When Mauricio Pochettino took over as Tottenham manager in 2014, the club had managed only two top-four finishes in 22 Premier League seasons.
They’re far from works of art. Small, often crooked and completely dead on the back.
In 1969, though, Nabisco saw its color photos of baseball players more as ‘mini posters’ than baseball cards. It was an artsy era, but considering their appearance and the traditional cardboard back and collectors know better.
The 1969 Nabisco Team issue consists of 24 rectangular subjects–a set that rarely gets mentioned when discussing late 1960 baseball cards. In fact, it might be one of the more underrated sets of the modern era.
It turned out to be a one-and-done offering with the aim, you would surmise, of increasing sales of what was as relatively bland, Corn Flakes style cereal. Kids who were hooked on Frosted Flakes, Alpha Bits, Apple Jacks and other tasty options, needed an incentive to make unsweetened Team cereal their regular morning munch.
The cards weren’t referred to as such, but rather ‘mini posters.’ The side of the box included an offer for 2×3′ wall posters you could order for $1 and two proofs of purchase, so each element was sort of tied together. The cards and the posters use photos that are the same as the posters sold by Sports Illustrated around that same time.
1969 Nabisco Team Stars
The promotion had MLBPA licensing, but wasn’t licensed by MLB so the team logos were edited out of the photos that were used. Still, the set packs incredible star power.
Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Al Kaline, Frank and Brooks Robinson, Pete Rose and Tom Seaver are among the names on the checklist.
Despite that impressive roster, ungraded cards are dirt cheap.
Putting a set together wasn’t difficult. There were three different back panels, each containing eight cards.
Making the Cut
The odd size of the cards (less than 2″ tall) and their status as non-traditional baseball cards. Those that were suffered from miscuts inflicted by small hands and scissors, creases and scuffs from one cereal box rubbing against another and damage from years of neglect in boxes that weren’t build to hold them.
The cards were printed on the back of Team Flakes boxes and shared a common, dotted line border meant to guide cutting. Thus, a card cut with dotted line s showing means the cards that surround it have no dotted line showing at all; the kiss of death for those hoping to achieve a high grade upon submission to a grading company.
Add to it the fact that Team Flakes weren’t exactly a sugar-loving kids favorite and you have the recipe for a scarce set.
Grading 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes Cards
Most collectors who build the set do so with single cards that have been cut from the panels as intended. They’re far more plentiful, to be sure, but the vast majority of surviving cards aren’t graded. Nabisco Team cards can be found with narrow or wide yellow borders.
PSA has examined 1,228 single Nabisco cards as of this point in time, with only six reaching Gem Mint 10 status and 56 rated Mint 9. SGC has seen 256 and graded only six cards above a 7.
Cutting cards outside the dotted line border is key to achieving a high grade.
Only seven brave souls have tried to complete a set for the PSA Registry with only five on the Current Finest list and another that’s about 91% complete. The top two sets have GPAs over 8.
Only a very small number of full back box panels have ever been submitted for grading.
Ungraded sets of single cards are valued at between $140 and $475 according to the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards. Clemente is the most valuable card in the set, usually available at between $75 and $100, with common cards usually available for under $10 each in better grades. High-grade Hall of Famers will sell for hundreds of dollars because of the dearth of available examples.
Issued in three series of eight cards, the cards have plain yellow borders and since Nabisco apparently didn’t pay for MLB royalties, no team insignias are shown.
You can see 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes baseball cards on eBay here.
This article originally appeared on Sports Collectors Daily.
