Inside a couple of weeks of one another, two issues occurred that despatched me again to 1976.
One was the loss of life of Pete Rose, Charlie Hustle, my childhood hero. Volumes have been written about him by followers who, like me, wrestled together with his sophisticated legacy and the dichotomy of the enviable man on the sector juxtaposed with the flawed man off it.
Only a few days earlier than Rose’s passing, there was an announcement that the final U.S. full-sized Kmart retailer would shut. Kmart’s roots hint to a five-and-dime retailer in Detroit that opened in 1899. The Kmart model launched in 1962 and ultimately grew to greater than 2000 U.S. shops fueled by low costs, plentiful items, and 15-minute “blue mild specials.” A flashing blue mild can be rolled into the aisle, accompanied by an announcement of “consideration Kmart buyers” over the PA system, the cue for purchasers to flock to the spot to purchase deeply discounted items. From toys to sporting items, garments, housewares, and tropical fish, you could possibly discover nearly every thing at a Kmart. In some ways, the corporate created a template for WalMart.
In 1976, I lived in rural West Virginia, and a visit with Mother to Kmart in Chesapeake, Ohio was a spotlight of the month. That’s the place I found a enjoyable little obscure set, the Icee Reds, on the snack counter. Icees are frozen drinks just like 7-Eleven’s Slurpees…really the identical man, Omar Knedlik, invented each machines.
The 1976 Icee Reds is an unnumbered, 12-card, blank-backed set of “lids.” “Lids” is a misnomer…they have been 2″ diameter discs jammed into the underside of the cup. The fronts characteristic a black-and-white participant portrait and the participant’s identify and place. The MLB emblem is current, however the crew emblem on the cap is airbrushed. The set is comprised solely of Reds gamers. Prizes may very well be obtained for assembling a whole set.
The 1975 and 1976 Reds have an argument as the best crew of all time, and whereas Pete Rose was not the one distinctive participant, he was the sparkplug for the Massive Purple Machine. Mother let me purchase an Icee or two throughout our purchasing journeys, however most of my set was assembled by choosing by means of trash cans.
I’ve run into singles at a number of Midwest card reveals, and you may often discover a couple of listed on eBay. Regardless of the importance of the crew depicted and the relative shortage of the set (solely just a little over 300 whole playing cards graded by PSA), the set isn’t extensively collected. You may often discover a couple of singles listed on eBay, although they aren’t nice sellers. Commons usually promote for $10-15, although high-grade playing cards can fetch extra. In any case, the playing cards have been distributed by being jammed into the underside of a wax cup, so high-grade examples should not routine. A current Fanatics public sale netted $78 every for PSA 9 Morgan, Concepcion, and Gullett and $151 for PSA 7 Rose.
Guidelines
Johnny Bench
Dave Concepcion
Rawley Eastwick
George Foster
Cesar Geronimo
Ken Griffey
Don Gullett
Will McEnaney
Joe Morgan
Gary Nolan
Tony Perez
Pete Rose
Todd Marcum is a Roanoke, VA based mostly advertising advisor, collector and author. His e-book Baseball Cards at the Edge of War: 1941: The Games, The Gum, and The Glory is obtainable on Amazon. Relive an thrilling baseball season, discover the lads behind the three landmark units issued in 1941, and luxuriate in profiles of the gamers illustrated by full-color reproductions of the coveted playing cards that bore their likeness.
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