Still, if you ever wondered how Bazooka was made, here is one version-enjoy:
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Bubblemaker
Still on a bit of a Hallowe'en theme, confectionery style, as I found this while trying to organize my hard drive. I can't really add much to it as it speaks for itself except that I cannot recall my kids getting Bazooka in their candy sacks ever! We used to get the old five chew rolls or a regular tab on occasion but that practice seems to have passed. Too bad.
Still, if you ever wondered how Bazooka was made, here is one version-enjoy:
Still, if you ever wondered how Bazooka was made, here is one version-enjoy:
Thursday, October 27, 2011
You Drive Me Ape, You Big Gorilla
While I never really have my scans and notes together at the right time to do too many topical posts, today I am breaking with that scattershot approach to take another look at the fairly amazing 1967 Topps Blockheads.
As noted previously, these were a series of a dozen Hallowe'en masks that were more like hats, with a couple of slits to allow the wearer to see the outside world. The story is that the slits were too small to be safe and the issue was pulled. I have never been able to verify that but it does make some sense. There could also have been a public outcry against some of the designs, which in the typical Topps fashion of the time, celebrated certain vices a bit too boisterously for some folks.
Five of the masks popped up on Ebay recently and are worth a second look. There were at least three of one of them, #11 The Ape, all of which were missing one eye-slit punchout and were described as prone to such Cyclopean behavior. The Ape is actually too big ( 14 7/16" x 8 3/4") to fit my scanner but I have nailed the Ebay scan to show what it looks like:
These are scarce but it turns out I overpaid as a group of four popped up afterwards from a different seller and went for a song (note to self, do not cancel eBay search after winning bid):
Clockwise from top left, those are:
#2 The Pirate
#3 Mad Scientist
#7 The Hippie
#12 The Skull
Between the knife clenched in the Pirate's teeth and the cigarette dangling from the Hippie's lips, there was enough to make a lot of parents peeved. Did this kill the set?
The backs are really great and show the level of detail that Woody Gelman was driving for:
The bandaids are a nice touch! I suspect those four examples were all from a single box, which would have held eight loose Blockheads, unwrapped and without gum for 15 cents apiece. Chris Benjamin's Price Guide to the Non-Sports Cards No. 4, has a picture of the retail box:
The set, as I have written before, was repurposed into an issue called 3D Monster Posters. Benjamin also shows that retail box in his guide:
As very little is known about that set, I have to think they were just the same ol' Blockheads, renamed, based upon the box cover artwork and lower price point. 1968 would be the logical date of issue for the "posters". The fact all 12 poses were reiussed and no variations are known, would seem to support more of a poor sales scenario than a parents protest being responsible for the scarcity of these today.
Topps issued Hallowe'en and Monster themed sets from 1959 through about 1971 on an annual basis, although some sets were reissued from year to year, probably to sell off overstock. A similar run of Valentine's Day products coincided with these dates as well. A lot of things changed at Topps after 1971 and they may not have issued similarly-themed Hallowe'en sets again until the reintroduction of Monster Initials in 1974.
As noted previously, these were a series of a dozen Hallowe'en masks that were more like hats, with a couple of slits to allow the wearer to see the outside world. The story is that the slits were too small to be safe and the issue was pulled. I have never been able to verify that but it does make some sense. There could also have been a public outcry against some of the designs, which in the typical Topps fashion of the time, celebrated certain vices a bit too boisterously for some folks.
Five of the masks popped up on Ebay recently and are worth a second look. There were at least three of one of them, #11 The Ape, all of which were missing one eye-slit punchout and were described as prone to such Cyclopean behavior. The Ape is actually too big ( 14 7/16" x 8 3/4") to fit my scanner but I have nailed the Ebay scan to show what it looks like:
These are scarce but it turns out I overpaid as a group of four popped up afterwards from a different seller and went for a song (note to self, do not cancel eBay search after winning bid):
Clockwise from top left, those are:
#2 The Pirate
#3 Mad Scientist
#7 The Hippie
#12 The Skull
Between the knife clenched in the Pirate's teeth and the cigarette dangling from the Hippie's lips, there was enough to make a lot of parents peeved. Did this kill the set?
The backs are really great and show the level of detail that Woody Gelman was driving for:
The bandaids are a nice touch! I suspect those four examples were all from a single box, which would have held eight loose Blockheads, unwrapped and without gum for 15 cents apiece. Chris Benjamin's Price Guide to the Non-Sports Cards No. 4, has a picture of the retail box:
The set, as I have written before, was repurposed into an issue called 3D Monster Posters. Benjamin also shows that retail box in his guide:
As very little is known about that set, I have to think they were just the same ol' Blockheads, renamed, based upon the box cover artwork and lower price point. 1968 would be the logical date of issue for the "posters". The fact all 12 poses were reiussed and no variations are known, would seem to support more of a poor sales scenario than a parents protest being responsible for the scarcity of these today.
Topps issued Hallowe'en and Monster themed sets from 1959 through about 1971 on an annual basis, although some sets were reissued from year to year, probably to sell off overstock. A similar run of Valentine's Day products coincided with these dates as well. A lot of things changed at Topps after 1971 and they may not have issued similarly-themed Hallowe'en sets again until the reintroduction of Monster Initials in 1974.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Sheer Strength
I finally got around to securing a solid scan from the Huggins & Scott site of the 1968 Topps 3D Prototype card of Brooks Robinson, thanks to an intervention from friend o'the archive Neal Kane. The card sold for $27,500 without factoring in the buyer's premium and frankly I think it went a bit low, a sentiment echoed by a lot of other folks. Still, almost $30K for a baseball card is pretty impressive! Here is a real clear view of Brooksie:
The scans help clear up a little mystery I was poking around last time I posted on this card. It appeared the back was so sheer that it was either skinned or very transparent. However, after seeing the catalog pictures and examining the back scan, it appears the harsh lighting at the National really allowed the card to seem like less than it was:
There is some foxing, especially along the bottom but the back looks pretty white. I also took a closer look at the example shown in the Standard Catalog, as detailed here, and I think it is uncracked, meaning there are at least three examples out there.
In case you missed it, Jon over at the always excellent Fleer Sticker blog found the original source photo, which is as common as the prototype is rare. Click on through to see.
The scans help clear up a little mystery I was poking around last time I posted on this card. It appeared the back was so sheer that it was either skinned or very transparent. However, after seeing the catalog pictures and examining the back scan, it appears the harsh lighting at the National really allowed the card to seem like less than it was:
There is some foxing, especially along the bottom but the back looks pretty white. I also took a closer look at the example shown in the Standard Catalog, as detailed here, and I think it is uncracked, meaning there are at least three examples out there.
In case you missed it, Jon over at the always excellent Fleer Sticker blog found the original source photo, which is as common as the prototype is rare. Click on through to see.
Friday, October 21, 2011
A Ripping Yarn
I ran across a scan of a pretty rare insert today, the 1959 Topps Elect Your Favorite Rookie, which was made of paper and inserted in packs touting the rookie team contest Topps used to hold annually. The inserts are quite hard to find so scans are not easy to come by but the thing that caught my eye was the little rip at the top (or side, depending upon orientation):
You can see it just left of the fold. It is exactly the same as the little rip on the 50's and 60's tatoo packs that I have long suspected were produced on the original Topps gum wrapping machine, first used by then in 1938 to wrap Topps Gum but likely decades older by the time it was put to use by the Shorin's. You can see it a little better on the other side of the insert:
Bob Lemke has another scan of different one (an actual ballot) at his wonderful blog, take a look here.
Topps must have cut these on the same machine that they used for packaging the various tattoo and gum tab issues. The rip is a byproduct of this process, most likely from the cutting and gluing stages, where I suspect a small pin held down the insert (or tattoo or gum wrapper) which would have been unspooling from a large roll while a cut was made and then the just-cut paper was dragged across the pin, leaving the rip as it moved on to the next phase of production.
While the insert contest and premium cards of the era probably were printed on and cut from the same size sheets used for the regular issues they were packaged with, this implies another process and possibly another location as I have a reasonable level of confidence this ancient machine resided on the first Topps production floor at 60 Broadway, Brooklyn and never left until it was decommissioned in the late 1960's. When developers converted 60 Broadway to condos a few years ago, I wonder if they had to clear this old behemoth out? Old office furniture was found in the basement of another old Topps space at 134 Broadway during a similar conversion, so anything is possible!
You can see it just left of the fold. It is exactly the same as the little rip on the 50's and 60's tatoo packs that I have long suspected were produced on the original Topps gum wrapping machine, first used by then in 1938 to wrap Topps Gum but likely decades older by the time it was put to use by the Shorin's. You can see it a little better on the other side of the insert:
Bob Lemke has another scan of different one (an actual ballot) at his wonderful blog, take a look here.
Topps must have cut these on the same machine that they used for packaging the various tattoo and gum tab issues. The rip is a byproduct of this process, most likely from the cutting and gluing stages, where I suspect a small pin held down the insert (or tattoo or gum wrapper) which would have been unspooling from a large roll while a cut was made and then the just-cut paper was dragged across the pin, leaving the rip as it moved on to the next phase of production.
While the insert contest and premium cards of the era probably were printed on and cut from the same size sheets used for the regular issues they were packaged with, this implies another process and possibly another location as I have a reasonable level of confidence this ancient machine resided on the first Topps production floor at 60 Broadway, Brooklyn and never left until it was decommissioned in the late 1960's. When developers converted 60 Broadway to condos a few years ago, I wonder if they had to clear this old behemoth out? Old office furniture was found in the basement of another old Topps space at 134 Broadway during a similar conversion, so anything is possible!
Monday, October 17, 2011
What A Rush
I glommed this picture from a Legendary Auctions catalog a while back and have been trying to piece together what is an odd little puzzle, with a definite Valentine's Day flair.
The carton held all three of these boxes, all of which are 1970 in vintage . The markings indicate it was a subscription series for a Novelty Assortment, which is not helpful, although the 2nd Series designation may mean a Christmas themed 1st Series was issued; certainly something came before. Would a 3rd Series have been for Hallowe'en? I am thinking Topps was recycling some unsold Valentines cards from 1970; perhaps this was the norm for the holiday-themed sets? The Valentines and Hallowe'en Topps issues of the 60's and 70's are not well documented, so anything is possible.
I am curious if other series were issued like this-any Archivists out there with some info?
The carton held all three of these boxes, all of which are 1970 in vintage . The markings indicate it was a subscription series for a Novelty Assortment, which is not helpful, although the 2nd Series designation may mean a Christmas themed 1st Series was issued; certainly something came before. Would a 3rd Series have been for Hallowe'en? I am thinking Topps was recycling some unsold Valentines cards from 1970; perhaps this was the norm for the holiday-themed sets? The Valentines and Hallowe'en Topps issues of the 60's and 70's are not well documented, so anything is possible.
I am curious if other series were issued like this-any Archivists out there with some info?
Monday, October 10, 2011
Greetings
Hot on the heels of my last post on the Topps Sports Club News 8" x 10" premium photos, the irrepressible Howard Schenker has sent along a scan of the Bobby Clarke photo:
You can see that the inscription is similar to the one on the Griese photo. Now that is what I expected but when I went back to look at the Garvey photo at 1978, The Year It All Began, it was lacking the inscription: and is "signed" in white ink, not black. Gadzooks!
There is also a tagline I cannot make out in the lower right corner. [Update 11/4/11: Howard Schenker comes through again-the tagline says Full-Color Print,Inc. (212 947-1060)]. The photos would come as part of a "kit" for each sport, something that will be looked at in a bit more detail once some more scans and recollections come in (and following a short break while me and Mrs. Archives visit the home of the National Archives this week).
I do want to try and find scans of the Joe Morgan and Dave DeBusschere photos; I am inferring their existence from other sites (that's why I stated "I think" in relation to the checklist) and would like to see the visual evidence of their existence.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
All The News
Topps launched a very high profile collectors club in 1975, although it is not too well known today. Dubbed the Topps Sports Club, a coordinated effort across all four sports brands was launched, with wrapper side panels ads enticing kids to join. The ads were similar on each sports' wrapper:
The hockey panel is from the well-illustrated Vintage Hockey Collector Price Guide. The panel looks like it was identical on all four wrappers and it also came on the Mini Baseball pack as well. $2.50 would get you in:
For the record, the mailing address was a loud shout from my childhood home. There was also at least one print ad, probably in Boy's Life magazine:
That is from the Project Baseball 1976 site by the way. The newsletter that came with membership started off at 6 pages and then was winnowed down to four (UPDATE 4/18/24: The first issue was four pages, the second one had six). I only have the second issue, which features 1975 Football:
As a bonus you got an 8" x 10" color photo of a popular superstar tucked away inside:
Griese is printed on very glossy, thin paper stock. Other photos in the set seem to include Joe Morgan and Steve Garvey, Bobby Clarke and (possibly) Dave DeBusschere. There could be more. The Garvey and a little more backstory can be found here.
The project seems to have died out pretty quickly; I suspect the price was a little too steep for the times.
The hockey panel is from the well-illustrated Vintage Hockey Collector Price Guide. The panel looks like it was identical on all four wrappers and it also came on the Mini Baseball pack as well. $2.50 would get you in:
For the record, the mailing address was a loud shout from my childhood home. There was also at least one print ad, probably in Boy's Life magazine:
That is from the Project Baseball 1976 site by the way. The newsletter that came with membership started off at 6 pages and then was winnowed down to four (UPDATE 4/18/24: The first issue was four pages, the second one had six). I only have the second issue, which features 1975 Football:
As a bonus you got an 8" x 10" color photo of a popular superstar tucked away inside:
Griese is printed on very glossy, thin paper stock. Other photos in the set seem to include Joe Morgan and Steve Garvey, Bobby Clarke and (possibly) Dave DeBusschere. There could be more. The Garvey and a little more backstory can be found here.
The project seems to have died out pretty quickly; I suspect the price was a little too steep for the times.
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