Folding Funny

Continuing on into 1963, Topps revisited their past (shocking I know!) by repurposing the metamorphic "picture tricks" Funny Foldees sets they had issued twice before (in 1949 & 1955) into their Valentines day release for the year, Valentine Foldees.

Most famous for the Babe Ruth card within this 55 card set featured a design motif described as "wheels" and was quite a bit larger than its historic predecessors at 2 1/2" x 4 11/16":

What the heck, lets show some uncut partial sheets from my friend Al's Love Of The Game Auctions.  Note the Babe Ruth's at lower right:

These Wally Wood creations came in a vertically oriented wrapper:

 (From Non--Sports Archive by Adam Tucker and Marc Simon)

Five straight years of no-nonsense Valentines issues through 1963. Then, things get weird.......

None of the major (or minor) hobby guides show an 1964 Valentines issue for Topps.  My money is on Valentine Wood Plaks, which is generally attributed to 1962. My issue with that date is the original issue of Real Wood Plaks came out in 1962, a year which already had Valentine Stickers.  The Wood Plak issues get mixed up rather easily but I believe this is a 1962 Real Wood Plak:

While this is what I believe to be a Valentine Wood Plak:

There are two distinct wrappers:

My current thinking is the Valentine version came out in 1964. Todd Riley's non-sport.com site has 74 different plaks ID'd and based upon that I would be willing to bet between the two sets there are 77 different, likely one set with 33 and the other with 44.

1965 brought a reissue of the 1961 Giant Size Funny Valentines.  The backs were red this time, not orange:

The 1965 wrapper was very, very close to the 1961 version with the boy's hair now blond and not red:

 (From Non--Sports Archive by Adam Tucker and Marc Simon)

1966 would seem to be more settled but I'm not so sure about that.  Conventional Hobby Wisdom has Frankenstein Valentine Stickers coming out in 1966, presumably based upon the Commodity Code on the wrapper.  These were first used in 1966 but after I show the pix, I will expound:

The wrapper is one of the best ever by Topps IMHO:

But the thing is it doesn't say anything about Valentines.  Not 100% unusual for Topps as the box sometimes held the key:

(Courtesy http://www.lostwackys.com)

So here is that Commodity Code:

Clearly 1966 based upon the last digit.  But the problem I am having is the codes generally give the year of concept origination and for a Valentines Day issue to get out the door, it would be an awfully quick turnaround I think.  Topps started using the codes only in this year after moving their plant to Duryea, PA so it's possible the early issues in '66 were not handled the way they would be a few short months later. Still, Frankie could be from 1967.  I am also of the opinion a planned regular issue monster set was tabled and the Valentine connection was hastily added to the box art.

Things get weirder still as we hit "1967".

Topps issued a set called Insult Postcards in (possibly) 1966.  They are exactly what you would think but with one enhancement:

They all have a Valentines theme!  Also of interest, you can see things are getting a little underground-y comixy here as Woody Gelman got the heads up on talent from Robert Crumb before he departed Topps and NYC:

We'll get back to that back in a minute. First, take a gander at the wrapper:

You can just make out that Commodity Code- it ends in 6. They came in this box:

And check out one of the side panels:

An extra word and a couple of floating hearts and voila-a match for the wrapper!  This set was probably conceived as a non-Valentines issue and then converted. I wish I could see the Commodity code but no dice.  There are no distinct Valentine Insult Postcards backs. So did this set come out in 1967?  I have to believe either it or Frankenstein Valentine Stickers did, with the other coming out in the other year. Crazy man!

You would have to think one of the sets with the -6 codes came out in 1966, right?  Or maybe Topps fooled us all and reissued something in cello packs or some other sinister way designed to thwart my research a half century later......

Just you wait...it gets even more confusing in the last years of the Valentines Day cards. See you next time!

Valentines Davis

I know a good trend when I see one.  After highlighting some Al Capp work last time out, this week brings us, quite serendipitously, to the intersection of Topps annual Valentines Day themed sets and Jack Davis.  There's even another trend at play as this is a two-parter on the VD front and if you really want to to push the envelope, Davis was part of EC's "New Trend!"

Davis did quite a bit of work for Topps over the years but made his first big splash with 1959's Funny Valentines.  This 66 card set marks the beginning of an annual Valentines Day set  being issued by Topps and set quite a high bar. This well-known issue came out in the year I consider to be the first to begin serious overproduction by Topps and is easily found today:

The wrapper is another bit of Davis awesomeness as well. With 1959 falling squarely in the middle of Monster Mania in the US, who not feature Frankenstein on it, and from a scene that was censored for years from the original Universal movie:

(courtesy www.collectededitions.com)

As we'll see down the road, Frankie would return.  1960 brought another set of 66, sporting an "A" suffix after the card number:

The wrapper art the second time around was much less monster-y and more cutesy:

(courtesy www.collectededitions.com)

What do you do in 1961 after a repeat?  A Giant Size repeat!

We are leaving Davis-land it seems, at this point:

The wrapper is much more like the 1960 version:

(courtesy Non Sport Archive Identification Reference by Adam R. Tucker and Mark T. Simon)

Those 2 1/2" x 4 3/4" dimensions were the updated version of the original Topps "Giant Size" cards that were prevalent from 1952-56.

The 1962 issue changed things up by offering a series of lesser-seen stickers that appear to have been executed by Wally Wood.

(courtesy www.non-sport.com)

The 1962 wrapper is a Wood work as well:

Topps would roll out a different type of Valentines Day product in 1963 and then it would get weird for a couple of years.  More on that next time out!

Cappstone

Last Hallowe'en season I posted some scans of some Li'l Abner related Bazooka ads that I would, frankly, probably kill for if they came up for auction. Al Capp did some ad illustration work for Topps in the late 40's and again in the 50's and while Li'l Abner is easily identifiable as his, not all of his work featured Dogpatch's finest.

Check out this 1948 Sunday Newspaper comics section with a killer Tatoo ad:

The main character at left is, to my eye, clearly drawn by Capp. The other illustrations are not by the same hand though.  This ad could easily have been adapted for subway and buses and I suspect that's what Capp was employed, i,.e. to quickly have his character grab your attention.  While his Li'l Abner themed ad work for Bazooka would have required a licensing fee, the youth above would have been a commissioned job.

We know it's the 1948 Tatoo issue because of the spot display shown at bottom right. I believe this was the only Topps novelty product sold this way (this was their first novelty) as they flipped to a box for their next release, Hocus Focus ( which is commonly known as Magic Photo to avoid confusion with the similar 1955 issue):

The colored bubble gum of Tatoo was also carried through to Magic Photo, as the ad copy shows.

The Tatoo spot display is rare.  I have one and have never seen another. Tatoo was quickly reissued in a slightly different size and multiple configurations in 1949 so I don't think a ton of product came out in '48.

The canister follow the "circus" theme Topps used in some of its 1948-49 ad campaigns and product designs:

Here's that sideshow strongman, check out those muscles LOL:

The bottom of the display shows how paper was "pulped" (we call it recycled now).  You can see two letters "sa" peeking through:

Topps had the goods when it came to artists thanks to their "inside out" art agency Solomon & Gelman.  A staggering amount of talent did work for them over the years but Al Capp looks like he was the first big name to do so.

Funny Flash Fraction

It's been a little while since I posted about an obscure, never-issued set that has been dubbed Funny Flash Cards (an unofficial title but so-named for very obvious reasons).  Attribution to 1968 as the year based upon an old auction description, the artwork, mainly by Wally Wood from what I can see, generally supports that year as well.

I pulled the trigger on one of these last year  and they measure 4 11/16" x 2 1/2", which is the same as many other similar "large" Topps cards of the day.  As we have previously seen, the front looks innocent enough:

While the back has the gag and related illustration:

The card looks finished in every way and in addition to the 33 card finished proof sheet I featured previously, one showing markups has now appeared:

It features the same 33 cards as the finished proof sheet so either the other 22 cards were not proofed (unlikely but if this was a test it's possible they were waiting to see results) or they are presently MIA. As has been seen countless times with obscure Topps sets, the remaining subjects could easily pop up someday. In fact, if they were testing the product, it would not be out of character for the other 22 to have been to test subjects.  Topps often reduced the number of cards when testing from what would appear if the set made it to retail.

I've managed to put together a checklist of the 33 known subjects. A few numbers are missing as they are too fuzzy to read on either sheet, but it has all the questions and gags in case you were thinking of giving someone an IQ test.

The checklist follows the sheet positions for the Answers on the Reverse as that's where the cards are numbered.  Rows are tagged A thru I and Columns from 1-3:

No.	Category	Front (Question)	Reverse (Answer)	Position (Reverse)
	Nature Studies	What Animal Is Hairy & Can't See?	A Baboon With His Eyes Closed!	A1 (33)
38	History	What Was Sewards' Folly?	Mrs. Seward!	A2 (33)
15	Mathematics	If John And Sam Share 6 Apples, And Sam Gets 2, What Does John Get?	A Punch In The Eye From Sam!	A3 (33)
	Grammar	What's Wrong With This Sentence: "On My Vacation In Philadelphia I Had An Exciting Time."	Nobody In Philadelphia Has An Exciting Time!	B1 (33)
17	Science	If Your Friend Had 14 Marbles And You Took Half, What Would You Have?	A Black Eye!	B2 (33)
26	Mathematics	What Never Strikes Twice In The Same Place?	A Mets Baseball Pitcher!	B3 (33)
9	Mathematics	Can You Draw A Straight Line From New York To Chicago?	Yes, If You Have A Very Long Pencil!	C1 (33)
18	Science	What Is Whale Oil Used For?	For Oiling Whales!	C2 (33)
52	History	When Did The Civil War Come To An End?	When The Last Shot Was Fired!	C3 (33)
21	History	Why Did George Washington Cross The Delaware?	It Was Too Cold Standing In The Middle!	D1 (33)
44	History	Why Were They Called "Rough Riders?"	No Talcum Powder!	D2 (33)
54	History	Why Did People Before Columbus Think The World Was Flat?	In Those Days It Was Flat!	D3 (33)
	History	Who Was The 10th President Of The United States?	Who Cares!	E1 (33)
30	Nature Studies	What Is A Hippo?	A Fat Hippie!	E2 (33)
16	Mathematics	How Much Dirt Is In A Hole  3 Ft. x 3 Ft. x 5 Ft. Deep!	None, You Idiot! It's a Hole!	E3 (33)
	History	Between Whom Was The Battle Of Bunker Hill Fought?	Between A Fellow And A Girl In A Parked Car!	F1 (33)
	Grammar	Form A Sentence With The Word Paradox.	On Our Farm We Have Four Chickens, Six Geese and a Paradox!	F2 (33)
8	Literature	Out Of The Mouths Of Babes, Oftimes Comes What?	Drool!	F3 (33)
5	Science	What Shouldn't People In Glass Houses Throw?	Wild Parties!	G1 (33)
40	History	During The Boston Tea Party, What Did The Colonists heave Overboard?	Their Dinners!	G2 (33)
12	Nature Studies	How Can A Charging Rhino Be Stopped?	Take Away His Credit Card!	G3 (33)
	Social Studies	What Do You Call A Man Who Takes Apart Live Bombs For A Living?	An Idiot!	H1 (33)
	History	Why Was General Lee Buried At Arlington National Cemetery?	Because He Was Dead!	H2 (33)
	Mathematics	If Mrs. Smith Makes 10 Spinach Cookies, And Gives One To Each Of Her 6 Children, How Many Will Be Left?	Ten!  Who Would Eat A Spinach Cookie!	H3 (33)
	History	In The War Of 1812, Who Said "Don't Give Up The Ship?"	Someone Who Wasn't On It!	I1 (33)
	Science	Scientists Get Oil By Drilling Oil Wells, How Do They Get Gas?	By Drinking Beer!	I2 (33)
	Mathematics	If Two's Company And Three's A Crowd, What Are Four And Five?	Nine!	I3 (33)
	History	When Did Nathan Hale Say "I Regret That I Have But One Life To Give For My Country?"	When It Was Too Late!	J1 (33)
	Mathematics	If You Had 18 Apples And You Ate 12, What Would You Have?	One Heckuva Stomach Ache!	J2 (33)
36	Mathematics	2 Pints Make A Quart; 4 Quarts Make A Gallon. What Does A Gallon Make?	A Drunken Brawl!	J3 (33)
	Mathematics	If You Had 6 Packs Of Cigarettes With 20 Cigarettes In A Pack And You Smoked 2 1/2 Packs In One Day, What Would You Have The Next Day?	Such A Cough!	K1 (33)
	Science	What Did Isaac Newton Learn When The Apple Fell on His Head?	He Should Change His Seat	K2 (33)
4	History	Why Did Our Forefathers Leave England?	To Get Away From Our Foremothers!	K3 (33)

Young Canada's Rarest

Well buccos, I managed to end 2017 on a bang with the purchase of a 1971 O-Pee-Chee Bazooka CFL card off the ol' 'bay. I mentioned it previously here but it's a set that very few people know exist.

Much like the 1971 Bazooka Baseball and Football package design sets that were issued in the States (not to mention the mysterious but reasonably plentiful--and larger in number--Baseball proof set), O-Pee-Chee issued Hockey and Canadian Football League sets in Canada.  Unlike their US counterparts, these mirrored the designs of the regular issue sets from each sport that year, just miniaturized and blank backed.

If cut correctly, the Bazooka's should measure 1 7/8 x 2 3/4".  However, things being what they are, a proper cut is not something that can be counted upon here:

To compare, here is my example next to a standard sized (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") CFL card from that year: 

I thought the Alouettes name had turned from green to blue but it's Fairholm that is the anomaly. Two other cards from the set have been seen by me, at least in scanned form.  This one is in private hands now and is easily the best of the three:

A third has tape on the end, typical for the end card of a Bazooka panel and is still out there for purchase I believe:

The cuts are a little close on the vertical edges but these three would be found together on panel #3.  The thing is, only three other subjects are checklisted, in the only place I have ever seen mention of these cards, namely Andy Malycky's Collecting Canadian Football, Vol. 1.  In fact, the three cards shown above are the same ones used to illustrate the set in Andy's guide. The other three checklisted are, from what would be panel #8:

# 22 Dick Weslowski (Hamilton)

# 23 Silas McKinnie (Saskatchewan)

# 24 John Lagrone (Edmonton)

There's not much else known about these.  Not the whereabouts of the other 18 cards, pictures of the three players on panel #8 above, nor a box, nor any idea how they were distributed or why they are so rare. It's possible they were a test issue but that's not certain at all. All I know is, there are six possible cards known and I have one of them.

Blind Date

Well another year has gone and come, seemingly in record time!  It's hard to believe but this blog will turn 10 years old in September and there's still a ton of Topps I intend to cover.  Today though, I'll turn again to a past post, namely one covering the still somewhat mysterious True Fact Mini Comics.

Previously your intrepid blogger was able to narrow down the date of issue for this 5 booklet set to 1966-77.  However, a recent bit of luck has given me the means to whittle that range down and come up with a possible means of distribution.

Without getting too maudlin, my late father was a junior high school teacher for almost 40 years and we have been clearing his massive amount of collectibles out of the family home these past several months.  During that stretch, exactly one Topps items has turned up, which is not unexpected as he was not a card or sports collector. However, the one item he had was a No. 5 True Fact Mini Comic.  The kicker is that is was inscribed to my dad by two of his students back in the day.  This being the internet I've obscured parts of names but this is what presented itself:

So a little name matching with the school district on the ol' Google machine led me to a wedding announcement (and age at the time) for one of these young ladies.  Working backwards and knowing the school covered grades 6, 7  & 8, I was able to get a date range of 1967-69 for the set.

What I am now leaning toward as a theory of distribution, is that Topps somehow had these introduced to various schools at the time as a teaching aid.  This makes some sense as:

1) a teenage girl had to get a copy of an extremely obscure and hard-to-find issue;
2) no wrapper or box is known, and
3) the set covers historical subjects.

Why Topps would do this, I do not (yet) know.

Just for fun I've scanned a few more pages of what is a pretty far out comic:

Van Buren is my favorite lesser known president.  This is primarily due to watching a lot of "Seinfeld" where the Van Buren Boys would regularly harass Kramer and George but I have to say his being known as a "dude" is hilarious!

Chester A. Arthur, represent:

Nice square cut on these babies.....



I can't really say I've ever thought of the Boxer Rebellion as a notable US victory but there you are.  On the other hand, Benjamin Harrison seems like he was a real wuss:

The separate beds are a hoot!

We're in for a fun year kids, stay tuned........