1934-1936 R327 Diamond Stars

[Spike]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

I've been thinking about these cards a bit, lately.

The R136 Sky Birds by National Chicle... the backs start in 1933 with Series of 48 on the back, only to get big plans with 1934 cards with Series of 144 on the back; yet in total the cards are numbered 1 through 108.

The R327 Diamond Stars by National Chicle, start in 1934, talking of a Series of 240 with green backs, then 1935 dates with a Series of green backs, then 1935 with blue backs, ending with 1936 with blue backs... always mentioning a Series of 240 cards; yet in total the cards are numbered, wait for it, yes, 1-108.

Sky Birds started first, and was expanded. Diamond Stars started the next year, aspiring to equal the 1933 Goudey's in quantity. Both may well have been printed in 12 card bunches. And both put the brakes on production at 108. Any of you studied this???

Three ex-Goudey Gum execs incorporated National Chicle as a new company in December 1933, so the similar approaches to printing makes some sense. Confectionery industry magazines and federal copyright data from 1934-36 add some detail.

Chicle's Sky Birds initial "series of 48" kicked off in mid-Jan 1934 and expanded to "series of 144" sometime later that year. They debuted Batter-Up baseball #1-80 in May 1934 and Diamond Stars Gum #1-24 came out sometime midyear. As you noted, Diamond Stars expanded in 1935-36. Jason Schwartz's research for SABR shows that Batter-Up's high series waited until 1936. Chicle's 1934 non-sport sets include Tom Mix booklets #1-24 Sept/Oct 1934, followed by #25-48. It's unclear when Dare Devils #1-24 came out, as the current archive.org data lacks trademark claims for that particular set.

Archive's copyright records _do_ show Goudey and National Chicle often left gaps to trick kids into buying numbers that didn't yet exist. Goudey scattered its 1933 Big League Gum numbers all over the place and then released 1934 Big League Gum #1-3 + #5-24 on May 1 and held #4 for their next series a month later. Running a business during the Great Depression must've been a factor in companies stringing all these pieces along, bit by bit, hoping to get a bit more money.

Customer complaints might've encouraged our government to prevent further "scattered number" schemes. They purportedly forced Goudey to complete the 1933 set in 1934 by providing the newly-printed #106 Lajoie on request. The FTC also hit Goudey with a cease-and-desist on its lottery-like gum sales approaches in 1938, which I'll guess followed some previous investigations. National Chicle went bankrupt and sold its trademarks to Goudey in mid-1937, so lack of competition might also play a role. Hope that's all useful info!