Very commmon 1940s and 1950s pinbacks: were any of these made later?

[ooo-ribay]

Hi Chris -

A few thoughts:

To me, Muchinsky’s book is “the Bible.” It’s a great resource although his “values” are almost always inflated.

Certain PM-10s are inexplicably common. The Giants were represented by Carl Hubbell, Dick Bartell and Cliff Melton from the 1937 WS. Only Hubbell was a star yet these pins are everywhere and only worth maybe $10 each.

seaweed is a fine seller, although his inventory rarely changes. I’m sure he wishes it changed more. He (Eric) is a member of Net54.

I don’t collect the Negro Leagues but those and some minor league teams (e.g. Jersey City Giants) seem plentiful. I assume they’re legit and maybe they go cheap because they’re so generic (?). With the NY Giants, I think the same pins were sold at both football and baseball games.

Pins are like anything else....the plentiful PM-10s of Willie Mays don’t get a lot of money but certain PM-10s (even of Mays) are scarce as hens teeth and fetch big money. I have a handful of SF Giants I am looking for and some I’ve seen once or twice in 25+ years of searching.

[MK]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

Certain PM-10s are inexplicably common. The Giants were represented by Carl Hubbell, Dick Bartell and Cliff Melton from the 1937 WS. Only Hubbell was a star yet these pins are everywhere and only worth maybe $10 each.

Pins are like anything else....the plentiful PM-10s of Willie Mays don’t get a lot of money but certain PM-10s (even of Mays) are scarce as hens teeth and fetch big money. I have a handful of SF Giants I am looking for and some I’ve seen once or twice in 25+ years of searching.

You’re so right Rob. The Yankee pins below were all issued in 1937 but are available in very different quantities. As noted, the Hubbell is easily found. The Dickey is very difficult. There is also a Lefty Gomez in this style which is impossible to find. The Cubs pins were issued in 1952 and/or 3. The Sauer and Cavarretta show up from time to time, although neither are common. The Ramson is extremely hard to find, and a Roy Smalley is impossible. Why? Were fewer made, fewer bought and kept? I would love to know the answer, but doubt I ever will.

[Chris-Counts]

I appreciate all the feedback I've received so far — pinbacks are certainly a fascinating world to explore.

I recently picked up pins of Whit Wyatt and Dolph Camilli that look just like those posted above on then left, and were seemingly produced by the same company. I've also seen examples of Pete Reiser and Dixie Walker in the same design. Because of Reiser's inclusion, I'm guessing these came out in 1941. Perhaps the Yankees and Giants buttons were produced over a series of years that continued through at least 1941.

Has anybody seen any other c. 1940 Dodgers in the same style? I've also seen several "1941" Dodgers pins (P. Waner and Camilli), which I'm guessing were done in the 1970s or 1980s because they use the same images from TCMA cards of that era.

[steve B]

The generic ones like the Philadelphia stars one were around in the early 80's at least, but I never kept track of what teams were available. They were around for Football teams too, and finding lists of teams wasn't as easy as it is now.

The following is just a guess...…….

I wonder if some of them were produced in a minimum quantity that was required and just never sold well enough. Then were a warehouse find, or got remaindered as dead inventory sometime earlier.

I picked up a non-sports batch of stuff (Connecticut town centennial? Bicentenial?) and it included a couple hundred of the same pinback.
Making them cheap enough for souvenir stands I'm thinking the wouldn't even start the presses for under 5000 pieces.