1955 Red Man All-Star Baseball Card # 18A Larry Doby (HOF) - Cleveland Indians (GD)

1950-1959 Baseball Cards

Other decades may have produced more valuable cards, but 1950s baseball cards are arguably the most iconic and sought-after vintage cards in the entire hobby. At times, they seemed more like art than simply sports cards. Vivid colors and beautiful images filled checklists with names that now populate Cooperstown. As the country moved on after World War II, this would become the Renaissance period for baseball cards. A dominant figure throughout much of baseball card history, Topps released their first baseball product in 1951 and would not look back. While the later years of the 1950s and beyond were owned by Topps, they got a serious fight from Bowman in the early 1950s.

Although there are many great options from this decade, 1951 Bowman, 1952 Topps, and 1954 Topps have separated themselves from the pack. Top rookie card offering from this decade include Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Ernie Banks, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Eddie Matthews, and Bob Gibson.

Red Man Tobacco Baseball Cards

Red Man Tobacco issued baseball cards in 1952, 1953, 1954 and 1955, making them the only tobacco company to do so since 1920. For 20 cents you got a pouch of Red Man tobacco and one baseball card. The 1952 to 1955 Red Man Tobacco cards all measured approximately 3 ½ inches by 4 inches with the cutoff tab and 3 ½ inches by 3 5/8 inches without the tab. The cards are very attractive with a large, painted portrait and a short player's bio on the front. On the back is company advertising. 1/2" tabs at the bottom of each card could be exchanged for a prize. The exchange rate was 50 tabs for one free Big League style baseball cap from your favorite team ! The cap's were made of felt with "Red Mans Baseball Cap" on the inside. Cards with their tabs still intact are much, much, harder to find making them more valuable.

Without the tabs it is difficult to determine which year certain players were issued. It is usually easiest to determine the year by looking at the expiration date on the back. Subtract 1 from the expiration year to determine the year of the card.

Each set is made up of 25 players from each league all personally selected by Editor J.G. Taylor Spink of the "Sporting News". Red Man did not waste much effort once they designed their set. They even used the same artwork for players with different backgrounds, year after year, as long as the player did not change teams. If a player changed teams between years, the new team name and logo were "painted over" the old one.

Managers from each league were included in the 1952 and 1953 sets. The 1954 set had four different variations. If you ignore the many variations of the expiration dates, that brings the total to only 208 cards to complete your Master Red Man Tobacco Baseball Card Set !!! Start collecting now !

1955 Red Man All-Star Baseball Set Details

The 1955 Red Man All-Star Baseball card set consists of 50 cards, each measuring 3-1/2” by 4”. The 25 top players comprised this issue, with the card front design nearly identical to the 1954 Red Man Tobacco edition. Each item featured a colorful, quality likeness of the respective ballplayer resting against a solid background, with his name, team name and aforementioned biographical data appearing in a white block on the card front. Company advertising appeared on the back and one of two expiration dates: April 15 or June 15, 1956. Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Nelson Fox, Gil Hodges, Willie Mays, Pee Wee Reese and Duke Snider anchor the set. Condition issues abound with the set, including the sensitive nature of the colored borders. As the large cards were sealed in plastic and affixed to the outside pouches of their tobacco product, handling wear and creasing is often problematic. Furthermore, each piece was originally issued with a ½” perforated tab along the bottom of the card, which was often haphazardly removed, resulting in further damage. The 1955 set marked the end of the Red Man Tobacco trading card endeavor.

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.