1975 Hostess Hand Cut Question

TexasHeatWave

I have recently laid my hands on an original, mint condition 1975 Hostess King Dons Box (never used as best I can tell) with the following three "hand cut" cards - Nolan Ryan, Reggie Smith and Joe Coleman. The cards are still part of the box. My question is two fold:

1) Do you think the cards / box are worth more in their original state without the cards being cut out than if the cards are cut out and graded by PSA?

2) If I decide to have PSA grade the cards, should I send the box in and let PSA cut them out so they are responsible for the corners and cuts, or should I do it to make sure I know its done right.

I've never had a hand cut before where I had the option to do the hand cutting and any input would be appreciated.

Texas Heat Wave

GoSoxBoSox

(1) I don't think they are worth that much either way at the moment.

(2) PSA would never cut them for you. They'd send the box back.

Personally I'd keep the box as is and let it sit. Maybe someday they'll be in higher demand. See what I mean?

roastedcat

Texas heat-

Don't cut that up. Keep it intact, those cards may not be worth much right now but will have value later.

I think it's cool to have cards still on the box, not to many exist and would bring a larger premium in the long
run.

Jery

mikeschmidt

I actually have had problems finding the Twinkies cards -- they are basically the Hostess, but have a dark bar across part of the reverse....anyone out there have any?

Virtualizard

This is a dilemma that I have had to deal with as well. I hate to cut a card out of a box, strip, panel, pepsi disc, etc., but if I want to complete a master set of the player, I have to do it. The solution that I have come up with is to find another example of the item to keep intact. These are not rare, so my suggestion is an option for most issues. Some of the '60s and earlier cards would be tough, but there are some dealers who even specialize in these vintage issues - early '60s Post and Jello come to mind.

Hope that helps.

JEB.

TexasHeatWave

Great advice from everyone.



<< <i>This is a dilemma that I have had to deal with as well. I hate to cut a card out of a box, strip, panel, pepsi disc, etc., but if I want to complete a master set of the player, I have to do it. >>



This is exactly what I am trying to do - Ryan Master Set - but I like your idea of finding another example and will do that.

Thanks to all who responded.

Kid4hof03

The Twinkie cards are very tough to find. Many people buy and sell the hostess examples as the Twinkie. The problem I have had is finding any Twinkie cards that don't have terrible stains from the cakes. I need Reggie and Gary Carter if anyone comes up with any.

In my opinion, if your doing a master set of the player then cut the box, otherwise keep it in tact. While not exactly rare, there are much fewer in tact boxes than cut cards.

Just my thoughts.

Abe

reelinintheyears

There is a recent thread ("Question about 1975 Hostess Twinkies cards," created 1/19/08) that I came across by searching for "Twinkies" which is very informative about this issue. There is even a link to a checklist for this set, which is more limited than the standard Hostess checklist for the same year. According to the checklist, 1975 Reggie and Carter Twinkies cards were not made (one of the members specifically called out the Jackson and some other star cards that were in the Hostess issue but were not included in the Twinkies issue and stated that PSA has incorrectly identified a bunch of regular Hostess cards as Twinkies cards in the past, which is why they appear in the pop report). I recently purchased a bunch of 1975 Twinkies cards (3 graded PSA 9, the others raw) from a dealer on ebay, which I plan to have graded. They do not have staining, which indicates that they were either individually cut at the factory, but never used or were obtained from the factory in sheets and were cut by a dealer or collector. The pop report does not contain any cards with qualifiers, so I imagine that either nobody has submitted a stained card from an actual used Twinkies package or that PSA does not slap the ST qualifier on them since they were stained by the factory prior to being sold.

redlegs

Attached are photos of the 1976 Joe Morgan card for both the regular Hostess set and the Hostess Twinkies set for comparison. You will not the black bar on the back of the Hostess Twinkie card. I cut the Hostess Twinkie card myself from an unissued strip of cards. I believe that just about all of the "Twinkie" cards that PSA has graded are from uncut strips since most would have the Twinkie stains if they had been inserted in packs.

nam812

The Twinkie issue seems to have a less colorful front and with darker text on the reverse. Nice pose by Joe with Shea Stadium as the backdrop.