An A to Z of Football Collectibles Priceless Cigarette Cards and Sought-after Soccer Stickers CARL WILKES

As featured on ITV1’s Stuck On You: The Football StickerAN Story A TO Z OF by FOOTBALL Fosse COLLECTIBLES Films 1 An A to Z of Football Collectibles Precious Football Cards and Sought-After Soccer Stickers

CARL WILKES

Pitch Publishing Ltd A2 Yeoman Gate Yeoman Way Durrington BN13 3QZ

Email: [email protected] Web: www.pitchpublishing.co.uk

First published by Pitch Publishing 2019 Text © 2019 Carl A. Wilkes

1

Carl A. Wilkes has asserted his right in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the authors of this work.

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13-digit ISBN: 9781785315602 Design and typesetting by Olner Pro Sport Media - www.olnerpsm.com Printed in the UK by CPI Group (UK), Croydon CR0 4YY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dedicated to Joss

his book would not be were it not of cards made in for the initial gifts of tea cards, and the 1950s, not to stickers given by Nan, in the early mention the 1880s. 1970s; and the 1974 Photographers of FKS album given by Mom; Bee’s images from cards of collectibles gene; Potter’s style, the 1960s are often Tenthusiasm and Roxy support (Ferry grateful); long gone, and those Owl’s weekly flights to Aston Villa (and hoots at behind the cards Aldridge cricket club); and Berk’s daft but endless of the 1920s have empathy, and his highly entertaining lessons in departed without how to grow up without following the quotidian. trace, but they are Pippa Moth & pencil-top fruitmen Gra. Fine celebrated herein. memories of West Brom toy fairs and steam This writer has rollers! J&G. tried to contact This writer knew many of the great card the various issuers collectors of the Twentieth Century, wonderful of cards shown in characters, one and all: former soldiers, erstwhile this book but most secret agents (no kidding), former models (women, firms are long since not men), stars (pop and film) and statisticians defunct. Thanks (the non-football type); gentlemen of leisure and to those from lounge lizards too. It’s to them that this book is whom positive and Hell and stickers, co-dedicated, in particular, to the original smoking encouraging replies were received. season 1981/82 man, Don Mayne, a personal hero in cards; and to This writer grew up with a passion for Harry Richards, artist at large in a small loft; and to film and media, and he studied these things at all who contributed to the journal, Football Card university, and well beyond; into television news Sunflower, Red Skelton bridge; Robert for Collector Magazine, during the 1990s, including and the press, specialising in picture research. Murtology and Tudor wear-em, scare-ems; to John (RIP), Roy Davies (Wolves), Peris Hatton From news to design this writer eventually Blue (the search for ephemera and antiques (FKS), Neville (Cambrian), Peter (Burnley), Bill landed in publishing and issued Football Card goes on) and to dear Poin, now sailing a star but (Baines) and Alan Jenkins (FCIE). Collector Magazine. Thanks to Garry Daynes never far. The book is dedicated to Joss. She In acknowledgement of the artists and for keeping that journal alive for the last twenty knows why. photographers, without whom the cards we years. Thanks to Tim Davidson; to Programme Special thanks to Martin Routledge, author enjoy would not be, this writer is thankful to the Monthly and everyone who helped share of The Beautiful Badge, for the introduction to players of the past. With gratitude, their images publicity for this book. Highest regards to Rey Pitch Publishing. Thanks to Jane and Paul for are respectfully included in this book. Thanks Bowen, this writer’s first published author publishing this book; and thanks to Duncan, to the publishers of the cards of yore, and the (Kamite eschatology & valve record players); Matt and Ciaran, at Olner Pro Sport Media, issuers of the stickers of yesteryear. It’s now The Lioness; Jeremy Cantwell, playwright; and for its beauty. nigh on impossible to trace the original artists to Gibby, World Serpent; Andy at Fosse Films;

Carl Wilkes

Goodies of Bristol, 1973, World Cup cards, uncut sheet, detail

4 AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES 5 INTRODUCTION

Introduction

his is the first book of its kind. It cheese, etc.) or beverages (beer, tea, coffee, etc.), may also own some media, like newspapers, TV The values in this book have been arrived at cards, the first cards to feature a famous player, values, it ought to be remembered that prices may seems a little odd, to be the first, all are trades, and all issue trade cards with their news or internet platforms. It wasn’t always by assessing sales data collected over the last from early in his or her career. go down, as well as up. This author asserts that because what this book is about – various produce and brands. so. In the past there was more competition. 25 years. The data has been collected, first and Collectors collect all sorts of cards. Some rare cards are valuable assets but having the right football cards – have been around In the past, trades gave away cards to entice Manufacturers vied for a patch, for influence, and foremost, by recording prices paid in hundreds seek brands, others search for marques. Most cards is the key. How do you find the right cards? for almost 150 years. and to encourage the purchase of their products. for distribution. One publisher might have good of public and postal auction sales, since 1995. football card collectors chase teams or particular The appendices at the end of this book include tips Footballers have been pictured They were often aimed at children because the distribution in the west, another in the north, Secondly, the prices paid in thousands of internet players. Others buy end-number cards (card for buyers, and sellers. Garry Daynes sells cards by Ton trade cards since the 1880s, and on stickers young have a powerful influence over the old: I‘ while others popped up here and there, all over auctions have also been recorded, since 2010. number 1, and whatever the last number card post; Loddon Auctions and Tim Davidson Auctions since the 1910s. Little, sticky pictures of soccer want one!’ Trade cards are still made. They are the place. In the 1970s there were many different Thirdly, values have been recorded from so- in a set happens to be), or rookies. Accordingly, both sell and buy cards by auction; and Alan stars and cards of footer teams have found their given away, freely, because they are very useful firms making diverse collections of football called wants lists. These are wish lists made by sellers price such cards to suit the market. To Jenkins is your man for sharing cards information way into most homes in Europe, and the Americas, little advertising tools. They implant the name of stickers, and cards. It’s a scene that is unlikely to be collectors, with prices they offer for cards they some extent value is in the eye of the coveter about modern cards and cards of aulde. Contact at some time or other. The cards included in this a brand into a young and impressionable person’s enjoyed again. Like the game of Monopoly made require. Collectors make such lists because finding even more than that of the possessor. It seems details for this super league of gentlemen will be book are mostly from Great Britain and Western head, where it stays for life. When seen they clear: winner takes all. Capitalism ends with one or rare cards needs a lot of help. Wants lists often this way with rare cards. Every sale seems to found in the appendices at the back of this book. Europe, however, it also includes soccer cards of remind adults about a particular marque, or a two super rich players having the lot. The rest, the include offers for cards that remain on the run, at increase values. For cards by internet, sales and purchases, see the note from countries further afield. So, this is not brand. Trade cards have come to be collected but majority, have to lump it. So much for the lullaby large, and otherwise unavailable. One collector, The manufacturing of card consumers, the websites below. only the first illustrated history of soccer cards collecting was never their reason for being. Trade of competition bringing down prices and offering in particular, presently promises prices in the shaping of how buyers buy, is a money-making The images included in this book are from this from around the world, it is also the first price cards are, therefore, very different to trading cards. more choice! thousands, for cards he requires. machination that suits some sellers. Good advice writer’s private collection, except where credited guide for football cards. While some cards have Trading cards, in contrast to trade cards, Trading cards are still collected by the packet The values are given in ranges, for example, is, collect and buy what appeals to you, and don’t otherwise. Many more images of cards not seen been shown in other publications, those books were designed for collecting, and swapping – or but nowadays stickers are often bought by the £5 to £10, or £20 to £30, because cards from the believe you ought to buy rookie cards, or other here can be viewed at have been about other things, like memorabilia; or trading, as it’s known in America. Such cards are carton – a box full of 100 packets! Generally same set, though issued at the same time, may have commercial conceits like slabbed cards, no matter www.rarecards.co.uk and at particular themes, like one-club histories; or books not usually sold with products, though a packet there are more trading cards in circulation than very different values. This is partly due to team and what sellers tell you will be best for the future. www.footballsoccercards.com on the story of contemporary stickers. This book’s of trading cards, or a packet of stickers, may be trade cards, and trade cards are often rarer, and player popularity, with bigger clubs having more Their future? focus is on trade cards, including cigarette cards, given away with a magazine, or a newspaper, more valuable than trading cards. Not always, but collectors, but it is also to do with certain collecting While this book may encourage a storm of trading cards and stickers, from around the world, to advertise the release of a new series of such mostly. Whereas contemporary trading cards are habits that suit some sellers, like the sale of rookie sales, a new wave of collectors, or a surge in issued from 1880 until 1980. cards. Stickers that are sold in packets, like the collected for the sake of collecting, trading cards So, what is a trade card, and is it the same ones made by Panini, are synonymous with of the 1890s were very different ephemera. Some thing as a ? You may have heard of trading cards. Though stickers are designed to be cards were designed for playing games, while trading cards. You are less likely to have heard glued into an album, sticker doubles, or swaps, others were gambled away in the hope of winning of trade cards, even though you probably owned are traded with other sticker collectors. Trade prizes. Victorian trading cards were sent back them at some time or other. A trade card is a cards cost little to make. They are good little to the issuer for prize draws and competitions. card that is given with a product, a thing that is earners for their issuers. Lucky collectors would receive footballs or issued by one of the trades. It’s that simple. You Modern trading cards, and stickers, tend to be sports clothing, in return for their cards. Unlucky may know what a is. Cigarette made in much higher numbers than trade cards. collectors simply lost their collections, and the cards are but one type of trade card. They are This is partly due to product and popularity, but issuer would reuse the forfeit cards, in newly issued by the tobacco trade. Whether it is tobacco mostly it’s due to distribution. The major brands sealed packets, to be sold anew from his shop, (cigarettes, rolling tobacco, cigars, snuff, etc.), of trading cards and stickers are distributed or from his horse-drawn wagon. Imagine that! A confectionery (chocolates, sweets, gum, etc.), nationally, with blanket coverage in all areas, door-to-door football cards service. A man, a horse print media (magazines, comics, newspapers, etc.), even in the remotest corners of the land. The and a cart, with a monkey, to boot, selling cards. Over 100 years old, British football cards 1972 BAB sticker of toys (games, football figurines, lucky bags, etc.), multinationals, which now own the brands of And we think we have it all! foodstuffs (breakfast cereals, gravy granules, yesterday, also own distribution networks. They

6 AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES 7 INTRODUCTION

Introduction to football cards

Joe Baker on an Italian gum card. It cost about a Valentino Mazzola rookie card, 1978 Panini, Gilbert Gress, A 1920s Celtic Tango Toffee 1920s Spanish football card penny, it’s now worth up to £100 from 1946. Priceless looking very...1970s! card. It’s now worth £200

he football card has been a thing of supply, and many simply cannot be bought, no happens. The great divide is the 1980s. Cards from In 2016 the highest selling cigarette card or jewels, there are risks. Other than metal coins artefacts. History is fascination for well over 100 years. matter how much money a buyer is prepared to before the 1980s are generally rarer, and often in history made over $3million! In 2014 a rare most collectibles are all too easily damaged or not what’s found in It’s also an asset of some worth. pay! There remains a window of opportunity for worth more, than cards from after the 1980s. Not postage stamp sold for around $10million! A rare lost in destructive accidents. Then again burglars the results generated Football cards have been collected, acquiring very rare soccer cards of yesteryear, but always but mostly. This book evaluates cards from coin also topped $10million, in 2013. The rarest take coins, and jewellery, and maybe even stamp by a search engine. swapped, traded and resold, not it’s a closing aperture. However, it comes with a the earlier period, from before the 1980s. Further postcard sold for considerably less, but still, at albums, but not many burglars would give a History is found in only as beautiful and historical warning: defenestration is possible. back in time, before World War Two, cigarette cards $30k it’s not to be sniffed at. The rarest trade thought to carrying off heavy albums full of soccer objects that date Tcollectibles, but as investments too. A so-called limited edition card from the were collected, typically by adults. Due to millions cards are as rare, and probably much rarer, than cards. Most people do not appreciate the value of from a time in the past, in beautiful things that This writer’s first footballer cards were given 1990s is a readily available resource when of cigarette cards being well cared for, and passed many rare postcards. So, it’s not surprising that such things. cannot be reproduced, and in the lies the victor with bubblegum, circa 1971, when packets of gum compared to vintage cards of genuine rarity, like on by parents to children, many have survived until trade and tobacco cards are in popular demand, The savour of capture and the pleasure writes. Victors and vanquished aside, antiques cost tuppence (see: A&BC Gum). Cards bought an A&BC Gum checklist, with Liverpool, from today, and they are quite easily available. Trade and prices are rising sharply in some cases. of acquisition is what collecting is all about. are popular for good reason. Once anything for two pennies in 1971 have become worth up to 1964; a Batger football clubs colours trade card, cards, on the other hand, were issued in much There are more soccer fans than stamp Collecting is a contemporary form of hunting has limited availability it accrues value, a little £5 each! The discarded packets from those cards of Manchester City, from 1900; or a scarce News smaller numbers, and were played with by children. collectors, yet, until now, most football fans have and that’s what human beings are: hunters and like gold. It could be argued that cards cannot are now worth up to £50 each, and the box from Chronicle card of a Heart of Midlothian player, They were issued as early as the 1880s yet were not realised that relics from their favourite sport gatherers. When it’s not essential to hunt for do anything, that they can’t be used as food which they were distributed, the container that sat from the 1950s. Vintage and antique cards like not typically collected by adults until the 1950s. may be worth as much, or more, than rare stamps. food, or for shelter, the innate hunting instinct in or as energy. The same goes for gold. It’s still on the shelf in the newsagent’s shop, is now worth these are much rarer than any contemporary Trade cards have been less well understood than Stamps sell for thousands, daily. You can check humankind is turned to other things. Commerce worth a lot. Limited supply garners value. When £250! Not bad for squandered pocket money, conceit, no matter the marketing claims of sharp cigarette cards because of the number and types of the figures on internet auction sites. There are knows this. At leisure we gather art, antiques, old something is limited there is always someone who wasted in the best of ways, as wailed executives and the glossy public relations ads they trade cards issued. They were made by all sorts of endless choices of rare stamps on Ebay, up to toys and collectibles but multinationals wants some of it. bemoaning parents of those days. buy to tempt you to believe. There are dealers publishers, small and large, far and wide. They were prices of a million each! The rarest and corporations prefer we spend Hobbies and interests, especially those that These prices are peanuts when compared holding stocks of recently made so-called limited harder to collect because they were issued with football cards are just as scarce as our money on them, on their gadgets, demand a certain application of mind, patience and to what collectors in America have been paying edition cards but there are no dealers holding diverse products, from comics to ice cream, from rare stamps, and they may even be their new cars, on handbags with wit, are also very good for you. Some say they are for their sports cards. Since the 1990s American stocks of an antique card of great rarity. You’ll see gravy powder to sweets, from gum to newspapers, rarer! Only now are people starting expensive labels, the latest phone, as good as medicine. People who pursue interests sports cards regularly sell for up to, and well very costly cards of Messi and Zidane, cards that meaning it was not possible to know by whom, to realise this. etc. Collectibles and antiques trump like collecting often live longer and healthier lives over, a million US dollars each! In Europe prices are called ‘mega-rare’, but you won’t see a 1905 where, or when, or how often they were published. For some, collecting cards is those things because collectibles than people who retire with nothing to do. Younger remain much lower, at least for now. In the British Baines card of Billy Meredith, or a 1900 Sharpe’s Tobacco cards were easier to track, and to collect. primarily about lost-in-time images, and antiques have more value, over people, who start collections early, often end Isles prices still enjoy a quaintly old fashioned card of Steve Bloomer, to name but two great They came from one source, the tobacconist, forgotten social history, having rare time, than gizmos, gadgets and new up with assets of enormous worth. Cards bring affordability. This is also players of their day. For every one by whom smokers were kept informed of newly ephemera, and supporting a football consumer products, which lose half pleasure, peace of mind, a little Zen, and endless known as ‘the early days’. 1896 Charles Fry you’ll see 1,000 issued collections. Conversely, most trade cards team which is reflected in those cards. their value on the day you buy fun. It’s about what makes you feel good, and, in Inexpensive British and rookie stickers of Mbappe for sale were destined for youngsters. Those that were not The miniature pictures give visual them. The maxim, this stressful world, a moment of calm is priceless. European cards are now (and there are probably many acquired with toys or sweets were often bought by pleasure, and contentment comes buy what you like This book does not offer investment advice. attracting more and more more behind closed doors). mothers, the housewives of family homes in those through their acquisition. It takes time and not what you This writer wishes to make clear that though buyers from America, as Cards and stickers made since days, and thus found their way into children’s hands, to compile a collection. Rare cards expect to go up in he has not lost a penny with vintage cards it’s well as Monaco and the 1980 may become rare, in time. from food products opened in the kitchen, thence cannot simply be bought. They take value, is a good one, a chancy game of fortune, and it is possible to oil-rich Middle Eastern Before 1980 no one thought played with, damaged, lost or destroyed. Cards that effort and patience. Given a million but buying cleverly is lose, and prices do fluctuate. Modern cards are a states. Very rare cards such things would become worth survived such rigours are now sought by serious pounds to find a Wood Brothers card in the next part of the trick. Buy gamble, and older cards can be bought unwisely by are one of the assets they a lot of money. Cards were collectors, many of whom are willing to pay highly 24 hours most, probably all people would fail to so you can at least the unlearned. However, buying the right antique seek. While rare cards may neither contrived as limited for cards they seek. buy one. There are not many things you simply get the ticket price cards seems a lot more sensible than buying be available today, this editions, nor as collectibles. They The cards shown and evaluated in this book are cannot buy. No matter how much money you have back, or so that you today’s throw-away culture knick knacks, and may not be the case for were considered as marketing bought by people from across the wealth divide. rare cards are in that exquisite category and they can make a trade similar show-the-neighbour-how-I-wasted-my- long. Prices are expected gimmicks, or as cheap toys. When The buyers of cards are often collectors of football take guile to acquire. for similar or better money mass market consumer products. These to rise, and quite sharply a 1970s series of cards was out club ephemera and memorabilia but recently a new Some buyers worry about putting money into value, if need be. things will end up on an unwanted table at next in some cases. Very rare of date the remaining stock market has emerged. People are now buying cards paper goods. Like keeping books, or any kind of Antique cards year’s jumble sale. cards are already in limited was destroyed. That no longer as alternative assets. collection, scarves, bags, stamps, clothing, records, are historical

Avant-garde, women’s football stickers Allan Clarke, 1974 sweet cigarettes card were issued in , in 1978

8 AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES 9 10 AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES 11 A&BC GUM

American & British Gum it’s not! It’s as British as British can be is A&BC

ritain’s best loved gum cards are scene. In 1938 Klene Confectionery, from Holland, They were sold in packets of sweets, and they those by A&BC gum. It’s seemly issued Val Footer Gum cards of British footballers. also came stapled together in little booklets to be then that the core of this book opens The trend for chewing gum and collecting gum pulled apart and swapped with friends. Stickers with them. Cigarette card collectors cards would surely have continued into the were a long way from a renaissance in Britain! of yore thought A&BC stood for 1940s but for war. Holland fell in 1940 and paper Cigarette cards, whose production had also been American & British Chewing gum rationing put paid to all and any issues of domestic paused for war, were struggling to find their but the initials are, in fact, the surnames of the cards. British presses would not roll anew for next breath. Tobacco cards were squeezed out B A&BC Gum wrapper 1954 A&BC Gum cards 1954 A&BC Gum card variations 1958 directors, a group of friends from the 1940s. Soon years. It would seem that 20 years of progress in of production by cost-cutting manufacturers. after World War Two A&BC was incorporated as cards had been lost when primitive post-war cards They were as good as finished by the time A&BC a limited company, registered in Great Britain, to appeared during the 1946/47 season. launched its first gum cards, in 1953. sell chewing gum, the kind of gum made popular by Following the destructive hiatus of war The registry at Companies House in London wartime American G.I.s serving in the British Isles. Italian, French and German cards also came to records four men, Messrs. Aynsz, Braun and Gum cards followed soon afterwards. be produced once more. In Iberia it had been two Coakley brothers, as directors of A and BC In the 1950s A&BC gum was sold from different. The 1940s was a time of peace in . Chewing Gum, a private company limited by the world over, the story of A&BC’s cards is now It was 1954 and the first football cards by encouraged an inner mechanism to entice a ball of vending machines. In went a coin and out popped Spanish cards were more sophisticated than those shares. It was incorporated in 1949. The newly known, yet, until the 1990s it was a piecemeal A&BC appeared in a series called All Sport. The gum to drop into a tray, where eager, dirty fingers a ball of gum. A card emerged from an adjacent made elsewhere in post-war Europe. However, formed company allied with an eccentric home- tale apocryphally carved out by careless writers packets had a very sober design, which was no grabbed at it. [Were those trays ever cleaned?] A slot. The earliest cards typically showed film stars American troops had not arrived in Madrid as they based chemist, Oscar Janser. He’d recently had who cared little for gum cards, and less still for doubt reassuring to parents, and they contained pristine card, neatly wrapped in colourful waxy and singers, then sportsmen. In the 1960s vending had in London, Rome and Berlin. No fashionable his Eureka moment. After a year inventing it he’d football. As a remedy, in 1998, this author was the a single card. They were racked and stacked in paper, was delivered at the same moment from an machines were replaced by packaged confections. Yankee chewing gum had come to fascist Iberia. finally created a decent artificial chewing gum. first publisher to print an illustrated article on the vending machines across the land. One waxy adjacent slot. One hand in the tray, the other hand The cards and gum, wrapped together in colourful This resulted in Spanish football cards evolving in a A&BC paid him royalties for the use of his creation. packaging and ephemera from A&BC’s 21 years packet and a ball of gum were dispensed for every on the bounty made for beautiful symmetry. paper packets, were sold by newsagents, different direction. In Spain cards were becoming The gum was similar to American chewing gum of soccer cards. Football Card Collector Magazine halfpenny coin cast into the cumbersome gum The 120 All Sport picture bubble gum cards tobacconists and small grocery shops. By the soccer stickers. but had no need of American ingredients, and no presented an incomplete though foundational machine. Later, in the 1960s, gum vending was of 1954 had plain backs and dull monotone 1970s A&BC had become the most successful Football stickers had been published in need of ration permits. By 1950, with a ration- timeline which laid a framework upon which more done from a glass bubble perched atop a metal photos. It didn’t matter. A nation’s children gum cards issuer in British history. But where did it before anywhere else in the world. busting gum to call its own, A&BC were up and knowledge has since accrued. The cards, the stork seated in concrete. It looked a little like starved of sports gum cards since 1938 greeted all start, and why gum cards and not stickers? They were first issued with The People’s Journal running. Printing cards was soon to follow. From different series, the printing anomalies and much a colourful parking meter (to those for whom these cards like old friends. Further, the novelty Gum cards had been issued in Great Britain in 1914. The English caught up in 1922 with 1953 onwards A&BC’s vibrant gum card designs more are now common knowledge. parking meters still mean anything) but in 1953 of collecting the coloured tokens of sportsmen, long before World War Two, but not on the scale a collection issued by Sports Fun and Football were often as far out as the music of the times. Evaluating A&BC cards, as with all cards, the gum machines looked more like oversized cut from the packaging, to send away for an of A&BC’s output. In the 1920s a chewing-and- Favourites magazine. Other sticker collections The colourful cards of singers and other youthful starts with their condition. Quality is king. Near- condom dispensers. The ugly metal boxes were album made up a little for what the cards lacked card-collecting craze had been encouraged by an emerged in the late 1920s and 1930s, typically themes that graced the Rock’n’roll years morphed mint A&BC cards hold a value 100 times greater affixed firmly to walls outside sweet shops. A little in creative design. These days most of the All English firm called Lacey’s. It printed 50 Welsh, issued by comics like Adventure and Boys’ into spaced-out weirdness during the flower than damaged cards. Values ascribed throughout window into the box would show cards stacked Sport cards are available for less than £5 a card Scottish and English footballer picture cards Magazine. However, it was a certain fraternity power high. Whacky designs of sheer lunacy would this book are for cards in excellent condition. Very inside, ready for purchase. Another showed a but you will pay plenty for an unused card of the which were given away with its in-house creation, from Bilbao with whom the credit for modern grace the glam rock era. As well as gum cards good cards are worth a little less, and so on… fair mountain of gum balls. A sample card on display legendary footballer, Puskas. An album with all chewing wax [sic]. The fad was revived a few years soccer stickers rests, for the Spanish birthed FKS, A&BC made stickers, tattoos, transfers, games or average condition cards are worth less than filled a third glass aperture. There were various 120 cards glued in may cost you less than that later with Oh Boy Gum, a brand issued by British the British Soccer Stars issuer of the ubiquitous and posters. Then, in 1974 A&BC found itself on good, and poor condition cards are worth little, slots for coins, and for rejected money [the single Hungarian star. There were many albums Chewing Sweets, a firm born of American gum paper football stickers of the 1970s. the wrong end of a court case and lost it all to the if anything at all. Only the rarest of Victorian and manufacture of home-made coins that could completed so a full set glued down is not where giant , also noted for its Oh Boy Gum cards. The Spanish developed the sticker and the American cards giant, . Edwardian cards retain value in a poor state – and con the machines was an art form]. A handle to the value lies. A single wrapper, at about £100, In , in 1933, Oh Boy Gum was issued with packet of stickers while other countries were Thanks to almost five decades of card early A&BC wrappers! turn, and a dispensing tray presented a satisfying is the most expensive element in collecting this a fabulous series of 60 footballer cards. It was going to war. After the war, during the 1946/47 collecting, hours of research at The National A&BC’s earliest packets looked Gospel but the A-Z test that was usually passed with flying series, though were an advertising poster to be not long before other manufacturers were on the season, British producers started reissuing cards. Archive, and the shared knowledge of card fiends cards inside were Rock’n’roll! colours. Paying-in a coin and turning the handle found, it should be worth well over £1,000!

12 AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES 13 A&BC GUM

Accompanying the cards in the vending types without tokens but with different size photos which was for multiple cards. It was A&BC’s first the change of address too. The firm had moved machines was Oscar Janser’s chewy stuff. The and black backs. Thankfully, the cards that followed shop issue packet. The other type was for vending from London to Harold Hill in Essex. An original British professor’s gum would come to form a in series two are easier to find, with only 46 machines. Coloured mostly blue, the wrappers wrapper from this issue would cost £200 or more. billion black globs on the country’s pavements. different issues to seek. All of these cards have the show a player in a bi-sectional kit similar to the In 1961 Yuri Gagarin was the first man in The pock-marked patina of British streets lasted Planet offer atop. Cut cards are worth very little. Blackburn Rovers strip. The second sub-series of space but a move backwards in time marred for decades. By 1962 A&BC would switch from Values fluctuate enormously due to the varieties 49 (51) cards is worth more than the first. This is A&BC’s launch. Autographed Topstars cards were British to American gum. A deal with Topps’s and their availability. In 1992 a series of Topps the rule of thumb for all A&BC Footballer cards. retro in the wrong way. Even the packet was old Bazooka gum sealed its fate. Stadium Club football cards featured an homage to First series issues, typically released in late August, fashioned. On the cards a blue facsimile autograph It took four years for A&BC to reprise sports this series, albeit giving the cards a title they never sold more due to the novelty of a new collection, did not make up for boring black and white cards. Like the Brothers Grimm the pals at A&BC had, and a value of only 27p each. How times have not to mention summertime lazy days at home, photos, plain backs, no quiz games, no checklists, had been mean with their new fare. Distracted by changed! Entry level prices for the cards nowadays and the start of a new sports season. Wintery no team line-ups and a lack of player biographies glamorous subjects, they issued series after series start at £2 each but the most sought after cards second series issues, from Christmastime, often to boot! It must have been a very disappointing A&BC Gum card photo variations 1958 of attractive film stars. When they turned back to may touch £200, as a certain card had less success. Third series cards, launched series to behold. As only 64 cards were made the sport, in 1958, they found their golden goose in did, in public auction, in 2017. An album for the towards Easter, sold fewer still and are the rarest collection was dropped before 1962, and there the rugged stars of football. Soccer player cards cards was issued. It had the legend: Topstars Album and often the most valuable A&BC cards. was no second issue. The throwback wrapper is could be reprinted every year, guaranteeing an of Famous Footballers. The title seen on the series A pop band called The Beatles was strumming coloured green and yellow, just as it was in 1958, annual income for little creativity, low cost design wrapper is different: Bubblegum Picture Cards its first chords just as A&BC’s 1960Footballer with the same Topstars Can-Can high kicker, but and relatively little artwork. Better still, soccer Topstars. The wrapper would now cost around cards came out. A design make-over and a return with a by-line, Autographed. The packets can also player cards could be issued seasonally, up to £200 – were it to come to market. to photographic portraits gave collectors 84 be distinguished from the earlier type of Topstars three times a year, every year! In autumn of 1959, whilst Asterix was chasing circular photos of soccer players on garishly packet by the address at Harold Hill. In 1958 Topstars Bubblegum Picture cards his first Gallic wild boar, A&BC was finding coloured cards, plus a couple of team checklist The most creative thing A&BC did with this arrived in the shops. Much like the All Sport cards its stride in modern Britain. A new collection cards. The checklist images are at odds with the series was to launch a selection of Scottish players. of 1954 they were packaged singly and issued of footballers had 96 player cards showing year of issue. Burnley ought to be included in this The so-called Scottish Autographed Topstars cards from gum vending machines. The wrappers colourful, though stiffly frozen action shots. They series but their 1959 league championship honour consisted of 44 similarly monotone cards, also displayed a sporting figure which could have been were shuffled with two hard to find team cards was not celebrated by A&BC. Blackpool, having with blue facsimile autographs. Released in 1962 a drop-kicking rugby player, or a Can-Can dancer, which served as picture checklists: Wolves and won no honours for the previous six seasons, they were a little smaller than the English cards so high was the kick! There were two series of 46 Nottingham Forest. The latter now commands up takes the place of Burnley! The other checklist has but the values are now much grander! You’ll pay cards issued over the 1958/59 football season. to £200 for an excellent condition example. There Wolves, once again. Wolves had won the FA Cup in over £10 each player, sometimes much more! However, unbeknown to collectors back then, were only meant to be 98 cards in the series but 1960 but A&BC used the team image from 1959. Prices may approach £100 for the Celtic, Hearts, success caused stock shortages and the first series two varieties are known: cards 83 and 84 are The old picture is cropped into an oval frame and Dundee and Rangers team cards. Pricey too is of 46 cards had to be reprinted – twice! The newly available with different backs. So, you’ll need 100 there is no mention of Wolves’s new Cup, nor any international player Gerry Baker, the brother of printed cards are slightly different by issue. To cards if you want the lot. On the backs of the cards change in the legend, which still reads, ‘champions Hibernian and Arsenal star Joe Baker. Gerry was English and Scottish A&BC Gum cards 1961 collect all of the varieties you’ll need 138 cards! was a magical picture quiz. Rubbing the edge of a 1957-58, 1958-59’. The wrappers for the 1960 the USA’s first national soccer player from another A&BC Gum album 1954 The known types include a card with a special offer coin over the card made a player appear out of the series have the same design as the 1959 issue country’s league. A distinctive wrapper remains (with a Planet token) and a blue back; and, two ether! Two different wrappers were issued, one of but they are coloured green instead of blue. Note unknown and it seems that the English design was

A&BC Gum checklist team card 1959

A&BC Gum card, 1960 A&BC Gum checklist team card, 1960 A&BC Gum card 1959

14 AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES 15 A&BC GUM

employed. However, the Scottish packet will be The 1960s had its fair share of awful design distinguishable by its original folds because these but surely melamine fake wood furniture takes cards are smaller than their English cousins. first prize. Sadly, in 1963/64, A&BC succumbed With Bazooka, The Chew of Champions, A&BC to similar taste and issued two collections with was back with a blast and American gum to faux wood designs. These Footballer cards boot! Following the drab black and white cards reprised a 1959 novelty, the rub-a-coin ‘magic’ of 1961 this series went all out to charm back feature, bringing it back as Make-a-Photo, which disenchanted younger collectors. In autumn is how these blue back cards are now known. 1962 these colourful and attractive cards had Taking the edge of a coin to the backs of all 110 footballers front and back, photos and illustrations. cards revealed a hidden gallery of footballers! This series features two checklist team line- This series includes three team checklist cards: ups: the England 1962 World Cup squad, and Manchester United and two of Everton. Artificial Tottenham Hotspur, which are two of the three curled corners on hard to see action photos, and most valuable cards in the set. The third card melamine wood-effect frames has not dulled the is that of Bobby Moore, which is considered to value. Prices have been rising, year on year. These be one of his rookie cards. The orange and blue cards start at £5 but many of the bigger names sell wrapper from this issue is perhaps the rarest of for £50 each! The wrapper for this set is coloured A&BC packets and may fetch £250 were it to red and yellow, and shows a jumping goalkeeper reappear on the market. Only one example has catching a high ball. It would sell for over £100. A been seen in the last 25 years! point-of-sale display box would exceed £1,000. A&BC Gum Scottish 1964 card back

A&BC Gum Scottish checklist team card 1963 A&BC Gum Scottish card 1963

A&BC Gum card 1963

A&BC Gum 1964 team checklist card A&BC Gum 1964 English back

Thankfully the Scottish issue of Make-a-Photo, Prices for certain players exceed £25 per card in 1964, was not blighted with faux-wood. This though the regular issues can usually be found attractive series of 81 cards utilised the popular for £5 each. The team checklist cards are West American Bazooka gum wrapper A&BC Gum card backs 1963 oval design from the fronts of the 1962 English Ham United, Preston North End and that costly Bazooka series. A&BC added radioactive green to Liverpool gem. The wrappers usually sell for the backs, where a hidden series of images lay in £40 each and the box is worth about £500. For wait for the edge of a coin. Values for these cards identification purposes both packet and display box start at £25 each though many will exceed £50 show a pair of tackling footballers, one of whom has and £100 has become the price for a top quality gone to ground. checklist team card of Rangers or Hearts. The The Scottish Footballer cards of 1964/65, the wrapper and box are believed to be the same as so-called quiz cards, were visited by the awful the English issue of 1963/64. English design from 1963/64: melamine faux-wood The Liverpool team card from the 1964/65 frames and sentimental, artificial curls were added English Footballer cards collection has been seen to otherwise decent photos. Rangers and Hearts to sell for £200! With quiz games to the back, fans were no doubt disgruntled with the colour of 149 of these cards were issued over three staged the backs: green again! This series features three A&BC Bazooka Gum cards, 1962 A&BC Gum team checklist card 1962 launches from autumn 1964 to Easter 1965. team line-up cards: Rangers, Celtic and Dundee. A&BC Gum 1964 English card

16 AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES 17 A&BC GUM

A&BC Gum stamps wrapper 1965 A&BC Gum World Cup A&BC Gum World Cup stamp 1966 stamp 1965

Postcard from Malta, 1966, with variation stamp

A&BC Gum Scottish team checklist cards 1964/65 A&BC Gum Scottish card back 1964/65 A&BC Gum Scottish card 1964/65 A&BC Gum 1966 twinned cards, two series: first series without caption and second series with captions A&BC Gum 1966 twinned card backs

Only the latter two function as checklists though destruction, including a Merry Christmas Mr. sell for £150 each and the rarest of the stamps, would fail to make the first XI. The 15 stickers of ascribed the Malta issues to his firm, Tip-Top, which It seems odd looking back. There were few all three command premium prices. The wrapper Lawrence beheading in Burma, had caused a those of Pelé (for there were two, different) may foreign players included one from each nation issued football cards in the 1950s. The stamps actual football cards issued during England’s and box are presumed to be the same as those stir. The series also has at least three scenes of make more than that! The relatively few stamps except North Korea! Two were from : Pelé are smaller than the originals and only known in World Cup winning season. There were also very used in the English series quiz cards series. gagged, chained and whipped women. These days that survived the decades since have driven up and Bellini. landscape format. They are rough in design, and few stickers, just 50 A&BC stamps, a handful of Stickers in the style of stamps became a the BDSM cognoscenti are on to them and these values. Condition is always a big factor in pricing. In early 1966 a second run of 15 stamps primitive in printing but far rarer than the A&BC comic free gifts and a series of sweet cigarette seasonal replacement for football cards during particular Battle cards are keenly sought. A poor condition of Liverpool, appeared. These were more colourful and included issues. Yashin’s stamp is very different to the Russian cards by Barratt, a London firm. Surely victory the season of 1965/66. Much of A&BC’s other The World Cup Football stickers were bought without perforations, will sell for £15 but in clean football flags. They were printed in landscape language A&BC issue, having a legend in English would change things? fare, including pop stars and flags, also moved to one stamp at a time. The cost was minimal, at just condition, more or less as issued, it could top £75. format. World stars included goalkeeper Lev which looks like it was set by the official A&BC artist. Black and white are hardly colours that stamps in 1966. Only two series of cards were one penny each, but the contents were a little The stamps series came in two halves. At the Yashin from the USSR Eusebio of and Only a few of these stamps have been recorded, come to mind after a World Cup victory, yet made before the autumn. A set of Rolling Stones disappointing. A stamp and a stick of gum, and end of 1965 the first selection of 20 British stars Pelé, once again. North Korea was snubbed for including one glued to a postcard, alongside postage A&BC kicked off the celebrations with monotone cards had flopped badly. The directors of A&BC if the stamp featured an unknown international and 15 world greats was issued in portrait format. a second time! These days a thing like that could stamps, mailed from Valletta to England in 1966. cards, featuring ostensibly nameless footballers also found themselves in court accused of selling from Patagonia many British kids spent their next Due to the early date of issue it included players spark an international spat. Caveat Emptor: it is believed that there are modern in pairs. Why black and white, in England, in obscene images to minors! A series of World War penny of pocket money with a rival. These low cost destined to be outside the England squad, like Alan A version of the football stamps is believed to day copies of these bootleg Maltese stamps. The glorious 1966? A cynic might wonder whether Two Battle cards had caused a couple of armchair items have risen in value to become some of the Peacock and Joe Baker. It also included the likes of have been printed by an A&BC copyist in Valletta, best place to find the originals is from reputable the A&BC directors knew they could get away moralists to file a law suit. Illustrated scenes of most expensive items of A&BC ephemera. Packets George Eastham and John Connelly, both of whom Tony Xuereb. Some collectors and sellers have philatelists – postage stamp sellers. with producing a cheaper series on the back of the

18 AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES 19 A&BC GUM

A&BC 1967 Star Players A&BC 1967 Pin-Ups A&BC 1968 English and Scottish cards A&BC 1968 Scottish variations, same player but different backs

A&BC 1966 A&BC 1967 English issue Scottish pairs checklist cards and checklists

A&BC 1968 Metallised Team Emblems

A&BC 1968 Team Pennant

glorious colour, and it put the Sassenach series of for this series of stars but Pennants. In the second of the staged releases of This is a remarkable and rare series. Officially colourless cards in the shade. The autumnal 1967 a paper poster sufficed this collection metallic foil team emblems were there were only 45 cards but, due to printing series celebrated only 42 players but they can be as a novelty gift. These included in place of the pennants. This helped varieties, up to four different backs for every found in various twinned pairs that these days were the first in what sell the second launch just as well as the first. player card are known. There are also two team allow collectors the chance to get a rookie of Alex would become a long tradition of gift inserts. The After some years without a quiz the retro game checklist cards: Celtic and Dunfermline. Paying Ferguson in two varieties! A stunning selection miniature folded posters, one per pack, were given returned to the backs of the cards, which were £25 or more per card is the starting point for this of 12 Celtic cards, a celebration of the European to protect the Star Cards from sticky gum residue. coloured yellow. Variations in design on one of the series but cards have been known to sell for up to Cup winning team, is an achievement to complete The insert idea had come from USA, where inserts 102 cards resulted in price spikes for that of Joe £150 each! This issue was further complicated by and to behold! The cards (24 halves if themselves were collected as avidly as the cards. Baker, whose Nottingham Forest card comes with packets of cards being packed without the Team the cards have been tragically separated) is where The wrapper for this series is in yellow, black and and without a certain graphic feature. Twenty-six Pennants. Clear paper bags full of pennants were the series value lies, for making a set of these is magenta, with the legend: EXTRA! England’s Stars different English teams were featured on the paper rushed to shops with instructions to shopkeepers England win; no matter the design it would sell like act as checklist sets. These quads make premium nigh on impossible and the value for a complete Pin-Ups. It’s a small series with but 55 cards, most pennants. They were designed to be cut out so to furnish one pennant for each packet of cards hot cakes. The feel-good football fever in England prices! Pairs from the first series sell for around Celtic team (and Celtic Park turf, for many of these of which are easily available today. George Best pennants that remain un-cut fetch higher prices sold. Notably the box for this series was the first in autumn 1966 would have helped sell even blank £10 each. Second series pairs can fetch five times cards show just that) might cost you around £500! made his penultimate appearance for A&BC, and than cut examples. The metallic stickers were a new A&BC box with a Scottish design. Expect to pay football cards! Whatever the reason, A&BC issued that price! Cut cards are worth little. Notably, Typically players sell for £40 a pair, up to about his card commands a premium. The 12 miniature development in the world of football cards. In , more than £1,000 for it! A pennants distribution its shadowy first series of 110 cards (consisting while a cut card of George Best may struggle to £200 for ’s rookie (in a pair). Cut poster inserts are rare and may cost you over £20 the biggest producers of football cards, Mira and bag, which has the A&BC logo in red, has been of 220 images) and left collectors to tear them make double figures an un-cut pair with George single cards remain low in value. The 1966/67 apiece. The wrapper fetches £100 and the box, Panini, had recently issued their first shiny stickers, seen to sell for £150. The Scottish pennants apart, if not tear them up. The cards, which lack Best can fetch over £150. A wrapper from this paired cards were the last A&BC collections to be which shows Bobby Charlton, may cost over £300! and enjoyed considerable success through them. themselves sell for even more! player names to the fronts, have two small pictures issue has a value of around £75, and a point- sold without a novelty insert, or the promise of one. By 1968 things were going from good to great. A&BC hereby followed suit but the shiny fare was Unlike the English release there were no foil and had the possibility of being separated along a of-sale box would sell for about £500. Not the Launched at the moment the first pulsar star A&BC had massive success not just in soccer. It had restricted to England. The cards and inserts in both emblems for Scotland. In some places there were barely visible serrated division betwixt the two pix. prettiest issue but one of the most valuable series was seen from earth, in autumn 1967, Star Cards launched Superman, Planet of The Apes, Famous British series of 1968 were issued in distinctive and no Scottish Team Pennants either! The pennants Cards which have remained in pairs retain a much to complete, as pairs, because most cards were was an aptly named set. The creative but awkward Indian Chiefs and a host of other cards that year. colourful wrappers. Later point-of-sale packaging are so rare that most of them remain unseen by higher value than singles, especially those from the torn into singles long ago. calligram on these cards shows a trophy-shaped The gum tasted better, the cards were attractive, and wrappers, those advertising the Metalized Team modern-day collectors. At the time of writing, in second launch, a further 110 cards. For the second A&BC dared not issue a drab offering in graphic made from the four letters in the word and the inserts were appealing. Insert cards Emblems, are the rarest and command higher prices 2019, Hibs, Celtic and Clyde remain unrecorded series A&BC deigned to add player names. Team Scotland, not after an England win! A suitable star. A calligram ought to show, in its visual design, allowed the firm to re-launch a staged collection than the Team Pennants packets. – after 52 years! Two of this trio finished at the line-ups of and England, from the period of time was allowed to pass, then a similar the very thing of the noun used to make the of cards over time. The 1968/69 Footballer cards 176 Scottish cards, also with yellow backs, top of the league and played in Europe. Clyde 1966 final, consist of four double cards each and series of paired cards was approved but it was in picture. A twinkly object would have been proper were initially sold with inserted paper Team followed the English release at the end of 1968. had been a regularly featured team in Scottish

20 AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES 21 A&BC GUM

sets since 1961. So, it is almost sure that there players – regulars and irregulars – a phalanx of 36 Frank McLintock, John Sissons, Bobby Moncur, is a pennant for each of them and for each team insert cards and the trusty 90 Scots to the flanks. Allan Clarke, David Sadler and Colin Suggett have in the Scottish top flight that year. Prices for It was a defining moment in gum cards history. two cards each. In other cases some players, though individual pennants in this rare series have been Anglo Confectionery was to cease production listed on checklist cards, don’t appear at all! Andy seen to top £250 each! Their omission from the of football cards within a year! In the heaven of Lochhead of Leicester City should have card number first packets distributed contributes to their A&BC were more stars than all and sundry found 66 but Coventry City’s Chris Cattlin appears at scarcity. Greaseproof paper bags full of late arrival hanging in the lowly firmament over Halifax. It that spot. Certain cards have different players pennants were hurriedly sent to wholesalers but was back to cheaper cards of club colours, and parading under the same number. Look out for they went mostly undistributed. The stock may illustrative hints on playing the game, for Anglo. cards of Wolves’s David Woodfield and Liverpool’s still be sitting somewhere in a dusty wholesaler’s The 1969/70 British collections are some of Tommy Lawrence. Some checklist cards were quietly A&BC 1970 warehouse, or it went on to a bonfire. A million the most appealing A&BC cards to collect, not upgraded during the course of the season meaning Pin-Up Posters pounds in paper pennants? least due to the technical mysteries surrounding an you’ll need to find both varieties of one particular Due to gum firm rivalries of the time, and English issue which contained errors, misprints and checklist. The colourful wrappers of the second and machinations of a technical nature, both intrigue doppelganger cards: a handful of players have two third sub-series of this issue came with the legend, A&BC 1970, plain and embossed World Cup Souvenir cards A&BC 1970 Giant Footballer cards, English and Scottish and variety played parts in the arrogant conceit cards each! Seeking the entirety of the 1969/70 “plus real photograph”. This was actually a monotone of A&BC’s 1969/70 collection. George Best had Footballer collection is a worthwhile challenge, not football card, with a facsimile blue autograph, very demanded a payment 100 times higher than other least as values have been rising year upon year. much in the style of A&BC’s 1961 cards. It came die- players were getting. A&BC said no. He walked. The many variations and errors in the various cut with wavy edges, also called deckled or rouletted Best sold his image to a rival gum firm, Anglo Gum sub-series make for quite a roller-coaster ride. cards. Values for the green backs vary drastically. of Halifax. He appeared on Anglo’s wrappers and Once thought to consist of 170 cards there are, The rarer variations can make £50 each, or more. on one of the 84 cards in Anglo’s Football Quiz. in fact, about 200 different cards to seek. Some Wrappers and ephemera values vary too. Packets A&BC met this affront with triple the number of cards changed photo mid series, others received sell for £50 upwards and point-of-sale boxes will cards Anglo could muster. Two hundered English technical improvements (new stats). Cards of cost over £300.

A&BC 1970 Giant Footballer cards, checklists A&BC 1970 Action Transfers

In comparison with this phenolic blend the now command high prices, up to £50 for rarer warns the collector, ‘subject to change’. No kidding! Scottish Footballer collection of 1969/70 was a types. Originally there were 37 different cards Reminiscent of the 1969/70 collection it lists dignified single malt. The 77 cards have blue backs with a Jules Rimet trophy in relief. A re-issue came players of whom collectors would see nothing. and a football quiz. The series heralded English without the cup in relief. Thus, there are 37 cards Variants of checklists, players, point-of-sale boxes, league players’ inclusion in a Scottish set for the with a relief trophy, and 37 with a deflated cup. and the three types of wrapper, not to mention first time. Bloodline not club was now the criterion. Were the latter printed after England lost hope? the error cards, make chasing this collection a Henceforth, all Scottish series by A&BC could The World Cup Souvenir Cards, as they were called challenge. Moreover, some players from this series include cards of players from Sassenach clubs if on the sales box of the World Cup Giant Posters, were also issued in the Scottish set, with green the players had Scottish roots, albeit the cards were not mentioned on the wrappers so it must backs. Ian Ure and Pat Crerand, of Manchester would remain in a different style to those cards of have been a nice surprise to find one tucked away United are but two. said same player in the parallel English series. The inside. A wrapper from this issue would cost £100 Accompanying the first issue of theGiant Cards A&BC 1969 English and Scottish cards cards of English stars in the Scottish series now and a box might make £300. (the English cards have orange backs) was a series brag of values between £10 and £70 each. This is Following the posters came so-called Giant of 14 so-called Pin-Up Posters. These came folded, partly due to English club collectors keenness to Footballer Cards. They hardly seem gigantic from wrapped between the cards and gum.

A&BC 1969 die-cut acquire a Scottish version of their man. Fifthteen today’s perspective and, in fact, they were no To further confound the hapless collector it insert cards to protect the coloured black and white cards with wavy, die-cut edges bigger than the 1959 cards by A&BC but sales is should be noted that some of the English league cards from the gum complete the issue. sales and 259 slightly larger than typical cards, players on the Pin-Up Posters also appear in the guaranteed a sunny World Cup in with orange backs, hit the autumnal streets of Scottish series of pin-ups with differences. Billy 1970. England had been expected to do well, so England and in 1970. They were issued in Bremner, for example, has two distinct posters A&BC went big time with a series of 37 England the now typical staged release of three sub-series: to collect. player cards and 16 paper fold-outs of teams, Autumn, Christmas and Easter. The last of the Late in 1970 the Pin-Up Posters were replaced called World Cup Giant Posters. Values for the three sub-series includes the rarest cards which with Action Transfers in a bid to excite a tiring posters vary but £10 for a poster is typical, with can sell for more than £10 each. Earlier cards, with marketplace. There was little action, per se, other England and Brazil fetching higher prices. The lower numbers, are easily available. Like the 1969 than rubbing these colourful players’ portrait inserts used in this launch have become more collection this release also includes misprinted decals (transfers) on to skin or into scrapbooks. prized than the posters. In each packet was a and reprinted cards, so if you want them all you’ll These days rarer examples of this series of 72 single gum card. It has a purple back and a gilt- have some hunting to do! One particular checklist decals, with original backing papers, can sell for up coloured frame. These cards of England hopefuls card is known with different backs, one of which to £100 each! There was no parallel Scottish issue. A&BC 1969 English and Scottish cards backs

22 AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES 23 A&BC GUM

A&BC 1970 Giant A&BC 1971 Footballer die-cut A&BC 1971 Club Crests Footballer cards, English cards re-issued in 1973 and Superstar stickers and Scottish backs

A&BC 1973 die-cut , and a later re-issue with a regular cut

A&BC Wrappers for all three series of 1970/71 cards

There were 171 so-called Giant Cards in in the Scottish set something of a challenge. Then has been sheared by Scotland. Their values today are around £5 a card there are the checklists! The wrappers seem to someone to create though higher prices are paid for cards that appeal have just as many varieties. The boxes differ in a ‘rarity’. These are to collectors both sides of the border, for example design too. The second and third release packaging worthless. John Fitzpatrick of Manchester United. In the advertises different series of inserts. Box and The 1971/72 history of A&BC these are the first Scottish cards wrapper values rise the later they were issued, so purple back cards’ that cost less to collect than the parallel issue from adverts for Superstars (inserts) make the ephemera earliest inserts south of the border. The wrappers are varied, worth more than packets and boxes that show the were called Club with many different gift offers, but the generic earlier Club Crests inserts. Crests. A&BC had design has the diving goalie in green, on a red These cards can also be found with intricate, been feeling the heat from FKS so it made a foray background. The rarest type has the legend: New die-cut edges. The die-cut cards seen are generally into the stickers arena. An album was produced Superstars Poster. This was a Scottish only issue of all from the rarer higher numbers second and third with spaces for 23 crests and a further 23 players re-branded Pin-Up Posters. They segued into New series. These die-cut cards were re-sold during called Superstars. Superstar Posters. Whereas Scottish pin-ups (the 1973 and 1974, in Lucky Bags, given with sweets Issued with the second and third series of first series) may fetch up to £50 each, the second and other gifts. The re-cut cards, in the fancy style English purple back cards these 46 inserts are series, New Superstar Posters, will exceed £50 each of the 1973 black and white inserts, helped shift not easy to find. Superstars fetch prices around – sometimes by a long way. unsold, remaindered stock. Look closely at the £10 each, with one or two pricier exceptions. An Purple Haze! The 1971/72 collection is a edges, at the cut. The cards fit, cut for cut, corner unused album would be worth at least £100, while classic, with a twist. 291 Footballer cards were for corner, edge-for-edge within the card silhouette a full album could more than double that figure. issued in England and Wales with backs that of the 1973 black and white die-cut inserts. This An unused set of 46 sold in auction, in 2018, for teased, ‘did you know?’ Values now vary wildly for shows they are official releases and, therefore, some over £600! these cards with some higher numbers fetching of the rarest A&BC cards extant, notwithstanding The 144 Scottish purple back Footballer cards way over £20 each! Mental health warning: their erroneous occasional nomenclature as crinkle of 1971/72 are very similar to the English edition, trying to follow the numbering and naming on the cards. Crinkled clothing, crinkled crisps, and chips both types having purple backs. It’s worth noting checklist cards in this collection may cause more may come crinkle-cut. Not card nor paper; not that the Scottish players with Arsenal, Chelsea, than just hazy consternation! There are many unless you screw it up into a paper ball. Then it’s Liverpool and other English teams appear in both inaccuracies. Some players appear two times, crinkled. Whatever! Crinkled or die-cut, these are English and Scottish series but they have different showing up on different cards with different some of the hardest to find A&BC issues and prices numbers, and some cards also have contrasting numbers and different images, for example Paul are rising to reflect this. Expect to pay £20 per card, designs. , for example, is numbered A&BC 1971 Footballer cards Madeley of Leeds United has two distinct cards. and more for certain stars. 20 in the Scots set while his card in the English He’s not alone! Some players appear in both the NB: Pinked cards have also been seen but these series is numbered 155. English and the very similar Scottish series, which are recent forgeries made with tailoring pinking The 16 different paper inserts that was printed with the same purple colour on the shears. If the edge looks like it has diamond-shaped accompanied the Scottish cards show Scots back, making identification of English team players tips, if it has regular points all around, then the card emblems and were also called Club Crests. A&BC 1971 sticker album

24 AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES AN A TO Z OF FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES 25