Card of the Day: 1956 Gum Products, Inc. Adventure – The Groundhog’s Shadow #73

Flashback Product of the Week: 1956 Gum Products – The Adventure Series

If there is one set that dude from the Dos Equis commercials belongs in, it would have to be The Adventure Series made by Gum Products back in 1956.  This 100-card set literally has everything.  You’ll find cards containing scenes of war, boxers, Olympic athletes, mountain climbers, deep sea divers, fishermen, wildlife, the circus, atomic bombs, firefighters, boats, explorers, race cars, and so much more.  Anything goes with this set.  Obviously, condition is everything, but the cards that are in the most demand are the ones dealing with sports.  Boxers top that list.  Card #44 is of legend Rocky Marciano, and if its in really nice condition can sell for over $200.00.  But the card that gets the most attention, and sells for the highest is #86.  This is due to the Nazi symbol that’s on the card.  Good examples can sell for hundreds.  Outside of boxing, another popular card would be #55 like the one pictured above.  Its of Boston legend Harry Agannis who has very few cards.  These can go for $30.00 to $50.00 depending on the condition.

The 1956 Adventure Series is a very entertaining set, as it covers so many subject areas.  The painted artwork is printed on thick white card stock with a write up on the reverse side describing what is pictured on the front.  Packs of cards were quite cheap in 1956, but this was one of the cheapest even at it’s time.  Gum Products issued these cards in one cent packs.  It doesn’t get any cheaper than that, but you were only getting one card per pack too.

Should Press Pass Go Retro?

Retro sets are the popular thing in today’s hobby.  Just take one look at the product release calendar and you’ll see old brands becoming new again.  Products like Allen & Ginter, Goodwin Champions, Obak, Philadelphia, and Magic have been popular with collectors.  One company that really hasn’t jumped on the retro bandwagon is Press Pass.  In fact the only real attempt they have made at a retro set would be the tobacco sized mini’s that can be found in ’09 Press Pass Series 2.  That got me thinking.  Should Press Pass do a retro themed set too?  Press Pass being a company that is the main supplier of racing cards to The Hobby, would have to do some digging to find an old set they could use for racing cards.  When trading cards became popular, the last thing any company thought of doing was putting a race car driver’s image on a card.  They stuck with what was popular, baseball and football.  If Press Pass wanted to make a retro set, they might want to go with the Adventure set design.  Back in 1956, Gum, Inc made a 100-card hand painted set featuring Adventurers like skiing mail men, sailors, military people, and race car drivers.  The design is simple and is typical of what a painted set would look like 50 years ago.  I’d like to see Press Pass make a set that would look like this.  Insert a few sketch cards, relics, and autographs, and you’d have a nice looking product.