Hostess panels - advice?
 

Would love some advice from collectors of the hostess panels… forgive me if this belongs in another area of the site

1. I have a couple of nice panels that are hand trimmed but uneven. I am tempted to cut myself to even them up AND so they will fit ultra pro sheets for larger “cards”. See images below - they have some room to be trimmed (ie, they were not cut along the fake perforated lines from the original owner, I guess

2. Speaking of sheets, any advice on right-sized sheets for these hosted 3 card horizontal panels? I’d love to add the Yount panel to my Yount binder, etc.

3. If I ever do decide to grade/slab these, what is the experience of others to get higher grade in terms of hand cutting?

4. And overall collectibility… I am thinking of buying a couple of full hostess boxes to give my collection a different look (vs the card panel alone). Personally, I like the Twinkies boxes best - more recognizable when I torture my non collector friends and family to view my collection 😬

Thanks for any advice - love to hear from you experienced Hostess card collectors!

Jeff

There is a Post-War board that this should go in, since it's between the years of 1945-1979.
Re 1) Yes, you can recut them closer to the border if you don't like the cuts. With hand cut cards like this, it doesn't matter if they were cut when they came out or yesterday.
3) Cut as straight as possible as close to the outside of the lined borders. I used a normal pair of long scissors and got a 9 on a bazooka panel. Paid $50, sold for $600.

Cool, thx for the advice… nice pick up on the bazooka panel

I just got the last one needed and completed my 1976 Hostess panel set today! Mine are cut oversize and if I cut close to the dotted lines, I can expect PSA 9's. Panel sets are getting rare, because many of them are being cut for the single cards instead.

Good for you - I’m a total novice in these but I really like the ‘76 look better than others…. Colorful and perfect with that “Bicentennial” look of that day.

And, wow, I’m really surprised the people would cut those cards into individual sections. I don’t think they’re nearly as interesting that way. I dig the look of the panels (and maybe a full box too)

Having complete Hostess boxes is most preferable. Complete boxes check off two collectible areas; cards and food products. Swanson's TV dinner boxes from the 1960's have been selling from $75-$150. Those are just pictures of meatloaf and mashed potatoes! No cards. Hostess combines the food product of a bygone era along with great looking baseball cards. Future is strong there IMO.

If putting together a collection, I would recommend an example of each product, ie. Twinkies, Cupcakes, HoHo's, etc... Chocodiles boxes are pretty hard to find. Having a display with the different products, along with the different years, would look pretty neat.

Complete panels are great as well. The full bottom panel that has the Sporting News ad, bar code, and offer for batting gloves still in tact is the coolest looking IMO.

I would much rather have a complete box with my favorite player on it than a cut up PSA 9. I'm not much interested in the opinion of a guy in California...the complete box is far more interesting....although as noted by a gentleman above, money can be made by cutting them up as that is all part of the game.

I personally cringe seeing the boxes cut up, but to each their own.

Hostess Eddie Murray and Ozzie Smith rookies are much, much harder to find than their Topps counterparts. Finding their panels and complete boxes are really tough. I personally got bored of looking at the Topps cards from that era as I've handled them a million times over and they will survive earth's next extinction event just by sheer numbers alone :).


Here is a 1978 store display piece(NFS).

I keep my Hostess panels in 3-pocket sheets in a binder.
Here's a link to one vendor.

https://www.amazon.com/Platinum-3-Po...59898068&psc=1

Complete set...

I've got a complete run of Hostess sets from 1975-1979. They are all in panels trimmed to fit in three pocket sheets.

There really isn't a premium for complete boxes over panels. Nobody I know is interested in collecting the set in complete box form. Anybody who buys them will likely cut them down to panel size.

I also have a near complete run of Hostess Twinkies single cards from 1975-1977 in their complete untrimmed form.

The 1977 set is a huge challenge because six different products were included in the distribution meaning some players appear on several different size backings and some product sizes are very, very hard to find. The master set for that years numbers close to 250 total and I'm still searching for about ten of them.

I keep boxes as boxes if I get them that way. I used to keep them unflattened, but I think I flattened the handful I had several years ago.

I still have one of the Drakes sets in unflattened boxes.

Killer display! That was right in my sweet spot of my childhood collecting….

Perfect! Just what I was looking for… I only have a couple of 3 card panels to add to binders but having these pages might actually incentivize me to add more to my HOF collection (and buying Raw which saves $$ too). Thx again!

Complete boxes carry a premium over complete (ungraded)panels. I've been selling/buying them for years and in the last year the boxes have commanded a nice premium. Although a graded mint 9 or 10 panel can sell for more than a complete box of the same panel...which is one main reason that prompts people to cut the boxes up.

I've had several buyers searching for only complete boxes for their sets(or player sets). Getting a complete set in complete box form is extremely hard, especially since some boxes in each year are short printed.

I have a complete 1978 set in complete box form and I am one box away from having the 1977 set in complete box form too. The other years I am still working on.

Cutting the complete boxes up make the rest of the intact boxes more rare. As someone who collects the complete boxes it is making them more expensive. Once I complete all my complete box sets, cut away :)

These pictured are not my boxes, but shows a sampling of the different aspects of the same panel printed on different Hostess products. It really rounds out a collection when you have examples of the different products. This is just Pete Rose from 1976 and 1978, and his 1979 Chocodiles box(which is a very rare one).

I made sure in my complete 1978 Complete box set, that I had samplings of different products throughout the set, including a few of the rare Chocodiles boxes, as it really represents the entire aspect of the Hostess cards back then.

After all, back then as a kid, the snacks were just as important as the cards :)

Always wondered what “King Dons” are… I don’t remember those as a kid at all (and they sound almost a little naughty) 😬

Hey Brian - from an experienced point of view, do you agree that, if I already have a 3 card panel rough cut, I can cut it better/more even and give myself a better chance at a higher TPG grade, if I go that route?

If so, any tips on how to make the best cut? Maybe a sharp desk top paper cutter? Assume I would cut just outside the fake perforated lines?

Thx again - Jeff

Freshly cut...

If sending in for grading, definitely cut it again. When they grade those panels, they will grade every part that is present. So if you sent an entire box in for grading, and they find a crease on a flap, even if the cards on the panel are mint, it will still get hammered in the grade for that crease.

Cut it just outside the dotted lines. Don't hit the lines at all.

A guillotine type cutter may be the best bet, but I'm not an expert on cutting. That is what I would use if I were going to cut any of them.

Great set!

I used a X-Acto blade and metal ruler with a Self-Healing Reversible Cutting Mat. (Non Slip).

https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Cuttin.../dp/B07ZQ2SV7N

King Dons are the same as Ding Dongs. Hostess faced a copyright issue in some parts of the country so they renamed them in the areas of conflicts.

Agreed. Make sure the metal ruler has a cork back (less chance of slippage) and sharp blades on the X-Acto knife. Always cut with the ruler on the inside of the card; i.e. never cut the cards with the ruler on the outside, in case there is slippage and you cut into the cards/panel.

Of course, I'm going way against the grain, but any panels I buy I cut into single cards, or if I buy singles that have been miscut (usually miscut with extra space outside the dotted lines), I clean them up. Since I don't collect/buy graded (that's another topic), I just make the cards look as nice as possible for my collection.

Not to mention Big Wheels and the mascot even 1975 said was a bit off putting.

Brian I love that store display!

I was lucky enough to find a number of intact boxes recently. I love them, but they become hard to store so I store most of them flat.

I agree with you - a complete box has a special appeal.

Thanks Gary. That Hostess display is one of my favorite things. It looks great in person as it is 3-D and not a flat board. I plan on making a display with that as the centerpiece with some complete boxes(showing them both put together and flat). Showing them flat gives the viewer the ability to see the entire design. Showing them put together gives depth to them.

Storing them flat makes the most sense. I store mine flat too. What I plan on doing with my stored flat boxes is to house them like comic book collectors do individually with a white cardboard backing and then inside a large soft poly bag/sleeve. That way they can be looked at more easily. I hold some old newspapers that way and it works great for those.

Everyone has their preferences like the gentleman above who cuts them into singles. I have a single cut Murray from '78 as well to round out the collection including the complete three card panel and then the complete box.

I enjoy hearing what other people do with the Hostess cards, there are favorite ways for everyone to enjoy, just like everyone had their favorite Hostess snack. They really are a slice of Americana from back then. I remember some of the Hostess commercials back then when they called them "nutritious" snacks.

I have to add that I also really like that display. I collected the Hostess cards as a kid from the beginning, and never saw one of those.

All we got where I was were the little shelf signs. I have a couple of those.

I’m inspired by all of this! If anyone has some “all HOFer” panels available for sale, let me know…

Might be a cool addition to my HOF card cave display

PM me - thx

Jeff

I believe only one panel has three HOFers on it, the 1977 panel with Palmer, Morgan, and Reggie. Here is a pic of that box and some examples of my favorite boxes that would have prominent places in a display. The 1979 Rose Choco-diles and 1978 Schmidt Choco-diles are hard products to find and I like to have representation of each product.

This Murray box has gorgeous cards and would possibly get cut by someone for grading. The 1976 Eck and Brett boxes are pristine and would grade 9 or 10 if cut right. Same for the '78 Brett box. I like them in the state they are in though :). Just for viewing entertainment...none of those for sale :)

That's exactly what I've done. I've used comic book backing boards with sleeves. I've kept my box 1976 Box with Hank Aaron intact on display. I put it in a sleeve folded around the back to protect it.

Most of my hostess collection are full panels not boxes. But when I can pick up a box at a reasonable price it's always my preference.

Sweet display with the '76 Aaron box! That is perfect.

hostess panels and boxes
 

Wow, what impressive collections!!

One thing I will say about Hostess panels...I HATE THE "L" SHAPED PANELS!

They aggravate me to no end. They don't fit neatly in my three pocket binder sets.. I know they're rarer that the straight panels, but they are just so ....awkward looking. One card on its side and all.

Now get off my lawn.

I have been working on graded 1975 and 1976 Hostess panel sets over the last 15 years or so. They are both complete and I occasionally upgrade them when I can. I have to admit that I did cut down a handful of boxes in order to finish out my sets which I struggled with. Phil

Big Red Machine -

VERY NICE

Congrats, those look great.

Its a tough choice when they are so crisp like that. The money says to cut them if you can do it right and get a 9 or 10. But it is getting closer on some of the boxes though.

I have a few that would warrant being cut...I just can't do it. I'm not a good enough cutter either.

Ran across a different store display than the version shown above. Thought I would add to this thread.

I bought out a store stock when I was in college. I cringed at the price at the time (I think it was something like $200 or $400) and was a huge box with panels (lots of dupes though), but probably would be a steal at current prices. Didn't do much with them, so they are still mostly there. I would like to have sets, but can't image building them from scratch. Missing enough of the good ones to not want to tackle that job. When I see full sets for sale though, they sell strong. They have definitely gotten much more popular lately than they used to be.

Hostess
 

You guys need to add a 1975 Hostess hang-tag to your display collections. Don't know if these were available nationally--got several of these from the surplus store in Green Bay, WI in 1975. Right at 6x9" in size.
Attachment 476189

Great find. Do you recall where you found it?

Probably where I got my later shelf signs. Right off the shelf the boxes were on.
The first one I got was brought home by mom. When I asked how she got it, she said she'd just put it in the cart and checked out as usual. They didn't think the sign was anything more than the usual random cart debris. Yes, I was shocked that mom basically told me she'd stolen the promotional sign.

I got a few others in the 78-79 time period just by asking once the promotion was over. Some places claimed they had to send the posters etc back, which made no sense. Others thought it was strange, but were ok with handing me something they were probably throwing away soon.