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US Olympian Cards / Olympic Athlete Cards Master True Rookie Master List
scottfishvan
Posts: 46 ✭✭
I recently started to collect US Olympian Hall of Fame Rookie or Key cards for Athletes. There are so many Olympic series of cards that get released, especially during the 50s-80s and I have compiled what I believe to be a master list of cards that are the true rookies. I am also including a note of what the PSA rookie listed is in their like located here: U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Rookies, First Year Issue, or Early Key Card. You will find that the PSA listed card can be different than the true rookie - especially if you include Sports illustrated for Kids, various tobacco cards, and various candy, gum and other international cards. Panini Campioni Dello Sport, for instance, has several key rookie cards.
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**I have made significant progress on collecting this set and here are cards found for Olympians dating from 1902 to 1952.
**
1902 OGDEN'S LTD. TABS GENERAL INTEREST ALVIN KRAENZLEIN 47
1910 T218 CHAMPIONS CHARLES DANIELS
1910 T218 CHAMPIONS MELVIN SHEPPARD side-face
1910 T218 CHAMPIONS RAY EWRY
1910 WALL, NICHOLS CO. HAWAII SOUVENIER PLAYING CARD DUKE KAHANAMOKU
1912 OLYMPISKA SPELENS STOKHOLM - BREFKORT JIM THORPE 238
Still working on this one.
1913 T230 PAN HANDLE SCRAP WORLD'S CHAMPION ATHLETES AVERY BRUNDAGE
1921 W551 JOHNNY WEISSMULLER 39
1924 V122 WILLARD CHOCOLATE SPORTS CHAMPIONS JOHN KELLY 16
Still working on this one.
1926 SPALDING CHAMPIONS CHARLEY PADDOCK
1928 SALEM CIGARETTES DIE WELT IN BILDERN SERIE 112 FRANK WYKOFF 2
Have in SALEM and MAZETTI
1930 MAZETTI CHOCOLATES ATHLETES HELENE MADISON
Still working on this one.
1932 SAMMELWERK NR. 6 OLYMPIA 1932 BABE DIDRIKSON 65
1935 MURATTI CIGARETTES - ZWISCHEN OLUMPISCHEN SPIELEN JESSE OWENS 49
Still working on this one.
1948 TOPPS MAGIC PHOTO TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONS HARRISON DILLARD 4E
1950 DUTCH GUM CARDS "D" SET - PLAIN TEXT FLOYD PATTERSON D18
1951 BERK ROSS DICK BUTTON 2-17
Great progress! A couple of those look familiar.
Looks great, keep up the good work!
FYI, PSA has the wrong year in their data specs for the Dutch "D" set. It was issued in 1961, not 1950.
Also, the Svart-vita OS Sportserien set is from 1960, not 1950.
The earliest issue Floyd Patterson is the 1956 Swedish Rekord Journal.
Thanks for these notes, I definitely saw that there were older Floyd Patterson cards, curious why that one was noted as the rookie. There are at least 2-3 others before it.
The Boxing News series was issued over many years, and the entire years' span is listed for that set. The Patterson one specifically within it is of course not a 1940's card/premium.
Next up is 1952 to 1972. The 1952 cards are not numbered correctly as far as I can tell. I have a full set coming and I will likely be able to match the names up and correct the numbers.
1952 KOSMOS OLYMPISCHE SPIELE HELSINKI ANDREA MEAD LAWRENCE 173
1952 KOSMOS OLYMPISCHE SPIELE HELSINKI BOB MATHIAS 258
1952 KOSMOS OLYMPISCHE SPIELE HELSINKI JOHN DAVIS 128
1952 KOSMOS OLYMPISCHE SPIELE HELSINKI MAL WHITFIELD 223
1952 KOSMOS OLYMPISCHE SPIELE HELSINKI MILT CAMPBELL 259
1952 KOSMOS OLYMPISCHE SPIELE HELSINKI PARRY O'BRIEN 34
1952 KOSMOS OLYMPISCHE SPIELE HELSINKI PAT MCCORMICK 296
1954 SPORTEN EN SPELEN IN WOORD EN BEELD BOB RICHARDS 14
Not yet...
1955 HEINERLE TENLEY ALBRIGHT
Not yet...
1957 SWEETULE SPORT RECORDS RAFER JOHNSON 4
1960 HEMMETS JOURNAL CASSIUS CLAY 23
Working on this one...
1960 HEMMETS JOURNAL RALPH BOSTON 32
1960 SWEDISH REKORD JOURNAL GLENN DAVIS
1960 SWEDISH REKORD JOURNAL WILMA RUDOLPH
1961 CLEVEDON CONFECTIONERY THE STORY OF THE OLYMPICS AL OERTER 39
1961 CLEVEDON CONFECTIONERY THE STORY OF THE OLYMPICS BOBBY MORROW 2
Not yet...
1961 CLEVEDON CONFECTIONERY THE STORY OF THE OLYMPICS CAROL HEISS 9
1963 KTAV PUBLISHING JEWISH SPORTS CHAMPIONS MARK SPITZ
1964 NESTLE LOS JUEGOS OLIMPICOS BOB HAYES 193
1964 NESTLE LOS JUEGOS OLIMPICOS JOE FRAZIER 273
Not yet...
1967 PANINI CAMPIONI DELLO SPORT WILLIE DAVENPORT 45
Not yet...
1968 PANINI CAMPIONI DELLO SPORT DEBBIE MEYER 236
1968 PANINI CAMPIONI DELLO SPORT DON SCHOLLANDER 498
1968-1974 HALL OF FAME BOOKMARKS HANK IBA
1969 PANINI CAMPIONI DELLO SPORT BILL TOOMEY 86
Have - Recovered.
1969 PANINI CAMPIONI DELLO SPORT BOB BEAMON 57
Have - Recovered.
1969 PANINI CAMPIONI DELLO SPORT DICK FOSBURY 63
1969 PANINI CAMPIONI DELLO SPORT LEE EVANS 18
Have - Recovered.
1969 PANINI CAMPIONI DELLO SPORT WYOMIA TYUS 92
Not yet...
1970 PANINI CAMPIONI DELLO SPORT GARY HALL 228
Not yet...
1972 BERGMANN-VERLAG MUNCHEN '72 SHIRLEY BABASHOFF 163
The 1952 Kosmos set you mention has some other interesting items in it.
no. 146 Henry Cooper/Anatoly Perov is the rookie/first card for UK boxer Henry Cooper.
no. 147 Ed Sanders/Ingemar Johansson has a rookie of an American gold medalist boxer, Sanders, and it is also the rookie card for HOF boxer Ingemar Johansson (same story as w/ Patterson where the Dutch cards, OS one, and the Boxing News one were all issued later than what PSA has in the data specs).
no. 148 Edgar Basel/Nate Brooks is another rookie card of an American gold medalist boxer
I'm really enjoying this, thanks for sharing
I think the spitz is mislabeled. For one thing he was only 13 in 1963 and that would be an amazing stash for a 13 year old.
But here's a link to a complete album, showing the publishing date as 1973. I think PSA is confused with the green KTAV cards from 1963,
This is the one I got for spitz, but there could be an earlier one.
That's really good to know! I recently picked up a Kosmos and VEB Reichenbach versions and it appears that there may be some notable athletes in the VEB set... Emil Zatopek, Bob Mathias, Patricia McCormick and #57 Nate Brooks/Edgar Basel/Anatoli Bulakov.
Glad you're enjoying! It's pretty fun to track these down. I recently submitted a set request to PSA to use the NBC Sports Top 100 Olympians list for a new set. It's about 50/50 US/International. I'm working my way through that list as well.
I do have the 1969 PANINI CAMPIONI DELLO SPORT MARK SPITZ #278, but it looks like yours is 1 year earlier. I'll have to check that one out. I do think PSA is confused by the KTAV set. That set is kind of a mess because you have 2 colors and dotted line vs. no line. Could you share that URL that you have for the 1973 note?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/JEWISH-SPORTS-CHAMPS-1973-KTAV-PUBLISHING-HOUSE-MAGAZINE-MINT-CONDITION/233314331473?hash=item36529e2b51:g:qw0AAOSwAopdVcon
I was so hoping this was Jackie Joyners rookie! It would make this comic book card even more amazing!
ON ITS WAY TO NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92658
For the KTAV set, it is my understanding that the Green Border / Orange Background set with the slightly shorter & fatter text font is from 1963, and both the Pink Border / Blue Background / Larger Text set as well as the Pink Border / Yellow Background / Smaller Text set are both from 1973 (same photos and checklist for both Pink sets), but that PSA has labeled both sets the same without differentiating variety & year on the flip or on the data specs. The checklists are not the same. When an athlete appears in both sets though, it seems to have added to PSA's confusion. I think they started grading these items back before there was as much time into researching foreign/oddball items. The pop report could be corrected based on comparing checklists and looking at the photos in the completed auction links for specific cert numbers and then adjusted for the two different years. It is a correction I'd like to see them make.
If you compare the two Pink sets, you'll notice the dashed/dotted lines are different between the two sets. For example, take a look at the Pink Border / Yellow Background Benny Leonard one in this link as compared with the Pink/Blue one pictured above.
https://ebay.com/itm/JEWISH-SPORTS-CHAMPS-1973-KTAV-PUBLISHING-HOUSE-MAGAZINE-MINT-CONDITION/233314331473?hash=item36529e2b51:g:qw0AAOSwAopdVcon
On Spitz, his RC is either/both the 1968 Mira or the 1968 Panini.
The David Robinson USA RC should be the 1986 Merchante one, not the 1987 Kentucky one.
For 1928 Frank Wykoff, it should not be restricted to just the Salem version; the correct thing to do would be to allow for any of the parallel version to fill that line item of the composite, so any of Constantin, Jasmatzi, Josetti, Manoli, Salem or Sulima.
This is the oldest Jackie card that I have found. It appears to be from a spanish set. 1987 PANINI SUPERSPORT ITALIAN JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE #61 - You will find many of the 2nd card below listed as her rookie, but I believe the first one is older and more rare.
Agreed in the parallels - I am planning to get both graded and add both to the set as options.
Those Merchante cards are really awesome looking - I just did a search and the #1 set on PSA is being sold individually on ebay right now. I see some blazers on there
It seems like there is so much more acceptance and desire for the international cards now - particularly panini stickers from the 70s/80s as they predate some of the US based cards created.
Next up are 1972 to 1982 cards. We get into heavily Panini Olympics cards and Sportscasters. I believe there may be some older cards for Sugar Ray Leonard, Dorothy Hamill, and Edwin Moses but I haven't seen photos of them yet. Additionally, I will note that the PSA set lists Sportscasters with a certain language or country series - the majority of these are Italian. I am currently looking for the Eric Heiden French version! Also looking for hard to find Panini Goofy Olympique cards.
1972 PANINI MUNICH 72 DAN GABLE 150
Coming Soon!
1972 PANINI MUNICH 72 FRANK SHORTER 79
Coming Soon!
1973 PANINI CAMPIONI DELLO SPORT GEORGE FOREMAN 289
Not yet.
1976 PANINI MONTREAL 76 BRUCE JENNER 149
This card was relatively difficult to find in good condition.
1976-1979 SPORTSCASTER - FRENCH ERIC HEIDEN 123-10
Looking for this card. The title says Patinage de vitesse.
1977-1979 SPORTSCASTER - ITALIAN SUGAR RAY LEONARD 22-09
1977-1979 SPORTSCASTER - ITALY DOROTHY HAMILL 04-23
1977-1979 SPORTSCASTER - ITALY EDWIN MOSES 39-12
1977-1979 SPORTSCASTER - ITALY GREG LOUGANIS 79-23
1977-1979 SPORTSCASTER - ITALY JOAN BENOIT 79-02
1977-1979 SPORTSCASTER - ITALY JOHN NABER 02-22
1977-1979 SPORTSCASTER - ITALY MICKI KING 04-11
1977-1979 SPORTSCASTER - ITALY TRACY CAULKINS 66-02
1980 PANINI GOOFY OLYMPIQUE BART CONNER 147
Looking for this one.
1980 PANINI GOOFY OLYMPIQUE EVELYN ASHFORD 17
Looking for this one.
1980 PANINI GOOFY OLYMPIQUE MARY MEAGHER 204
Looking for this one.
1980 USA OLYMPIC TEAM MINI PICS HERB BROOKS 15
Looking for this one.
1981 PANINI SPORT SUPERSTARS PHIL MAHRE 340
1981 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE CHAMPIONS OF AMERICAN SPORT PEGGY FLEMING
1982-1983 INDIANA STATE "SYCAMORE RAMPAGE" BRUCE BAUMGARTNER
Looking for this one.
Rather than the yellow Spanish one, the rarest variety of those early Panini cards is the white Supersport one with Italian language on back, as opposed to the other much more common version w/ Alessandro Nista-#87 on back.
Up next is 1983 to 1991 cards. Largely Sports Illustrated For Kids and Impel Olympic Hall of Fame Cards.
1983 TOPPS GREATEST OLYMPIANS DONNA DE VARONA 71
1983 TOPPS GREATEST OLYMPIANS EDDIE EAGAN 57
1983 TOPPS GREATEST OLYMPIANS SAMMY LEE 24
1985 POULAIN SERIE 44 GRANDS NOMS DU SPORT CARL LEWIS 18
Not yet.
1987 AUBURN TIGERS AUBURN GREAT ROWDY GAINES
Not yet.
1987 KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS STATE GAMES DAVID ROBINSON SC
1987 PANINI SUPERSPORT ITALIAN JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE 61
Not yet.
1988 PANINI SUPERSPORT ITALIAN JANET EVANS 115
Not yet.
1988 PANINI SUPERSPORT ITALIAN MATT BIONDI 112
Coming
2014 BRIAN BOITANO AUTO #UOC-BBO
1989 S.I. FOR KIDS FLORENCE GRIFFITH-JOYNER 9
1989 S.I. FOR KIDS KARCH KIRALY 71
1989 S.I. FOR KIDS KRISTI YAMAGUCHI 92
This next group isn't rare so here's the list and one photo of all of them!
I did check these to see if these are their TRUE rookies. Noted by TRUE - if there are others, I have noted those.
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME ASA SMITH BUSHNELL 78 TRUE
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME BILLY MILLS 24
Real True Card is: 1965 Panda Kultamitali Billy Mills Athletics
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME COL. DON HULL 136 TRUE
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME DON MILLER 73 TRUE (Exec director)
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME LEE CALHOUN 81 TRUE
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME LEROY WALKER 76 TRUE
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME MARY LOU RETTON 27 TRUE
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME PETER VIDMAR 84 TRUE
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME ROBERT KANE 75 TRUE
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME ROONE ARLEDGE 79 TRUE
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME SCOTT HAMILTON 46
Also see: 1992 Sports Illustrated for Kids #13 Scott Hamilton
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME TOMMY KONO 48
Also see: TOMMY KONO MICROSTORIA OLIMPAIDI INTREPIDO 1960
1991 IMPEL U.S. OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME WILLIAM SIMON 80
Matt Ghaffari...Greco - Roman wrestler I think, won the Silver medal ...is 1991 impel also
And the final 'official' group for the PSA set... All of these are completed and there are several alternative cards put out in the same year.
Up next will be cards that are not yet in the set, but the athletes are in the HOF.
1991 S.I. FOR KIDS GAIL DEVERS 308
1991 S.I. FOR KIDS MICHAEL JOHNSON 253
1991 S.I. FOR KIDS SHANNON MILLER 296
1991 S.I. FOR KIDS TERESA EDWARDS 223
1992 IMPEL OLYMPICARDS DARA TORRES SWIMMING 72
1992 IMPEL OLYMPICARDS OSCAR DE LA HOYA 23
1992 IMPEL OLYMPICARDS PROTOTYPE DAN O'BRIEN
1992 S.I. FOR KIDS BONNIE BLAIR 6
1992 S.I. FOR KIDS JEAN DRISCOLL 47
1992 S.I. FOR KIDS WILLYE WHITE 100
1993 S.I. FOR KIDS JENNY THOMPSON 146
1993 S.I. FOR KIDS LISA FERNANDEZ 150
1994 SIGNATURE ROOKIES TETRAD DAN JANSEN Autograph 123
1994 SIGNATURE ROOKIES TETRAD PICABO STREET Autograph -797/1050 128
1994 UPPER DECK WORLD CUP SOCCER KRISTINE LILLY 273
1996 UPPER DECK U.S. OLYMPIC ALICE COACHMAN 19
1996 UPPER DECK U.S. OLYMPIC FUTURE CHAMPIONS AMY VAN DYKEN 118
1996 UPPER DECK U.S. OLYMPIC JAMES CONNOLLY 20
1996 UPPER DECK U.S. OLYMPIC MICHAEL PLUMB 58
2004 TOPPS ALL-TIME FAN FAVORITES PETER UEBERROTH 133
Just got this back from russia after a 3+ year wait. Did I choose the right card?
Looks good to me... here's what I have noted as her first and second card.
There is one additional Spitz RC issued in 1968 that is worth mentioning. He has card no. 241 in the Edicao Agencia Portuguesa Revistas - Atletas Mexico 68. APR, as they are more commonly known, is/was a major card manufacturer based in Portugal with licensed sets, issued as a would-be competitor to Panini in Portugal, on the same/similar scope as Mira in Italy for example. There are several different APR sets in the PSA data specs from that era and the items in this set are eligible for grading.
https://athleticards.com/cdAtoC.html
https://athleticards.com/c_atletas68.html
BTW, two years later, the PSA data specs department still does not seem to have taken action to correct their information on the 1963 vs. 1973 KTAV sets. Still hoping they will see this thread and implement the change.