1958 Hires Root BeerHires Root Beer issued this 66 card set back in 1958. The cards came with an attached advertising tab. Cards with their tab intact are extremely difficult to find and thus are quite expensive. The actual card size varies from 2-3/8 in. to 2-5/8 in. wide and 3-3/8 in. to 3-5/8 in. high without the tab. Cards are numbered from #10 thru #76 with #69 not issued.The card design - a wood grain "knot hole" through which the player is viewed - is a collector's favorite and was brought back by Bowman for their 2003 Bowman Heritage product. Although small at only 66 cards, the set did contain it's share of cards of Hall-of-Famers and Superstars such as Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Pee Wee Reese, Don Drysdale, Richie Ashburn, Bill Mazeroski, Duke Snider, Larry Doby, Don Newcombe and others... |
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1983 Topps Baseball Cards |
1971 O-Pee-Chee BaseballAlso referred to as OPC or Topps Canada, most vintage OPC sets were near replicas of the Topps cards from that year. Exactly same in design they usually only differed with the addition of French to the backs and some fronts.To the benefit of collector's OPC made several changes in their 1971 set. The most obvious and useful was a complete redesign of the card backs and the addition of another player photo ! Additionly, over 20 cards were changed including the inclusion of what could be considered the first "Traded" cards. Another difference: Topps cards #202 and #289 were changed to allow the addition of 2 more Expos to the set. The 1971 OPC set is legendary for its short print run, estimated at perhaps just 5% of Topps’ Production. This issue is considered quite elusive, even in Canada. TOP ROOKIE: Steve Garvey TOP STARS: Nolan Ryan, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Pete Rose, Ted Williams, Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson, Don Baylor/Dusty Baker RC & MORE !!!
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1971 OPC/O-Pee-Chee Baseball checklist and prices
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The first baseball trading cards date back to 1869. For many years, baseball cards were packaged in packs of tobacco as a way to increase sales the same way that today prizes are packaged in boxes of cereal. In the 1920's and 1930's, candy and gum companies started packaging baseball cards in their products as well.
Baseball card production was virtually halted in the early 1940's due to paper shortages created by World War II. The "Modern Era" of baseball cards began in 1948 when Bowman Gum Inc. offered one card and one piece of gum in a pack for a penny.
The first important football set was the Mayo set featuring college players in 1984. Other than the 1935 National Chicle set no other key football set was issued until 1948 when noth Bowman and Leaf produced sets.