1933 Goudey Indian Gum - A Classic Non-Sports Card Series

1976 Topps Star Trek Picture Cards, Bubble Gum, Sticker - All for .10 cents

"Space... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise..." Gene Rodenberry brought this science fiction series to television in 1967 and, along with a die-hard fan base, made it into a epic franchise. The original television series lasted only 2 seasons, but it was landmark. The stories, the characters, the special effects were amazing. Leaf created a series of cards in 1967. These cards, are somewhat lack-luster compared to the original tv series. For one, the 1967 cards were done in black & white. Bummer. The brief write ups on the back are pretty lame. But they are still STAR TREK and original merchandise related to the series!  See below for pictures of the cards and an intact wax pack!

Fast forward nearly 10 years after the show was cancelled. Star Trek was bigger than it was before! Syndicated television showed reruns of the original series, and a "new generation" became fans of the show (myself included). Star Trek merchandise hit the shelves, action figures, communicators, phasersc comics, tv cartoons and more. In Star Date 1976, TOPPS finally issued a card set devoted to the original series. Each wax pack of full-color cards also came with 1 sticker (of 22 different), & 1 stick of gum. These stickers themselves are very popular & feature most of the main cast (NO Sulu!) including villains, aliens, & spacecraft. The jet black borders & brightly colored borders that go around the image really make these stickers stand out. Topps was also to use this same sticker format in their later STAR WARS issues. The revival of the original Star Trek series led to movies. And further television series. And more movies. Star Trek is now such a huge part of American Pop Culture, and it looks like it will remain that way for a long time to come! "To boldy go where no man has gone before!" 

• The 1976 Topps Star Trek sticker set is extremely difficult to find in high grade, especially #1 James Kirk. It seems the stickers suffer from marks made during the manufacturing proces after printing. Many have "roller marks" & other print defects that are somewhat difficult to see at first. Centering is also a typical problem. The example about has a price tag of over $2000 (eBay listing, 2/11/23). You can pick up a complete set of the stickers in (ingraded) collector grades for around $50-$60 The cards themselves are still very reasonable and easy to get. 

1967 Leaf Star Trek 

The first  "To boldly go, where no card has gone before..."

Also coming to a Theater near you... 1979 TOPPS ALIEN

1938 GUM Inc. HORRORS OF WAR  

Bombs, Blood  & Bubble gum...  F U N for the Kiddies!

Yep, that's right! In 1938, kids at the local corner market saw these brightly colored wrappers and I am sure the word "HORRORS' immediately drew their attention. Imagine parents faces as little Larry comes home blowing bubbles and showing them these beautiful cards! What an impression that must have made on the kids back then! The backs had write-ups of the bloody scenes of war depicted; I'm sure the kids were not too interested in that... what kids liked history back then? Or am I just speaking for myself? But the pictures speak for themselves. Bombs, blood, mayhem, carnage. Many of these kids went on to fight in WW II which was just around the corner. Two of the cards in the set feature Adoph Hitler, soon to become a household name. The series was so popular, a second series was added. The 1938 Horrors of War is considered one of the best non-sports cards sets, ever.

• Gum Inc. was started by Jacob Warren Bowman in 1927. He invented "Blony" Bubble Gum, which became the best-selling penny gum just 2 years later (it was also the biggest bubble gum piece you could get for 1 cent- "3 bites for a penny" was its slogan). A falling out between a later partner led to Bowman being ousted from the company he founded. This led Jacob W. Bowman to start again, this time using just his name as the brand, BOWMAN GUM. The Bowman gum cards, notably baseball, from 1948-1955 are considered classics right up there with their rival for bubble gum supremacy, TOPPS Chewing Gum, Inc. Topps ended up buying out Bowman in 1955 for $200,000. But a tip of the cap to Jacob Warren Bowman! He was a bubble gum & picture card pioneer!

1976 Topps Mexican SUPERMAN THE MOVIE Trading Cards

Topps Chewing Gum Inc. not only created most of the sports issues in the 1970's, but also many of the classic non-sports card sets as well. In 1978 "SUPERMAN - THE MOVIE" came out, which brought in a new generation of fans of "The Man of Steel." Superman had been around since the 1930's- Gum Inc. did a beautiful series with their 1940 SUPERMAN gum cards. Later in the 1960's, Topps created a black & white card set featuring the TV Series "Superman" starring George Reeves. The 1978 Topps SUPERMAN THE MOVIE gum cards came with a colorful "base set" plus sticker cards. Topps also issued a similar Superman set in Mexico, with obvious differences (see pic). These are far scarcer than the regular Topps cards issued here in the U.S., which are plentiful. This 1978 Topps Mexican Superman #1 features Christopher Reeve, who became famous for playing the iconic character from the planet Krypton. We could really use SUPERMAN now to save us from mass shooters, Chinese balloons,  & murderous cops!

More Classic Non-Sports Cards coming soon!

Questions? Comments? Please email me at Nowbatting19@yahoo.com