Baseball cards that were never issued

[mordecaibrown1]

Baseball cards that were never issued like the 54 & 55 Topps Mantle etc. Here is mine I developed 33 years ago of Ruth & Gehrig. Back then I sent the image to HOF and they were interested in displaying it, but I never did send it.

[Jay Wolt]

Sam nice job, looks great

[commishbob]

It's post war but Bob Lemke (RIP) did a couple of versions of the missing Ed Bouchee 1958 Topps. Happy to have them and this one fills the empty slot on that binder for me.





Here's the other version.



The Ed Bouchee story is here although I figure everyone here is likely aware of it.

[Rad_Hazard]

Originally Posted by commishbob

It's post war but Bob Lemke (RIP) did a couple of versions of the missing Ed Bouchee 1958 Topps. Happy to have them and this one fills the empty slot on that binder for me.

Here's the other version.

The Ed Bouchee story is here although I figure everyone here is likely aware of it.

I had no idea about Ed Bouchee, thanks for sharing. That first 58 is spot on!

[abothebear]

Bob made some great cards.

[mikemcgrail]

This would have been a nice edition to the 33G set.

Image is not mine and I did not create it. Found it via Google image search.

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by abothebear

Bob made some great cards.

He sure did, and it was great corresponding with him about them. RIP, Bob.

[G1911]

These 2 are pretty cool, because they were real planned cards but never issued. Seaver and Gibson are known from a preproduction sheet with these poses, but Topps changed the photos because of them apparently posed with the wrong hand as a joke.

Some guy on eBay I don't know has been selling these customs using the original poses as Topps first intended.

[metroac]

Originally Posted by commishbob

It's post war but Bob Lemke (RIP) did a couple of versions of the missing Ed Bouchee 1958 Topps. Happy to have them and this one fills the empty slot on that binder for me.





Here's the other version.



The Ed Bouchee story is here although I figure everyone here is likely aware of it.

I wonder how many of us had the same experience. Bouchee was listed as card #145 on one of the checklists. I was ten years old and I rode my bike all over our little midwestern town, looking to trade with kids from other elementary schools whom I'd met in Little League. I never could find an Eddie Bouchee -- needless to say -- and that missing card was one of the great disappointments of my childhood. (In retrospect, I guess I was pretty lucky.)

Fast forward to 1971. I was one year out of college and I had a decent job. I saw an ad in Street and Smith's (or maybe The Sporting News) from Stan Martucci on Staten Island, advertising baseball cards for sale. I bought a '55 Topps set, the '58 set (which had been my favorite), and the '60. I remember the '55 set cost $35 and that I passed on the '57 because I thought $55 was too much. The sets were most VG-Ex and better and I was thrilled.

Martucci's flier said that card #145 had never been issued. I didn't learn the whole story about Bouchee until much later, but it was odd to realize that this major disappointment was really nothing at all. There never was a Bouchee card.

Here's another fantasy version, blank-backed.

[skelly423]

It’s a crying shame 1950 Bowman doesn’t have DiMaggio or Musial. That set was pure art, but those are two glaring holes.

[jingram058]

These were sold on eBay a couple of years ago. Never issued, but I think they are insanely cool.

[Spike]

I feel confident that Goudey Gum decided Napoleon Lajoie would fill 1933's gap at #106 either because Carl Hubbell bumped Lajoie out of Sport Kings series 2 or because Goudey scuttled Sport Kings before printing series 3, which would've included Lajoie. They then added a 1933-style back to this existing art, printed it in mid-1934, and mailed them out to satisfy written complaints for their missing #106.

In 2020, I mocked up Lajoie as a Sport Kings card and think it turned out great. Adding a design-free version to this post for anyone who wants to try something similar.

[Casey2296]

I think you're spot on with your theory Matthew.

[edjs]

As good as you guys are at making these mock ups, could one of you do a Joe Jackson T211? That’s a card I would like to have seen Red Sun make!

[Mark17]

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