Modern Vintage Cards

[jefferyepayne]

Hey John,

Great thread idea! I'd throw into this category any card of a player that was produced after their playing days were over. 1955 Topps would probably be the exception as those cards are considered official rookie cards even if other cards from their playing days are available.

Re: Pottsville Cards. They were produced by Russ Zacko who was the son of the Sporting Goods Store owner (Joe Zacko) that outfitted the Maroons and was the driving force from the 1960s - 1970s to reinstate Pottsville's NFL Championship. They were produced and sold to help fund the on-going fight against the NFL.

The reason why you don't see more sets of these in the registry is not that they are rare but instead aren't worth much. The grading costs to grade this set are much higher than the value of the set. The set can be picked up for much less than $100. I picked up quite a bit of stuff from Zacko's estate and probably have 10 of these sets including some in their original envelope. Here is a photo of the envelope they came in originally.



Hope this helps.

jeff

[TanksAndSpartans]

Awesome! Thanks for the info on the Maroons cards - that makes sense about the grading cost - I figured cards from 1977 aren't valuable, but I think they're really cool. Beyond the players, I like the one with the offensive formations - single wing and short punt.

Good point about 55 AA - I think we may have discussed that before. I'm pretty sure some collectors don't like the idea of a rookie card issued after a player retired....

[jefferyepayne]

A definition for a rookie card you see thrown around a lot looks like:

"The first card produced of a player or athlete that is a part of a nationally distributed, fully licensed sports card set"

but that's where the debate begins. For pre-war sets, it's difficult to determine how widely they were distributed and officially licensed.

For the most part I believe the grading companies and card manufacturers try to designate cards that most benefit them as the "rookie" card of a player. That's probably why the Topps AA cards are designated as rookie cards when some of them are definitely not.

jeff

[TanksAndSpartans]

That makes sense - maybe we need another discussion... something like rookie cards that are "debatable"..... In the pre war thread we saw some nice options for Red Grange and Ken Strong, but I don't recall seeing other options for Don Hutson or Mel Hein......

[jefferyepayne]

Some cards definitely don't have good alternatives before Topps AA. Others depend upon your definition of a "card". I personally consider anything made of cardboard to be relevant but others don't agree.

Hutson has a 1936 Wheaties box cut that is very popular (and expensive!)

Hein has a 1933 Diamond Matchbook cover that is also worth some $$$ and is very nice.

jeff

[TanksAndSpartans]

Thanks Jeff - can you show the Hutson either here or in the pre war thread? The matchbooks had a lot of card-like characteristics. I would say the player bios are above average esp. for the time period which you wouldn't expect for that medium.

[jefferyepayne]

My bad. It's a 1935 Wheaties of Don Hutson, not 1936.

Picture1.jpg

jeff