White whale find! 1979 Hostess unissued proof cards Trammell, McCovey ++ Ultra rare! I am floored!

1948_Swell_Robinson

The 1979 Hostess unissued proofs! They are extremely rare. Hostess made 150 card sets all five years. In some of the years they made a few extra cards numbered beyond 150 as potential replacements(or possibly for a potential larger set). These are extremely rare and the 1979 almost never come up.

I have been looking for these cards forever. Sometime around 2001 the Trammell and a few commons came up for auction(individually) on EBay. I didn’t win back then. The Trammell alone went for more than what a complete 1979 panel set was going for at that time. I figured, “No need to get into a bidding war, with the internet in play, they will come around again.” I waited, and waited, and waited, and searched. Nothing. Then boom, I was right, they did, but more than 20 years later!

I come across this gem, and I was floored. Not just the Trammell, but the McCovey and ten others! Including three very interesting numbered blank cards. The color on the cards is extraordinary too.

The 1979 “unissued proof” set is listed in the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards. It lists 17 cards. Some of them had numbers on the back. Some are no numbers on the back. They are all full production cards, not early color production proofs.

If you look at that list in the Card Catalog you notice some numbers are skipped. Here in this group are cards with those skipped numbers. They are blank on the back(other than the number), and blank on the front(other than the frame and dotted lines).

RedHeart54

Interesting that the Trammell used the same pic from his 1978 Topps Burger King card and it’s a reversed negative to boot. I’ve seen other Topps proofs (unissued and issued) with reverse negatives. Kind of an interesting coincidence.

coolstanley

Very nice!

Bosox1976

Very cool!

craig44

Congratulations on your find. 22 years is a long time to search.

there is no feeling like finally acquiring cards you have searched so long for

Applejacks

Oh what a feeling!

Estil

@Applejacks said:
Oh what a feeling!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILWSp0m9G2U

brad31

Amazing story and tenacity on your decades long search. Thanks for the education on the proofs. Very cool find and glad you were able to add them to your collection.

Kid4hof03

Tremendous! Congratulations, definitely worth the wait.

RonSportscards

Are the scissors coming out?

1948_Swell_Robinson

@RonSportscards said:
Are the scissors coming out?

I am debating that. The right side of the sheet has been cut already so I won't be cutting a full sheet. If it were completely full then it would be hard for me to consider cutting it.

There is also a very nice Dale Murphy panel on the sheet. The Murphy panel goes for as much(or more sometimes) than the Ozzie Smith rookie panel because the Murphy card is hard to find.

So I could cut it and keep the unissued cards and then sell the rest of them.

Panama Mutiny (Formerly lawyer05)

@1948_Swell_Robinson said:
The 1979 Hostess unissued proofs! They are extremely rare. Hostess made 150 card sets all five years. In some of the years they made a few extra cards numbered beyond 150 as potential replacements(or possibly for a potential larger set). These are extremely rare and the 1979 almost never come up.

I have been looking for these cards forever. Sometime around 2001 the Trammell and a few commons came up for auction(individually) on EBay. I didn’t win back then. The Trammell alone went for more than what a complete 1979 panel set was going for at that time. I figured, “No need to get into a bidding war, with the internet in play, they will come around again.” I waited, and waited, and waited, and searched. Nothing. Then boom, I was right, they did, but more than 20 years later!

I come across this gem, and I was floored. Not just the Trammell, but the McCovey and ten others! Including three very interesting numbered blank cards. The color on the cards is extraordinary too.

The 1979 “unissued proof” set is listed in the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards. It lists 17 cards. Some of them had numbers on the back. Some are no numbers on the back. They are all full production cards, not early color production proofs.

If you look at that list in the Card Catalog you notice some numbers are skipped. Here in this group are cards with those skipped numbers. They are blank on the back(other than the number), and blank on the front(other than the frame and dotted lines).

Boohoo no Carew .... congrats !!

divecchia

Congrats on a nice score!!!

Donato

threeofsix

We’ll done!!!!!!

Congrats!

mexpo75

That is awesome find! Almost as good as me walking into my local ABC store and finding a bottle of Blantons!

Nathaniel1960

I will ask my contact at GAI if they will grade the entire sheet.

1951WheatiesPremium

Congratulations on a very cool find!

PatriotTrading

Congrats, the 20 year wait is exactly why people buy cards numbered less than /5 for a premium. They may not surface for a very long time.

Panama Mutiny (Formerly lawyer05)

i found a 1979 CAREW UNISSUED PROOF that was not listed in the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards....!!!!

estang

Wow - I had no idea.

I don't understand why that Carew is an unissued proof?

It does look like that spelled his last name with a "G" instead of a "C" - did you mean that it's an error?

I know there's a "small-head" version of this card...

Panama Mutiny (Formerly lawyer05)

@estang said:
Wow - I had no idea.

I don't understand why that Carew is an unissued proof?

It does look like that spelled his last name with a "G" instead of a "C" - did you mean that it's an error?

I know there's a "small-head" version of this card...

this is the small head. The small head was the first version. It is clearly an error proof that was never issued...therefore it is unissued.

The seller had other players

RonSportscards

Is it safe assumption to say that any panel with a "+" in between the cards is going to be unissued proofs?

Panama Mutiny (Formerly lawyer05)

@RonSportscards said:
Is it safe assumption to say that any panel with a "+" in between the cards is going to be unissued proofs?

it looks like it

Cakes

@mexpo75 said:
That is awesome find! Almost as good as me walking into my local ABC store and finding a bottle of Blantons!

In Virginia you have to get to the ABC store 20 minutes before opening, wait in a small line, and then you might get a bottle of Blantons or Buffalo Trace.

mexpo75

Or Eagle Rare!