ID Help - oddball specialists!
 

Hi guys,

Just got shown this and didn't recognize it. Looks like Mantle, Koufax, Aaron, Clemente are there among others. Anyone? Thanks.

Howard

Are they really small, like stamp sized? If so they look like the old cards you used to get out of gumball machines.

I can't make out the writing on them. What do they say?

They are small
 

Smaller than 1969 Topps stamps. They are not mine. I have requested either a better pic to confirm what it says at the bottom. I can make out they are sequentially numbered from 79 to 91. I can also make out the words " Gypsy Oak Wisps" on the bottom of every card, underneath which is a batting outcome - "single", "walk", etc.

Several of the images match the images that appear on the player's 1964 Topps cards (Koufax, Aaron, Banks).

99% sure it’s a recently made fantasy piece from the same company that makes those expensive fantasy pieces that are artificially aged, I can’t think of the name they use. ETA: Helmar something?

Interesting, it looks like most of the images are taken from the 64 Topps cards, except the Monte Irvin taken from his 53 Topps card.

The biggest giveaway is that they are a recently made fantasy piece rather than an actual period piece is that an actual period piece would have players like Roy McMillan and Jim Fregosi on it :D.

Also looks almost exactly like the 64 Mays Topps piece, including even the slight divot on the top of his hat.

Gypsy Oak is a modern art studio. They make these types of baseball related products. They are art pieces.

Here's their website: https://gypsyoakart.bigcartel.com/

The guy says he has had it for 40+ years
 

I have no reason to doubt its age - the owner is not trying to sell it. Are you thinking of "Banty Red"? I am pretty sure this is not related.

The 1964 connection is interesting.

Maybe not the same exact company but they are similar in that they make fantasy pieces.

I could swear that I've got a Mays piece that is a larger format that has a similar look and feel to it, with the black and white and artistic shading, with the same pose and whatnot, just back at home. It could be that subconsciously I'm just mixing it up with the 64 Mays. But let me dig around a little tonight after I get home and maybe I'll find something.

I think we have a winner
 

Just checked out their website and found the following:

https://gypsyoakart.bigcartel.com/pr...baseball-cards

I guess the owner must have either been lying or mistaken.

Thanks for the help guys! This community is the best!

slight correction - it didn't say "wisps", but "micro" in case these come up again.

Welp!

Mischief managed. So much for having a new find on our hands!

...and this is exactly why I can't stand that these "art card" creators do not put clear dates on their products.

Been complaining for a decade plus, but they still have their fanboys.

A huge +1

I like art cards/customs or whatever you want to call them. Heck I make them and have for years but they need to have something on them showing they are a current homemade card.

I don't have a ton of them, but I really like art cards. That said, I agree with your point.

What's worse then no dates on them, is when they put fake dates on them. There's a bunch of Custom/Art Cards of Lewis Hamilton, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, and others that I see regularly listed as "Rookie Cards" on Ebay, and often times sell (not offered for, but "sold") for hundreds of dollars because of the fake early dates the cards were created with.

Scam works much better when you're dealing with more obscure sports that collectors think they've found a "new discovery" for.