1961 Jay's Publishing Picture Pack Photo - Don Drysdale - Los Angeles Dodgers (EX/NM)

1960-1969 Baseball Cards

Few time periods in the history of the hobby garner as much interest as 1960s baseball cards. Packed with Hall of Fame players and valuable rookie cards, these products are a set collector’s dream. Ungraded commons are still very reasonable and can be readily found at card shows and online, while high-graded stars command prices that push deep into the thousands. This decade was mostly dominated by Topps but a few popular Fleer products were released early in the 1960s that included a roster of retired players, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb.

Part of what makes 1960s baseball cards so special is the impressive lineup of players that filled the checklists. Established stars are joined by the new rookie class, which includes top players like Pete Rose, Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson, Tom Seaver, Johnny Bench, Rod Carew, Carl Yastrzemski, and Lou Brock.

1961 Jay's Publishing Los Angeles Dodgers Picture Pack Photo 

During the 1940's, early 1950's, many teams for a time released an annual issue of twenty-five 6-1/2" x 9"" black and white photographs that picture pack photos were sold at the souvenir stands. There is not a lot of information available on which companies supplied the photos for each team but they included such companies as the Big League Novelty Company or Big League Books, a division of Jay Publishing.

During an eight year period starting in 1958 through 1965 Jay Publishing issued a series of 5 x 7 black & white player portrait or posed action photos, for a number of major League teams. Sold in team sets of 12 they were made available through ballpark concession stands and the mail. Using the same format the picture pack sets were sometimes sold as team issued photos. Jay Publishing Picture Pack Photo Supplied by Jay Publishing they were sold at the stadiums, and the Big League Books, Jay publishing versions were sold through the mail.

The Jay Publishing photos can be identified by the players name followed by the city, and team nickname. For example: "MICKEY MANTLE New York Yankees" The Team Issue sets have the players name followed by the team nickname. For Example: "MICKEY MANTLE Yankees" (no city) Both the team issue, and Jay Publishing picture packs sold at the stadiums featured Team Issue Picture Pack Photo an order form to purchase sets for other teams, by mailing it to Big League books in New Canaan, Connecticut. Late editions of the teams yearbooks were also available.

The player composition of the 12 photos for the team-issued picture packs purchased at the beginning of the season might be significantly different from that of a set bought at the end of the year. Player pictures were sometimes added or removed to reflect trades, retirements or other roster changes.

Some player photos were used for multiple years making it difficult to pin down a specific year by just identifying a photo. A set can be identified by using a checklist, but the photos used for that year could be difficult to identify. Photos of players that no longer played for the team might have been inserted into sets to get rid of overstocked pictures.

Jay Publishing was in business to make money. Throwing out overstock photos of a player would cut into profits. Some player photos were used years after the player retired or was traded, as evident by Yogi Berra player photos (for example) Berra player photos for New York Yankee Sets were still being used 3 years after he played for the Yankees. His last year as a player for the Yankees was 1963. In 1964 he managed the Yankees and the picture pack photos have the MGR (manager) designation.

In 1965 and 1966 Yogi Berra played and coached for the New York Mets. He was part of the Mets picture pack sets for those two years, yet Berra still shows up in 1965 & 1966 Yankees picture packs as a player. (no MGR designation) Overstocked photos were used as fillers to complete sets for many years.

How We Grade:

Gem Mint (GMT): (10.0) A flawless card. To be in Gem Mint condition, a card’s borders must have a ratio of 50/50 side to side and top to bottom. 

Mint (MT): (9.0-9.5) A perfect card. Well-centered with parallel borders which appear equal to the naked eye. Four sharp, square corners. No creases, edge dents, surface scratches, paper flaws, loss of luster, yellowing or fading, regardless of age. No imperfectly printed cards – out of register, badly cut or ink flawed – or card stained by contact with gum, wax or other substances can be considered truly Mint, even if new out of the pack. Generally, to be considered in Mint condition, a card’s borders must exist in a ratio of 60/40 side to side and top to bottom. 

Near Mint/Mint (NM/MT): (8.0-8.5) A super high-end card that appears Mint 9 at first glance, but upon closer inspection, may exhibit a very slight wax stain on reverse, slight fraying at one or two corners, or a minor printing imperfection. Centering must be app. 65/35 to 70/30 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse. 

Near Mint (NM): (7.0-7.5) A nearly perfect card at first glance, but upon closer inspection, may have slight surface wear, slight fraying on some corners, slightly out-of-register picture focus, a minor printing blemish or slight wax stain on reverse. Centering must be 70/30 to 75/25 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

Excellent/Near Mint (EX/NM): (6.0-6.5) Card may have visible surface wear or a printing defect. A very light scratch. Corners may have slightly graduated fraying. Picture focus may be slightly out-of-register. Card may have minor wax stain on reverse, may have very slight nothing on edges. Centering must be 80/20 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

Excellent (EX): (5.0-5.5) Corners are still fairly sharp with only moderate wear. Card borders may be off center as much as 85/15. No creases. May have very minor gum, wax or product stains, front or back. Surfaces may show slight loss of luster from rubbing across other cards. Dark bordered cards may have one or two small nicks.

Very Good/Excellent (VG/EX): (4.0-4.5) Shows obvious handling, but still looks nice. Corners may be rounded or have minor creases. No major creases, tape marks or extraneous markings or writing. Surfaces does exhibit loss of luster, but the printing is intact. May have paper wrinkles. May show major gum, wax or other packaging stains. All four borders visible, though the ratio may be as poor as 95/5. Exhibits honest wear. 

Very Good (VG): (3.0-3.5) A well-worn card, but exhibits no intentional damage or abuse. May be “Mis-cut or Off-Center” with no border visible. May have major or multiple creases, however, creases are not so deep as to show the underlying paper. This card is completely readable, has not been written on, and has no tape marks or holes. Corner rounding may extend well beyond the border. 

Good (GD) (2.0-2.5) Shows excessive wear, along with damage or abuse. Will show all the wear characteristics of a Very Good card, along with such damage as thumb tack holes in or near margins, evidence of having been taped or pasted, perhaps small tears around the edges or creases so heavily as to break the cardboard. Backs may show minor added pen or pencil writing or be missing small bits of paper. Still basically a complete card. 

Poor (P): (1.0-1.5) A card that has been tortured to death. Corners or other areas may be torn off. Card may have been trimmed, show holes from a paper punch or have been used for BB gun practice. Front may have extraneous pen or pencil writing, or other defacement. Major portions of front or back design may be missing. Not a pretty sight. 

We believe that all our listings are 100% Original and Authentic unless otherwise noted. They are all covered by a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee, if for whatever reason you are not happy with your purchase we will exchange it, replace it, discount it or you can return it for a full refund.

Standard/Combined 1st Class Shipping via USPS is $3.95 for the first card and $0.15 for each additional card, with a max. of (40) items per invoice. Subject to change as postal rates continue to increase. Estimated delivery is 3-5 days. Subject to change as postal delivery schedules continue to increase. Please see shipping tab for current postage rates. All cards will ship in penny sleeves, top loaders, team bag & bubble wrap envelopes.

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