Card of the Day: 1954 Topps Scoops – First Balloon Flight #134

Card of the Day: Luke Easter 1954 Dan-Dee Potato Chips

Card of the Day: Dave Jolly 1954 Topps #188

Card of the Day: Eddie Stanky 1954 Topps #38

Card of the Day: Yogi Berra 1954 Topps #50

You Know What’s Cool? Little League Pins That Look Like Packs Of 1954 Bowman Baseball Cards

With the cancellation of the 2020 Little League World Series, I’ve been looking around for some alternative sources to obtain new pins this year.  eBay has always been an option, but the Little League Pin Traders Club group on Facebook can be an equal or even better source.

Everyday collectors are posting pictures of their pins looking to trade.  Upon joining, I came to realize how many pins I didn’t know existed.  That’s the thing about Little League pins.  You can go many years without knowing that certain pins exist.  There is no official release date and/or checklist.  In addition to that, the quantities are all different.

Did you know there are some Little League pins that look just like packs of old baseball cards?  Organizing a trade using one of my Sports Card Info pins, I was able to obtain (2) pins that look like packs of 1954 Bowman Baseball.  One of them is green, and the other is red.

These pins aren’t small either.  They’re made of metal, and are about the size of a normal pack of cards.  High-quality and very heavy.  I had no clue they existed until I joined this group.  Other baseball card pack pins I’ve seen include 1952 Bowman Baseball and 1963 Topps Baseball.

Its interesting when the sports card hobby collides with the pin collecting world.

Card of the Day: Al Kaline 1954 Topps #201

Card of the Day: Luke Easter 1954 Bowman #116

The Perfect Valentine’s Day Set – 1954 Red Heart

I don’t believe there could be a more appropriate set to talk about on Valentine’s Day than 1954 Red Heart.

If you were a card collector and had a dog back in the 1950s, Red Heart Dog Food is what your pooch would have eaten.  From a collecting standpoint, there couldn’t be a better example of a regionally issued set.

Coming in at only (33) cards the set is relatively small.  It is split-up between (11) red, (11) green, and (11) blue background cards.  Red backgrounds are said to be the most difficult to find.

Mailing two Red Heart Dog Food labels along with 10 cents to the John Morrell & Company would’ve gotten you (1) 11-card series.  The color you received depended on where you lived.  Certain colors seem to be more/less popular in different regions of the country.  This type of distribution method made it difficult to complete a set.

The checklist is packed with Hall of Famers – Richie Ashburn, Ralph Kiner, Duke Snider, and Enos Slaughter to name a few.  Mickey Mantle and Stan Musial are two of the most popular subjects.  Stan Musial doesn’t appear in either the 1954 Topps or 1954 Bowman sets.  His card from 1954 Red Heart isn’t easy to find (red background), and has a high demand due to his lack of main-issued 1954 cards.  Mickey Mantle is also absent from 1954 Topps, but does appear in 1954 Bowman.

Collectors could take advantage of this mail-in offer all the way through the early 1970s.  That’s a long time for a promotional program to go on.  You can’t say collectors didn’t have enough time to get their hands on them.

How To Spot Fake 1954 Dan-Dee Potato Chips Baseball Cards

Sports cards popup everywhere.  You can find them in packages of underwear, socks, and various food products.  Its been this way since the dawn of time.

In 1954, salty snack lovers received a surprise inside their Dan-Dee potato chip containers.  Waiting for them inside was a baseball card.  The entire 1954 Dan-Dee Potato Chips set only consists of (29) cards.  Phil Rizzuto, Larry Doby, Bob Feller, Gil Hodges, and Monte Irvin all highlight the set.  There are even a few Short Prints – Walker Cooper and Paul Smith.  But by far the dominant card collectors want the most is Mickey Mantle.

Given that they were packaged directly next to the chips without any protection is one of the main reasons as to why a majority of them have damage.  Its very common to find them with grease stains, creases, and rounded corners.  Finding ones in nice condition is difficult to do.

A good number of reprints and counterfeits have entered the market.  Remember these tips:

• On the front of the card, locate the black box which contains the player’s name.  That box should be solid black with very small speckles of white.  Dots with circles around them is a big red flag.
• Dan-Dee cards were printed on very thin, flimsy card stock.  You can easily shine a light through one.  On reprints and counterfeits the light will not shine through so easily.
• Original Dan-Dee cards have a waxy coating, and almost always have some type of grease stain.
• Reprints and counterfeits tend to be in much better condition, and have darker colors.  Very white borders too.

Authentic

Reprint