[Exhibitman]

I thought I might take the liberty of reviving this thread to discuss the cards from this issue that are attributed to Thailand [Siam].

The Thailand designation is found in Seconds Out [Evan Jones, 1993]. I do not know where he got the information. He lists 30 cards as part of the overseas issue but I am not sure how accurate his information is because his other checklists were misleading or incomplete. I can verify a dozen Siam cards from hands-on experience [edited to add cards confirmed through this thread]:

Choynski
Corbett
Tunney
Wills
Leonard
O'Dowd
Carpentier
McGovern
Gibbons
Nelson
Ritchie
McFarland
Buff

I'm convinced that the Siam cards are either a non-US issue for overseas use or a US product meant for overseas use. The few unidentified accumulations of these cards that I've run across have been mixed in with British tobacco cards. The latest group came mixed with Drumhead Cigarettes cards, which were a British overseas issue. Another purely anecdotal piece of evidence that these cards came from a long ways away is that the Drumheads with the Siam cards had small holes in them typical of bug holes I've seen in cards from Cuba and other tropical areas.

I am absolutely convinced that the cards are machine-cut as issued. All are almost exactly the same size [minute variations similar to other machine cut cards of the era] and have straight edges that even the most careful hand cuts could not replicate. Even the borderless card [McFarland] measured almost the same as the other cards and had straight borders.

As compared to the typical W580 the Siam cards' surface is glossy and the cardboard is a lot better quality.

The Siam cards are much more difficult than the standard W580. I've handled hundreds of the standard cards but only a few dozen of the others. They should sell for a substantial premium but likely have not because of the obscurity of the issue and the close similarity to the standard cards.

I'd be curious as to a population count but they are difficult to differentiate on their faces from scans, so it may be difficult to get a true count, although you can rule out any card that shows evidence of hand-cutting on the sides or that is on cheap, non-glossy chip board. I will try to make side by side scans of the same fighters to see if I can post a graphic on the difference.

Anyone with more data, please post.