[Zach Wheat]

When International Bakery was experimenting with their initial baseball issue which we now know as the 1975 Hostess Twinkies set, they experimented with different back colors including black ink and brown ink on the back. The Twinkies set differs from the normal "Hostess" set as it has black bars along the top and bottom of the card.

International Bakery's printer was out of Pittsburgh. They printed some test sheets in other colors as well including yellow, red and pink. The sheets were thrown away in the dumpster and an employee went dumpster diving after work. The sheets were recovered and were sold to a dealer. The dealer cut up and sold a number of the brown bar Hostess Twinkie cards on the open market. Most of the brown bar Hostess Twinkies you see on the market come from these sheets.

1975 Hostess Twinkies is a limited set and considered more rare than the 1975 Hostess set. The 1975 Hostess Twinkie Brown Bar variations are even more rare than the Black Bar variations, which are perhaps 1/4 more rare than the black bar variations.

To date I have never seen any of the other color - but I am told they exist. Maybe a Yount rookie in 1975 Hostess Twinkie red back variation will pop up some day. Or maybe a Ryan.....we might never know. But I am told they exist.....