1928 Star Player Candy -- Gehrig??

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Posted By: Lyman

Greetings. We are in the final stages of preparing an article about the Star Player Candy sets (1928 and 1929) in the next issue of Old Cardboard magazine and need your help. We have card images (and plan to run a full gallery) of 72 of the 73 cards checklisted for the 1928 set (including the Buddy Myer card only recently discovered by the hobby).

However, we are missing an image for the card of one player -- Lou Gehrig. If anyone can supply an image of the Gehrig card from the 1928 SPC set it would be much appreciated. If not an image, we would very much like to hear from anyone who has seen the card and can confirm the existance of the Gehrig card. Note that this is the blank-backed Gehrig card from the 1928 set and not Gehrig's 1929 SPC card which has a printed back. Any input would be very helpful.

We would also like to hear from anyone with information about the sponsor (Star Player Candy) of the card set or how the set was distributed.

Please send input to me at editor@oldcardboard.com or by clicking on the email link with this post. Thanks again for all input.

Lyman

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Posted By: leon

Hopefully someone will be able to help out with a scan or definitive proof of the last card. If not, maybe that's a story in itself? good luck...

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Posted By: Kyle

Trying to be somewhat helpful, this thread has many active images from 2006:

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:pdwEotx-f3oJ:www.network54.com/Forum/153652/thread/1159729863/%3Forderid%3D987671397%26moveto%3Dprevtopic+%22192 8+star+player%22+gehrig&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=17&gl=us&client=firefox-a


I'm unfamiliar with the set, was the 1928 set numbered?
http://www.mastronet.com/index.cfm?action=DisplayContent&ContentName=Lot%20Information&LotIndex=65978&CurrentRow=1195


Found this text from a 2005 Mastro auction:
1928 “Star Player” Candy Card Babe Ruth
To date, the likenesses of 72 different baseball players have been discovered appearing in the 1928 “Star Player” candy
card issue. Among the subjects is this photo image of Babe Ruth - presented in a pose unique to the issue. It is an
extremely rare card and one of the very few that appeared when Ruth was in his prime.


I searched high and low and found nothing...
-Kyle-

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Posted By: Bobby Binder

Sorry think it is a 1929 and not a 28

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Posted By: David Smith

Hello all,

As I told Lyman on the phone when we were discussing my Buddy Myer card (the latest addition to the checklist), I bought all of my Star Player Candy cards (16) at one time. It was at a paper show and this dealer was the only one with vintage baseball cards.

The cards were in a binder with other trade cards and the like. When I saw the SPC's, I didn't know what they were. The cards were priced at $4 and $5 dollars a piece and being in college at the time, I didn't have a lot of money to spend recklessly. I am pretty sure I saw a Ruth and Gehrig among the cards but not knowing if they were real, I didn't pounce.

I walked quickly out to my car and looked through the Big Sports Collectors Digest price guide until I found the Star Player Candy cards. When I saw how much the cards wre worth and how rare they were, I RAN back into the show to buy the cards. When I got there, my 16 cards were all that was left. The Ruth and Gehrig were gone.

The Ruth and Gehrig COULD have been 1929 issues but I believe they were 1928's. I say this because if they were 1929's, the fronts would have looked different (the pictures seem smaller on the 1929's) and they would have had writing on the back. The player write-ups would have helped me narrow down the year of issue and I would have been able to find them in the big book quicker.

I believe that a non-collector bought the Ruth and Gehrig because in my group of 16, there were three Hall of Fame players; Joe Sewell, Harold Traynor and Tris Speaker. Anyone knowledgable about baseball would have known Tris Speaker, along with Ruth and Gehrig and would have bought him too.

So, I think someone who knew who Ruth and Gehrig were saw the cards and the names and looked at the prices and said, "I know these two guys and I will gamble $10 dollars (maybe a little more because they could have been priced higher) on them. I know if it were my Mom, she would have done something like that. She wouldn't have known the other players, even Tris Speaker, but she would have known Ruth and Gehrig and would have gambled $10 or $20 dollars on them being authentic cards.

I can't wait to see the article and read what info is in there.

David

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Posted By: John S

Lyman,

I can't wait to read this article as I have always been fascinated by this set. I purchased the example below from a longtime and well known collector who purchased it directly from Burdick in the early 60's. On the reverse in Burdick's hand reads "first I ever saw probably unlisted candy card". Whether he was alluding to the football issue as the first he ever saw or just the set in general is open to debate.

Another interesting question relative to the football cards is their date of issue. Red Grange has a card in the set that labels him as a member of the University of Illinois team. That would would put the date of issue somewhere around 1925. It could be that the producers of the set felt that Grange was better known from his collegiate playing days. There are pro players in the set but they are labeled simply as professional with no team affiliations. The fledgling NFL probably carried far less marketing clout than college in the 1920's.

"Rube" Wagner was the captain of Wisconsin in 1928 and also made some All-American teams that year. It is unlikely that Wagner would be featured among 18 other players as a college freshman. Based on that information and some of the other football players issued it is probably safe to assume that the baseball and football players were issued around the same time.

Again, can't wait to read the article. Hopefully some collectors with some more knowledge about the issue will be prompted to share. I wish I had a Gehrig to post!

[Archive]

Posted By: Lyman

Thanks guys. Your detailed replies so far are some of best I've seen. It is much appreciated. Yes, Bobby, the image you posted is the 1929 card. If Gehrig follows the Ruth pattern, then his 1928 card has a different pose.

Still looking for an image or any additional information about the 1928 SPC Gehrig. If you know anyone that knows anyone that may know anything about the card, please let me know. We'll track all leads. Thanks again for all your feedback so far.

Lyman

[giditgirl]

I don't know if you ever found your answer, but if not I wanted to let you know that the 1928 Gehrig does exist. I held it in my hand. I aquired a lot of 20 SPC cards, some duplicates including 2 Cobbs and a Gehrig. Unfortunatley, not being an educated collector, I did not know what I had. I didn't treat them with the respect that they deserved and by the time I finally realized what I had, I had misplaced one of the sheets that held 9 of the cards. Three of which were the 2 Cobbs and the Gehrig!!! I am stilll not certain if they are misplaced or if they have been stolen. I have a 10ft by 20ft storage unit that is crammed full of household items where it would be if they weren't stolen. You can rest assured that I will be sorting through that storage with a fine tooth comb in hopes of locating them. If I find them, I will be sure to post the scans of each to share with friends at net54baseball. Everyone cross your fingers for me and wish me luck!!!

Chel

[fkw]

Nice find, hope you can locate them...

Do you have scans of the other 11?

Are you sure they are 1928's?

There was a guy on the PSA boards a couple months back that found a 1929 Gehrig.

[giditgirl]

I just recently sold all but 3 of the 11 cards. These are the ones I held onto.

Chel


FOSTER GANZEL 1A.JPG

STANLEY COVELESKI.JPG

TRIS SPEAKER.JPG

[fkw]

Thanks for posting pics, Ive never seen the Speaker, cool.

I love the unique photos in this set.