1959 Bazooka Complete Box
 

As some of you likely know, I've been building out my Willie Mays PSA Master Set for the last ~8 years. For some of you, 8 years is probably nothing, because you've been working on your sets for decades or even the better part of a century. And I tip my cap to your perserverence!

For the Mays Master Set, there are a number of items that seem to be virtually impossible to find. Over the last few years, I've been whittling down the list, to the point where I got stuck with about 5 items left that just seemed like they would never be found.

Until now.

Just arrived in the mail yesterday, a Willie Mays 1959 Bazooka Complete Box. One of only 2 that have been graded by PSA. For that matter, the other one is missing some of the side flaps, so we can debate whether it's truly a complete box in that condition.

Only a handful of these 1959 Bazooka complete boxes exist for any player (PSA pop 7 for the entire set. That's right - just 7 cards total, not 7 for each player). I'm proud to be the new caretaker of this grand piece, and to be one small step closer to completing my Master Mays set.

p.s. Shout out to Howard Chasser, who has helped me to chase down a lot of the impossible to find items on the checklist, including this one.

Fantastic pick-up. Where did you find this?

Fantastic piece. I've always been way more impressed by these oddball issues, then any high end Topps or Bowman card.

As I hinted at, Howard Chasser brokered it for me. I suspect Howard could tell you the tale, although he might be sheepish about revealing too much about his methods.

Howard has been in the hunt for me for a while, helping me to find impossible to find pieces for my Master Mays set, and I suspect for others as well. It could just be as simple as working his network and connections, he finally tracked down the owner, found a price that the owner would accept, contacted me with the price, and we closed the deal.

Unfortunately, when it comes to impossible to find stuff that is in demand, particularly in this market, you need to be willing to pay a king’s ransom to get it. My willingness to pay astronomical sums probably helped to get the deal done without it going to auction, or without some other collector elbowing me out before it goes to auction by offering the seller an even bigger king’s ransom.

It amazes me that you still need the 1971 Bazooka numbered Willie Mays single card and panel considering everything else you have. The reason I mention it is that I need the 1971 Bazooka Numbered Randy Hundley that is on the same panel as Willie Mays and it is virtually non existent. The panel is on the proof sheet but is part of the full box, apparently whoever it was that cut up several of these proof sheets didn't cut up many of the Mays panels.

Yep. Based on the PSA pop charts, there are only 2 of the 1971 numbered Mays, although there are 4 of the 1971 numbered complete panels with Mays. So they’re out there, but obviously also very difficult to find. For whatever reason, 2 of my 4 remaining items come from the 1971 Bazooka numbered set.

Incredible piece.

Congrats!

Great pick up… I would see if PSA would put it in a new holder so that tab isn’t bent over on the bottom.
Truly a remarkable piece!
Scott

That's a sweet piece for sure.

SO what are the two non-Bazooka Mays cards you need?

I guess this is proof that no one bothers to read the footers in our posts…

It’s right there!!

1) M118 Mays. PSA labels it as “1963 Baseball Magazine”, even though it was from Baseball Monthly. Since it’s a jumbo piece, PSA has only been grading them for a few years. At present, the pop count is only 1. Although given the relative abundance of most M118s, I expected this one would be a lot easier to find.

2) 1968 American Oil left side. This was the money card if you pulled it, so I suspect almost all of them were turned in for the $10 cold hard cash. PSA pop reports just 2 ever graded. Of the major Master Mays collectors in the last 20 years, none of us have actually ever found one, which probably further hints at the difficulty in finding them. I’ve never even seen a picture of one, but I have it on good authority that they exist.

Mays
 

impossibly rare Mays item, incredible find by Howard !

Chased down by Chasser, was that intended?

That’s an incredible piece!!

Maybe a new tagline for his services going forward!

Spectacular!

Cool item...would be cool to see your collection one day. Congrats on the find! I can only imagine how satisfying that had to be...

It was definitely an incredible feeling.

Not quite the same as seeing it in person, but if you're into checking out PSA Set Registry Sets, here's my Master Mays Set, with pics included:

https://www.psacard.com/psasetregist...timeset/290520

And if you prefer to check out the digital album, you can find it here:

https://www.psacard.com/psasetregist...t/album/290520

I did the digital album...thanks for sharing...that was intense.

I think my favorite is the Home Run Derby, or the Dice game cards...loved them all.

59 Bazooka Mays box
 

Nicolo:

TREMENDOUS pick up. Congrats.

But you are only halfway home. You now need the 59 Bazooka box with Mays on it from the 20 count box!

See:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/15517333374...Bk9SR47n7orWYQ

and note the different color front of the box as well.

Remember the fun is in the chase! Hopefully Howard can find you one of these.

Just because there is a 20 gum count version and 25 gum count boxes in 1959 doesn’t mean that there is both versions of every player in the set. Since this was the debut bazooka set my guess is only one type of box (gum count) exist for each player. Too few full 59 boxes exist to really be sure. If anyone knows more please correct me by showing the same player on both the 20 and 25 gum count box.
Scott

Thank you.
 

Thanks for the shout out Nicolo. Being a Clemente collector and a lover of the odd and rare - helping others find things like this is the next best thing to unearthing any of the few things left on my Clemente want list!

For anyone reading this who has or is looking for any specific rarities (cards, food issues, test issues, regionals, etc.) I invite you to PM me what you have or what you are looking for as I keep a database with the information and often times can connect the right buyer with seller. I also accept select items on a private consignment basis (NOT an auction - much greater price control) to offer at shows, social media and to my private client list. I have helped a number of board members sell single items and entire collections - PM me for further details.


There are only 3 players with known boxes. Ironically, the 2 known Mays boxes are the different size variants. Of the 4 Mantle boxes - 1 is a 20 piece box and 3 are 25 piece . There is only a single example of Jackie Jensen - a 20 piece. It is likely the balance of the players were produced in both sizes though it is improbable that many if anymore will surface. That said, for no explainable reason PSA does not differentiate them when grading nor requires both for player master sets.

Thank you for the i donation Howard. It would be nice to compile a Bazooka checklist for all the years that showed if there is a 20 and 25 piece version . What a nice resource that would be!
Thanks Scott

As I have seen examples of 20 piece and 25 piece boxes from 1959-1967, it is my belief that boxes were produced in both sizes for all players. As I think we have discussed, I am less hopeful that examples of all players survived in both sizes.

What is a more interesting question to me is why there are an unusually large number of certain boxes from certain years (1963 Mays, 1965 Clemente, etc.) Relative to other boxes from those years? We will likely never know.

HA.

I might wait for the other version to come up for auction, and test my luck bidding against my fellow collectors, rather than attempting to buy it before it comes to market.

There are only so many king’s ransoms to go around!

LOL, so it is-I blew right past it!

I'm also curious how the 20/25 cent divide on the 59 Bazooka boxes that were originally issued with only 9 subjects might affect things.

If you do know anyone who has any of the pieces that I’m missing and would be willing to let them go, I promise they will go to a good home!

I also have some trade bait, although it’s probably nothing all that exciting, for anyone who prefers to trade rather than sell.

A bit off-topic to the original post but if you were to find the Mays American Oil card in panel form it would likely be both halves showing Mays. I am not sure how many exist but I own a "winner" panel of Ruth ($1 winner) and have not ever seen another.

I attached scans of my Ruth $1 winner panel with my other Ruth and Mays pages in my album.

Interesting!

Obviously since I’ve never even seen a picture of even the Mays left side on its lonesome, I’ve also never seen it attached to its sister right side card. But definitely cool to see your Ruth left side piece attached to the corresponding Ruth right side.

This is the kind of stuff on the site that really puts the asses in the seats! As I've never been a part of the box-cutting crowd, I find that Mays and other cards from the set fascinating, because they pop up so infrequently that you'll never tire of seeing them, unlike the overabundance of each player's regular Topps offerings.

Cool stuff!!!

Nicolo, I just had a very enjoyable look at your spectacular Mays collection. Being an aficionado of scarce/rare, oddball/unusual cards, my favorites are your 1953 Briggs (nicest I've ever seen), 1958 Hires Test w/tab, 1959 HR Derby, 1961 Topps Dice, and 1961 7-11. Hope you are able to find the very few item you are missing.

Thanks Val! Those are definitely some of my favorite pieces too. If I’m being honest, when I first started collecting again, the oddball items drove me nuts. I didn’t understand or appreciate them. Now that I’ve spent so much time questing for them, I’ve grown to appreciate and value them much more, even if they still drive me a little nuts sometimes.

It’s definitely a marathon and not a sprint. If history is any guide, it might take another decade (or more) to track down the last 4 down. And in the meantime, I’m sure new items will be added to the checklist. Hopefully they won’t be as hard to find as these last 4.

Dave:

Since Howard said he has seen a Mays in both the 20 and 25 count boxes and Mays was part of the "common" originally issued 9 59 Bazooka's it appears they ( the 9) came in both boxes.

Looking at this uncut sheet of the 14 rare 59 Bazooka's it shows the 20 count box. So now the question becomes were these 14 rare ones issued on 25 count boxes?

https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com...e?itemid=22318

Anyone have a photo of another uncut sheet or any full boxes of any of the cards on this sheet in a 25 count (white front) box?

Howard thinks they all come in both boxes. And he may be correct. But until we find a sheet or a full box with one of 14 rare cards in a 25 count box we won't know for sure. Time to get digging!

Or, if we could find (though insanely rare) one of the 14 cards with the tab at the bottom still attached with different language than that on one of the boxes on the sheet shown from REA. A L O N G shot i admit, and I doubt such a thing was printed. But if something like this would show up it would certainly point to a 25 count box for the 14 rare cards as well

FWIW, here's an article from SCD dated May 6 2005 that discusses the 59 Bazooka's. It doesn't seem like Ellingboe was aware of the 20 count boxes.

Howard has answered questions about these issues ,,hes the best ,hes got great stuff

Old 2005 SCD article on 59 Bazooka set now uploaded in my previous post above. Fun read, albeit not 100% current.

And then there were 3
 

Just picked up this beauty!

Just 3 left to wrap up my Mays Master Set now.

Sometimes you go months or years with no progress, and other times, everything moves really fast.

Special thanks to Dave Britz from Pinz Plus for hooking me up with this one after he upgraded.

Congrats man, you better hurry up and complete before they add more to it!!

Incredible pickups! I use your registry as reference for my hunting of rare mays!

Best of luck on the remaining few!

I was originally assuming that you didn't buy the whole box of gum pieces, but that box doesn't look like getting single pieces out would be all that easy, so maybe you did get the whole box back in 59?

What would 20 or 25 double pack Bazooka gum pieces cost back then?

Sounds similar to the Hostess boxes of the 70s, but could be like the box bottom cards that were on a lot of the Topps, Fleer, Donruss wax boxes in the 80s. Last pack buyer usually got the box too.

I suspect the 19 ink stamp on end of the box is likely the price of 19 cents.

Glad to hear my pics have been helpful. Since I liberally used the pics from my predecessor Master Mays collectors in tracking down hard to find pieces for my own collection, I’m happy to be able to pass it on.

And then there were 2
 

Just picked up the M118 from FedEx today. Now just have to wait 6 months to get it slabbed to update my set.

You have been crushing it lately. Congrats on the latest. Time to hurry up and wait for grade. :):):)

Congrats man, so happy for you! I just picked up a beautiful Mannys baseball land today!!! The rare ones hit so much different!!

No doubt about it. Particularly when you’ve been questing for them for years.