Anyone remember the Peanuts comic strip where Charlie Brown tries to get a Joe Shlabotnik card?

Estil

I hope someone here can post a copy of this strip (it was early 60s so hopefully it'll appear in the Complete Peanuts series soon) too.

Anyway, Charlie Brown shows Lucy a $5 bill (which in the early 60s was a HUGE amount of money for a child; I think they typical allowance back then was what, a quarter?) that he says is going to spend ALL on baseball cards (or bubble gum cards as they were called back then) in order to get a card of his favorite player, Joe Shlabotnik (obviously fictious). Charlie buys up 500 penny packs (or 500 cards; the same as buying a whole vending box) and opens them all up and is frustrated that he did not even get one of Mr. Shlabotnik. Lucy then buys a single penny pack and but who should appear inside? Why Mr. Shlabotnik, of course. If I'm not mistaken, Topps to this day still has a blown up copy of this strip on display at their company.

I guess the only question is if Charlie happened to get any Mickey Mantles or Willie Mays in that stack? After all, Charlie did also like Willie Mays back then too.

nam812

RedHeart54

Joe Shlabotnik must have been a short-print high number.

nam812

Yes, very low pop indeed.

RipublicaninMass

most were dumped in the ocean

Allen

He is actually card #408 in the 52 Topps set....

Estil

Can you imagine how rich Charlie would be if he had saved all those cards he had? I counted at least sixteen Hall of Famers from his list.

bhl2359

That Lucy could be a real b_tch.

Estil

Happy 50th anniversary to the above classic Peanuts moment! In the third Peanuts Every Sunday book we'll finally get to see it in its fully color glory. And that $5 back in 1964 is adjusted for inflation equal about $35-$40. Lot of money just to get one card!

Did you know that CB did in fact once kick the football? Just one small catch though....

Estil

<< <i>He is actually card #408 in the 52 Topps set.... >>



1964 is when the strip was made.

PaulMaul

We wacky pack fans have our own version:

Part 1

Part 2

Stingray

<< <i>We wacky pack fans have our own version:

Part 1

Part 2 >>



LOL!!

I remember having a bunch of Charlie Brown paperbacks as a kid. Loved the comics that had to with him playing baseball!!

Estil

My favorite is the pep talk he gave in a March 1966 strip (I made another topic about this one too) where he insists that all that matters is who comes in first place and that nobody remembers who comes in second, and then Linus starts going over (starting with 1928) who came in second each year.

Check it out.

PaulMaul

Possibly my all-time favorite Peanuts panel:

thekid8

I too love this strip -- and I have posted this before -- but will do so again
several years ago I took the liberty and changed the players back then to peers of Gary Carter's and sent it on to him to have signed -- also sent a copy for him to keep. One of the top favorites 5 in my collection.

giantsfan20

Thats a classic! Think their was another one were Lucy was selling her autograph and it said like $5 for a scribble $10 legiable and like 15 for neat etc or was it that sports comic Tank McNamera? if anybody could find it would be nice.

EchoCanyon

Joe Shlabotnik

Joe Shlabotnik is a fictional baseball player featured in the Peanuts comic strip. Shlabotnik was often mentioned as Charlie Brown's favorite player. Brown spent much of his free time trying to hunt down Joe memorabilia -- baseball cards, autographs, personal meetings, and organized a Joe Shlabotnik Fan Club, complete with a newsletter which folded after one issue.
Shlabotnik was demoted to the minors after having a .004 batting average over an entire season; his one hit was a bloop single with his team comfortably ahead. His greatest achievements included making spectacular plays on routine fly balls and throwing out a runner who had fallen down between first and second. After being sent down to the Green Grass League (a bush league), Shlabotnik retired as a player and agreed to manage the Waffletown Syrups. Sadly, he was fired after only one game, after calling for a squeeze play ... with no one on base.

Linus van Pelt once invited Shlabotnik to a testimonial dinner for Charlie Brown; unfortunately, the ballplayer got lost en route from his day job at a car wash. Another time he was scheduled to appear at a sports banquet where fans could dine with their favorite athletes (the guest list included Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Jack Nicklaus, and Peggy Fleming), and Charlie Brown, Linus, and Snoopy bought tickets to sit at Joe's table. He was the only athlete who didn't show up, explaining later that he had marked the wrong event, city, and date on his calendar. Charlie Brown never did meet his hero.

Estil

I just realized that Peggy's main claim to fame is that she won the US's one and only gold medal in the 1968 Winter Olympics. No wonder Snoopy had such a crush on her at the time!

Miracle Max

Does anyone on this site have contact with someone who collects comic strips from the newspaper. If you do please give me an address so I can contact them because they are hard to locate.

Stone193

Originally posted by: Allen

He is actually card #408 in the 52 Topps set....

Now that's funny.

Stone193

I too love this strip -- and I have posted this before -- but will do so again

several years ago I took the liberty and changed the players back then to peers of Gary Carter's and sent it on to him to have signed -- also sent a copy for him to keep. One of the top favorites 5 in my collection.

Thought that was very creative!



I'm a Carter fan also.



Do have this Topps comic art where:

bishop

This is not his only Topps card