Bubble Gum Cards

BGC 014

The horizontally-aligned cards of the “AMERICAN G-MEN” set are numbered 101-148. The set title is located in a white badge design on the front of each card and the words “City-State-nation” are printed underneath “G-Men”. These multi-color artwork cards were originally issued in strips but are rarely found that way today. A panel at the top of each card carries a slogan, such as “Crime Does Not Pay” or “Safety First”. The text on the back is uncharacteristically long for a strip card issue and claims to be “actual stories of bandits and cops….from the records of the Crime Detection Department of the City, State, and Nation.” The manufacturer of this set is not known. Near complete set of 39/48 cards.

Price: $900.00

BGC 013

If you believe the advertising found on the 5-cnt wrapper, “FREEDOMS WAR” was “The most complete set of military cards ever published.” Perhaps not the BEST as fans of “Horrors of War” and “War Gum” would argue, but surely the most comprehensive in terms of scope. After all, the set included Korean War scenes, combat training, military insignia, weapons, medals, generals, airplanes, ships and even a set of die cut tanks which could be made into stand-up toys. Topps used both color artwork and color photographs in making up the set. As the wrapper said, this was “A prize collection for the Sons and Daughters of Freedom.” Freedom’s War was distributed in three printings over a two-year period that began in the summer of 1950. These three “waves” of cards were separate from each other in a number of details, yet close enough time-wise to have been confusing to collectors then and now. Some collectors have speculated that the captions were left off cards 1-103 of the first print run in error. It is more likely that they were added as a “design element” improvement to make succeeding cards more visually attractive and interesting. At any rate, it appears that the entire series was released another time in one-cent and five-cent packages, and this time ALL the cards, with the exception of the tanks (97-103), came with captions on the fronts. We must assume that there were mechanical difficulties in producing the tanks because they are the scarcest cards in the set, and they were eliminated from the third and final printing which followed. I have 83/203 cards.

Price: $1500.00

BGC 012

Cards if the “FIGHTING MARINES” series issued by Topps in 1953 have smooth edges on all sides if issued singly, or four separation “nubs” on the right or left edge if distributed in panels. The set is a mixture of color photographs and multi-color artwork; the photos show Marines in training and their equipment, while the artwork depicts famous moments in Marine Corps history and Corps’ uniforms the American Revolution to the Korean conflict. The card fronts were given a patriotic air by the use of red and blue frame lines on the white background of the borders. Cards 44, 74 and 96 seem to be scarcer than any others in the set. This collections has 76/96 cards.

Price: $2300.00

BGC 011

The vividly-colored series titled “FLAGS OF THE WORLD” was produced by Topps in 1956. The artwork fronts depict the flags of the USA, UN and 78 foreign countries all set upon gorgeous, detailed backdrops. One third of the reverse contains the card number and a list of important data about the specific country. Underneath is an illustrated feature, “How They Say,” which gives phonetic translations of common words in the language of the nation whose flag is pictured on front. Topps reintroduced the set in 1970. Complete.

Price: $800.00

BGC 010

The 1936 “G-MEN & HEROES OF THE LAW” set contains 168 numbered cards, measuring 3 1/8" by 2 1/2", and was produced by Gum, Inc. These cards depict a full color action picture on the front, and a brief "official" story from the records of G-Men, Famous Police organizations, and Heroes of the Law.

There are various inconsistencies in the 1936 G-Men & Heroes card set On the back of the cards, there is a statement claiming that there are 240 cards total to collect, but the card numbers skip ranging from card #25-451. Cards #200 and higher are much scarcer than the lower numbered cards in the set. There are known variances of the coloring of the ampersand sign on the front of the cards #25-166. Other variations include the presence or absence of the sentence "...your collection of 240 thrilling action pictures...". “G-MEN & HEROES OF THE LAW” differs from the other most sought after sets of bubble gum’s Golden Age in one important aspect: it is extremely difficult to complete because there are five cards which are almost impossible to find. Other classic sets, such as “HORRORS OF WAR”, have cards which are demand-scarce. These can be obtained IF you choose to pay the price. The “hard” cards in G-Men, however, are rarely offered for sale because they are supply-scarce. That is why completing a G-Men set is considered a benchmark accomplishment with the collecting community. This collection holds 99/168 cards.

Price: $4000.00

BGC 009

Vietnam will always be a controversial and unpleasant topic for most Americans. Some might even argue that it is not an appropriate subject for a trading card set. When it was announced in 1988 that Dart Flipcards, a Canadian company, was about to release a 66-card set about Vietnam, there was an initial wave of protest, no doubt magnified by the stereotypical coverage of the electronic and print media. Had any other card manufacturer produced the set, the criticism might have been warranted, but once the set was made public, the derision turned to admiration. This was not a set that glorified war in artwork or in word, nor propaganda on behalf of either side. Instead, Dart created a trading card set based on nothing but the facts, and in so doing, established a benchmark for excellence and a reputation for integrity.

The series consists of 66 titles and most text descriptions are in French and English as the set was sold in both the U.S and Canada. It was produced as a limited run and the printing plates and film were destroyed. Complete set.

Price: $100.00

BGC 008

The artwork and text of this 48-card set entitled ‘THE SECOND WORLD WAR” were not plagiarized from other sets, so the W.S. Corp. printed its name on the cards. The artwork fronts are all horizontal, and the set title and card captions are printed in red panels above and below the picture. The backs are vertical (notice the similarity between these and the reverses of “THE NIGHTMARE OF WARFARE” series), and the print is black and the print is black on gray stock. Some card captions vary slightly from front to back and a “(C) W.S. 1939, N.Y.C.” line is found on every card reverse at the bottom. The cards are numbered 125-172. Some machine-cut cards have been found, indicating that this series may have been marketed in another manner besides strips. This collection holds 30/48 cards.

Price: $900.00

BGC 007BGC 007

It almost see that the art department at Gum, Inc. went crazy producing the “WAR NEWS PICTURES” series since there are so many style and color variations in the set, which contained 144 cards. There are seven distinct groups of cards: 1-48, 49-72, 73-84, 85-96, 97-108, 109-120, and 121-144. The first 120 cards bear a tiny subseries code number in the bottom-right corner on the reverse. Fortunately, the words “WAR NEWS” are somewhere on every card, the one common detail which makes cards of this series easy to identify.

Gum, Inc. began distributing WAR NEWS PICTURES in 1939 and continued into 1940. The initial wrapper was semi-clear wax with the world “WAR” set on a red center and the advertising copy on it tried to tie in WAR NEWS PICTURES with the fabulously successful “HORRORS OF WAR” series which preceded it: “START IMMEDIATELY TO SAVE THIS COMPLETE SERIES. Complete sets of the first 240 Horrors of War cards, published in 1938, are now very valuable. Don’t miss the opportunity to get all of this new series of picture cards.” If that was not enough, another advertising panel on the wrapper described the current set as “news pictures and illustrations of the current HORRORS OF WAR in Europe.” The wrapper bears a 1939 copyright date.

The second wrapper associated with the set carries a 1940 copyright date and has a white and black newspaper design set on a yellow center. By that time, the public had already come to the conclusion that War News Pictures couldn’t match Horrors of War in style and quality, so the attempt to link the two sets by advertising propaganda was abandoned in favor of passing off the cards as “valuable classroom material”. J. Warren Bowman, the owner of Gum, Inc., was a man always in search of a promotional gimmick: convincing teachers to allow bubble gum cards in the schoolhouse was the kind of challenge he enjoyed!

Three additional elements of this set are fascinating to collectors. First, the subseries numbered 49-72 carries the identical color artwork of 24 cards of Gum, Inc.’s “THE WORLD IN ARMS” set, which was also issued in 1939. This is the only run of full color cards in the War News Pictures, and only Bowman would dare to make two sets out of the one! Secondly, advertising on the last run of War News Pictures cards (121-144) suggests that more cards above No. 144 were planned – but none were ever released to the public. Finally, the set contains 12 of the rarest of all 1930’s cards: numbers 109-120. Over the years, collectors have constructed several theories to account for the scarcity of these cards, but no reliable information about them has been confirmed. Very few complete sets of War News Pictures are known to exist because these 12 cards are simply not available. This collection holds 106/144 cards.

Price: $1500.00

BGC 006

The most interesting aspect of the strip card set titled “WAR SCENES” is that it has three back varieties. Type 1 backs are printed in blue ink and have the manufacturer’s name (MP & CO.) and a “Made in USA” line at bottom. The other two back types are devoid of company name or origin lines and differ only in color of ink: lavender or black. All card number have been found in each reverse-side ink color. The front artwork is the low grade, fast-production type characteristic of most strip card sets. The cards are numbered on the back only, and titles may vary slightly between front and back. Offered here are 32/48 cards.

Price: $600.00

BGC 005

ARMY, NAVY AND AIR CORPS. The rough color artwork characteristic of the W. S. Corporation is found in this set of 48 cards entitled Army ★ Navy and Air Corps. Issued in 1942, the cards were originally distributed in strips, and single cards have one or two rouletted edges. The set title runs across the top of the card in a white panel while the individual caption is located at the base in a large, red border. Each card is numbered front and back (601 to 648), and a short text appears on the reverse. The cards are landscaped and measure 2 ⅜ × 2 11⁄16 inches. I hold 27/48 cards

Price: $600.00