Laughlin Super Stand-ups

[laughlinfan]

Ed had asked for info about the standup set that Bob Laughlin produced, and I thought I would start a new thread to try to provide some info. As near as I can tell, Bob started producing these in roughly 1973. I have a catalog somewhere(!) in which he lists different items for sale, mostly his sets, maps, some T-shirts, but also these standups, which he sold for $3.50 apiece. He also sold these through Baseball Nostalgia in Cooperstown. I have also heard that he may have sold these at shows in the mid-70s, but I’m not certain of that. I think he initially offered 9 different –

Ruth
Gehrig
Aaron
Musial
Williams
Mantle
DiMaggio
Mays
Clemente

These were all he was offering up through 1975. He talks about them in his November 1975 Inside Pitch Newsletter. (He issued 12 of these newsletters, and they are great for Laughlin collectors to pick up. Lots of info and insight, and the only way to obtain his 2 card Hall of Shame set!) In the 11/75 issue, he talks about sales numbers at Baseball Nostalgia (I will dig this up) – no flooding of the market on these! $3.50 would have seemed a little steep to me - as a kid back then, I am guessing I would have been more likely to buy a full box of 1974 baseball cards than a standup – both would have run around the same price. About this time, he also created a couple of large size standups to advertise these - an Aaron and a Ruth. I have also seen a large size Mantle that was two sided, so you could show him in all his switch hitting splendor! I picked up the large Ruth several years ago. I have never seen a large Aaron, so not sure that any are still around. One of my favorite photos in the newsletter was Bob posing with a large Aaron and Ruth he created for Stan Martucci’s store in Staten Island. So I assume he also sold these small standups through that store as well.

In the next few years, Bob also produced a few other players, namely

Seaver
Hodges
Koufax
Bench

I don’t recall ever seeing a Bench, but I have seen it listed in several places, so I assume he is out there!

There are many variations in these – they were a pretty manual production, I think, and he colored and captioned them himself, so you will see different colors, captions, layouts, and slightly different sizes. I’m not certain how he would have cut them, but guessing it was some type of machine cut, as they are nicely done. The small size standups measure roughly 7 x 10 or 8 x 11 (I have a DiMaggio of each of these sizes). The large size Ruth is about 22 x 38. Most of these are found with Bob’s signature on the back and some are found with a notation that they are a “Sports Nostalgia Exclusive” – so thinking he made certain variations only for that store.
Interesting to note that the artwork for these were all taken from other of his sets, I think. I have the original artwork for Ruth and Mantle, from the Great Feats set, and of DiMaggio and Williams, from his All-Star set.
As far as scarcity, I think some of the first nine come up on eBay from time to time, but not often. Some never show up. If there are more than a 100 or 200 left of any of these I would be surprised - sold in low quantities, and of a size that would have subjected them to damage or disposal over the years!
Anybody have any corrections, additions, or additional info to add? I will try to post a few scans and pictures.

[laughlinfan]

From the November 1975 Inside Pitch Laughlin Newsletter:

[laughlinfan]

From the June, 1976 newsletter:

[laughlinfan]

And lastly for tonight, here is an idea of the variations seen in these. These are my Ted Williams standups - I think the one to the far right without a name may have been an early prototype. I got it from the family of a man who was both a big Teddy Ballgame fan, and also a big Bob Laughlin collector.

[Rickyy]

Originally Posted by laughlinfan

From the June, 1976 newsletter:

Wow those are impressive!

Ricky Y

[LeftHandedDane]

Marty,

Thanks for all the incredible information and pics on this unique set. I knew that you would have the information. Its amazing to me that even now how little is known about this set. For example, Beckett only has 10 players listed in the set. None of the baseball card checklist/encyclopedia sites have anything on it. So I'm glad that you have supplied this information and it has its own thread on the most informative site there is, Net54! Thanks.

PS If anyone has any of these they are interested in selling/trading, PM please!

Ed

[laughlinfan]

Hey Ed! Always happy to share any info, especially on Bob's sets! Just for information, I took a picture of the back of my standups. You can see that Bob signed all of them, and six were sold through Sports Nostalgia, as are noted on the back. One even has the original 3.50 price written neatly at the top. Those that have dates are all dated between 74 and 76.

Happy collecting!