Question re: 1977 Baseball's Great Hall of Fame Exhibit cards

[dhicks67]

Hello, I have had this set of 32 Baseball's Great Hall of Fame Exhibit cards since at least 1980. I have always thought they were the 1977 set (obviously not the 1948 set) and assumed they were printed by the Exhibit Supply Company of Chicago. But as I was trying to sell them, someone asked me if they were "reprints" because they are not printed in a bright-color ink. I had thought this set is sometimes called a "reprint" because it is not the 1948 set. Are my cards in these photos the 1977 set, or did some other company do actual reprints of this 1977 set? Thanks for any clarity you can add. Doug

[jayshum]

There is a set from 1974 listed in the SCD that is a reprint of 24 cards from the 1948 set. The cards from 1974 are on very bright, white card stock. That is probably what they are thinking of. The set from 1977 has some overlap of players in the 1948 set, but it has many different players in it (Mantle, Williams, Clemente, etc) than 1948. The 1977 has PRTD U.S.A. at the bottom of the columns as your cards do.

[dhicks67]

Many thanks, Jay, for this reply. It's a cool, interesting set.

[Exhibitman]

The 1977s have a different print font for the biography section. You can tell them apart from the original instantly. What you posted are 1977s. The 1974 reprints are on thinner bright white stock with the same fonts as the 1948s. You have to check the stock in hand to differentiate. The color ones are a 1980 issue that has the date right at the bottom. Some (like Wagner) use the image from the 1948 card without the artwork.

The 1974 and 1977 sets are both ESCO issues, just late in its existence when it was in its death throes. The 1980 set was made by a collector who bought out the plates and equipment and decided to issue some cards. As I recall they were issued in polybag sets in multiple colors.

One last thing to be aware of are the slicks. In order to reduce the weight (mailing costs) of machine headers, starting in the 1930s ESCO printed some of its cards on slick glossy paper to paste onto the machine headers in place of actual cards. These are rare because most were either used or discarded rather than retailed. The vast majority of the ones that do turn up show evidence of having been pasted down to the header boards (the paste just failed over time). A Ruth with bats in front can be found for the 1948 set. Here is an example:



Slicks are identical in every way to the cards except the stock. Compare this to the OP Ruth and you can see the differences immediately.

There are not any abundant fakes I know of, probably because the 1974 and 1977 reprints kill the financial incentive: why counterfeit the originals when you can get an identical card except the stock.

[whiteymet]

Hi Guys:

I don't have access to my cards currently, but if ebay listings are to be believed, another way to tell the difference between the 74 and 77 issues is that the 77's have PRTD. printed under the left column and U.S.A. under the right column.

The 74's do not have this.