Renewed call for help - 1978 wiffle ball

bswhiten · #1 06-29-2016, 01:19 PM

Why does PSA slab the wiffle ball as 1976 but have them listed under 1978?

Cliff Bowman · #2 06-29-2016, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bswhiten

Why does PSA slab the wiffle ball as 1976 but have them listed under 1978?

That Al Hrabosky wiffle disc is almost certainly a 1977, not a 1978. 1977's are die cut and were inserted in the boxes, 1978's were on the box itself and were meant to be cut out. ETA, all wiffle discs are either from 1977 (die cut) or from 1978 (printed on the box or the bat and ball sleeve), but they all have a 1976 copyright which is why they are sometimes referred to mistakenly as being from 1976.

ArmourPhil · #3 08-08-2016, 10:02 AM

Cliff - that is not correct...read my reply to the previous message

Cliff Bowman · #4 08-08-2016, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArmourPhil

Cliff - that is not correct...read my reply to the previous message

On the die cut 80 disc set, it contains the following players listed with teams that they played for in 1977 but were on different teams in 1978: Dennis Eckersley Indians (traded to Red Sox before 1978 season), Bert Blyleven Rangers (traded to Pirates in December 1977), Larry Hisle Twins (signed as free agent with Brewers in November 1977), Dave Kingman Padres (he only played for them from June 1977 to early September 1977 before playing for the Angels and Yankees and then signing with Cubs in November 1977), Jon Matlack Mets (traded to Rangers in December 1977), Manny Sanguillen A's (he only played for A's during the 1977 season before going back to Pirates before 1978 season), Richie Zisk White Sox (he only played for the White Sox in 1977 before signing with Rangers in November 1977). In order for you to be correct that these came out in 1978, whoever printed these did a horrendous job of updating teams, or, they were printed in the summer of 1977 but not released until 1978.

steve B · #5 08-08-2016, 12:56 PM

Well, it was done by MSA........

I can see the lead time in production packing distribution causing some of those. Things were a bit slower then.

And 78 and 79 is pretty much what I recall. We moved to the Boston area in Sept 77, and I was getting the cards in Sears in the spring. Lead time to a major retailer like Sears would have been longer. I'm not entirely sure the box cards weren't available in late 77. I do know that a lot of kids took the cards out of the boxes, and either took them or added it to another box. Had to check the box before buying. I'd thought that was what caused the cards printed on the boxes, perhaps before 79? But overall it matches what I remember.

What a great year 78 was! Sox going great - until.... Cards in wiffleballs, Hostess, frosted flakes, Papa Ginos, and with Chille Willee at the local store. Plus , regular Topps, Fleer stickers, OPC picked up on a cross country trip, the sspc all star book, RC cola cans, .............
And the town I was in had a shop that was mostly baseball cards so I was getting into older cards too.

Steve B

ArmourPhil · #6 08-08-2016, 10:01 AM

Hello...I am responsible for PSA changing their listings from 1976 and 1977 to 1978. I have been in touch with Wiffle (in Conn not RI) and the son of the inventor sent me product releases from those days which confirmed that the die cut discs (80) were inserted into boxes only in 1978 and the discs printed on the box sides (12 boxes with 5 discs per box) and on the so called "header sleeves" (14 sleeves of 2 players each for total of 28) were from 1979. SO the wiffles that PSA had labeled in the past 1976 and 1977 are really from 1978. I have sent the info to SCD and they will be correcting both in the next issue of the Std catalog. .

steve B · #7 08-08-2016, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArmourPhil

Hello...I am responsible for PSA changing their listings from 1976 and 1977 to 1978. I have been in touch with Wiffle (in Conn not RI) and the son of the inventor sent me product releases from those days which confirmed that the die cut discs (80) were inserted into boxes only in 1978 and the discs printed on the box sides (12 boxes with 5 discs per box) and on the so called "header sleeves" (14 sleeves of 2 players each for total of 28) were from 1979. SO the wiffles that PSA had labeled in the past 1976 and 1977 are really from 1978. I have sent the info to SCD and they will be correcting both in the next issue of the Std catalog. .

If they're ok with it I'd love to see those product releases. It's crazy, but I really like that stuff and it's almost impossible to find.

Steve B

ArmourPhil · #8 08-31-2016, 11:44 AM

I will try to post pics of the prod release documents that Wiffle sent me.. Have patience, I'm not quite sure how to do this yet.

ArmourPhil · #9 08-31-2016, 11:52 AM

Steve B ,

The files are pdf and are 400Kb...this thread says posting pics have to be < 19Kb when I shrink that much you cannot read the letter so I'm not sure how to load. Send me you email and I will forward to you...

steve B · #10 08-31-2016, 02:56 PM

Just had a look at them, and they're really cool. And as conclusive as it gets as far as year of issue. When the promo literature from the company itself says they've changed the format of the cards for 1979 and catalog pages specifically say 1978 and 1979 and picture the product it doesn't get much better.

Steve B

mrmopar · #11 09-01-2016, 07:34 PM

Thanks Phil. Would now want the color sheet for the Garvey appearance if ever one were to surface for sale!

darkhorse9 · #12 09-02-2016, 08:23 AM

The next big challenge is getting the price guide to reflect the scarcity of certain cards. Much like the Post/Jello cards of the 69's card scarcity is directly affected by the popularity of the product.

There is only on Junior sized wiffle box (Fidrych is on it.), three softball and 8 regulation sized.

Far more regulation sized were sold than the other two. If they were sold by more than 2:1 over softball and 8:1 for junior (both very likely) than the odd sized box cards are rarer.

Of course the sleeve cards are a whole different matter. Their popularity was very small and it is impossible to have cards without heavy creases.

The current SC lists the prices of the 1979 set as identical to their 1978 counterparts. That's completely wrong.

bswhiten · #13 08-08-2016, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArmourPhil

Hello...I am responsible for PSA changing their listings from 1976 and 1977 to 1978. I have been in touch with Wiffle (in Conn not RI) and the son of the inventor sent me product releases from those days which confirmed that the die cut discs (80) were inserted into boxes only in 1978 and the discs printed on the box sides (12 boxes with 5 discs per box) and on the so called "header sleeves" (14 sleeves of 2 players each for total of 28) were from 1979. SO the wiffles that PSA had labeled in the past 1976 and 1977 are really from 1978. I have sent the info to SCD and they will be correcting both in the next issue of the Std catalog. .

So will PSA be slabbing this one to 1978 soon? The flip with 76 actually shows up in the registry as 78 and the 77 flip (just got back from PSA) shows as 77. And both are in the Master Set.

darkhorse9 · #14 08-08-2016, 01:58 PM

I will say that, from personal experience, I have zero doubt in my mind that the die cut discs were available in May of 1978. I know exactly where I was at the time and what I was doing when I got them.

mrmopar · #15 08-08-2016, 07:21 PM

I can't be 100% certain from personal experience because I was a kid and it was a long time ago, but I did pull a Frank Tanana disc from a box and it was very likely 1978. It couldn't have been any earlier, because I had moved that summer and got it while in my new house.

PANAMABASEBALL · #16 01-07-2019, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArmourPhil

Hello...I am responsible for PSA changing their listings from 1976 and 1977 to 1978. I have been in touch with Wiffle (in Conn not RI) and the son of the inventor sent me product releases from those days which confirmed that the die cut discs (80) were inserted into boxes only in 1978 and the discs printed on the box sides (12 boxes with 5 discs per box) and on the so called "header sleeves" (14 sleeves of 2 players each for total of 28) were from 1979. SO the wiffles that PSA had labeled in the past 1976 and 1977 are really from 1978. I have sent the info to SCD and they will be correcting both in the next issue of the Std catalog. .

Thats awesome, i get it now, and how did you get Cosetta to listen to you .. lol

bswhiten · #17 12-31-2019, 07:08 PM

Picked up the Hrabosky/Bonds sleeve. There is a color variation too correct? Need to track that one down

Thanks for all of the great info on this board.

darkhorse9 · #18 01-02-2020, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bswhiten

Picked up the Hrabosky/Bonds sleeve. There is a color variation too correct? Need to track that one down

Thanks for all of the great info on this board.

That's a nice little holy Grail one there. Where did that surface?

bswhiten · #19 01-02-2020, 05:31 PM

Snagged it off of ebay Mark.

Gr8Beldini · #20 01-14-2020, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArmourPhil

Hello...I am responsible for PSA changing their listings from 1976 and 1977 to 1978. I have been in touch with Wiffle (in Conn not RI) and the son of the inventor sent me product releases from those days which confirmed that the die cut discs (80) were inserted into boxes only in 1978 and the discs printed on the box sides (12 boxes with 5 discs per box) and on the so called "header sleeves" (14 sleeves of 2 players each for total of 28) were from 1979. SO the wiffles that PSA had labeled in the past 1976 and 1977 are really from 1978. I have sent the info to SCD and they will be correcting both in the next issue of the Std catalog. .

I think this is wrong. The box-side cutout disks include Bill North as a member of the A's (he played with the Dodgers in '78 and would be listed with them if cards were indeed issued in '79). Same thing with Jim Spencer. Box cut out shows him with White Sox. He played with Yankees in '78 and a 1979 issued card would have showed him with NY. John Mayberry also. He played with Toronto in '78 and as such, his cards would show Blue Jays if it were a 1979 card (but it doesn't; it shows him on the Royals).

Cliff Bowman · #21 01-14-2020, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gr8Beldini

I think this is wrong. The box-side cutout disks include Bill North as a member of the A's (he played with the Dodgers in '78 and would be listed with them if cards were indeed issued in '79). Same thing with Jim Spencer. Box cut out shows him with White Sox. He played with Yankees in '78 and a 1979 issued card would have showed him with NY.

I originally thought the same thing, one 1979 box has Jose Cardenal as a Cub even though he hadn't played for them sine 1977 and the 1978 Dave Kingman die cut disc has him as a Padre even though he was on his third organization since being a Padre before the 1978 season even started, but ArmourPhil has indisputable proof that the die cut discs were a 1978 issue and the boxes and sleeves were a 1979 issue. It was just horrible product quality control by whoever created and printed them.

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