Chicago Area Collectors, I need your help!!

[klute14]

I have asked this before here but I will ask again as it has been awhile.

Being a Lee Smith collector, I am down to needing a handful of "cards" to complete his entire run.
3 items have given me the most heartburn.

1980 Chicago Sun Times

Measuring approximately 7" by 11" when neatly cut, these newspaper "inserts" feature a black and white photo of the player on top along with biographical information on the left and year by year statistics on the right. Since these are unnumbered, we have sequenced them in alphabetical order. The Lee Smith cut predates his Rookie Card by two years

1984 Chicago Sun Times

Measuring approximately 6 1/2" by 4 1/2" when cut out neatly, these inserts feature members of the 1984 Chicago Cubs. The left side features biographical information, career highlights and statistics while the right side featues a player photo. Since these are unnumbered, we have sequenced these in alphabetical order. This list may be incomplete, so any additions are appreciated.

1984 Chicago Tribune

The 1984 Chicago Tribune set was issued in the sports section of the newspaper and features 34 Chicago Cub players. The posed color headshots measure 3 1/4" by 4 5/8" and have blue borders. Next to the photo in a section of equal dimensions appears player information, including position, date of birth, playing experience, baseball career and Major-league playing record. The pictures are unnumbered and checklisted below in alphabetical order.

If anyone has any information about these or where I may be able to locate them, please let me know.

 

[Mozzie22]

Newspaper cards are some of the toughest cards to find but also some of the most rewarding. It literally took me decades of searching to find the Ozzie cards I needed. Do you know the dates of the newspapers in which the cards appeared? If not that should be where you start. The way you'll end up knocking these out is by searching "cubs newspaper" on Ebay. Once you figure out which date the cards were in you'll have better luck finding the whole paper and cutting your own. Even searching cubs newspaper may take you a long time and money wasted. If you can't find anyone to help you with the dates you might have to bite the bullet and just start buying Chicago newspapers from those years and hoping. Most likely the 1984 cards are from the first two weeks in October, and the 1980 cards are from very early April. If the Tribune and Sun Times are anything like the St. Louis Dispatch they would have put out the cards at the beginning of the playoffs in 84. Since the Cubs didn't make the playoffs in 1980 I'm assuming that the 1980 cards were more of a "meet your Cubs" sort of issue.

One other thing, you might try reaching out to other player collectors for players in the set (Sandberg, Davis, etc) who might have more info. Once I figured out the dates it seemed like I was able to make some progress.
Hope this helps.

 

[klute14]

You are correct, newspaper issues are a tough find.

I wonder if I email the Sun Times and the Tribune, if they had a research department, they could tell me the dates. You are right, if I had the dates my search would be a lot more concentrated to a certain time frame rather than a whole season.

Newspaper cards are some of the toughest cards to find but also some of the most rewarding. It literally took me decades of searching to find the Ozzie cards I needed. Do you know the dates of the newspapers in which the cards appeared? If not that should be where you start. The way you'll end up knocking these out is by searching "cubs newspaper" on Ebay. Once you figure out which date the cards were in you'll have better luck finding the whole paper and cutting your own. Even searching cubs newspaper may take you a long time and money wasted. If you can't find anyone to help you with the dates you might have to bite the bullet and just start buying Chicago newspapers from those years and hoping. Most likely the 1984 cards are from the first two weeks in October, and the 1980 cards are from very early April. If the Tribune and Sun Times are anything like the St. Louis Dispatch they would have put out the cards at the beginning of the playoffs in 84. Since the Cubs didn't make the playoffs in 1980 I'm assuming that the 1980 cards were more of a "meet your Cubs" sort of issue.

One other thing, you might try reaching out to other player collectors for players in the set (Sandberg, Davis, etc) who might have more info. Once I figured out the dates it seemed like I was able to make some progress.
Hope this helps.

 

[thelesquad]

klute, let me know if you have any luck. I'm still hunting my guy.

Mozzie, awesome tips. Thanks!

 

[thelesquad]

I saw this pictured on Beckett's site for the 1984 Sun Times. It doesn't really seem to match the description, but if this is it, we may at least know what they look like.

 

[jtrinaldi]

Maybe you will find them at the Sun Times show in March

 

[klute14]

I'll cross reference that photo to what the Big Beckett has for pictures tonight when I get home.

I saw this pictured on Beckett's site for the 1984 Sun Times. It doesn't really seem to match the description, but if this is it, we may at least know what they look like.

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