1980 Topps/MSA Pepsi-Cola All-stars (The oddest of oddballs)

First off I need to preface this post by saying I do not own this card and will likely never own a copy of this card.  This is one of those cards of urban legend like the 1977 Reggie Jackson Topps card featuring him as an Oriole and not airbrushed as a Yankee.  The story goes that Mike Schechter Associates (MSA), you know the guys responsible for almost all the early 70s and 80s unlicensed baseball stuff, and Topps put together a prototype to submit to Pepsico for a possible promotion.  According to the story they produced 3 full, front and back, sheets of cards to present to executives at Pepsi.  However the deal fell through and the set was never released and, except for the 3 sheets, never fully produced.  As the story goes, only 2 of the sheets were returned to Topps and supposedly destroyed, however the remaining sheet was cut up and the cards made their way into the public.  So if Topps and MSA produced full size sheets they would likely have 132 cards on them and since the set is 22 cards that would mean there should be only 6 cards of each player in the set floating around.

A recent auction at Mile High Card back in Oct 2019 sold a SGC 9.5 example for just shy of $2,500.  Interestingly enough there aren't any Topps or MSA copyrights or logos anywhere on the card.  But the card does use the same photo from the 1980 Topps set and some of the same front and back elements.  It's too bad this was never fully produced it's a good looking card and sadly one I know I'll never add to the collection.  

1992 Jimmy Dean Living Legend

Year: 1992

Manufacturer: MSA

Card Set: Jimmy Dean Living Legends

Card Type: Mail In/Food Issue

Card Number: 4

If you read this blog or any of my other blogs you know I'm a sucker for food issue cards and oddballs.  I think this set my be the nicest non-licensed baseball card set from the mid-90's.  It's very well done with a  nice layout and foil accents.  These cards were only available through a special mail in offer on specially marked packages of Jimmy Dean sausage.  3 proofs of purchase and a buck and you got the complete set of 6 cards.  A set that now has every member in the Hall of Fame.  Included besides Robin were Cal Ripken Jr, Ozzie Smith, Carton Fisk, George Brett, and Nolan Ryan. 

A pretty exclusive group and considering three of members of the set also became members of the HOF the very same year.

1977 Saga Disc

Year: 1977

Manufacturer: MSA

Set: Saga Discs

Card Number: NNO

If you collect MSA discs from the late 70's you know that these Saga discs are some of the hardest and rarest to find.  While MSA put out these kind of discs from 1976 to 1978, Robin is only found on 1977 issues and only on certain ones.  This was actually a found treasure for me, because I didn't have this on my inventory, but while rummaging though some boxes that I keep a lot of my oversized stuff in I came across this.  It's also one of the reasons one of my collecting goals this year is to really go back though my collection and make sure I have it inventoried correctly.  

The front of the disc is identical to a lot of the standard MSA discs that year with only the back telling you what set it came from.  These are considered some of the rarest discs, because they were regional giveaways.  These discs were given out with a purchased school lunch in Philadelphia.  How about that?!  Given out in one city to kids!  But through the miracle of the internet, while these are rare they are not impossible to find.  The information above was gleamed from the Standard Catalog, but what exactly the Saga Company was was not.  I have to assume it was a food provider or supplier in the Philadelphia area, but my searches have come up empty.  Anyone know?

1990 Jumbo California Sunflower Seeds

Year: 1990

Card Manufacturer: MSA

Card Set: Jumbo California Sunflower Seeds Food Issue

Card Number: 6

Card Type: Food Issue 

Ah nothing I like better than a great oddball food issue card.  According to the Standard Catalog these cards came in specially marked packages of Jumbo California Sunflower Seeds and each pack had 3 cards.  The set consists of 24 players.  MSA (Michael Schecter Associates) made the cards for Stagi and Scriver Farms Inc the producers of the Jumbo California Sunflower Seeds brand.  1990 would be the first year the set and the company would put out two more sets in 1991 and 1992. Sadly Robin in is only found in this set.   The 2011 Standard Catalog lists this card value at about a buck, for what that's worth.

Pretty basic food issue with the air brushed hat. But the back does have full stats and nice little write up and even a facsimile autograph.  Called the Autograph Series, I guess you were suppose to get these autographed at the ball park?  I'm not sure if this brand was sold at stadiums or not.  That's not a bad idea though.

1977 Pepsi Disc and Glove

Card Manufacturer: MSA

Card Set; Pepsi Disc

Set Type: Food Issue (Giveaway)

Year: 1977

Card Number: 1

Card Type: Base Disc

Note: Full Intact Glove

I know it seems like every time I put a post up I have a new favorite card.  But truly if you were to ask me what was my favorite oddball Yount card this would probably be it.

Robin has a bunch of 1977 MSA discs in various sets, but the Pepsi Disc/Glove just stands out.  Just a great all around oddball and I'm not sure, but I think this might have been the only baseball disc set that was featured and distributed this way.  Pepsi also released a football set like this.

Believe it or not but these full gloves aren't that hard to find still intact and that's nice to see.  Of course it's not hard to just find the disc either.  It's also great that each glove has the full checklist printed right on there.

This disc also stands out by having the Pepsi-Cola Collection printed across the top instead of the standard 4 stars that adorn a lot of sets.  

I ended up picking up a full set of these a while back for a decent price and they are a bitch to store and display. I should point out for the completists that Reggie Jackson and Mike Schmidt both have 4 color variations in the set.