National Chicle Set - what could have been

[Footballdude]

I've always been curious about if there was actually any physical evidence that the other 204 cards were really being considered. Is there artwork somewhere for any other players, maybe letters or notes, purchase orders, anything? Maybe something still sitting in a warehouse basement somewhere? That would be an awesome discovery I would think.
I don't own any Chicle's, but do plan on getting a few, just to say I have them.

Benny Friedman would have been a good one to "stretch" into the set. I think he retired after the 1934 season, so depending on when he announced his retirement and when the cards were prepared and issued for the next season, it is conceivable he could have been added as well. Then, his card could have been pulled from future printings, because of the retirement, thereby creating a great SP rarity.

[jefferyepayne]

Originally Posted by Footballdude

I've always been curious about if there was actually any physical evidence that the other 204 cards were really being considered. Is there artwork somewhere for any other players, maybe letters or notes, purchase orders, anything? Maybe something still sitting in a warehouse basement somewhere? That would be an awesome discovery I would think.
I don't own any Chicle's, but do plan on getting a few, just to say I have them.

Benny Friedman would have been a good one to "stretch" into the set. I think he retired after the 1934 season, so depending on when he announced his retirement and when the cards were prepared and issued for the next season, it is conceivable he could have been added as well. Then, his card could have been pulled from future printings, because of the retirement, thereby creating a great SP rarity.

I've heard rumors of additional artwork but have never seen any. I do think the Chicle set itself gives some hints as to what National Chicle may have been planning.

For instance, the back says there would be 240 cards. There were 10 teams in the NFL in 1934 and the roster's had 25-30 players on them. Unless they were planning to make cards for every single player on every roster, it is likely they were planning to include college stars. The Rockne card supports this theory.

There is one player that is on both a card and a premium - Stan Kostka. And it's the same exact image.





This might hint at their plan to put out premium photos of some of the other players in this set. Or that the individual player premiums would later be put on cards. Individual player/coach premiums in the set include: Joe Bach, Eddie Casey, George Christensen, Red Grange, and Harry Newman.

Also interesting to note that a lot of the premiums show action shots from college games. Again, a possible hint that more college stars would be included eventually.

jeff

[TanksAndSpartans]

First, thanks so much for the positive feedback. I'm glad people enjoyed this. It was fun to do - I worked on it on and off throughout the week and I had lots of scratch outs - it was tough to settle on 36. My last changes before posting were to actually go back and put 4 or 5 of the original cards back in. I really like the set, I didn't want to change it too much.

Originally Posted by Footballdude

Benny Friedman would have been a good one to "stretch" into the set. I think he retired after the 1934 season, so depending on when he announced his retirement and when the cards were prepared and issued for the next season, it is conceivable he could have been added as well. Then, his card could have been pulled from future printings, because of the retirement, thereby creating a great SP rarity.

Nice call on this one. I agree. My last 3 cuts were Link Lyman (another HOFer who retired after 34 season), Roy "Father" Lumpkin, and Harry Newman (premium exists which I noticed after Jeff's post).

Originally Posted by jefferyepayne

This might hint at their plan to put out premium photos of some of the other players in this set. Or that the individual player premiums would later be put on cards. Individual player/coach premiums in the set include: Joe Bach, Eddie Casey, George Christensen, Red Grange, and Harry Newman.

Also interesting to note that a lot of the premiums show action shots from college games. Again, a possible hint that more college stars would be included eventually.

jeff

Jeff, excellent points. I honestly wasn't thinking about the premiums when I made my list. I've seen the Grange premium before, but I was surprised to see the Christensen and Newman premiums. Those are nice to see as was the Giants premium. One of the things that has always bothered me is several card backs mention Bowl games and other specific college games, but not even Ken Strong's card back mentions the NFL championship and Strong had a pretty good game. Just reading the backs of the cards, it seems like college football was still "king". On one hand, I think Chicle wanted to do a professional player set - we've seen the letter written to the Eagles which shows commitment to getting images of pro players, but on the other hand, I think they wanted to hedge and make sure they represented the college game as well. You mentioned the Rockne card and the premiums of college games. Looking at the premium checklist, there are also a few premiums of college players, so I would say, it's not a stretch at all to assume that they would've done cards of college players had interest/funding of the project continued.

[oddball]

First of all, this was a great original post and thread! It's awesome to think about "what could have been" for this iconic set, especially if you start considering the college players who may have been included later on. It would have been cool to have Chicle cards of TCU Sophomore (Freshman year) Quarter back Sammy Baugh and Alabama All-American End Paul "Bear" Bryant! Great stuff!

[jefferyepayne]

jeff

[TanksAndSpartans]

Thanks Jeff. Appreciate your adding some visuals to this thread - those both would've made pretty cool cards. I would've liked a Chicle with a brick wall background - some of the Bowmans have one.

[iowadoc77]

Would be neat to turn some of the guys who do custom cards loose on this and see what they could design. It would have to be someone who is very familiar with vintage football, but would be nest to see what they come up with using images of some of the "new" additions to the set