sets of informative cards in 9 different countries I am aware of from 1975 thru 2001 when they folded . They also produced a ton of different sets- they covered sports, airplanes, cars, motorcycles, the US Civil War , military related subjects and even Star Trek.

You may have one player but that player may just have multiple variations from the various countries. Do not trust Beckett's OPG nor the Trading card DB as neither is fully complete. Your best searching until you can't locate a variation you don't have as all I'll recommend.

These subject matters all followed the same pattern and the cards themselves were 5 inches by 6 inches. You received a bulk package when you initially ordered along with something to put them in and document as you went long. Each subsequent package contained a set number of items ( varied with each subject matter) and you could cancel the subscription at any time. People who got in early on the sets wound up with rare ones because invariably the company would change a checklist or package and a card wouldn't be found in later subscriptions.

I won't go into long detail but many people have put together various sports checklist. I'll refrain from posting my own just go online you'll get "some" info. I saw a recent post on CU that reminded me to look for my own sets. Found just a few here the rest I'm sure buried somewhere in storage as usual. There was a guy who used to have a Sportscaster site who I guess didn't bother asking for donations and let in run dry. Too bad I'd have contributed towards keeping it up and running it was a great resource.




Below are some of the Red Sox and Yankees ones I have here in Vegas and the unopened pack example as well. Reminds me I need more top loads of this size !! The whole bunch of them are printed in ITALY . Yes that is two Dimaggio's one is a sepia the other B&W. Whether its a variation unsure its always looked this way. I tossed in Aaron and Seaver for some variety.

RED SOX
========














YANKEES
=========








TWO OTHERS YOU MAY KNOW
====================

I need to go back through my storage building at some point. I rescued 3 or 4 large cardboard boxes of these from the dumpster at the elementary school my wife works at about 5 or 6 years ago.