1954

[penncentralpete]

Many of the players of the 50's ad exclusive contracts with Bowman, and Topps couldn't use their likeness.

here are a few BOWMAN DODGERS:

[aqib]

So, am I reading you right, that there were no cards produced from the 1940's, say, after WWII through 1949? I know there were cards from some tobacco companies early in the 20th century, but when did they cease?

c.

Yeah there were cards produced by tobacco companies in the early 20th century. The famous Honus Wagner cards were made by American Tobacco but they went out of business in the teens. You had some other tobacco companies making them in the 20s as well. In the 30s it was mainly candy and gum companies. After WW2 (like 1948) it was really 3 companies that got into the act, Topps, Bowman and someone named Leaf Candy who gave up a couple of years later Topps and Bowman eventually merged. Then you had upstarts like Fleer and Donrass come in later as well as cereal companies here and there.

As for why certain players in that era had cards and others didn't, the licensing rules weren't what they are today so I am not sure how they cut deals with players or ball clubs.

[penncentralpete]

Topps Baseball Card History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topps#Company_history

[DODGER DEB]

So, am I reading you right, that there were no cards produced from the 1940's, say, after WWII through 1949? I know there were cards from some tobacco companies early in the 20th century, but when did they cease?

c.

[Ralph Zig Tyko]

Many of the players of the 50's ad exclusive contracts with Bowman, and Topps couldn't use their likeness.

[EdTarbusz]

In the early days, Topps printed cards of some really obscure players whose only claim to fame was that they were bonus babies. It wouldn't suprise me to find that every bonus player in 1954 and 1955 had a card. Of course you had Sandy Koufax and Harmaon Killebrew, but you also had Tom Qualters, Frank Leja and Tom Carroll.

[tonypug]

Baseball Cards, had to be made way in advance of the season, due to the way they had to be printed. Topps would make decisions on who would be on the cards much like scouts would. The big stars were no brainers, after that they would guessestimate, which reserves and which rookies would make the team. Sometimes they were right other times very wrong. Many years there were cards of players no one ever heard of. Then there were the licensing agreements. There were a couple of years popular players such as Gil Hodges wasn't on a Topps card ,because Gil didn't sign the licensing contract. When Fleer got back into the card business, many of the cards were of unknown players. They sued Topps andwon, claiming Topps had a monopoly. Very interesting business.

[AutographCollector]

This seems to be the right moment to ask what may seem like a couple of dumb questions. There may be no definitive answer for 'em, I dunno.

1. Why in the wide world of sports do some baseball players HAVE cards and some DON'T? I would think since there are only X-amount of players on a given team anyway, that card companies would have simply made cards for EVERY player on the squad, not just the big names. Just doesn't make sense.

2. Are cards cranked out the same way today? Do they still only create cards for those who make a bigger impression on the sport? Or does every player get one now?

Reason for my whining: Other than some bizarre "Target" repro of my dad when he played at Brooklyn, and I think one of him in the minors (why the minors, for cryin' out loud?), he never appeared on a major league card. Bugs the heck outta me. Sure would be nice to hear a logical reason. Although, again, I'll wager there aren't any. Probably has something to do with their stature as a high-percentage hitter, fielder, etc. Am I right?

Thanks, in advance, for any education!

Respectfully,

Todd (Anderson)
Ferrell "Andy" Anderson's #3 son

Hi Todd,
I own the 1952, 1953, and the 1954 Topps Archives Sets. I noticed a trend with all 3 sets... only those who had an impact on the game have cards made for them. For example (PLEASE DO NOT SHOOT ME!!!) for the 1954 Giants they had 9 infielders (several starters, several bench players obviously)... out of those 9 players only FOUR had cards made that year. Lockman, Williams, Dark and Hank Thompson. Why not Billy Gardner?
I am assuming that the companies decided to use "well known" stars, and up and coming prospects (they did have "prospect" cards)... ie; Don "Popeye" Zimmer's 1954 Topps card was in a Brooklyn uniform.

Nowadays, yes.... every player gets a card made of them. They now have minor league cards of the minor league boys too. All the way down to Independent league.

I hope that I somewhat helped you out.

~Tony~

[DODGER DEB]

This seems to be the right moment to ask what may seem like a couple of dumb questions. There may be no definitive answer for 'em, I dunno.

1. Why in the wide world of sports do some baseball players HAVE cards and some DON'T? I would think since there are only X-amount of players on a given team anyway, that card companies would have simply made cards for EVERY player on the squad, not just the big names. Just doesn't make sense.

2. Are cards cranked out the same way today? Do they still only create cards for those who make a bigger impression on the sport? Or does every player get one now?

Reason for my whining: Other than some bizarre "Target" repro of my dad when he played at Brooklyn, and I think one of him in the minors (why the minors, for cryin' out loud?), he never appeared on a major league card. Bugs the heck outta me. Sure would be nice to hear a logical reason. Although, again, I'll wager there aren't any. Probably has something to do with their stature as a high-percentage hitter, fielder, etc. Am I right?

Thanks, in advance, for any education!

Respectfully,

Todd (Anderson)
Ferrell "Andy" Anderson's #3 son

You raise some very intersting questions, Todd. I've thought about them myself many times, but could never find any logical answers.

This is a good topic to have a discussion on. Perhaps some of OUR baseball experts will be able to provide some opinions and/or answers to these forever questions.

c.

[Todd Anderson]

Question about Baseball Cards

This seems to be the right moment to ask what may seem like a couple of dumb questions. There may be no definitive answer for 'em, I dunno.

1. Why in the wide world of sports do some baseball players HAVE cards and some DON'T? I would think since there are only X-amount of players on a given team anyway, that card companies would have simply made cards for EVERY player on the squad, not just the big names. Just doesn't make sense.

2. Are cards cranked out the same way today? Do they still only create cards for those who make a bigger impression on the sport? Or does every player get one now?

Reason for my whining: Other than some bizarre "Target" repro of my dad when he played at Brooklyn, and I think one of him in the minors (why the minors, for cryin' out loud?), he never appeared on a major league card. Bugs the heck outta me. Sure would be nice to hear a logical reason. Although, again, I'll wager there aren't any. Probably has something to do with their stature as a high-percentage hitter, fielder, etc. Am I right?

Thanks, in advance, for any education!

Respectfully,

Todd (Anderson)
Ferrell "Andy" Anderson's #3 son

[dodger dynamo]

pcp, those are exactly what I'm talkin about and there cool. battlin bake, the dodger dynamo

[tonypug]

the back of that card (released in 1994)

The back of this card is funny as hell. I like all but one have no trouble reading it. The name changes but not the personality. I guess next time he will be Chuck D.

[penncentralpete]

Dover reprint

another Dover reprint:

[penncentralpete]

I wish I had saved all my old cards, but if your in it for the enjoyment, repro cards are ok by me. I bought several of these books with perforated cards called dover reprints. baseball stars of the 50's, national league stars. and one had stickers of the old players with info. many dodgers were featured. the cards were pretty close to the original. when I saw them I was 12 all over again. they were 4 or 5 bucks per book. if you wanted to take them out you could. it was all about the fun and it took me back a lot of years. it wasn't about monetary value, which seems to many all important these days. I had fun and learned some cool stuff from them and that was important. battlin bake, the dodger dynamo

Dover reprints:

[penncentralpete]

I wish I had saved all my old cards, but if your in it for the enjoyment, repro cards are ok by me. I bought several of these books with perforated cards called dover reprints. baseball stars of the 50's, national league stars. and one had stickers of the old players with info. many dodgers were featured. the cards were pretty close to the original. when I saw them I was 12 all over again. they were 4 or 5 bucks per book. if you wanted to take them out you could. it was all about the fun and it took me back a lot of years. it wasn't about monetary value, which seems to many all important these days. I had fun and learned some cool stuff from them and that was important. battlin bake, the dodger dynamo

yes dynamo, the DOVER reprints are well worth it. nice memories for a small cost. i collect most of the "archive" card sets. personal enjoyment, not investment.