1963 Jello Cards Article

[Volod]

Digging through old hobby pubs for some research material, came across this article on 1963 Jello cards and recalled recent posts with questions about Jello issues. So, with little else to occupy my time during the apocalypse, thought it might be of interest to the community. Sorry if its mundane or common knowledge; have never collected Jello myself, so not too informed about the subject.

[Case12]

Thank you. Nice article. I checked and from the "hard to get" list I only have #199 for Jell-o (Rod Kanehl). I have many of the other numbers on the hard to find list, but they are Post. Is there a similar list for Post? Is there similar overlap? Also, I have #187 Jello (Aspromonte). Wouldn't it be on the list? Also, lastly - and I may tread on heresy - is it ok to clean some cuts up? After all, it was a kid with scissors back in the day?...

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by Case12

Thank you. Nice article. I checked and from the "hard to get" list I only have #199 for Jell-o (Rod Kanehl). I have many of the other numbers on the hard to find list, but they are Post. Is there a similar list for Post? Is there similar overlap? Also, I have #187 Jello (Aspromonte). Wouldn't it be on the list? Also, lastly - and I may tread on heresy - is it ok to clean some cuts up? After all, it was a kid with scissors back in the day?...

If you go by price in the Standard Catalog, here would be the rarities in 1963 Post (prices in NM column):
#187 Bob Aspromonte ($350)
#61 Jerry Adair ($275)
#172 Billy Williams ($235)
#80 Carl Yastrzemski ($200)
#119 Willie Davis ($200)
#39 Floyd Robinson ($175)
#196 Frank Thomas ($175)
#128 Eddie Kasko ($165)
#131B Frank Robinson - stripes on cap ($115)
#53 Jim Bunning ($95)
#86 Jerry Lumpe ($95)
#30 Lee Thomas ($90)
Others (over $50 in NM): #87 Manny Jimenez, #108 Tom Haller, #162 Curt Flood. Didn't include Roberto Clemente or Mickey Mantle since they're expensive because of who they are, not because they're major SPs.

Highly recommend you buy the Standard Catalog at Barnes and Noble or wherever if you continue to collect these oddball sets.

As to cleaning up a bad cut, it's usually considered fine. And if you're trying to get the highest number grades for a graded registry set, you'll need to clean them up for higher grades (presuming you still have the entire black border visible).

[toppcat]

Oh man, I cut out that Gibson from BBC Mag back in the day and made up a fake box I had displayed in my basement for years until it got squished one day when were moved things around to paint down there.

[cannonballsun]

A very interesting list for the 20 toughest 1963 Jell-os.
This has been done for the 1962 Jell-o set. Which cards do you feel are the 20 toughest in 1963 Jell-o ? Interested to hear your opinions.

[ALBB]

Am I missing something or does the article list the toughest 63 Jello cards..and the price guide shows 20 completely different " toughest 63 Jello ??

[Kenmarks]

When Stew Jones wrote this article so many years ago, it was a godsend to collectors of the issue. Maybe the information was out there somewhat, but this was pre-Internet days. Even today the information in his article is Top notch, and referred to by Collector’s regularly.

[cannonballsun]

Originally Posted by ALBB

Am I missing something or does the article list the toughest 63 Jello cards..and the price guide shows 20 completely different " toughest 63 Jello ??

Case12 asked about the 1963 post list, which is what a swarmee supplied.
The list in the article is the 1963 jello list.

[whiteymet]

Originally Posted by Case12

Thank you. Nice article. I checked and from the "hard to get" list I only have #199 for Jell-o (Rod Kanehl). I have many of the other numbers on the hard to find list, but they are Post. Is there a similar list for Post? Is there similar overlap? Also, I have #187 Jello (Aspromonte). Wouldn't it be on the list? Also, lastly - and I may tread on heresy - is it ok to clean some cuts up? After all, it was a kid with scissors back in the day?...

Case:

As you can see by the lists above the rare cards in Jello do not necessarily carry over to Post and vica a versa.

The Aspromonte in Post is MUCH rarer than the same card in the Jello set

[Volod]

Originally Posted by toppcat

Oh man, I cut out that Gibson from BBC Mag back in the day and made up a fake box I had displayed in my basement for years until it got squished one day when were moved things around to paint down there.

Dave - I think I saw that box on the Bay being bid up to a couple hundred bucks a few years ago, then taken down abruptly. Did you keep an eye on the other painters?

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by Volod

Dave - I think I saw that box on the Bay being bid up to a couple hundred bucks a few years ago, then taken down abruptly. Did you keep an eye on the other painters?

damn kids....LOL

[skil55voy]

Nice article. You will note that all of the hard to get cards are on 6oz packages. It has been my experience the Ed Bressoud card is very difficult to obtain along with Aspromonte and maybe Bob Lillis. I agree that the Post Cereal card of Aspromonte is much tougher than the Jello card.

[bobw]

Originally Posted by toppcat

Oh man, I cut out that Gibson from BBC Mag back in the day and made up a fake box I had displayed in my basement for years until it got squished one day when were moved things around to paint down there.

Bob Lemke, on his blog a few years ago, made some Jello boxes.. so with plenty of free time from staying home, it was arts and crafts time using his template.....

[cannonballsun]

Originally Posted by bobw

Bob Lemke, on his blog a few years ago, made some Jello boxes.. so with plenty of free time from staying home, it was arts and crafts time using his template.....

Very nice box. Well done !

[cannonballsun]

Originally Posted by skil55voy

Nice article. You will note that all of the hard to get cards are on 6oz packages. It has been my experience the Ed Bressoud card is very difficult to obtain along with Aspromonte and maybe Bob Lillis. I agree that the Post Cereal card of Aspromonte is much tougher than the Jello card.

I agree, the Bressoud is real tough, as well as the Lillis. I think the Aspromonte is somewhat rare, but a lot of it's rarity is due to people not being able to find the Post Aspromonte, and they substitute with the Jell-o.

[hoot-owl]

I think the last two I needed were Joe Torre and Ty Cline? Agree that Bressoud is a tough card as is Lou Clinton. But then there are at least 40-50 tough cards from this set.

[skil55voy]

Peter, I certainly agree with Torre and Cline. You are right in that 40-50 of the 63 Jellos are tough. As I stated before, all of them are on 6oz boxes. I have long researched this and have come up with some conclusions that may or may not be correct:

The intent of General Foods in 1963 was you should be able to complete a full set of cards by combining that Post Cereal with the Jello cards. The cereal boxes would have cards from April through June. The Jello boxes would be released from July through September. Of course we know that the size of the cards are not the same and eventually they are identified as separate issues.

I have taken all of the 6oz boxes and listed the players comparing them to their counterparts on the Post Cereal boxes. Here is an example: (Copied from a spreadsheet. The grid goes away.)

Lime and Orange 6oz
No. Player Cereal Box 1 Cereal Box 2
6 Green Raisin Bran 14oz
10 Kaat Post Toasties 12oz Sugar Crisp 14oz
21 Blanchard Post Toasties 8oz Sugar Crisp 9oz
31 Rodgers Post Toasties 12oz Rice Krinkles 10oz
45 Herbert GrapeNuts Flakes 16oz Sugar Crisp 14oz
63 Snyder Post Toasties 12oz Rice Krinkles 10oz
92 Sullivan Post Toasties 8oz Alpha-Bits 8oz
94 Retzer GrapeNuts Flakes 16oz Alpha-Bits 13oz
128 Kasko Raisin Bran 10oz
135 Keough GrapeNuts Flakes 16oz Sugar Crisp 14oz
146 McBean GrapeNuts Flakes 12oz Alpha-Bits 8oz
159 Javier GrapeNuts Flakes 12oz Alpha-Bits 13oz
163 James Sugar Crisp 9oz
173 Rodgers Raisin Bran 14oz
181 Gonzalez Raisin Bran 14oz
190 Warwick Sugar Coated Corn Flakes 10oz Sugar Crisp 9oz
198 Mantilla Sugar Crisp 9oz Rice Krinkles 10oz

The key becomes apparent. All of these 6oz Jello cards are relatively difficult. Whereas on the Post boxes most of the cards are relatively easy except for Kasko. James, Rodgers and Gonzalez are somewhat difficult with James being somewhat easier as he was on a popular cereal. This pattern continues and shows that besides Kasko, that Aspromonte, Adair and Billy Williams meet this criteria. (One box Post Cereal - 6oz Jello)

The reverse can be seen from the other side. Mantle is extremely difficult on the Post Cereal side (One Box) yet highly plentiful on Jello due to the fact he is on the 3oz boxes and was part of the Jello promotional advertising.

Sorry for the length of this message.

[cannonballsun]

Originally Posted by hoot-owl

I think the last two I needed were Joe Torre and Ty Cline? Agree that Bressoud is a tough card as is Lou Clinton. But then there are at least 40-50 tough cards from this set.

Torre and Cline are also definitely tough.
I know of a collector who needed Torre to complete his set. It took him several years to get one. I also know of two other collectors that got down to needing 5 cards, Cline was one of the 5 cards that both needed.