Coming Into Focus

So six or seven years ago, when I was researching sets for my book, I realized that Topps had done something strange with the 1955 Hocus Focus set. It was long thought the "small" (7/8" x 1 7/16") version of this set came out that year, with the "large" (1" x 1 9/16") version issued in 1956, but Topps in fact issued both versions in 1955.  This was because the small cards came in penny tabs while the large cards came in nickel packs and were panelized, six at a clip. The reason for this double sizing remains unknown but I suspect the penny packs were a test issue of some sort, probably to see if the style of packaging was still viable (it wasn't).

Here is the evidence for both sets being a 1955 issue, one Johnny Schmitz in small:

And large.  Note the subset numbering reduction to 18 from 23 and the dotted lines on the long edges, which matched light scoring on the front to allow for breaking the panels into individual cards, the latter a sure sign of the larger version (at least one long edge of a 56 will have these lines):

So we have the same text and overall number for both, which is how the sets are configured through #96.  Schmitz actually led the Senators in staff ERA in both 1954 and 1955 (the latter was about a run higher than his stellar 2.91 mark in 54) and after I guessed they were referring to his stellar 1954 season I had found another reference on the Hal Smith card to an event in 1955 that sealed it:

Smith made his major league debut on April 11, 1955 (which dates the set after that event) and was actually NOT the top batter in the American Association that year - Johnny Bucha of the St. Paul Saints was two points higher at .352 but with only 278 Plate Appearances vs Smith's .350 with 413 PA's - but close enough.

Woody Gelman himself got the date AND set name wrong in a Card Collectors Co, catalog from ad from April 20, 1962:

That two bucks for a full uncut sheet of the small cards would have been quite the investment 57 years ago!  As Woody got the name of his own company wrong as well, we can assume typos occurred with some frequency.

While the sets shared main sequence numbering up to #96, there were 30 additional cards issued in the smaller format concluding with #126. These 30 subjects also feature a disruption in the numbering of five of the eight subsets accordingly.  At the time my book was published (July 2013) 17 of the subjects above #96 remained unknown. This extraordinary paucity of checklisted subjects among the "super high" numbers is unprecedented-there are simply no other Topps card sets with unknown subjects, although a few 40's and 50's Tatoo sets are similarly under-developed as you might imagine. Most intriguingly, another penny issue from 1955, Davy Crockett Tatoo is even rarer than Hocus Focus with only a handful of examples presently known.

In the years since, the list of unknowns has been whittled down to a mere six. That number was eleven until very recently when Brian Wentz of BMW Sportscards sent along scans of three heretofore unknown subjects and Friend o'the Archive Bill O. pointed me to scans of two others.

First up, the "BMW" find", led off by a real doozy:

Kind of hard to see the grandeur in that tiny little picture!

Another airplane has come along now as well:

That's a little better-you can even see the pilot in the cockpit.

Finally, we have some cycling action-this guy looks pretty excited:

These new subjects from BMW were found within a larger grouping of twelve of the small cards.  As I have previously noted the ratio of small to large cards seems to be about 1:40 (I may be tweaking that a little downward as I do more research but it still seems about right) so this is no small thing.

Bill O. found these two, nos. 100 & 110:

No. 110 is quite blurry as it's from a small original scan, subset number is still TBD-this is one elusive subject as previously I knew it by number only.  Slowly it reveals its secrets, this Douglas K-3

We can infer it is #12 of 15 Airplanes as the other four in the subset above #96 are known.

The numbers still lacking confirmation of their existence are: 97, 98, 108, 111, 120 & 125 with #110 being a known number now but needing some sharper focus and another subject being Lou Gehrig, number presently unknown as no back scans can be found.  I do have an old Sports Collectors Digest picture of Larrupin' Lou's obverse though, from a Scott Brockelman find around 2003:

 Sixty four years in and we still don't have 'em all nailed down!

Tremendous Topps Tatoo Trio

Fantastical News Fellow Archivists!  Thanks to a recent eBay auction, we now have a date for the Bubbles Inc. Davy Crockett Tatoo set.  Don't forget,Topps used the Bubbles Inc, nom de gomme on occasion. In these circumstances, I suspect it was due to the fact they were pumping out a quickie, public domain type tatoo issue to capitalize on the Crockett crze while at the same time issuing officially licensed cards under the Topps name.

An empty retail box of this issue is a rare bird and even rarer still are any known sightings of same.

It's a little rough but still quite presentable. As nice as it is, the good stuff is underneath:

Yes, it's a 1955 issue and not a '56, as previously believed.  I did think, due to the Summer of '55 explosion of Crockett-mania, that such a dating was possible when I compiled the Modern Hobby Guide and had it as circa 1956 but now it's officially dated.

That's not all on the early Topps tatoo front though.  The retail boxes for the 1949 Flags of All Nations/Soldiers of the World and its younger but but bigger reissue, 1950's Flags of the World Parade can now be classified by year thanks to a Memory Lane auction.  Here, take a gander:

It's a Canadian version as the stamp indicates but no matter (a lot of nice empty boxes and even old packs come from Canada; I suspect a trove was found at an old O-Pee-Chee warehouse years ago and is being rationed out to collectors via various auction houses). Now let's look at the bottoms:

Not much on the square one but the elongated version has a 1950 copyright and must have held the bigger 1950 reissue.  The square box for 1949 makes a lot of sense as the cards came with penny gum tabs, which Topps sold in round tubs, which obviously would fit in such a configuration. I would love to see if the tub is branded and not generic; it must be different than the  tubs used to sell Topps gum as that original brand was quite prominently shown for point of sale. 

Another configuration exists, although its not from this auction:

This held the panelized version's five cent packs in 1950 but there is a twist:

That looks a lot like the box bottom up above but it has a 1949 copyright!  The only thing I can think of is that Topps issued the panelized nickel version just after they pulled the penny tab version, which could explain the very basic graphics and lack of color on the cover.  Then the penny pack shown above was issued. That is my current theory at least; think about it while you ponder the all important front and back views:

Quire colorful, eh?  The back view on the 1950 box tries to sell some Bazooka as Topps abandoned their traditional gum tab market:

From what I have seen, when they first issued the five cent multi-panel packs, of which either this or License Plates was the first iteration, Topps did not do as well on them as compared to the penny versions.  This situation would change very rapidly as Topps had a much better margin on five cent product and changed the ir methods of distribution and advertising once they transitioned from the penny tabs but for a period of time as 1949 turned into 1950 and even into early 1951, they were still grappling with reconfiguring their bread and butter one cent products into bigger and more expensive packs.  Topps essentially halted production of all penny tabs, except for (non-insert card) Bazooka right about then end of 1949 and then went through a two year period of issuing larger and larger cards as they kept trying to outsell Bowman. I'm not sure that explains the above box but it's possible to my mind.

Thankfully Topps started dating a lot of their retail boxes starting in early 1950.  It's hard sometimes to cipher what they were doing but this type of dating makes it a little bit easier.

Merry Christmas to all!

Tatoo Times Two

One of the tougher Topps issues to track down are the 1955 Davy Crockett Tatoos.  The first of the themed, penny tatoo issues from Topps (whose previous releases were under the generic rubric of Tatoo), Davy is thought to include at least 16 and possibly even 24 subjects but there does not seem to be a complete checklist available anywhere that I can see. That's because these little buggers are tough to find and then some.  Well, thanks to Friend o'the Archive Marty Krim, I have finally procured an example of this primeval issue:

This was a Bubbles, Inc issue, likely because it was not a licensed Davy Crockett product and Topps had previously produced two Crockett card sets with images licensed from Disney.  That revolver is said to be an anachronism, first manufactured after Davy's death either at at the hands of Santa Ana or inside The Alamo.  I like the interior tatoo image on this one: 

Prior to my purchasing this example, I had never seen another one except in a Sport-American Guide. The typical Topps production rip at the top is present and this manufacturing artifact has been discussed at length previously. The size is the same as the 1953 Topps Tatoo issue at 1 9/16" x 3 1/2".    

Marty's store of arcane tatoo issues also yielded another prize, namely this O-Pee-Chee Gipsy Bubble Gum exemplar, which is likely a salesman's sample (retail versions have the same production rip exhibited on Topps tattoos):

Bobby Burrell, who is my go-to-guy on all things O-Pee-Chee, seems to agree with my dating of this as late 1930's but I may have to contradict myself now that I have measurements.  At 1 7/16" x 2 13/16" the Gipsy is smaller than a 1953 Topps Tatoo but larger than the 1949 issue of same. This is relevant because all of the Gipsy images I have seen replicate those from the Tatoo issues. This ballplayer is known in Tatoo:

Since Topps did not establish itself in Canada until 1947, if Gipsy came first then it could mean O-Pee-Chee provided Topps with the images for their first novelty set.  As O-Pee-Chee was a far more established company, this makes some sense.  The 1948-49 Topps Magic Photo issue also used images from a photographic art agency or two and were not original creations.

Canadian sets, amazingly, are not fully catalogued and there was a lot of great stuff issued up North well into the 1970's that nobody down here below the border really knows about. The Tatoo/Gipsy connection is intriguing and I hope to ferret out more about it.