Card of the Day - 2021-12-05

I originally said “unlisted” for the code which is incorrect, as I now have the code(s), having been informed of them by one of our readers, to whom, many thanks.

This set was issued just as Imperial Tobacco rebranded, so you can collect the cards with their original “Imperial Tobacco Ltd” address, or with the later “Imperial Tobacco plc”. Technically these are borderline too, for they are not cigarette cards, nor trade cards, being issued with cigars. In addition you can find it in two different printings, for two different brands, our Grandee, and as, issued two years later in 1984. However because it, and an identical set, P644-370, which was branded for Doncella, were John Player brands, they have come to be cigarette card sets by default.

The incredibly lifelke artwork is derived from original paintings by the Scottish artist Archibald Thorburn. Artnet has a small biography, but it also shows almost three thousand of his paintings. And you can find a full checklist of the cards at trading card database. They also show nine other  
pine marten cards, but does not include ours.