1993 Fax Pax World of Sport

Set size: 40

Front Design: A full bleed color action photo fills most of the card, other than a red-edged white band at the bottom containing the subject's name and home country flag.

Back Design: The backs carry the player's name and sport, vital stats, career biography, and basic recent and career statistics. The cards do not carry a copyright date, but are identified as FAX PAX, Printed in the U.K.

Parallels and Similars: None known.

Distribution: Sold as a set in a box similar to playing cards.

Thoughts: This set features some of the world's best athletes of the time, covering all manner of sports. Seven of the cards feature Olympic stars. The design is basic, but the photography is decent, and the player selection is better than Goodwin Champions. It's not a popular set because of its simplicity and its being issued in England, which means you don't see them too often, but they come cheap when you do. If you're into sports beyond the big four or non-sport issues you may be familiar with Fax Pax. They issued tennis, golf, soccer, and other sport and generally historic subject sets in the 1980s and 1990s.

1948 Topps Magic Photos

Set size: 252 total, 19 baseball subjects, 7/8" x 1-1/2"

Front Design: The vertical card fronts have a black and white photo with the subject printed over the photo.

Back Design: The horizontal black and white backs indicate which "series" it was from (in this case, "Aviation Pioneers"), as well as a trivia question relating to the subject on the front of the cards. The cards are numbered as part of each series. Baseball players feature a -K card number suffix.

Parallels and Similars: 1955 and 1956 Topps Hocus Focus cards feature the same concept and similar card front designs, though the backs of each issue are unique.

Distribution: Cards were issued in packs/wrappers with instructions on how to develop the photos. The photos were originally blank, and would need to be developed by spitting on them.

Thoughts: Gross. Really gross. Totally cool, but incredibly gross. Let's hope this is one concept Topps never brings back as a retro insert set. This issue contains the first baseball cards issued by Topps - four years before the iconic 1952 set. Not only is this the first baseball issue, it's the first card issue from Topps. Well-developed near-mint cards are worth $60 (and can easily bring more), but non-sport subjects in lesser condition with poorly developed photos are thankfully easier to pick up.


From Wikipedia: The subsets by group letter are: A Boxing Champions, B All-American Basketball, C All-American Football, D Wrestling Champions, E Track & Field Champions, F Stars of Stage & Screen, G American Dogs, H General Sports, I None issued, J Movie Stars, K Baseball Hall of Fame, L Aviation Pioneers, M Famous Landmarks, N American Inventors, O American Military Leaders, P American Explorers, Q Basketball Thrills, R Football Thrills, S Figures of the Wild West, T General Sports.

1995 Post Collector Series

 Set size: 16 cards, double-wide (3.5" x 5")

Front Design: The true "front" of the card contains a color photo on a blue marble background, surrounded by the year of issue in yellow on top, the player's name in yellow over a black border on bottom, and a black right-hand border labeling the set as the Post Collector Series. The true "back", seen on the left, contains the card number, player's name, position, team, vital stats, and a career biography. A second photo and career stats appear in the bottom half, with a facsimile signature in a black border at the bottom. The blue marble continues to the back of the card, with a white diamond watermark between the text and the marble. No MLB logos appear on the cards due to a lack of licensing agreement.

Back Design: The backs of the unfolded cards would be inside the card, when assembled as intended. This was a full-bleed color action photo with no text or design added.

Parallels and Similars: There is a Post Canadian set issued in 1995, but it has a unique design.

Distribution: Unlike previous years, when the cards would be inserted into cereal boxes and available through the company, the set was available only through limited in-store promotions. At some point, large amounts of unsold sets made their way into the market, and now the set is nearly worthless.

Thoughts: Of all the Post releases, this might be my favorite. The front and back designs are decent, but what I really enjoy is the oversized action photo with no interference. It would be great if Topps took a stab at an insert set like this. The image below reminds me of the 1997 Zenith set, which featured bright, colorful photography with only a Zenith logo on the front.

Additional Images: card back:

1983 Salt Lake City Gulls TCMA

Set size: 26 cards

Front Design: A posed player photo is surrounded by a blue frame and white borders; a white-on-blue bottom-of-a-star style bar crosses the top while a similar bar at the bottom contains player name, team, and position.

Back Design: The black and white back has a banner at the top with the team and league names, a banner at the bottom with a TCMA advertisement, and space in the middle for player vitals and prior-year minor league stats.

Parallels and Similars: All 1983 TCMA minor league sets use an identical design.

Distribution: Cards were issued and sold by TCMA, but could be found through dealers and team stores. *Note: This actual card may be a reprint, possibly part of a sheet distributed with collectors kits in the mid-80s. However, the design is the same.

Thoughts: The Gulls were in Salt Lake City for a decade, heading from the desert heat to Calgary, Canada in 1985. The Salt Lake Bees took their place in 1994, under a series of other names. Spike Owen made his MLB debut the season this card was issued, and made his name defensively, though he was a key offensive contributor for the Red Sox in the 1986 ALCS. Spike sure seems excited to be a part of AAA on this high-school-pose photo.

1983 Albuquerque Dukes TCMA

Set size: 25 cards

Front Design: A posed player photo is in a blue border with a mountain-like design at the top and player's team, name, and position at the bottom.

Back Design: The plain black and white backs contain the team and league names in a black banner at the top, while a similar banner at the bottom contains an advertisement for TCMA cards. The middle of the card features the player's vitals and previous-year's minor league statistics.

Parallels and Similars: All 1983 TCMA team sets are identical.

Distribution: Cards were issued through TCMA, though they could be found at dealers and stadiums. *Note: This actual card may be a reprint, possibly part of a sheet distributed with collectors kits in the mid-80s. However, the design is the same.

Thoughts: Did you know that in 1983, there were two minor league teams named the Dukes? Albuquerque was a AAA-level team for the Dodgers (Orel Hershiser is in this set); Alexandria was a single-A team for the Pirates. I've heard of multiple minor league names copied from major league franchises (the Braves do this, especially), but this is my first case of hearing of two teams playing at the same time with the same non-MLB name. It's just about as confusing as the Columbus (Ohio) Clippers and Columbus (Georgia) Catfish both existing at the same time. The Catfish moved recently.