Bench oddball item: What's this?

jrdolan

I picked up a couple of these neat little Bench items..

The seller called them "1981 Permagraphic Credit Cards." They aren't really credit cards, just credit card in size and shape. The reverse is like a baseball card with his career stats, and a place for an autograph. So perhaps these were available at shows in which the respective players were signing. It also says on the reverse: "As a collector of the Limited Edition Super Star Credit Card Series, you are recognized as a loyal baseball fan and a member in good standing of the Elite Super Star Fan Club."

Clearly it was part of a series and your goal was to collect all the players' autos. Anybody know anything else about them? Are they something you would bother asking PSA to grade?

sjeanblanc

JrDolan,

I do believe they will fit in a PSA holder, and they were MLBPA licensed, there is a Nolan Ryan one as well, I feel asleep at the wheel and didn't get a bid in on it. They are also listed in the SCD Catalog so I would believe that PSA would grade them.

Scott Jeanblanc
jeanblanc@iconnect.net
Ebay UserId : sjeanblanc
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Collecting Nolan Ryan cards (68-94)

theplasticman

yeah they did them quite a few years in the early 80s. There are also rare "gold" versions that parallel each set out there. Ive even managed to track down a few Eddie Murray proofs for my own collection.

I forgot about these, I should send some away!

Dhjacks

I've got a 1983 gold colored Pete Rose.

Kid4hof03

Those are from 1981-83. They made a superstar set and an all star set each year. There were also gold versions. At one time they were considered a little "tough", but like everything else, with ebay you can find them easily. I've always liked them, never thought of having them graded, but that's the next step for all of us in't it?

carew4me

Here are all of the Rod Carew issues:

Dhjacks

carew4me,
Super job of accumulating all (I assume) of the variations. Very cool.

joker73

PSA definitely grades these - graded 1981 Roses come up from time to time on eBay ...

Robert

carew4me

Dhjacks,
That is all of them except that there are (2) variations to the 1981 reg issue: one is #20 on the back and the other is #29, but the fronts are the same.

The Bench may have 2 versions of the 81 issue as well but I have never explored the issue outside of Carew.

Thanks.

speeder

hi john, sure its worth grading, if its in decent shape.
image link below shows an (82-p.g.) ( 82-gold p.g.) and a (81-proof p.g.)
i believe the gold ones were limited to something like 900, the 81-proof has square corners

jrdolan

Thanks for all the input (and the scans, Lee). Hey carew, that's some impressive lineup of Rodneys! Yeah, the two I bought are in great shape, in fact I can't see how they would be otherwise, made out of stiff plastic and having no square corners to ding! Now I have to get them all... oh man.

Maybe somebody'll trade me a different one for my extra.

Since they're licensed by MLB, I wonder why they're not on the Master Registry. Seems like they're just as much a "card" as all those disc variations from '76 and the zillion Sport Deck cards.

speeder

hey john,
johnny bench is only listed in the 81-superstars, 82-superstars, 82-superstars gold. so there are only 3 you would have to get. you will
see a proof card of one of these now and then, but i do not think psa will grade them. the only reason they are not listed in bench
master set is that, no bench perma-graphic cards have been graded. get one graded, ask that be included in master set and i`m sure it will be. your friend, lee