Tupinamba LTDA. Quigol Cards

[samosa4u]

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.