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1977 Hostess Unassembled Boxes Complete Set (50 boxes, 150 cards)
Sold For:
$823
Year: 1977
Auction: 2011 Spring
Lot #: 981
Auction: Postwar Baseball - 1970s to Present Cards
The 1977 Hostess set of 150 cards was issued on boxes of Hostess snack cake products, with one 3-card panel appearing on the bottom of each box. This complete set of 50 panels is very unusual in that they are on 50 complete, never-assembled boxes. This is what the boxes looked like before they underwent the assembly process into box form! The cards were only supposed to be available at stores on the bottom of boxes containing cakes (that was the whole point - you were supposed to buy the product to get the cards). This complete unassembled set of boxes was probably saved as samples directly from the printer or someone at Hostess. Each box has one 3-card panel for a total of 150 cards. Set includes many Hall of Famers and stars such as Bench, Brett, Brock, Carlton, Fisk, Hunter, Jackson, Munson, Rose, Ryan, Schmidt, Seaver, Yastrzemski, and Yount. These are more special than they may appear at a glance: In 1975, Charles Brooks (an old-time hobby dealer who founded the collector's publication The Sports Hobbyist in the 1960s) purchased a huge quantity of extra unassembled 1975 Hostess boxes direct from Hostess, but those boxes consisted of only about a dozen different boxes, and did not include any 1977 boxes. 75% of the boxes range from Ex-Mt to Nr/Mt-Mt, 25% are lesser (downgraded for a light crease or two), and the cards are in Mint condition. The recent introduction of grading of handcut panels by PSA is just beginning to have a significant effect. Although there are no guarantees with reference to grading, it would be hard to imagine that these boxes do not include a generous supply of panels with the potential for grading PSA 10. The Standard Catalog book value for the set (in panel, not unassembled box format) is $250. Total 50 boxes (150 cards). Reserve $200. Estimate (open). SOLD FOR $823