Baseball Cards Issue #9 August, 1984 - Dvorak 1953 card insert of Murphy and Williams

Stone193

Hi everyone

I put this in the category of I didn't know these card "inserts" existed and more importantly, I didn't know that MORE than one artist was responsible for the 1953 Topps set.

We all have heard to Gerry Dvorak and his artwork contribution to the 53T set.

I picked up "Issue #9 of Baseball Cards" when I saw that the magazine had Dvorak do a couple of insert cards for the August issue.

On researching the magazine, I learned that Bob Lemke influenced Krause Publications to come out with a publication that was "not" a subscription - as such - but could be purchased at a news stand/magazine rack in "anywhere" USA.

And since we know how prolific Bob was with making his ersatz cards? I can't help but believe he was the primary influence in the production of these two card inserts.

The cards are on a heavy stock and look great IMO.

Here's the magazine:

and here's the cards:

Of interest?

There's an article - an interview of Gerry Dvorak and his work with Topps.

Gerry was more known for his artwork involving Casper the Friendly Ghost and Popeye e.g.

When he was hired by Topps, they provided him with black and white photos of players and was asked to only do their "head and shoulders" - "no" action shots. They just gave him the colors they wanted on the uniforms and the rest was up to him.

As I said - I thought he did the ENTIRE set - in the interview, he stated he did approximately 50 - and did NOT do Mantle or Mays e.g.

He remembered doing Eddie Mathews, Red Schoendienst, Walt Dropo, Tommy Byrne, Bobby Morgan e.g.

He was paid $25 per player and could do 3 per weekend.

Here's the Mathews that he did - there is a member who used to post here who has a nice grouping of the original artwork.

If memory serves, in the 1989 Guernsey Auction - the Mantle went for over 100 K!

Eventually, the only criticism they had was that the solid color backgrounds were boring and asked for a stadium or something as a back drop.

So, that's why I think he - also - added a little humor by putting in a little "plug" for Topps Gum.

His artwork was just a little larger than the actual cards and were done with opaque water colors. Some references on the net have attributed oils to them and also, have him as the creator of the Mantle card - also not true.

For those familiar, Topps and Bowman were at war with each during this era - in fact - one of the "landmark" lawsuits of all time was Haelan Laboratories, Inc. (Bowman) v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc, 202 F.2d 866 (2d Cir. 1953)

This is the precedent for Intellectual Property Rights that in essence means "we" are the sole owners of our name/likeness and can't be used without our permission (or compensation e.g.).

So, many believe Topps ordered the paintings to avoid running into Bowman's ownership of "photos" - a clever rouge if you ask me.

Thanx for viewing.

Just curious.

How many of you thought Dvorak did the entire set? I have to confess: I did.

fleet47

Great write up on some of the history of Topps baseball cards. I love learning more of this history. Thanks!

Robby

Interesting ! Thanks for sharing !
Robbie

divecchia

As always interesting stuff, Mike!

Thanks for sharing.

Donato

lahmejoon

Great stuff. I loved that magazine growing up.

robert67

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backbidder

Great info Mike. The 1953 Topps set is my favorite, and the first vintage set that I completed. I want to read the whole article so I found the issue on ebay and bought it

daltex

Does PSA grade these?

Alex Relyea

FINESTKIND

Very cool write up. I think I have a 1982 issue of that price guide.

Stone193

@daltex said:
Does PSA grade these?

Alex Relyea

Hiya Alex

You can't hang your hat on this but I'm gonna take my best "take" on these.

They would be "hand cut" and since they're considered "fantasy" pieces (mag insert) and not from a regular issue of some kind?

If submitted to PSA with documentation of provenance - I would say they would holder them and mark them as "Authentic" and not assign a grade.

Stone193

Thanx guys for the kind words.

I was hoping you would find this as interesting I did.

I'll be writing - most likely this winter - a piece on my personal experience in the evolution of the hobby. If you go to net54, there's a few people who have written some really good stuff on it.

I do have an old thread here on my small contribution to the hobby experience - but since photo bucket has pretty much screwed us - I'm gonna rewrite it with new scans.

And add to it.

I also have an idea for an ongoing thread which will open up the audience to responses that should be fun to read. Especially anyone who's been around close to 30 years.