Hostess Baseball Cards

[darkhorse9]

The true challenge of the Hostess sets is the 1977 "Twinkies" set. I've been working on that for decades. That's the only year in which every one of the 150 cards is available on a single (black bar) panel. Some were on the standard Twinkie size (#1-60), some were on cupcake (much narrower #60 - 135) some were on SnoBalls (had flaps on the panels)

The last 15 cards in the set have been a real test for me. I've never seen the uncut versions of those cards come up.

[4reals]

I hear ya Mark, I've been looking for a '77 Twinkies Don Sutton being sold by itself for 5+ years now.

[glynparson]

absolutely should not have received a numerical grade. if the card did it was misgraded.

[Jayworld]

Here's an example (there are others) of a card on eBay that is labeled by PSA as "Hand Cut" and also Gem Mint with a numerical grade:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1977-HOSTESS...item540f341083

So, are we saying that there should not be a number grade on any card that has been hand cut, etc., or just Hostess?

[Exhibitman]

If anyone needs 1976 Twinkies Aaron cards, I have several available. All have the product stains in varying degrees.

[nolemmings]

o, are we saying that there should not be a number grade on any card that has been hand cut, etc., or just Hostess?

I think Glyn Parson was saying it should not receive a numeric grade if cut inside the dotted or dashed lines.

Edited to add that I think you'll find the Bazooka issues from the 60's (and 1959) to be treated the same.

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by glynparson

absolutely should not have received a numerical grade. if the card did it was misgraded.

I thought they now graded cards like this but put the designation as Hand Cut? Not just Hostess panels....

Z Wheat

[hoot-owl]

Anyone have specific data on the short prints across the different years?

I am still looking for John Mayberry from the 1975 set (card #92) and five or six 1979s (also in the 90-100 number range). Anybody have a spare Mayberry?

Just wondering if there are common ranges of numbers between the sets that might have been SPs?

[toppcat]

Here is an article from the July 19, 1976 Sports Collectors News entitled 1976 Hostess Cards Checklisted. It has information on some black and brown prints and the collectors album for the issue.

[4reals]

I may have missed it but does anyone have scans of both Hooton variations?

[esquiresports]

Originally Posted by darkhorse9

The true challenge of the Hostess sets is the 1977 "Twinkies" set. I've been working on that for decades. That's the only year in which every one of the 150 cards is available on a single (black bar) panel. Some were on the standard Twinkie size (#1-60), some were on cupcake (much narrower #60 - 135) some were on SnoBalls (had flaps on the panels)

The last 15 cards in the set have been a real test for me. I've never seen the uncut versions of those cards come up.

Here is an example of an uncut Twinkies sheet that I have (I believe I have two or three). Sure enough, the last card on the sheet is #135. Interesting...

[darkhorse9]

That looks to be the Cupcakes run. You'll notice there's very little border between the cards. Those also have much different printing on the back. The stats are printed a lot smaller than the Twinkies versions.

I'm not 100 percent sure what product the ones over #135 were issued in. 1-60 were Twinkies. The Snowballs seem to be skip numbered.

[steve B]

And for really tough ones there's these.



I traded for a small batch of them back around 1981. 74 McCovey Washinton And maybe a couple other cards for the whole bunch.

The stupidly traded half of them for another McCovey Washington.

So there's around 10 of them out there plus my 10. I've never seen any others and haven't seen them listed anywhere.

Pretty interesting, along with the different colors most are screened more coarsely, and there are a few reversed negatives. And numbers over 150 - which seem to match the list for proofs in the Standard catalog.

Steve B

[esquiresports]

Originally Posted by darkhorse9

That looks to be the Cupcakes run. You'll notice there's very little border between the cards. Those also have much different printing on the back. The stats are printed a lot smaller than the Twinkies versions.

I'm not 100 percent sure what product the ones over #135 were issued in. 1-60 were Twinkies. The Snowballs seem to be skip numbered.

Ok. That makes sense. Found a photo of the backs:



Here is a 1977 Twinkie card I have that I believe has never been catalogued - Dave Parker.

[David W]

Here is an example of the differences in the Twinkies in 1975. There may be others in 75 as well as other years.

[LDFerg]

I picked up a nice 76 and 79 set a few weeks ago. I have cut a few to get a feel for the grading. My grades have resulted in. 8s, 9s, and 10s.

[Jayworld]

Originally Posted by LDFerg

I picked up a nice 76 and 79 set a few weeks ago. I have cut a few to get a feel for the grading. My grades have resulted in. 8s, 9s, and 10s.

That's very cool. So when you cut them, do you cut exactly on the dotted line (thus leaving a slight line residual), outside the line, or inside the line? I've seen all forms of cutting these cards, and when I used to trade with friends in the 1970s, I was pretty picky about how the cards were cut out, as I did not want ragged edge cards, etc.