As a kid - did you ever use a Topps, Fleer, Bazooka wrapper redemption of any kind?

Stone193

In the spirit of discussing and of course reminiscing about our card collecting days as a kid - I wanted - again - to share one of the few real photos that I've been able to find that captures the spirit of youth hobby activity:



Now to the redemption. Wrapper redemption goes way back - I remember in the 50s buying Bazooka bubble gum and reading the comic strip on the back - Bazooka Joe and his Gang.

I redeemed the wrappers for a cool knife - which unfortunately never survived the summer - it was lost.

I did pick a copy of it up on ebay - tho I can't find a scan right now. I sure wanted that knife bad too!!!!

Here's an ad from the 40s on the knife - it's exactly like the one in the pic!



It was a very cool knife - with the Bazooka name on it!

So, did anyone else do a redemption as a kid? I did others but this was my favorite.

mike

Dboneesq

Mike,

Back in the mid/late 60's, my grandfather used to chew BAZOOKA ALL THE TIME. My grandmother used to buy the boxes by the dozens (yeah, the ones with the friggin cards on the back ... why did I let her throw out the box!!!!) ANYWAY, my grandfather saved the comics for some reason and one time he let me redeem them for some type of toy ... but don't remember what that item was.

Although I was so into baseball cards at the time, I remembered thinking "Who the hell wants those cards with the blank backs when you can have Topps"? Oh to be young again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stone193

<< <i>Mike,

Back in the mid/late 60's, my grandfather used to chew BAZOOKA ALL THE TIME. My grandmother used to buy the boxes by the dozens (yeah, the ones with the friggin cards on the back ... why did I let her throw out the box!!!!) ANYWAY, my grandfather saved the comics for some reason and one time he let me redeem them for some type of toy ... but don't remember what that item was.

Although I was so into baseball cards at the time, I remembered thinking "Who the hell wants those cards with the blank backs when you can have Topps"? Oh to be young again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >>

Go figure!

In my case, my mom wouldn't buy the boxes, so I never had that opportunity. I did cut out things from the backs of cereal boxes but don't remember what I did with them or what they were. I think they were redemptions for toys.

mike

PoppaJ

Hi Stone,

I remember sending away wrappers for all kinds of stuff, but I don't think I have any of the items now.

It seemed like my siblings and I sent away for just about everything else though! (The Mickey Mouse Club Fan Club, the Roy Rogers Fan Club, the Cisco Kid Fan Club, The Hopalong Cassidy Fan Club, and even the Kellogg's Tony the Tiger Fan Club)

I still have this Mickey Mantle toy ring that I got from a 25-cent gum ball machine about 45 years ago!


PoppaJ

p.s. Having some nostalgic flashbacks lately, Stone???

Stone193

<< <i>p.s. Having some nostalgic flashbacks lately, Stone??? >>

Always.

I think that's the reason I collect and put on the "oldies" station on Time Warner while chatting here and ebaying and looking at cards and stuff.

When I totally retire, I'm gonna have this laptop tatooed to my ass!



BTW - cool Mantle ring!

PoppaJ

AFLfan

I remember saving Bazooka comics and sendignthem in for an umpire's ball/strike counter. It was really cool, but unfortunately I left it in my pocket one day and it came out of the washing machine in a bunch of little pieces.

zep33

I think I got the Army men collection one time - Came in a plastic chest. Can't remember if it was from a Bazooka comic or from the back of a comic book though. I used to love looking at the ads in the back of comic books too. I remember having a cool catalog that listed all those novelty items. It was a blast to read through and dream about all the neat stuff in it. Can't remember the name of the company.

Edit - Just did a google search and they may have been Johnson - Smith catalogs I'm thinking of

stevek

A little OT - I bought one of those metal detectors sold in the comic books for $19.99...a lot of money for me back then...I'll admit I enjoyed it even though the dam thing was a piece of chit and really didn't detect anything good. But the "naive thrill" of a boy combing the beach thinking there might be some washed up gold coins on there just underneath the sand from some ancient sunken ship....was still a lot of fun...IE the dream. LOL

zep33

Johnson - Smith catalog 1979


off to revisit my childhood for a few......

Bigjohn69

funny you should mention this as i was looking over hakes newest premiums i notice this time around they had a few baseball related premiums and wondered where they got them, never ever remember a Ted Williams send off from nabisco,, jeepers how hard was it to keep that sucker intact, talk about using cards in spokes, how the heck would you keep something like that as it is,,, wow,, ,, Hake's Premiums
very cool to look through,,, bj
how cool is this ring

Stone193

That's an incredible catalog Mike!

I liked looking at all the ads in the back of comic books - unfortunately most of what I bought was crap - but I liked it!

I've never heard of "Hakes" John - I did notice a Ruth pin - coincidentally, I just picked up a few Ruth pins - I'll probably send them to PSA for grading.

Thanx for sharing
mike

BPorter26

Pappa J, That's a very neat ring you have, more impressive is that you have kept it in your collection for 45 years. It looks like it's in fanastic condition. To be young again.

Smuggo

Remember distinctly ordering a Topps Baseball Card Locker from a wrapper redempption I believe in the 70's. I also remember ordering a Batman Ink and Stamp Kit as well as a Batman Periscope from Frosted Flakes redemptions in the 60's.

Nathaniel1960

Closest thing would be 1986 Topps glossy sets.

Stone193

<< <i>Remember distinctly ordering a Topps Baseball Card Locker from a wrapper redempption I believe in the 70's. I also remember ordering a Batman Ink and Stamp Kit as well as a Batman Periscope from Frosted Flakes redemptions in the 60's. >>

Did it look anything like this one?



Don't know what the origin of this holder is.

I was satisfied with a shoe box - we didn't have velveeta in our house to recollection.

mike

EchoCanyon

Our big redemption, as a family, was on the side of milk cartons. It was Brooklyn, around 72-75, and DairyLea (I believe) has a promotion to collect coupons for FREE Mets tix. We didn't have lots of money, so free appealed to my parents. They were also a team sponsor. A quart of milk was worth 1 point, half gallon 2. You needed a lot for just one ticket. For a family of 5, you collected ALL year (asked neighbors, too). We usually went to a Sept weekend game that was a promotion giveaway day, too. (That appealed to Mom and Dad as well.)

Stone193

<< <i>Our big redemption, as a family, was on the side of milk cartons. It was Brooklyn, around 72-75, and DairyLea (I believe) has a promotion to collect coupons for FREE Mets tix. We didn't have lots of money, so free appealed to my parents. They were also a team sponsor. A quart of milk was worth 1 point, half gallon 2. You needed a lot for just one ticket. For a family of 5, you collected ALL year (asked neighbors, too). We usually went to a Sept weekend game that was a promotion giveaway day, too. (That appealed to Mom and Dad as well.) >>

Thanx for sharing - that was a humbling story - one of my favorite posts in some time (encompasses the spirit for why I'm here)!

EchoCanyon

<< <i>

<< <i>Our big redemption, as a family, was on the side of milk cartons. It was Brooklyn, around 72-75, and DairyLea (I believe) has a promotion to collect coupons for FREE Mets tix. We didn't have lots of money, so free appealed to my parents. They were also a team sponsor. A quart of milk was worth 1 point, half gallon 2. You needed a lot for just one ticket. For a family of 5, you collected ALL year (asked neighbors, too). We usually went to a Sept weekend game that was a promotion giveaway day, too. (That appealed to Mom and Dad as well.)

>>

Thanx for sharing - that was a humbling story - one of my favorite posts in some time (encompasses the spirit for why I'm here)!

>>



Stone, thanks for the compliment

HeritageAddict

I don't know that I ever redeemed anything from wrappers, but I can remember ordering stuff from the comics and Boys Life (like the personal hovercraft plans). Other than that I remember Topps putting the scratch off game cards in the packs where you collected so many runs to redeem card sets, I learned very early on that if you took your parents slide projector and put the scratch off card in front of the lens you could see through it.....collected a lot of runs.

WinPitcher

I never did, don't know why maybe it was the wait 6 to 8 weeks I couldn't deal with?



I always wanted those xray glasses though.






Steve

Stone193

<< <i>I never did, don't know why maybe it was the wait 6 to 8 weeks I couldn't deal with?



I always wanted those xray glasses though.






Steve >>

One of the most disappointing things I ever got suckered into buying Steve!

Best? The whoopi cushion.

mike

detroitfan2

Mike,

I sent in some wax pack wrappers back in the late 1970's to get the set of team cards. Much to my chagrin, they arrived in an uncut sheet. Here is the only picture I can find, but I swore they were available in years other than 1979:



The toy army guys sounds familiar as well. Does anyone remember the magazine adds for ordering sea horses, or is that my imagination?

Good topic as usual Mike.

-Tom

TJMAC

I remember doing it with Starting Lineups to get a baseball with facsimile autographs. I also did when I collected toys. I specifically remember getting a G.I. Joe Major Blood in the early 80's.

HeritageAddict

I don't remember seeing sea horses, but I do remember sea monkeys.

jmoran19

<< <i>I remember saving Bazooka comics and sendignthem in for an umpire's ball/strike counter. It was really cool, but unfortunately I left it in my pocket one day and it came out of the washing machine in a bunch of little pieces. >>



I still have one of those counters

NickM

I did the Topps Glossy sets during the '80s too.

Nick

nearmint

Nice topic. The one thing I remember sending in was Mallo Cup money. (Mallo Cups had--and apparently still have--paper coins in them that you could submit for more Mallo Cups.) I was a sucker for that marketing scheme: I ate a ton of Mallo Cups, even though I'm sure I liked other candy just as much.



(Image from candyaddict.com.)

minnesotahusker

I remember sending in the 1992 Topps game pieces to get the "Winners" cards. I'm sure you remember that you could see through those game piece cards and find the winners on most of the cards. Hey does anyone want a bunch of Winners cards?

Stone193

<< <i>Nice topic. The one thing I remember sending in was Mallo Cup money. (Mallo Cups had--and apparently still have--paper coins in them that you could submit for more Mallo Cups.) I was a sucker for that marketing scheme: I ate a ton of Mallo Cups, even though I'm sure I liked other candy just as much.



(Image from candyaddict.com.) >>

When I was in college, we found a mallowcup with a screw neatly embedded into the chocolate - we mailed it off to the company.

They sent us an entire case!!!

Did you know that Mallos go great with cold Buds!

mike

RipublicaninMass

<< <i>

<< <i>Nice topic. The one thing I remember sending in was Mallo Cup money. (Mallo Cups had--and apparently still have--paper coins in them that you could submit for more Mallo Cups.) I was a sucker for that marketing scheme: I ate a ton of Mallo Cups, even though I'm sure I liked other candy just as much.



(Image from candyaddict.com.) >>

When I was in college, we found a mallowcup with a screw neatly embedded into the chocolate - we mailed it off to the company.

They sent us an entire case!!!

Did you know that Mallos go great with cold Buds!

mike >>



That would have been a big lawsuit nowadays

HoofHearted

I don't remember exactly what it was I had to collect and send in, but I got my favorite baseball glove in the mid-to-late '60s from Coca Cola. Man, that glove played in a lot of games of baseball when I was a kid and softball as I got older. It's a Jim Lefebvre model:

GDM67

<< <i>Mike,

I sent in some wax pack wrappers back in the late 1970's to get the set of team cards. Much to my chagrin, they arrived in an uncut sheet. Here is the only picture I can find, but I swore they were available in years other than 1979:

>>


They were available for the '81 set because I have a similar sheet. They're printed on the whiter stock that Topps started using a few years later for their Traded sets.

byronscott4ever

<< <i>I remember sending in the 1992 Topps game pieces to get the "Winners" cards. I'm sure you remember that you could see through those game piece cards and find the winners on most of the cards. Hey does anyone want a bunch of Winners cards? >>



I recall hearing you could see through them but they also fixed it at some point. I kept them unscratched and found ones that were the same and followed the pattern. I mailed them in and got a big box of packs (more than I sent) and later got even more for some reason. I just wish I had sent in more cards to Fleer in 1991 when they did the 3D custom basketball cards as they sell for a lot now.

WeekendHacker

The team card sheets were also available in 80, 81 & 82 as pictured. The fold out similar to a trifold wallet - I got them every year they were available.