Tupinamba LTDA. Quigol Cards
 

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ez2tmt4o2...gol%2B-006.jpg

The Tupinamba LTDA. Quigol cards, which were manufactured sometime between 1958 to 1960, have been receiving a lot of attention lately due to the Pele (#109 in the set). With two recent mid-grade examples selling for $15,000 and $10,000 (a PSA 5 and an off-centered PSA 6, respectively.), it has become the most popular vintage soccer card. But what about the rest of the set? Surely there must be other stars which deserve our attention. As a set builder, I decided to put one together thinking it was going to be a simple task - I had no idea what I was getting myself into!

Short Prints and Prizes

According to my conversation with a longtime collector of South American cards, the Quigols were an immediate hit. This was not only because of the unique design these cards had, but the prizes that were being given away by the company. For example, if one managed to find card numbers 1 to 11, which was the complete Fluminense team, then he could send them in for a doll. Completing numbers 100 – 110, which was the Santos FC, the team Pele played on, would get you an alarm clock. In order to limit the number of prizes won, Tupinamba LTDA. short printed one card for each team. For example, card #10 was short printed, so winning a doll was not easy! Card #44 was a short print, because finding one allowed you to complete the Flamengo team, and the prize for that was a camera!

The Mystery of the #51 Garrincha

After finally getting my hands on the Pele, I decided to track down the Garrincha card. Garrincha, who possessed amazing dribbling skills and is regarded as the second greatest Brazilian soccer player, never enjoyed the spotlight like the way his teammate did. His drinking problems and early death has made him almost unknown in the soccer world today. After months of searching for this card, and having no success, I realized that the #51 Garrincha card was chosen by the company to be one of the short printed cards. The prize for completing the Botafogo team (numbers 45 – 55) was a blender and I’m certain that Tupinamba LTDA. didn’t want to give too many of these away. So how many Garrincha cards were printed then? It’s really hard to say. Any lucky collector who did manage to find one probably sent it in (along with the other Botafogo players) in order to get his prize. Did anyone decide not to do this and save the card instead? Several collectors I have spoken to have told me that they have never seen one before. If any of these do exist, then they are extremely valuable.

In conclusion, while the Pele card continues to set record prices and drive collectors wild, it is the short prints that are the special ones. Anyone who comes across a group of Quigol cards will notice that the short prints are missing and this is because majority of them were sent in for prizes. In other words, trying to complete a team set is very difficult. Completing the whole entire set of 176 is impossible.

Great post. This is one of my favorite futbol sets because of the design and the Pele RC. Not sure if you saw, but a near complete set (152 cards) sold about a month ago). Wish I had seen it sooner...

Interesting that Garrincha is a SP. I believe it is also a RC or at least an early card, so it will definitely be one to chase!

Let’s see your set so far!

P.S. there seem to be Pele reprints out there, as you may know

Hi Anish,

Thank you for your post.

Yes, there are counterfeits out there, so one must be very careful when purchasing an ungraded example.

One of the best ways to educate yourself is by purchasing commons and then examining them under magnification. Pay close attention to the print spots and colors. After you have done this, there is no one who will be able to fool you!

I have attached a counterfeit to this message. You will notice that it looks different. There is someone on eBay.co.uk who is trying to sell one.

Great sharing of information, Samosa4u. I especially like to see fakes and counterfeits to help my own authenticating. I also like the impossibility of completing the set. That makes it challenging.

Great post!
 

Very good information and not unsurprising on the SP when prizes are involved! Yes there are a bunch of fakes out there, so this one is tough. I passed on the eBay one with the album because I thought that it had a slight trim to the bottom right.

Also, I am much more inclined to put the date as 1960 than 1958, but it looks like the "market" seems to believe 1958. For instance the Jair card that I just listed on eBay from this issue started his career in 1960 (though he was a prominent youth player - but I would still doubt that they would publish a card of him on a senior team).

Thanks for the great, insightful post!

Thank you everyone for posting.

Now these cards were cut all over the place. Last year I purchased a group of these from a friend, and the first thing I did when they arrived was to take them into my study room and examine them carefully. What surprised me was that I couldn't even find two cards that matched in size! How exactly they were cut remains a mystery.

Take a look at this Pele and you'll see what I mean.

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/p...2_0523E3_1.jpg

I have seen that too... with many of the Brazilian issues...

Al

Garrincha:


https://www.ebay.com/itm/1958-Quigol...8AAOSw4A5YvERL

Hello,

The Quigol SUPPLEMENT cards were a separate set that featured all the 1958 WC winners (in cartoon style). Do not confuse these with the ones I'm discussing.

Please see the attached picture for a better understanding.