August Pickups

[brian1961]

Howdy Savedfrommyspokes,

A hearty congratulations upon getting that beautiful '61 Post Estrada for your set.

I think you are mistaken about the number of cards that were ONLY available by sending away for a particular team sheet. I am no expert, but I do recall a couple other examples of this---the Yankees' sheet having Bob Turley, and the Senators' sheet had Chuck Stobbs.

The other scenario I well remember from hobby literature was a couple players that were very hard to find, and only on the cereal boxes. You probably know of them: Bob Shaw of the White Sox; and Mel Roach of the Braves. What you might not know is that even in 1969, renown mail order dealer Bruce Yeko singled those two cards out in his catalog entry for the set, and put a hefty premium on their purchase price. The price is of course comical today, but at 1-2 dollars for each, that made them approximately 10-20 times the cost of a common single. In fact, he priced all the cards the same, save for Shaw and Roach.

As you can imagine, 1969 was a time when very few adults, teens, and youngsters sent away for cards. Had Bruce been buried with orders for certain stars, he would have adjusted his prices. When he didn't have the card, which was half the time for the admittedly star cards I wanted from him, he'd simply issue me a credit slip on the paperwork with the cards he had sent me. In a few short years, the price of all star cards was being adjusted on a monthly to a weekly basis by the now burgeoning adult card hobby!

Sounds as if you're having a ton of fun with the '61 Post. I'll always love those--the first baseball cards I saw in 1961, the year I began collecting. Have a great one. --Brian Powell

[savedfrommyspokes]

Hi Brian, thank you...
When I posted that previous message, I was indeed going by memory and not my checklist, thus my disclaimer. You are correct that the Turley and Stobbs were also only company issued....I received a copy of the Turley in the same lot as the Estrada. As far as the Shaw and Roach, the Roach arrived embedded in a previous lot. So, if you have not guessed this yet, I will be patiently waiting for both the Stobbs and Shaw cards to arrive via a future lot.

Interesting story about Bruce....he was probably one of the few people who handled enough quantity of and requests for these cards that he must have quickly recognized that Shaw and Roach were low pop type cards, based on his supply and demand.

Any idea why the Roach card was not numbered in sequence with the other Braves cards from this set?

[MattyC]

One of the most under graded looking pieces I have come across! Was about to pull trigger on a 5 but spent way less on a better looking piece. Curious to get it in hand and see what the issue is; back looks great, too.

[jb67]

Been wanting this Bench card for a long time. I was the under bidder on PSA 9 a couple of months ago. Looking back I should have ponied up the big money because that 9 that I lost out on was perfectly centered. This one sold me on the sharpness of the corners and overall color even if it has a slight tilt.

[Enfuego]

Originally Posted by MattyC

One of the most under graded looking pieces I have come across! Was about to pull trigger on a 5 but spent way less on a better looking piece. Curious to get it in hand and see what the issue is; back looks great, too.

Beautiful card, enjoy!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MattyC]

Thx!

Love the 69 Bench; it is a card on my list, too. To think I went and sold a 9 years ago when I was collecting a set-- to buy some commons! Face palm time!

Just found this bad boy on ebay-- had been one of the toughest in the run for me to hunt down well-centered.

[jb67]

Congrats! Now that is a nice Mantle for PSA 6. Well done.

[brian1961]

Hiya Savedfrom...(What's your first name, bub?)

I must confess that I never really collected the set, and never noticed that card 163 Mel Roach was placed smack dab in the middle of the Los Angeles Dodgers numerical sequence---7 Dodgers before and after. That discovery is most fascinating.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, on May 9, 1961 the Milwaukee Braves traded Mel Roach to the Chicago Cubs for Frank Thomas, which I'm sure bears much weight in the explanation of why Roach is tough, though I'm still puzzled by his assigned number in the middle of the Dodgers.

As for number 193 Frank Thomas, he's with his fellow Cubs. However, it seems Post just kept Frank on the Cubs' send-away team sheet. As for his box card, it must have been deleted from the set, because the Standard Catalog has the cereal box Frank Thomas valued at $37, whereas the send-away card is only $7. (The values are from the long out-of-date 2001 Standard Catalog, but are relevant for the point regarding the disparity in value, which deduces that the Thomas box card is much much more scarce)

Then again, kids simply collected cards or teams; few would be brave enough to go for the entire set, so Roach having an oddball number may have been no big deal to Post. Maybe there originally was to have been another Dodger, such as Sandy Koufax! Wish Dan Mabey would come to our rescue on this one. Perhaps he knows.

--Brian Powell

[majordanby]

matt - that is one helluva nice looking card.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by brian1961

Hiya Savedfrom...(What's your first name, bub?)

I must confess that I never really collected the set, and never noticed that card 163 Mel Roach was placed smack dab in the middle of the Los Angeles Dodgers numerical sequence---7 Dodgers before and after. That discovery is most fascinating.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, on May 9, 1961 the Milwaukee Braves traded Mel Roach to the Chicago Cubs for Frank Thomas, which I'm sure bears much weight in the explanation of why Roach is tough, though I'm still puzzled by his assigned number in the middle of the Dodgers.

As for number 193 Frank Thomas, he's with his fellow Cubs. However, it seems Post just kept Frank on the Cubs' send-away team sheet. As for his box card, it must have been deleted from the set, because the Standard Catalog has the cereal box Frank Thomas valued at $37, whereas the send-away card is only $7. (The values are from the long out-of-date 2001 Standard Catalog, but are relevant for the point regarding the disparity in value, which deduces that the Thomas box card is much much more scarce)

Then again, kids simply collected cards or teams; few would be brave enough to go for the entire set, so Roach having an oddball number may have been no big deal to Post. Maybe there originally was to have been another Dodger, such as Sandy Koufax! Wish Dan Mabey would come to our rescue on this one. Perhaps he knows.

--Brian Powell

Brian,
You are right, Dan will likely have the answer in regards to the numbering of the Roach card....hopefully he will see this thread.



Here is a year old article on Dan by SCD:
http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com...-cereal-cards/


According to this article, there are 543 total cards in the 62 set....I thought I was almost done with the 62 set needing just the blue lined Koufax and Clemente to complete the set based on the checklist in my VBC. Guess I have more work to do there. There seem to be an almost endless number of background and cropping variations on the player's images in this set.

Larry

[savedfrommyspokes]

Matt, good call on the great centering on that sharp looking 60 Mantle.

[the 'stache]

I just picked up this beautiful Johnny Bench for my 1975 Topps set. This is the scan from the web. I'll replace it with a better one once it comes in. But I'm having a hard time seeing why it's only an 8. I'll have to look it over in person.

[MattyC]

Awesome buy. When you have an 8 that looks like that, you've won.

[39special]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I just picked up this beautiful Johnny Bench for my 1975 Topps set. This is the scan from the web. I'll replace it with a better one once it comes in. But I'm having a hard time seeing why it's only an 8. I'll have to look it over in person.

Great looking Bench ,Bill.Good luck with the set.Looks like your off to a good start!

[jb67]

Bill that is a very nice PSA 8 Bench. How far along are you with the 75 set? I am considering doing the Reds team graded and the rest of the set raw.

[brian1961]

Howdy Larry,

Thanks for your kind response, and methinks you are many yards taller than I in knowledge of the nuances and kazillion intricacies of those amazing Post Cereal cards. Please forgive me where I might have insulted your intelligence. Honestly, I just love it that some other collectors are talking about these swell cards, and collecting 'em too.

At the risk of expressing common knowledge to you again, have you happened upon any of the original spot black 'n white TV commercials that General Foods ran about their Post Cereal baseball and football card promotions, as shown on YOUTUBE? A nostalgia buff / dealer uploaded some of them a few years ago and every once in a while I mozy over there and watch a few. If you are well familiar with these, you know what they mean to a devoted collector/enthusiast of Post.

Well, gotta eat and head off to work. I usually have a bowl of breakfast cereal, etc. Just wish.... Let's just say those cereal cards bring back a lot of fond childhood memories. ---Brian Powell

[savedfrommyspokes]

Brian,

Thank you for letting me know about the youtube uploads of the old Post commercials...I will certainly take a look at them.

In regards to the Post sets of cards, I am still very much a novice and in a learning mode about these sets and their nuances. Please continue to share your knowledge of these sets, as most all of the information you share is not only new to me, but helpful also.