Tcma postcards, questions

[billyb]

Hi All,
I have seldom posted here in the post War area, but I had someone approach me with 24 of these TCMA, ALL-TIME GREATS postcards. The years appears to be 73 - 75, but some have both, 1973 on front and 1975 on the back. And some do not have anything stamped on back.
They are somewhat difficult to search online, as I have not found a 1973 or 75 checklist, or value list. Ebay sellers do not give them much value, $1 to $10, according to condition and subject.
So am I correct to assume, the ones with no back, and 1973 are indeed 1973 postcards? And the ones with 1973 on front and 1975 on back are 1975 postcards?
But what year are they with no years stamped either side. I have a Cy Young (shown), with no year on front and plain back. I then have three with no year on front (see Keeler photo), and are stamped on back, but no year stamped in front of the "TCMA" where others show the year "1975". (see Keeler and Speaker backs).
It appears that all or most of these cards were printed in 1973, but only so many were issued in 1973 and the rest in 1975. And in the case of the ones with no year, they just escaped the printing process and were a mistake
Am I correct in my assumption or does anyone else have further information.
Thank you.


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[mrmopar]

I believe one of the original TCMA owners son is a member here and could probably provide better details. i have read a number of posts where he provides details about cards and sets, even the company itself.

I bought a "set" of them when I was a kid. They were mail order from what was probably a TCMA catalog. I would guess it was somewhere around 1979 when I bought mine. I think a few more were issued later or around that time as well, but I want to say the set was somewhere in the 150-180 card range. I have since bought a number of lots and they are all mixed together, so I am not sure how many I got originally. I really liked them as a kid and still do, but you are right, they don't have tremendous value. I suspect plenty were printed to meet demand.

Several of mine have tape and pin holes from when I displayed them on my walls in my bedroom! I have upgraded most, but it is fun to see the results of a kid who just collected for the fun of it with no thought of future value in mind.

To add, many of mine had backs with stats, many were blank and some just had the postcard type markings on them with no stats. I never did figure out if there was a pattern to how the backs were configured.

[billyb]

Thanks Curt,

None of the cards with the date and player's stats on back, have the year stamped on the front. And the ones missing the date, the printing on the back is upside down when you flip a card over.
The cards with plain backs, On the front, has the date printed, 1973 TCMA Ltd. or C. 1973 TCMA, But the font size differs.
I have to say, these have my curiosity level up. Think I will hold onto them.

Thanks again Curt.

[mrmopar]

i wasn't sure I would be able to find an issue in my mess, but I lucked out and found one quickly. I loved browsing these and similar card catalogs at the time, always wishing I could drop something crazy (like $20) on stuff, but maybe lucky to spend $5!

Here is an add for the postcard set in 1979 at 132 cards. You'll notice they don't say postcard size, but I am pretty sure that they didn't make that many of the smaller version cards. I vaguely remember now ordering them and being disappointed that they were so big when I got them, but grew to appreciate them.

How about those Laughlin set prices too!!

[billyb]

Thanks Curt,
Great advertisement. Somehow, these TCMA postcards slipped past me. But, when they had been issued, I was not back to collecting yet ( mid 1980s), but I still should have seen some somewhere. But I only collected for another 5 years, when the card manufacturers were coming out from everywhere. And I just got back in a couple of years ago.
I am sure thee are many others I have not seen.....yet.
As I said, for some reason, they are growing on me.

Bill

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

I believe one of the original TCMA owners son is a member here and could probably provide better details. i have read a number of posts where he provides details about cards and sets, even the company itself.

That's me . billyb, I will ask my father and see if he can provide any insight. Also, if you are looking for more of these I do know that Baseball Nostalgia in Cooperstown (co-owned by my father since the mid 70's) does have quite a few different and they're cheap.

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by TCMA

That's me . billyb, I will ask my father and see if he can provide any insight. Also, if you are looking for more of these I do know that Baseball Nostalgia in Cooperstown (co-owned by my father since the mid 70's) does have quite a few different and they're cheap.

So, here's a response from my father regarding this:

"I personally typed the backs and stuck the names on the front of these postcards! They were printed a few times in different series. I think 12 or 24 at a time. Blank ones had to have been first and the backs later. Wow! 154 cards in the set, i totally forgot. Somewhere in our archive are the Baseball Advertiser publications we did in the 70's they should have a pretty good chronology."

So, if you can track down some of the older Baseball Advertiser publications those might yield some more info. You can also try getting in touch with the guys at Baseball Nostalgia, as Pete over there has a lot of knowledge regarding the chronology of TCMA sets.

[autograf]

I have a group of 80-100 of them bought as a 'set' a couple years back. I'll have to look through them and take a look. I do remember they were popular for autographs. I think I still have a Greenberg autographed somewhere in all my mess. Great cards...........