Baseball cards from restaurants and brands

Guru

Hey friends,

Just curious what restaurants and brands featured baseball cards at one point in time? Here's what I know so far...

Hostess
Kelloggs
Squirt
Bazooka
Burger King

Did Orange Julius at any time feature cards?

Thx!

EchoCanyon

Carvel.
Denny's.

JWBlue

On a tangent, I remember as a I child the Star Wars cards in the packages of Wonder Bread.

The cards were always in the part of the bag with the cross design so it would not be possible to see what card it was.

larryallen73

The list is extremely long I would say. Just about every fast food place had cards at some point.

heritage

Dominos pizza

Stone193

Hiya Chris

Watching the LA/KC game.

Add CJs to the list:



And McDonalds did a set in 1992 if memory serves.

Drakes cakes and Hires Root beer. Coke and Pepsi. Also, the ever popular Nestles set.

Dboneesq

Double Post

Dboneesq

DAMN Internet! Triple post!

Dboneesq

<< <i>The list is extremely long I would say. Just about every fast food place had cards at some point. >>


Agreed. Some others are:

Wheaties
Stahl Meyer
Red Heart
Holiday Inn
Jell-O
Salada

DanBessette

Post cereal

mlbfan2

Ralston Purina
Eagle Snacks
General Mills
Kraft

CubsFan41

Subway had a set in 1985. Its one of the few I cant find for my Buckner Registry set.

DanBessette

Milk bone
Toys r Us
Kahn's
Bond bread
All sorts of tobacco companies

jrboles

Burger Chef. I only ate there once when I was five to get the fun meal and do not recall what I did with the card discs. It was 1977 and my aunt (through marriage to my uncle) wanted to go to Big Boy for lunch. She kept saying, "HOW ABOUT BIG BOYS??!! DONTCHA WANNA GO TO BIG BOYS?" I would not be patronized and remained steadfast in my choice of Burger Chef. Uncle Dave flipped the coin and I won. She didn't eat anything in protest.

So there's Burger Chef.

milbroco

Don't forget Dads Cookies hockey cards.

baz518

French's
Coke
Holsum
Tombstone
Long John Silvers
Advil

byronscott4ever

Mcdonalds has done many sets in all four sports

CW

These cards (regional food and restaurant cards) are among the best in the hobby, as it's cool to imagine them being issued in a bag of potato chips, or a package of hot dogs, or a case of root beer. The Wonder Bread Star Wars cards are from my childhood (complete with a MK qualifier bestowed in 1978 by yours truly -- if only I had known that condition mattered!)

ArchStanton

Isaly's. How could you forget Isaly's?

JWBlue

<< <i>Burger Chef. I only ate there once when I was five to get the fun meal and do not recall what I did with the card discs. It was 1977 and my aunt (through marriage to my uncle) wanted to go to Big Boy for lunch. She kept saying, "HOW ABOUT BIG BOYS??!! DONTCHA WANNA GO TO BIG BOYS?" I would not be patronized and remained steadfast in my choice of Burger Chef. Uncle Dave flipped the coin and I won. She didn't eat anything in protest.

So there's Burger Chef. >>



">Burger Chef commercial

DanBessette

<< <i>Burger Chef. I only ate there once when I was five to get the fun meal and do not recall what I did with the card discs >>



If we're counting discs, then add Papa Gino's. And Crane Potato Chips, Wendy's, Tastee Freeze.

And K-Mart cards

saucywombat

French's
Jimmy Dean
Moo-Town Snackers

leftofdial

Nabisco Sugar Daddy's Suckers- Loved them!
Tony's Pizza
Hostess

jfkheat

Mother's Cookies
7-11

itzagoner

some of my favorite sets include the early 60's Bell Brand L.A. Dodgers.

slum22

Coca cola did team sets in pack form in 1981
Pepsi did a Nolan Ryan set in the early 90's
Nabisco did some autographed HOF cards in the 90's as well
Taco Bell did basketball cards in the 2012-14 season
McDonald's did some cool football cards in 1986
Franz Bakery in the Northwest put out Portland Trailblazer cards

Edited to add:
James just mentioned Mother's Cookies. I used to love those sets growing up in the Bay Area. I always wanted Will Clark and the Giants but it seemed like the grocery stores my parents went to always had Canseco, McGwire and the hated A's for sale instead of my Giants.

ga5150

K-Mart
Woolworth's
Sunflower Seed Company that I can't remember in early '90's.....
Dubuque
Hardees

AC000000

There is a 1982 Red Lobster Chicago Cubs set
Kahn's issued various sets during the 60's
The T205, T206 and T207 sets were sponsored by various cigarette companies
Red Man Tobacco issued sets in the mid 1950's
Hires Root Beer issued a set in 1958
Tip Top Bread issued a regional set

But I think if you browsed the PSA population report by year, you would be able to generate a great list of restaurants and brands that have issued sets from the 19th century to present.

AC000000

Grrrrrrr, stupid double post.

Dboneesq

<< <i>Coca cola did team sets in pack form in 1981
Pepsi did a Nolan Ryan set in the early 90's >>


In 1992 Coca Cola/Donruss did a Nolan Ryan set as well.

slum22

Doug. Was it Coke? I wrote Pepsi in my post. I will defer to you. You would think I could remember. I probably have about 100 of those packs sitting somewhere in my old room at my parents' house.

ChiefsFan1st

<< <i>Long John Silvers >>


I think I still have a pack of them somewhere.

MyDaughtersNameIsMattingly

Arby's
Nestlé
Cap'n Crunch
Kay-Bee Toys
Jiffy Pop
M&M's
Sunoco
Citgo
Fruit of the Loom
Yoo-Hoo

QUITCRAB

English's chicken Baltimore 1977 and 1983

DanBessette

<< <i>Sunflower Seed Company that I can't remember in early '90's..... >>



I think you mean Jumbo. Although David's might also have had cards at some point.

I forgot earlier to mention Sunoco.
Somehow nobody has mentioned the old gum brands Bowman, Goudey and Chicle.
I also have a 1933 card put out by Uncle Jack's Candy in RI
Holsum's Bread. Did anybody say JJ Nissen?
Or YooHoo?

dontippet

1985 Nike
Louisville Slugger from the mid 80's

DanBessette

Rawlings

maddux69

Lykes
Canon
Family Fun Centers
David Berg Hot Dogs
Marathon
Church's Chicken

miwlvrn

Off the top of my head, here are a few more that I don't think have been mentioned yet:

Dixie Cup Lids
Dutch Gum
Nestle
Zeller's (Gary Carter, Dawson, etc.)
Canadian Tire
Ben's Bread (Sidney Crosby, etc.)
Duracell
Gillette
Oscar Mayer
Circle K
Typhoo Tea
Kraft Dinner
Laughing Cow
Tonibell
Anglo Confectionary Gum
Cleveland Petrol
Arco Oil
Dutton's Beers
Monty Gum

Also, nearly countless issues from various European chocolate companies, especially pre-war.

miwlvrn

Sunkist

miwlvrn

Diana Durivage

DanBessette

Sunoco

larryallen73

Is someone going to compile this into one master list? That would be helpful. Come on.

Dialj

Boy Scouts of America
Sports Illustrated
Land O Lakes
Spic and Span
Sears

royalbrett

Denny's

flcardtrader

<< <i>Burger Chef. I only ate there once when I was five to get the fun meal and do not recall what I did with the card discs. It was 1977 and my aunt (through marriage to my uncle) wanted to go to Big Boy for lunch. She kept saying, "HOW ABOUT BIG BOYS??!! DONTCHA WANNA GO TO BIG BOYS?" I would not be patronized and remained steadfast in my choice of Burger Chef. Uncle Dave flipped the coin and I won. She didn't eat anything in protest.

So there's Burger Chef. >>



I resemble this post.....as I read down and saw all of the input from other posters, I began to think there was no love for Burger Chef.....until this post.

Loved me some Burger Chef back in 77 and 78!

IndianaJones

As far as a master list, the closest I know of is the Krause Publications Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, containing a general description and checklist for as many of the issues that have been submitted to them, which is flat out enormous.

I suppose I can add a couple to the list, but the whole point is that this niche of card, coin, disc, etc. collecting is called REGIONALS. Most of the time they were issued by some company locally to goose sales of their product, be it food, beverage, tobacco, and even non-food items. They were sometimes issued nationwide, but that did not always mean they were easy as pie. You had to consume their product to procure their prize. Sometimes, you got 4-7 individual cards from a box, like the 1961-1963 Post Cereal. Much of the time, however, you got just one single, solitary prize, which made it very special. Quite the contrary to buying wax packs of bubble gum cards, and getting five cards for each nickel spent. Let's say you got 50 cents allowance a week, and you loved Topps baseball, football, or whatever. You could plunk down your fifty cents and get ten packs of cards----50 cards! I loved the Topps, don't get me wrong, please. But in 1959 it would cost you, or usually your parents, fifty cents for a package of John Morrell Cheesefurters, Polish Sausage, and so on to get the free prize inside---a beautiful Kodachrome-like baseball card of a Los Angeles Dodger player! The cost per card at the time was one of the outstanding facets of these gems. You just couldn't build a set in a week, etc.

There were other major considerations, and I'll name just two. Using Morrell again as an example, what if Morrell was not the family brand of meat mother would always purchase? Second, what if you had an older or younger brother who passionately loved baseball cards just like you? Or sister? There were some girls who avidly collected back then. Life could be very vulnerable and frustrating for a young boy who was nuts about baseball card collecting in those days.

In a nutshell, these cards were hard to come by back then. They are hard to come by today, especially when PSA awards specimens with a high grade. Furthermore, you just don't think in possible 10's with these; not that it never happens, but it's so rare. For many of these cards to reach PSA 6 EX-MT, sometimes, even 5, it's considered "a trophy card". For newer issues such as Kellogg's and Hostess, 9's and 10's are much more commonplace, for various reasons, which I better let go as I'm getting verbose as it is. For some regional cards, a PSA 9 MINT is the equivalent to a gum card PSA 12. Yes, I know there are no PSA 12s, but that's the only way I can emphasize how hard it is to find a really high grade specimen for a bunch of these. Check out the winning bids collectors have had to pay for a PSA 9 MINT Bell Brand snack chips Los Angeles Dodger card of Sandy Koufax. Those in the know are shaking their heads yes; those who don't know, you're in for a surprise.

Time to shush. Interesting topic, to say the least. --Brian Powell

jmmiller777

I love this stuff and still buy uncut sheets when I find something new. Back in 88-89 when I was in the military I took a temp duty project (TDY) to Alabama and brought some Ryan Mother's Cookies to a card show. They were such a big hit that I drove all the way back home and bought two cases of them. I was ready for the next month's show. I set up and sold out in 15 minutes, good times. I still have unopened boxes/bags of those things stored away. Good times.
I am always looking for new releases, but I haven't found anything at all. I remember those darn French's and Milk Bone cards were tough; hard to find and hard to find one that was's bent up. The Kraft set was another tough one for me. I still have tons of Kraft mac n cheese, lots of M&M's, Post, Jimmy Dean, Tombstone, and Coke stuff.
Anything new at all????

ga5150

Ding...Ding! That's the one that I couldn't come up with.

Thanks!





<< <i>

<< <i>Sunflower Seed Company that I can't remember in early '90's..... >>



I think you mean Jumbo. Although David's might also have had cards at some point.

>>

maddux69

Gatorade- They sponsored a few Chicago Cubs SGA sets

mlbfan2

Willard's Chocolate
Gold Medal Flour
Calbee (Japanese)