The Post War Cards Newsletter #3
I find it odd that as active as the hobby is, there are still so many sets about which you can't find much information online, ultimately hurting collectors. So, I plan to use this newsletter to share some of these sets (like the first set discussed below), question some assumptions about them, and hopefully, in time, uncover some new info.
🥤 From Pink Cardboard to Baseball Hobby Lore
The 1961 7-11 baseball cards are one of the most obscure sets out there. And they’re getting pretty popular these days despite being so “low-rent.” They’re fairly scarce, so completing a set would require a high level of patience. But here’s the thing: no one knows much about them.
The Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards says,
“The first of 7-11’s baseball card issues was a crude attempt which was abruptly halted. The checklist of the 30-card set indicated that it was the first of a planned series to be issued two weeks apart. No follow-up to the first series was ever distributed. The 2-7/16’’ x 3-3/8’’ cards are printed on pink cardboard stock, with blank backs. Small black-and-white player portraits appear in the upper-left, with the player name at top, team name at bottom and card number in the lower-right corner. There are a few biographical bits and stats to the right of the photo, and several lines of 1960 season highlights below. The cards were sold seven for a nickel in vending machines.”
The last sentence was probably written because of the following advertising sign that Heritage auctioned off in July 2021, along with 24 1961 7-11 baseball cards; the lot sold for $840.
Heritage described the 1961 7-11 set as one of the most obscure sets of that era and that the cards had a homemade feel. That’s funny because it implies that they likely weren’t licensed and could have just been a collector’s issue that someone was trying to make a few bucks from.
What’s also interesting is that 7-11 isn’t printed anywhere on the cards or advertising sign, so I’m unsure how older catalogs made the connection.
In their 2018 spring catalog, Robert Edward Auctions sold a complete PSA-graded set that was #1 on the registry for $2,160. They wrote that the cards were, in fact, sold in vending machines at “7-11” convenience store chains across the country. But are they saying that based on that poster?
I haven’t read first-hand accounts of folks buying them in 7-11 stores or seen photos of the vending displays in the stores either, but that doesn't mean they weren't there. Rich Klein wrote on the net54Baseball forums that he used to see the cards regularly where he lived (Texas) when they had more shows/stores. He said he was unsure if they were issued there, but since Southland Corp (the owner of the chain at the time) was headquartered in the region in 1961, that would have made sense. But then that would have made the set a regional release, not a national one, as implied by REA.
Is everyone these days just repeating the set’s same “lore”?
By the way, a 1960 Texans football set was available in Dallas area 7-11 stores in the 1960s; I’ve talked to some collectors who picked them up there as kids. But I don't know that 7-11 produced them.
Love of the Game Auctions once described the 1961 7-11 cards as one of the ugliest baseball card sets ever attempted but acknowledges they’re scarce and difficult enough to come by that most collectors aspire to obtain just one card to add the type to their collections. I couldn’t agree more; I’ve been trying to pick up a checklist for a while! So, despite a cloudy history, I think we’ll continue to see these cards popularized by collectors for years to come, and I’m cool referring to them as a “7-11” series since I don't have anything better to associate them with! If you do, please get in touch with me.
✍️ Great Hobby Writing
Night Owl Cards: 1985 TCMA 1947 Play Ball Jackie Robinson
Diamond Jesters: Repack Haiku #379 (Carlos Baerga)
Pre-War Collector: One Down, One to Go: Wrapping up the 1889 Allen & Ginter Champions (N29) Set & Revisiting Billy Sunday in the Old Judge Baseball Card Set
Collectibles on SI: Is Mickey Mantle Still King of the Hobby? The Results are In!
The Topps Archives: Contract High
Sports Collectors Digest: 1974 Topps Series, First Factory Set Changed Landscape of Baseball Cards
SABR's Baseball Cards Research Committee: A Requiem for Blue Lights and Redlegs
📦 Unopened Items Of The Week - A Long Island Investor
Love him or hate him, Alan Rosen (Mr. Mint) made some incredible buys in the hobby's unopened niche, like the Paris, Tennesse Find II, and the 1952 Topps Wax Pack Seattle Find. Some more impressive items came from a man he referred to as "A Long Island Investor." In his book True Mint, Rosen shared that he spent over $225k purchasing items from this guy over three trips in the early '80s.
📝 On The Blog
October 4, 2024: Topps Remembers Willie, Mickey & The Duke
October 4, 2024: Burger Chef's 1977 Triple Play Funmeal And The Era's Largest Disc Set
October 5, 2024: 1945-46 Caramelo Deportivo Cuban League Set In Original Album
October 6, 2024: The American Premium Guide to Baseball Cards
October 6, 2024: What is a Topps X-Out Unopened Box?
October 7, 2024: 1927 Babe Ruth Babe Comes Home Lobby Card
October 8, 2024: 1952 Topps Look 'n See One-Cent Display Box
October 9, 2024: The Lone PSA 10 1948 Bowman Yogi Berra Card
📰 In The News
Sports Collectors Daily: Lelands, Clean Sweep Announce Merger, and Sports Collectors Digest: Auction Houses Lelands and Clean Sweep Merge Operations, Open New Auctions
Cowboy State Daily: Riverton Man Could Get 10 Years for Skip-Scanning $2,200 Worth Of Football Cards
Michigan Chronicle: 3 Kings Sports Cards & Collectibles Announces Downtown Detroit Expansion
USA Today: Shohei Ohtani's 50-50 Game-Worn Pants Acquired by Topps
Collectibles on SI: Charity Sports Card Even Raises $6,400 for Childhood Cancer Research
Sports Collectors Daily: New England Shop Owner Loses Babe Ruth Card to Show Thief
Fox9: Lebron James' High School Jersey Sells for World-Record $1.3M at Auction
Sports Collectors Digest: Pete Rose: No One Played the Game Harder than Baseball's Hit King
Sports Collectors Daily: Upper Deck Files Civil Suit Against Ex-Redemption Manager Over Major Card Theft
Cleveland.com: Suspect Admits to Theft of $2 Million in Vintage Baseball Cards from Strongsville Hotel
Business Wire: Fanatics Live Acquires the Assets of European Live-Commerce Platform, Voggt...
ESPN: Auction of Shohei Ohtani 50/50 Ball to Proceed Amid Legal Dispute
Sportico: Vanderbilt Auctioning Pieces of Goal Poast, Pylons from Alabama Upset
📘 In The Hobby Library - The First Sports Illustrated Issue
The first issue of Sports Illustrated, dated August 16, 1954, features a home run shot from Braves slugger Eddie Mathews on the cover.
But the issue is so popular among card collectors because it contains a three-page, 27-card uncut sheet of 1954 Topps baseball cards!
I think the original promotional mailing envelopes are pretty cool, too.
SI saved dozens of copies in boxes in its archives for some reason. So, on the issue's 40th anniversary, they released them with a binder and certificate.
You might be able to make out that the COA says ~600k magazines were printed in 1954.
Pay attention to the magazine's cover if you're looking for a copy. Reprints exist, but they say "Collectible Reprint" in gold capital letters centered along the bottom of the front.
🆘 Hobby Help Needed - 1948 Bowman Football Reprint Set
A collector contacted me on X trying to track down the producer of the 1948 Bowman football reprint set that came out in 1990. We know Fritsch was a reseller and still has it in stock today, but we were told they definitely didn't produce it (though some folks still think it could have been Fritsch; it was a while ago).
Maybe Richard Gelman's Card Collectors' Co. (a division of Nostalgia Inc.) printed them? If you have any information about it, please e-mail me.