1982 and 1983 Mother's Cookies Baseball Retailer Sheets

Mother's Cookies produced arguably the nicest baseball card team sets of the 1980s, and found a niche by distributing the cards only in the regions from which the teams were based. The company's first set of the decade featured the San Francisco Giants in 1983, then expanded to feature sets for the A's, Astros, Giants, Mariners and Padres in 1984.

1984 Mother's Cookies A's Bill Caudill

Mother's tried cross-promotions with Major League Baseball before issuing the cards. Of note are their "ticket promotions" which were conducted at MLB local-market retailers. Displays were set up in the stores to promote 1/2 priced reserved seat tickets for specific games. A while back we added a few promo sheets to our collection. These sheets were distributed to retailers to give details on the campaign, as well as a look at how the in-store displays would appear. Here's the 1982 Astros sheet, which explains the 1/2 ticket promotion for the Astros vs. Pirates game on July 18, 1982 (Bob Knepper pitched a complete game for a 4-2 hometown victory):

Here's the Dodgers version of the sheet, which detailed the 1/2 priced reserved seat tickets for the Dodgers vs. Phillies, played on July 25, 1982. Fans watched Phillies ace Steve Carlton pitch a complete game shutout against Dodgers hurler Jerry Reuss, who surrendered just a single run on a Manny Trillo RBI:

Seattle Mariners' fans were the beneficiaries of 1/2 priced reserved loge tickets for the contest versus the Royals on June 20, 1982. The aging Gaylord Perry could not hold off a bat-happy Royals club, with Willie Wilson, George Brett, U.L. Washington and Hal McRae each clubbing multiple hits (Quisenberry earned the save by pitching 2 2/3 innings):

Both the A's and Giants were featured on one promo sheet. Note that this promotion also included team poster giveaways, as well as multiple game dates. For the Giants, the game featured on the sheet was versus the Pirates on Aug. 28, 1982. Attendees were treated to a 4-2 Atlee Hammaker win and Greg Minton's 23rd save of the year (he would save 30 games by the end of the season). The game highlighted on this sheet for A's fan was the Aug. 22, 1982 contest that saw A's workhorse Rick Langford take a loss versus unknown hurler Brian Denman:

We also own two sheets for the 1983 season. Of special interest is the A's/Giants sheet, because it mentions the Giants baseball cards that were given out on August 7, 1983 (A's fans were once again given a team poster). The Giants hosted the Astros that day, with none other than Nolan Ryan pitching the complete-game 2-1 win over the Giants, snagging eight strikeouts along the way. The A's game was played on Aug. 14, 1983 against the Twins, with Davey Lopes, Mike Davis and Dwayne Murphy each smacking two RBIs for a 6-0 hometown win:

The last sheet in our collection is for the Dodgers' 1/2 price ticket promotion for the July 17, 1983 game versus the Cubs. The event was an unfortunate one for Dodgers fans, as Cubs hurler Dickie Noles pitched a complete-game shutout and enjoyed a 7-0 win:

These sheets may be of interest only to the die-hard Mother's collector, or perhaps the advanced team collector. With that being said, someone has to waste their day off updating their overdue blog, right?

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1983 Dallas Cowboys Police

 The 1983 Cowboys police set consists of 28 cards; twenty-three players, Hall of Fame head coach Tom Landry and four cheerleaders. Fronts have game-day photos, with a Cowboys helmet and Kiwanis Club logo located at the bottom left and right. Card backs feature "Cowboys Tips" and a listing of the sponsors (Kiwanis Club, local law enforcement agency and the Dallas Cowboys Weekly). 

Notable cards include Hall of Famers Landry, running back Tony Dorsett and defensive tackle Randy White. The cards are not numbered except for the player's uniform numbers, and the year "1983" is not mentioned anywhere on the cards. Twenty-three of the photos were taken by photographer Ron Scribner.

 Die-hard 'Boys fans will be interested in four cards featuring players that never appeared on a regular Topps card, but played for Dallas multiple seasons -- safety Dextor Clinkscale (1980-85), guard Kurt Petersen (1980-85), guard Howard Richards (1981-86) and wide receiver Doug Donley (1981-84).

The 1983 set was apparently released in modest quantities, but anyone interested in finding the cards should find a steady trickle of them on eBay. A fair price for a NRMT complete set is in the $20 to $25 range.

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(1) Rafael Septien, K

(11) Danny White, QB

(20) Ron Springs, FB

(24) Everson Walls, CB

(26) Michael Downs, S

(30) Timmy Newsome, RB

(32) Dennis Thurman, CB

(33) Tony Dorsett, RB

(47) Dextor Clinksdale, S

(53) Bob Breunig, LB

(54) Randy White, DT

(65) Kurt Petersen, G

(67) Pat Donovan, T

(70) Howard Richards, G/T

(72) Ed Jones, DE

(78) John Dutton, DT

(79) Harvey Martin, DE

(80) Tony Hill, WR

(83) Doug Donley, WR

(84) Doug Cosbie, TE

(86) Butch Johnson, WR

(88) Drew Pearson, WR

(89) Billy Joe DuPree, TE

Tom Landry, Head Coach

Melinda May, Cheerleader

Dana Presley, Chherleader

Judy Trammell, Cheerleader

Toni Washington, Cheerleader

1980-81 Arizona Wildcats Basketball

The Wildcats basketball team were featured on their first police card issue during the 1980/81 season. A large color, borderless, posed photo dominates the front of each card, with a white stripe across the bottom stating the player's uniform number and name. Card backs feature a short player bio, a basketball term and safety tip. Sponsors are listed at the bottom: Golden Eagle Distributors, Mr. Bill Clements President and the Tucson Police Department. Cards are not numbered, with the exception of player uniform numbers.

Ten-year Wildcats head coach Fred Snowden is probably the best-known name in the set. Two cards (Greg Cook and David Mosebar) were pulled before distribution and are extremely scarce -- fortunately, we somehow grabbed examples of both for our collection, and I'll try to add scans of them when I dig them out. Because the two "short prints" were never officially distributed, many collectors consider the set complete at 17 cards.

The cards are not easy to find. A lack of big names keeps the value modest, probably in the $25 to $30 range for a set without the two short prints. A set with the short prints (19 cards) might sell in the $100 range, in the unlikely event that one comes up for sale.

It is interesting to note that the design of the Arizona sets (basketball, football and baseball) changed very little during their run of ten-plus years. To make matters worse, the first two basketball sets were printed without any mention of the year of issue. One way to distinguish the two years is by looking at the player's uniform number and name across the front bottom of the card. The 1981/82 set features a black circle between the number and name, while the inaugural 1980/81 set features nothing but a space. In addition, the backs of the 1981/82 set give the Golden Eagle business address at the bottom (705 E. Ajo Way).

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(10) Russell Brown, G

(12) Ricky Walker, G

(14) John Smith, G

(15) Ron Davis, F

(21) Robbie Dosty, F

(24) Jeff Collins, G

(31) Frank Smith, F

(34) Harvey Thompson, G

(35) Donald Mellon, F

(41) Jack Magno, F

(52) Charles Miller, F

(55) John Belobraydic, F

Greg Cook (Short Print)

David Mosebar (Short Print)

Mike Frink, Asst. Coach

Len Gordy, Asst. Coach

Mike Green, Asst. Coach

Fred Snowden, Head Coach

Ernie Valenzuela, Equip. Mgr.

1980 Houston Oilers Police

The Houston Oilers were the subject of just one police set, released in 1980 by several Houston-area police departments. New Oilers quarterback Ken Stabler is the key card here, and this is his only appearance in a police safety set. Linebacking great and snubbed Hall of Famer Robert Brazile can be found on one of several cards with outstanding action photos. Yet another card worth mentioning in this gem of a regional set is of legendary defensive lineman Curley Culp, whose last Topps card was issued in 1978 (making this 1980 specimen the last card issued during his playing career). Head Coach "Bum" Phillips appears on his only card as Head Coach of the Oilers. The set features action photos on the fronts, with the exception of Stabler and Phillips. A complete set consists of 14 cards, and the cards were sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, the Oilers and local law enforcement agencies.

While the set is somewhat hard to find, the absence of Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell has kept prices quite reasonable (I'm not sure why Campbell wasn't featured, but I'm guessing its probably a reason similar to why he wasn't on any Topps cards after 1979). 

When found online, a set will usually run in the $6 to $10 range.

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(00) Ken Burrough, WR

(12) Ken Stabler, QB

(14) Gifford Nielsen, QB

(18) Cliff Parsley, P

(26) Rob Carpenter, RB

(36) Carter Hartwig, DB

(47) Ronnie Coleman, RB

(52) Robert Brazile, LB

(54) Gregg Bingham, LB

(55) Carl Mauck, C

(78) Curley Culp, MG

(82) Mike Renfro, WR

(84) Billy Johnson, WR

Bum Phillips, Head Coach

1982 ASA Mickey Mantle Story Set

The Authentic Sports Autograph Company released their first single-player set in 1982, featuring 72 cards of Yankee hero Mickey Mantle (several others were to follow, featuring retired star players). A total of 20,000 sets were produced according to the company, with 5,000 of the sets containing a hand-signed autograph by Mantle on card number one. The cards basically chronicle Mantle's life from his rookie year of 1951 through his appearance at the Yankees Old-Timers Game in 1981, and many of the photos used for the set were provided by Mantle himself. The original retail price for an autographed set was $24.99, while an unsigned set could be purchased for $12.99. 

Of the 20,000 total sets that were produced (according to the manufacturer), 5,000 of these sets featured a header card personally autographed by Mantle. Please note that ALL sets feature a facsimile Mantle autograph on card number 21, which looks like this:

All of the cards in an autographed Mantle set were printed with blue-colored card backs. The remaining fifteen-thousand unautographed sets were printed with red backs. In addition to the certified autograph sets having blue backs, they also include a serial-numbered card like this:

Like other 1980s sets that are somewhat hard to find today, prices vary when a set becomes available for sale or auction. We believe an unautographed set (red backs) has a fair market value of $35 to $40, while an autographed set (blue backs) can easily sell for $120 or higher. Given the continuing popularity of Mantle, and the large number of forged Mantle signatures that litter the hobby today, the autographed version of this 1982 A.S.A. set is highly prized by collectors.

NEWS FLASH

OK now... After understanding that ASA produced 5,000 autographed Mantle sets with blue backs, and 15,000 unautographed sets with red backs, we have a startling revelation to make...

Mantle DID NOT autograph 5,000 sets! That's right kids, we have seen at least three examples of blue-backed sets that are not autographed -- as a matter of fact, we own one. See the certificate shown above for set number 4,136 of 5,000? It is tucked safely in our collection, in all it's autograph-free glory. Here's a front scan of card number one, the header card that should feature the signature:

The other examples of unautographed blue-backed sets were listed on a popular internet auction site and featured serial numbers 3,839 and 4,568 (we are not actively looking for more examples...) One does have to wonder though... How many sets did Mantle actually sign? 3,000? 4,000? 4,997? 

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