1955 Rodeo Meats Athletics Complete Master Set (47) Plus Rodeo Team Scrapbook

Sold For:

$5,700

Year:

1955

Auction:

2018 Fall

Lot #:

1122

Category:

Postwar Baseball - 1950s Cards

Presented is an extremely rare complete set of the 1955 Rodeo Meats series, one of the scarcest and most distinctive of all 1950s regional food issues. This rare regional issue features exclusively Kansas City Athletics players, and was issued to capitalize on the excitement of the inaugural year of the Athletics in Kansas City. The set consists of thirty-eight different players as well as nine variations for a complete 47-card set. Rodeo Meats cards were issued one per package with Rodeo meat products, and are usually found with serious condition problems relating to this method of issue, despite the wax coating on the surface of these cards that was intended to protect them. Twenty of the cards in this set do not have the wax coating and it is interesting to note that all twenty come from the first printing. Since production quality was often imperfect on this issue, a few of the cards measure small. Four cards are graded and encapsulated by PSA. Condition is 11% Ex to Ex-Mt, 15% Vg-Ex, 51% Vg, 15% Gd, and 8% lesser. Keys: Boudreau (Fr-Gd), Bobby Schantz (incorrect spelling, Gd-Vg), Slaughter (measures small, otherwise Gd), Susce (NM-MT 8 [MC]), Valo/yellow background (EX-MT 6), Valo/green background (EX-MT 6), and Wilson/yellow background (VG 3). Also includes a Rodeo Team Scrapbook that contains images of items from the Rodeo Meats product line, spaces to mount the cards, biographies and career highlights of the players, coaches, and manager, and team schedule/American League information. The album is in modest condition mainly due to writing, spots of paper loss, and minor staining on the cover and first four interior pages. No cards were ever mounted to the pages. Very attractive complete set of this classic 1950s regional food issue. Total: 47 cards plus Rodeo Team Scrapbook. Reserve $500. Estimate $1,000/$2,000+.