I need to see your oddball Clemente cards...

[39special]

Not the greatest shape,but heres a '72 Daily Juice

[docpatlv]

Al, that 1968 3-D is one that still eludes me. I have collected Clemente cards and memorabilia for years. Not sure 100% why I chose to collect him, but I think part of the blame goes to Robert W. When we were in 5th grade he would never give up his 1969 Topps Roberto no matter how hard I tried to pry it away from him. Also, Roberto is one of the first three cards my father bought for me when we attended our first show together (the other 2 were Mantle and Mays).

Here are some of my oddball Clemente items...

[MBMiller25]

WOW, those are some great Clemente's. I don't have any off ball, just three or four Topps, including his RC. Love the 3-D and the frames Post Sheet.

[ALR-bishop]

docpatlv--Looks like your action sticker is complete ( all 3 panels). I put together a set a long time back. They are getting hard to find in complete form these days, I guess because they are hard to display that way and apparently are being slabbed in individual panel form.

I have a set of the Plaks but most are separated from the 3 spruces. It is an interesting set because of the mix of the ugly Plaks and nice looking checklist cards...which by the way apparently list several Plaks that were never produced.

[David W]

I was devastated reading the paper when Clemente died. I was 9 years old....... Even in Central Illinois he was a semi mythical figure.

Those Clemente cards/plaques/oddballs are very neat Al and Docpatlv.....

[mintacular]

Cool stuff so far

[Bob Lemke]

Well . . . it's not vintage and it's a collectors' issue . . . but it is oddball.

[thisisradioclash]

Wow, great Clementes all around! What's the story with the monochrome bust-looking Yaz, Killebrew, Clemente pieces that twist off? I've never seen those before. Showing my inexperience here...

Originally Posted by docpatlv

Al, that 1968 3-D is one that still eludes me. I have collected Clemente cards and memorabilia for years. Not sure 100% why I chose to collect him, but I think part of the blame goes to Robert W. When we were in 5th grade he would never give up his 1969 Topps Roberto no matter how hard I tried to pry it away from him. Also, Roberto is one of the first three cards my father bought for me when we attended our first show together (the other 2 were Mantle and Mays).

Here are some of my oddball Clemente items...

[docpatlv]

Nick,

Topps produced these Plaks in 1968 as a test issue. At one point they were extremely difficult to acquire. I remember having the opportunity to purchase the Clemente as a single approx. 15 years ago for slightly under $1000.

A few years ago, a find in Pennsylvania (from a former Topps employee) of these Plaks was purchased by a dealer and they started hitting the market in small amounts. I figured that would be my chance to purchase one as it had long been a Clemente holy grail for me.

I still think they are rare even taking into account the find. I dont believe the dealer (Mile High) ever disclosed the numbers in that find but I could be wrong. If you do a search on e-bay, you should see some examples for sale.

[ALR-bishop]

Mile High made the Plaks "find...or at least ended up with it, and for awhile the market was awash in them. I was able to complete my set through their auctions, as were at least two other collectors I know. That find also seemed to confirm that although the two related checklist cards list 24 subjects, only 19 were apparently produced. No Plaks are known for Peters, F Robinson, Aaron, Drysdale or Mays, even though they appear on the checklist cards.

There is even a variation in the set. Mantle's Plak can be found with either a large nose or a smaller nose . Many of the Plaks have only a vague likeness to the player depicted

[docpatlv]

Hey Al,

Given the Mile High find, how tough do you think the Plaks are nowadays?
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being extremely rare? Also what would you estimate the number of existing plaks for any one particular player?

Mike

[ALR-bishop]

Mike---unlike the 61 Dice, 66 Punch Outs, 70 Cloth, 71 Rookie Artists Proofs, which were never sold at retail and which only a handful or less ever existed, I think the Plaks did have a limited retail distribution. But I don't think they were popular, they were ugly, and most were likely disposed of unceremoniously for the most part.

Before the Mile High find and sale I had put together a little over 1/2 of the set and it was a slow slog as there were other active set or player or type collectors. After the find, I was able to complete the set, and as mentioned above know at least two other people who did as well. Now it is easy to find examples, harder to collect a specific star players, and still really tough to get the full set.

I don't think Mile High specifically revealed how many of each Plak they obtained, but even with that find, I do not think enough of the retailed product survived to ever make this an easy or inexpensive collectible. I do think you see a lot of them going unsold on ebay these days because most of the collectors who wanted them have what they want, and others do not want to pay the high prices sellers are still trying to get.

I would rate them scarce like the 68 3Ds rather than rare like the above mentioned unissued items. One big benefit of the find was it enabled us set collectors to stop looking for the apparently unissued players in the checklist

I believe it is one of the hardest issued test sets to complete...but the issued 1955 Topps Hocus Focus is tougher, and I believe the latter to be toughest issued Topps set to complete

Al