Welcome to another Saturday morning, and, by a complete miracle, a newsletter, even though the time I hoped to finish it was occupied making the most of a dry day, and getting the washing all done.
In fact it turns out that all next week until Thursday is going to be dry, at least in my area, and so it will give me a good chance to put some furniture out in the driveway with a "free - please take" sign on it. And some metal for the scrap man van....
This week`s newsletter uses primarily trade cards, and continental at that, which is my way of saving time and not having too much to add over the weekend. However there are a few cards which appear in the trade indexes, and those will be fully described and card coded just as soon as I can.
But no more waffling, off we go with the first diary date - which is.....
FAVORIT [trade : chewing gum : O/S - Croatia] "Film Stars" (1950s?) Un/??
We are starting this week with a centenary, for today, in 1926, saw the birth of Moira Shearer King, in Dunfermline, Scotland.
When she was only five the family moved to Northern Rhodesia, where her father had taken a job as a civil engineer. However, as oddly as it sounds, this was where she was first introduced to ballet, and started to learn its skills. When she was ten, the family moved to England, and she continued her dancing. Just two years later she appeared in her first proper performance, at the Cambridge Theatre, a one off charity matinee of a new ballet "Endymion", written by Mona Vredensburg, or, as she was known professionally, Mona Inglesby.
Not long after that, her father, realising the Second World War was imminent, relocated the family to their native Scotland. Yet she was remembered enough by Mona Inglesby that in 1941 she asked Miss Shearer to join her ballet company and go on a tour that circumnavigated the country and ended in the West End.
In 1946 she was selected to play the lead in Sleeping Beauty, with the Sadlers Wells Ballet, a role which had been danced on its opening night by Margot Fonteyn, the company`s Prima Ballerina. To follow in her footsteps, literally, was a great honour.
However she is most remembered today for her performance in "The Red Shoes", a film based on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, and quite a strange one, (and the original story was even more grisly), as the red shoes of the title, once put on, can never be removed - more than that, the wearer must keep on dancing until she breathes no more. And in fact that happens in the film, the final scenes showing the ballet going on with the leading lady, now no more, represented by a spotlight. Miss Shearer did not like the story, and turned the part down, but after a whole year of being begged and more or less bribed, she was cajoled into it, though she openly admitted did not enjoy making the film, and did not like the finished product.
In 1950, less then a year after they had met, at a fancy dress ball, she had married an ex-Royal Naval officer called Ludovic Henry Coverley Kennedy, better known as the journalist and broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy - and they went on to have four children.
Despite her dislike of "The Red Shoes", and the filming process, she did go on to make several more films which involved some link, more or less, to ballet - "The Tales of Hoffman" in 1951, "The Story of Three Loves" in 1953, just after she had retired from ballet, and "Black Tights" in 1961. She also appeared in the controversial "Peeping Tom" - not just controversial for the time, but remaining so today.
In 1972 she presented the Eurovision Song Contest, from Edinburgh, not just on the night, as she also had to be there for all the rehearsals, as well as the technical checks.
She died on the 31st of January, 2006, at the age of eighty, and is buried at Durisdeer Cemetery, in Dumfries and Galloway, in the next grave to her husband. However I cannot find out why this plot was chosen, yet.
These cards are interesting, especially as they include Marilyn Monroe, but little is known about them. Even the citing of "Croatia Film - Zagreb" is a bit of a dead end, as though there was indeed a "Croatia Film" in Zagreb, founded in 1946, it only ever made animated films.
As for the title of the set, we do not know that either, I thought there was a hint perhaps, in the text, where it says Favorit - and generally if you are hunting them online teaming Favorit, Card and Croatia, does tend to turn them up - but I now know that Favorit was the brand, of chewing gum, with which they were issued. In fact, looking at the text again it does say "... >> Favorit << gumom... "
When I first started hunting, I thought they were all female stars, and perhaps all dancers, as the first few I got were Cyd Charisse, Moira Shearer, but then Fred Astaire suddenly appeared which still kept with the dancing theme. However as the list grew it was obvious the connection was only film. Anyway the cards we know of so far, until you add more, are :
- Fred Astaire
- Leslie Caron
- Cyd Charisse
- Ava Gardner
- Kathyrn Grayson
- Susan Hayward
- Rita Hayworth
- Rock Hudson
- Vivian Leigh
- Marilyn Monroe
- Moira Shearer
The cards are not numbered, and the list is only to find out how many there could be - and save me counting them
Chocolat SUCHARD [trade : chocolate : O/S - Switzerland] "Les Sports" - serie V (1920s?) 17/25?
World Snow Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in January every year, but it is not simply a chance to go and build snowmen or reminisce about the days when, often, at Winter, the country was carpeted in layers of it. The true meaning of the day can be derived from the fact that it was started, in January 2012, by the International Ski Federation, who branded it as "Bring Children to the Snow Day", and set up lots of places where children could try out winter sports for free or at a discount.
And there was good reason for that, because in a land where little snow now falls, less and less children get to discover the delights of skating, snowboarding, and tobogganning, to name but a few.
Moreover these activities do not have to involve actual snow, outdoors - for today, a range of indoor rinks and dry ski slopes offer an excellent chance for youngsters to discover the fun without too much risk or chill. And the more children who pick up these sports at an early age, the more chance they have of becoming winter sporting champions.
This set is very charming, but they are not all sports as we know them, it may be more correct to call them sports and pastimes. Anyway, the cards we know of so far are :
- Le Side Car
- Saut a Corde (skipping)
- La Danse (ballroom dancing)
- La Cross Country
- La Gymnastique
- La Boxe (boxing)
- Le Bobsleigh
- Le Yachting
- Le Natation (swimming)
- Le Cyclisme
TOPPS [trade/commercial : cards : O/S - USA] "Prominent Base Ball Players" - Turkey Red - Series 2" (June 26th, 2020) TR-47
Today, in 1972, Sanford Braun, more known as "Sandy" Koufax, (using his nickname, and the surname of his step-father), became the youngest ever electee to the Baseball Hall of Fame, (along with Yogi Berra and Early Wynn).
He was born on December the 30th, 1935, in Brooklyn, New York, and made his debut in Major League Baseball on June the 24th, 1955, for the home team, the Brooklyn Dodgers. He would remain with them until October the 2nd, 1966, despite the team`s relocation, and name change, to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958.
Sadly, though, his retirement, aged only thirty, was not of his choosing, it was because of the severity of the arthritis in his elbow, which just made it too painful for him to pitch.
Today, his career may have been extended by surgery, but by a surgery which was only developed in the 1970s, and, oddly tested on a baseball pitcher called Thomas Edward "Tommy" John, who, coincidentally, also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, between 1972 and 1978.
Mr. Koufax had rather a strange entry to baseball, as he was a basketball player in his youth, and had only tried out at baseball a few times, yet he was signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers at the age of nineteen, and put straight on their Major League team. This almost led to him quitting, because his lack of experience was keeping him on the bench whilst more known players were given the field time. But after working with the trainers he was given a fairer chance.
His career quickly leapt forward, and he was on of the best known, highest scoring players - yet, at the height of his fame, in 1965, he refused to play in the first game of the World Series because it was Yom Kippur, a day on which devout Jews abstain from many forms of pleasure, and cannot work.
That was not his only stand for what he believed to be right; he would fight for more money, better conditions, and also contractual changes - all of which are reflected in today`s baseball.
After he retired he moved to television, commentating and analysing the game he so loved. He thought it would be easy, and keep him on the baseball scene, but the truth was very different; he was rather too shy and self conscious for commentating, and he did not like having to cast judgement on other players` decisions and playing styles. So after six years, he quit.
He then went back to the Dodgers, and became a coach for their minor league players, as well as whomsoever asked him for advice from other teams.
He resigned from coaching in 1990, but is still involved with many charities and organisations, even today, at the age of ninety.
As far as our card I know much less. The base set is of three hundred and fifty cards, and there are a load of autographs, patches, and other parallel sets, mos of the latter being by colour, the rarest being the clear and the gold foil which were only in the hobby boxes and not the generally circulated packets. They also did a Mothers Day version in pink, a Father`s Day version in blue, a Memorial Day version in military camouflage and an Independence Day version with the Stars and Stripes, and it appears that these were also limited edition, only available around those dates.
Now at the time I originally wrote this I said I was certain that this style of card was issued about 1911 and this is kind of a copy / homage but I could not think of what that set is. But now I have great pleasure in saying that I managed to track down that set, and it was indeed from 1911, it was the so called "Turkey Red Cabinets" - otherwise known as "Prominent Base Ball Players and Athletes", just as on our card without the athletes - which Jefferson Burdick classified as T.3. In fact you sent up to the "Base Ball and Athlete Picture Dept" which is also mirrored on our card. These cabinet cards are large, measuring 5 3/4" x 8", and there are a hundred and twenty six of them, which are all listed on the back of each original card. Now in case you are wondering how they got these cards in the packets, they did not, to get them you had to collect either ten coupons from the "Turkey Red" brand, or twenty-five coupons from either the "Fez" or "Old Mill" brands, and then you would receive one card, presumably of your choice.
And, just in case you were wondering, as I was, card 47 in that series of original cabinet cards was Frank Chance, of the Chicago Cubs.
LIEBIG [trade : meat extract : O/S - South America] "Le Fromage" / cheeses (1929) F.1227 : S.1228
On January the 20th, every year, foodies from right across the globe celebrate #NationalCheeseLoversDay with their favourite choice, or in trying a brand new flavour. Today there are even cheeses which are cow-friendly, and completely vegan, most usually made from seeds, nuts, soy or potato - and available in blocks, cream cheese, or sandwich-ready slices, just as animal based cheese always was. So there is no excuse to chew some cheese today.
The only thing we have not found out is why January the 20th was chosen for the event. But maybe you know?
Our card was chosen simply for curiosity value, for there are many cards issued by actual cheese making companies - but if you look at our cards it speaks of the making of "Chester Cheese". Now I have had a very extensive research and can find no time in its very long history that what we now know as Cheshire Cheese was ever called Chester Cheese.
Let`s start with that long history, as it is reputedly mentioned in the Domesday Book. And it might well be, in obscure terms, though a recent attempt to track it down found nothing. Even without that reference though, we know it was listed in a book called "Health`s Improvement", by Thomas Muffet, in 1580, and that by 1758 it had been noted as a cheese of choice for Royal Navy provisioners (along with Gloucester Cheese).
Actually, although it is called "Cheshire" it can also be made in the four neighbouring counties, Denbighshire and Flintshire within Wales and two English counties, Shropshire and Staffordshire.
As far as our set, it features cheeses from around the world, so is quite apt for today`s theme. They are ;
- Angleterre - Fabrication du fromage de Chester - LIEBIG
- Dalmatia - Marche du fromage a Cattaro - OXO
- France - La Maturation du fromage de Roquefort - LIBOX
- Hollande - Tournage et colorage de fromage d`Edam - LIEBIG
- Italie - Preparation du fromage de Parmesan - OXO
- Suisse - Le pasage sur un alpage - LIBOX
The reason for the words in capitals, which actually appear in a frame at one of the corners, is that not all the fronts say Liebig and it seems to be a common misconception that you can get the complete set with each of those framed words - but you cannot. However this illusion is also helped by the fact that the top banner also varies from card to card, saying either :
- BOUILLON OXO EN FLAGONS (Dalmatia)
- CUBES DE BOUILLON OXO (Italie)
- EXTRAIT DE VIANDE DE LA CIE LIEBIG (Angleterre and Hollande)
- LIBOX, EXTRAIT DE VIAND ASSAISSONNE (Suisse and France)
Now you can also find this set in other languages -
- German, where it is names "Der Kase" - and where the countries are Balkan, England, Frankreich, Holland, Italien, Schwiez - and where they still call our card "Chester Kase"
- Italian, where it is named "Il Formaggio" - and where the countries are Dalmazia, Francia, Inghilterra Italia, Ofanda, and Svizzaro
ABC [trade : cinemas : UK] "Colorstars" - second series (1962) 4/10 - AAC-130.B : ABC-36.2
And now for another centenary, for today in 1926 saw the birth of Steven Lester "Steve" Reeves, in Glasgow - though not our Glasgow, in Scotland, rather the town in Montana, one of the United States of America. As to how that name was arrived at, it is your choice, for some sources cite a sudden influx of Scottish migrants from that fair city miles away, whilst another tells us that when they could not think of a name for the ever growing township, they blindfolded one of the railway clerks, and made him put his finger on a spinning globe, which, when it halted, found his finger on Glasgow, Scotland. I tend to think the first is more likely, but the second is way more romantic and my heart would dearly love it to be that.
We are not sure if Mr. Reeves grew up on a farm, but we know that when he was ten his father was killed in a farming accident. And a farming background may also explain why, when he and his mother moved to California, he was bullied at his new school, so much so that he began to take an interest in body-building and physical training.
This escalated when he went up to High School, and stood him in good stead for being selected for the Army during the Second World War. We do not know much of what he did in that War, only that he was out in the Philippines, which was one of the toughest of all the conflicts, and that he was one of the many troops who contracted malaria and jungle fever. However, rather than succumbing to it, he rebuilt his body by physical exercise, training with rudimentary weights and eventually constructing a bench set out of scrap.
When he came back to America, he continued the exercises, joining a gymnasium, and starting to compete in body-building contests. In 1947 he won Mr. America, and the following year he won Mr. World.
That led to him moving to New York and going to acting school, from where he was spotted by a talent scout looking for a man with good physique to star in the Cecil B. deMille film "Samson and Delilah". In the end this part was given to Victor Mature, but the thought of the movies still appealed.
His next audition led to a part as a kind of Tarzan knock-off, called "Kimbar of the Jungle", destined for the small screen, but only ever making it as a pilot, not a series as planned. However, in 1950, he became Mr. Universe and that greatly enhanced his appeal to moviemakers. It was also how he got his greatest part, in "Hercules", the film which is depicted on our card, and its follow up "Hercules Unchained". These were made in 1958 and 1959 respectively, and after that he refused to repeat the role, though he did not stray far from the genre, mostly playing bare chested heroes from ancient times - though twice he was a pirate. Sometimes he also made bad decisions, for he turned down the chance to play James Bond in 1962. That role would go to Sean Connery, who turned the one off part into six films up until 1971, pretty much one after the other, though the 1969 "On Her Majesty`s Secret Service" went to George Lazenby instead.
He retired from film work in 1968, mainly because his desire to do most of his own stunts had led to several injuries. And his kind of epic movies were also not as popular then as they had once been, they were spectacular on a big screen, but not so much so on television, which was becoming the place people preferred to watch fillms.
He seems to have been quite happy in his retirement, he bought a ranch, with horses, and still kept an interest in body-building. And not much was heard of him until he died on May the 1st, 2000, in hospital from a blood clot shortly after surgery for a lymphatic tumour. He was seventy four years old, and had been married three times.
ABC was Associated British Cinemas, which began in 1927 when a man called John Maxwell merged three local Scottish cinema chains into one single entity. He was not a cinema owner though, he was a lawyer and solicitor who first became involved with film in 1912, but went on to own British National Studios in Elstree, Wardour Films, and Welwyn Studios. And by 1938 he owned over 500 cinemas across the British Isles.
Their first sets were issued in the mid 1930s, untitled cards of film stars of which fourteen were known by the publication of our original British Trade Index in 1962.The problem was that they were large cards, 70 x 63, and would have escaped the attention of the non-cinema-going cartophilist. There was also a standard sized set at about that time though, titled "Star Series", with the fronts printed in reddish brown. And we know that was a set of twelve cards.
They next returned to the issue of cards after the end of the Second World War, with twenty-one sets, pretty much all of ten cards in length, with the exception of a set of "British Soldiers", which was of twenty cards - and was issued twice, to boot, once with a black back and once with a brown one. These were issued between 1948, which was a set entitled "Film Stars", and 1958, which was a set of "Horses".
there was another hiatus, until the 1960s, when we had a set, or maybe not, of untitled film scenes, of which only three cards are known, and three sets of "Colorstars", each of ten subjects. These are recorded in our original British Trade Index part two as :
- COLORSTARS. Sm. Nd. ... ABC-36
- 1st ten subjects. Nd. 1/10
- "2nd Series". Nd. 1/10
- "3rd Series". Nd. 1/10
In our updated British Trade Index, they are recorded as :
- COLORSTARS. 1961/62. Nd in three , a) 1st ten subjects (1/10 ), b) "2nd Series" (1/10 ), c) "3rd Series"(1/10 ) ... AAC-130
Owing to this very awkward numbering system we have a list of all three sets here, but when we feature the first and third their lists will relocate.
First Series :
- Tommy Steele
- Lonnie Donegan
- Cheyenne
- Elvis Presley
- Max Bygraves
- Cliff Richard
- Adam Faith
- Anthony Newley
- Charlie Drake
- Arthur Haynes
Second series :
- Clint Eastwood
- Michael Landon
- Richard Greene
- Steve Reeves
- Benny Hill
- Frankie Vaughan
- Russ Conway
- Pat Boone
- Emile Ford
- The Shadows
Third Series :
- Robert Horton
- Tony Hancock
- Patrick McGoohan
- Lorne Greene
- Dickie Henderson
- Dave King
- Charlton Heston
- Harry Secombe
- Lenny the Lion
- Ted Lune
Chocolat SUCHARD [trade : chocolate : O/S - Switzerland] "Popes"
Today in 1506 the first contingent of 150 "Swiss Guards" arrived at the Vatican to protect Pope Julius II.
That makes it one of the oldest private armies in the world, and we are correct in saying that they are an army, for though they may look more ceremonial than military, especially with their strange mode of dress, they are armed forces and highly trained, by the Swiss Army, to run security for The Pope and his Palace, as well as counter terrorism, hostage evacuation, and bomb disposal. And they are all crack shots.
In fact, back in the fifteenth century, they were often chosen for their skill at arms - often mercenaries, and not always Swiss. That is why Swiss Guard would have been slightly incorrect at the time they were founded, though today regulations are in place to ensure that they are Swiss, Catholic, and unmarried. There are also height and age restrictions.
The first group of "Swiss Guard" travelled, on foot, from Switzerland to Rome, starting in September 1505 and arriving four months later. Their first test came in May 1527, when Rome was attacked and burned, and they managed to get Pope Clement VII out of the city - with a loss of almost a hundred and fifty of their men. Only forty two Swiss Guards survived. The men who were killed were replaced by Germans, and they were all mercenaries, who were thought to have more chance of survival should the opposing forces return. They stayed until 1548, when the threat had subsided and more Swiss Guards were brought in to maintain the tradition.
Through the years the force has remained strong, with the exception of the nineteenth century, when Piedmont invaded Rome and sought to remove the former history. They did keep the Swiss Guard, but they relegated them to purely ceremonial duties.
That was still the case in 1910, when a new commander, Jules Repond, quite the disciplinarian, came along and changed everything. It was he who restored the full historical costume, based on Renaissance drawings, which came into effect in 1914. The colours are also important, as they are those of two Popes - the blue and yellow of Julius II and the red of Leo X. It was also Jules Repond who temporarily made it into an elite fighting force again, but in 1929 their powers were suddenly diminished and their duties given to the Gendarmerie.
That changed in the 1980s, with the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, when it was realised that having a Gendarmerie who had to be summoned from elsewhere was not enough. They returned to the principles set down by Jules Repond, and amped them up still further, so much so that as well as the Swiss Guard you can see about the Pope, he is accompanied by others, in plain clothes. There is also a codicil, that nobody can sell their costume after they leave, which could well be to stop them falling into enemy hands and used to masquerade as a Swiss Guard - they can either be given back to the Swiss Guards HQ, or the ex-Guard can be buried in it.
Now for some reason this set is very hard to come by and I have a theory that perhaps it is not a set of Popes at all. In fact I have only found one card, ours :
- Leo XIII - Pontifex Maximus
Biscuits GEORGES [trade : biscuits : O/S - Courbevoie, France] "Metiers" / trades (1900?) Un/??
Now to close a bit of humour, with a serious message, for if I asked you to put your hands up if you knew the last time you measured your feet properly with a tape measure, I do not think many of you would.
Likewise, how many of you know your correct shoe size, in any of the formats, the old style single digit ones, or the new continental double digit ones?
You see we have our feet measured maybe once and then go on continuing to ask for the same size shoe forever - yet our feet are continually growing, and changing shape, and though they protest with corns and bunions we never think to check the reason why, we simply buy a corn plaster or have bunion surgery.
Well today is #NationalMeasureYourFeetDay, so why not make a resolution to do just that?
This set is from an issuer I only just discovered, having featured their "Musique" on Monday 29 December 2025 as part of our newsletter for the 27th of December, 2025 - and this new set is just as charming, and gently humorous illustrations, this time showing careers.
- L`Epicier
- La Charcutiere
- La Fleuriste
- La Fruitiere
- Le Bijoutier
- Le Boucher
- Le Boulanger
- Le Chapelier
- Le Cordonnier
- Le Papetier
- Le Patissier
- Le Tailleur
This week's Cards of the Day...
This week we are going to keep with the calendar theme, kind of, and attempt to complement the latest set of Royal Mail stamps, which are on the Netflix serial "Stranger Things", the fifth season of which has just ended (without my watching a single episode).
However this does not mean we cannot take part, we just have to think creatively, and therefore we are going to have a look at some television science fiction serials from the past, without which there may have never been a "Stranger Things" at all.
So lets start with :
Saturday, 10th January 2026
Here we have Harry Jones, which could have suggested several links, most notably Martha Jones of "Doctor Who".
In fact what we were after was another word from the card, "Champions", because The Champions was a British Sci-Fi, first screened in 1969, at least in England, as America had somehow shown it a year before. The basic plot of is that the aircraft containing three United Nations agents is shot down over Tibet and they are taken to Shangri-La. At first it is not believed that they will survive but they do (though some viewers believed that they did not, and the series was all a dream). However during their miraculous recovery they are given extraordinary powers, which they are not allowed to make public, though for some reason they seem to be able to use them to get themselves out of danger in full view of criminals and the general public. The series only lasted for thirty episodes - though there have been plans to bring it back as a feature film, none of which have yet succeeded.
Harry Jones, or at least our Harry Jones, was born on the 24th of May 1891, in Blackwell, and seems to have played all his life at Nottingham Forest. This card even tells us he was "Captain Notts Forest. Champions of Second Div. 1921-22".
It gets a bit confusing as there is another Harry Jones, born in 1911, at Haydock, and who moved about a bit, starting with Preston North End, then moving to West Bromwich Albion, and then guesting with a few teams, as his military service allowed, during the Second World War. But I have not found him on any cards, yet. However this information is useful, because we can use it to sort out who is not who.
We therefore know that our man was one of nine children, and that the last was a late arrival, not until 1911, when our Harry was twenty years old. It seems that not so long before that birth one of their children had died.
It appears that we can thank the Boys Brigade for interesting him in football, and from there he was signed up by the local Wesleyan Guild football team and also the team at Blackwell Colliery, perhaps because he was tall - he would grow to five foot nine and a half - and most miners were selected for their lack of height, which allowed them to squeeze nearer to the coal face, but we do know that also had connections with the industry, as his father was a coal miner, perhaps even at Blackwell Colliery.
From there he was signed for Nottingham Forest in October 1910, and he stayed with them until the middle of 1924. Reputedly he left them after getting injured, and he decided to retire, but he actually transferred to Sutton Town, in December 1924.
During his time at Nottingham Forest he got the nod to play for England, against France, on the 10th of May, 1923, and England won by four goals to one. And he also got married, to a local girl, in 1915, which suggests he may have either been called up about that time, or have been home on leave. There seems to be no records of his war service anyway. The couple went on to have three children, including another Harry Jones, just to complicate things still further.
There is another curious fact, for in 1939 he is reported as working at Bolsover Colliery, so maybe he was a miner after all.
And we know that he was buried on the 14th of May 1947 in Derby, but have no confirmed date of death or cause. And he died young, just before his fifty-sixth birthday
This card ties another loose end, as if you look on the back you will see it mentions the fact that the cards were also being issued with "Lot-O`Fun" comic - and we featured one of those cards as our Card of the Day way back on the 24th of September 2022. Both those magazines are listed as separate entities in our original British Trade Index, but were actually owned by Amalgamated Press, at least when these cards were issued in 1922 - but both were formerly published by James Henderson & Sons Ltd. And you can read more about James Henderson on that link above.
As for our magazine, it was launched in 1898, under the name of "Pictorial Comic Life", and it was they who changed the title to "Comic Life" in 1908. The following year they also changed the format, moving away from printing it on pink paper, and also doing the cover in colour, something which makes it one of the first ever colour comics. But just like "Lot-O`-Fun", Amalgamated Press acquired the title in 1920, and not long after this set was issued they merged "Comic Life" with "My Favourite".
The entry for this part of the set in our original British Trade Index reads as follows :
COMIC LIFE
Periodical. Cards issued 1922.
- SPORTS CHAMPIONS. Sm. 70 x 43. Black glossy photos, two pictures on each card. Nd. 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8 (4). Dated 30.9.22 to 21.10.22 ... COS-1
This remains unaltered until our updated British Trade Index, when the entry reads :
COMIC LIFE
Periodical. Cards issued 1922 - 1926
- THE DANCING SCOT. About 120 x 73, die cut kilted Scot, issued in envelope 11/12/26 ... COM-130
- SPORTS CHAMPIONS. 70 x 43. Black glossy photos, two pictures to each card. Nd. 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8 (4) and dated 30.9.22 to 21.10.22 ... COM-140
The following list details who is in the set, and who their partner originally was. However we have not been able to find out the details which appear on the card of James Gill, number 4, so if anyone can fill that in, please get in touch.
- September 30th, 1922 - Georges Carpentier - Heavy-weight Champion of Europe
- September 30th, 1922 - E. Barry - Sculling Champion of England
- October 7th, 1922 - Andrew Wilson - Champion 1st Division Goal Scorer, 1921-22. Middlesboro` and Scottish Inter. Centre Forward.
- October 7th, 1922 - James Gill -
- October 14th, 1922 - Jack Dempsey - World`s Heavy-weight Boxing Champion
- October 14th, 1922 - Donald McKinlay - Captain of Liverpool, Champions of 1st Division 1921-22. Also Scottish International Full-back
- October 21st, 1922 - J.T. Howcroft - Champion League Referee
- October 21st, 1922 - Harry Jones - Captain Notts Forest, Champions of Second Div. 1921-22
Sunday, 11th January 2026
This card represented all the wonderful Sci-Fi series by Gerald Alexander "Gerry" Anderson MBE that hit our screens starting with Fireball XL5 in 1962, and going on through Space Patrol, Stingray, Thunderbirds, etc.
This set commemorates "UFO", which again revolved around the United Nations, but this time in their endeavouring to prevent an alien invasion of this planet. There were actually only twenty-six episodes of this series, which had quite a dark theme, starting with the first, which introduced the idea of aliens harvesting organs from human beings. However there was going to be a second series, set on the moon, to where the HQ had relocated. But it never came about. And once more, not so long ago, there were plans for a feature film remake, which also never happened.
If there is a flaw, it is the common one that the creators did not set the timeline far enough ahead, and most of the action is said to take place in the 1980s, which makes for odd viewing now. And if you get a chance to sit and watch it, just bear in mind that there were only two alien costumes made, so you will never see more than two aliens on screen at the same time.
The set first appears in our original British Trade Index part three, as :
- UFO. 76 x 55. Nd. (64). Sectional picture back. ... ANF-17
And this is the exact same text which appears in our updated British Trade Index save a new card code of ANG-390
Monday, 12th January 2026
This card gave us Buck Rogers, a character who goes as far back as the 1930s and crosses many genres. starting out in newspapers in January 1929, and moving on into radio, film, books, comics, and eventually to television.
The first person to play William "Buck" Rogers live was actually not "Buster" Crabbe, as popularly cited, it was a man called John Dille Junior, in a short film of just ten minutes that was shown at the 1933 World`s Fair in Chicago.
"Buster" Crabbe`s version came along in 1939, but rather excitingly he also played a cameo in the 1979 series.
This set was released as a tie-in with the television series, and it uses images supplied by the studio,Universal City Studios, Inc. However, for some reason, the packet is an artist`s impression of Buck, played by Gil Gerrard, Wilma, played by Erin Gray, and Twiki, who was actually voiced by Mel Blanc, though for a few episodes of season two, when he was unwell, he was instead spoken for by Bob Elyea.
There was also a feature film, using many of the same stars as in the movie, (Henry Silva bailed on playing Kane again, and Erin Gray did not really want to do the television version, but relented, though she was not too happy about having to dye her hair blonde, and was allowed to return to her natural brunette for the second series.). This film was intended to be a television pilot but was instead released into cinemas - but then the series presumed you had seen the movie, and not every viewer had.
Sadly, though the programme was very popular, and actually came higher in the ratings than the rival BBC show, "Doctor Who", it only ran for two seasons between September 1979 and April 1981. To be fair there was a sudden rash of space related tv shows in the immediate aftermath of Star Wars, and critics were vociferous in saying they were all primarily made to cash in on the success of that film. Another grumble was that Buck Rogers was rather similar to Battlestar Galactica, especially in the second series - and this was true, in many ways, for both were produced by Glen A Larson, and many of the props were shared between the two sets which made it more cost effective.
To our card - or rather our sticker - and thrillingly, this is from a time when each packet contained "10 TV Photo Cards * 1 Sticker * 1 stick of Bubble Gum" - at a cost of twenty cents a packet. This is actually one of the stickers, and it`s the last one in the set, number 22. The full sticker checklist is :
- Buck / Wilma / Twiki
- Toward the Inner City
- A New Beginning
- Wilma Deering
- The World of Tomorrow
- Dr, Theopolis
- Get Off the Air, Buck!
- Tigerman
- The Lost Space Shuttle
- The Starfighter
- Dr. Huer
- Twiki Catches Disco Fever!
- Dressed in Style
- Princess Ardala
- Buck Rogers
- Death Throes of the Fortress
- Pirate Spaceship
- We Shall Take Them by Surprise
- Henry Silva as Kane
- Suspended in Time
- Twiki
- Disguised as a Space Pirate
Tuesday, 13th January 2026
Quantum, Leap was first screened in America on March the 26th, 1989. Its creator was Donald P. Bellisario, who had form, shall we say, with many popular series beneath his belt. It ran for five seasons, until 1993. The two main stars, who appeared in every episode, were the very well known former child star Dean Stockwell and Scott Bakula who was mainly known for his theatrical work.
The basic story was that the Bakula character, Dr. Sam Beckett, discovered a way to travel through time, but unfortunately he could not come back. Instead, every week he leaped and the closing scene was him waking up in someone else`s body, sometimes male and sometimes female. His only hopes were Dean Stockwell, playing a hologram called Al, (short for Albert, not Artificial Intelligence - his cast name was actually Rear Admiral Albert "Al" Calavicci) who helps him by researching the newly inhabited body and the feasibilty of the task he has to do - and a computer which he built himself called Ziggy, which gave him a task to accomplish each week in order to change history in a small way, which would eventually bring him home. In fact, and very poignantly, the final scene of the final series was just words on a screen "Dr. Sam Becket never returned home". This was universally slated because throughout the series D. Beckett`s name had been spelt correctly with two "T"s, not incorrectly with one.
The show was enormously popular, won lots of awards, but at the end of season five it simply failed to be renewed by the network. It is believed that if it had continued not only would Al have gone after Dr. Sam Beckett, but he would probably managed to bring him back. There have also been several attempts to close the series in that way, or to continue the story, both on the small screen and as films, but nothing came of any of them. However in 2022 there was a sixth season, thirty years ahead, with all an new cast but some of the same characters, though not the two original main leads, though they are cross referenced in the episodes. In fact Dean Stockwell had died by then, on November the 7th, 2021, at the age of eighty-five. Sam Bakula was still alive, but chose not to reprise his role. And, after just two seasons, the show was cancelled.
The strangest thing about the series is that despite its popularity, I was unable to find any sets of cards or stickers devoted to it. In fact I almost had to pass on speaking of it. Then I was told that there are several cards in the "Garbage Pail Series" - these being
- 2020 35th Anniversary set -"Quantum Leif" (card 83.a) and "Sightseeing Sam" (card 83.b)
- 2023 Intergoolactic Mayhem series -"Quentin Leap" (card 95.a) and "Quantum Lee" (card 95.b)
- 2023 Wacky Packages : Planetary Provisions - "Quantum Realms" (card WP-8)
Some of these can also be found in parallel printings, with different coloured borders. But I have to say I am not fond of those sort of cards.Then I was told of the set we feature today, which I had never come across before. This takes original covers from "Starlog", a science fiction magazine, and reproduces them as cards, but sadly the set was issued in 1993, so none show the X-Files. However there is plenty of scope one day for a second series (and some X-Files covers) as the magazine was published from August 1976 to April 2009, some three hundred and seventy-four issues.
It is reported that the set could only be bought as a complete set, but there were actually packets, each containing nine cards, with the chance of a "Space Fantastic Promo Card" or a "Hologram Card" being included. These packets do not seem to have a price though, so it is possible they were giveaways at conventions or with magazines - though each packet is printed with a redemption offer in which you could exchange five packets, and three dollars, for a different one off hologram, in gold colour - the one in the packet being in silver colour, and the fact that you needed to send up five wrappers seems to rule out the packets being given away in a one off fashion.
There were also two sub sets - one is a set of five cards which dealt with Star Trek, and again you had to send up to apply for that, the cards were not in the packets - whilst the other was a set of four cards called "Space Art", the same art as appears sectionalised on the covers. These seem to have been issued first, as the backs are just text on a white background saying "Space Art Fantastic Available July 1993" but it appears that they were also put in the packets and they were what is described as "Space Fantastic Promo Cards" thereon
Wednesday, 14th January 2026
Now you probably had to have been a real fan of this show to guess this card, as this is an orb, and it was the means of communication between the alien clones on planet Earth and Antar, which was their home planet. It`s actually a very effective card as though the card itself is totally flat, the way it is designed makes it appear to curve and be three dimensional.
The series was called Roswell, and it was an American series that started in October 1999 and ran until May 2002, though the first two series were on one network and the third on another. Actually before it was a series on television it was a series of books, called Roswell High about a group of school children who are actually aliens.
The series ended rather abruptly with several loose ends, and lots of maybes, but it was a great show, though it could never really make its mind up as to whether it was a school series that just happened to involve aliens, or an alien series that just happened to be set in a school. And bringing in another group of aliens in the second series only added to the confusion. But the theme music, which was by Dido, was one of the best ever - in my view anyway.
Like most of our other sci-fi this week, there was a remake, which started out on paper in 2017 and actually did get to the small screen, for four seasons between 2019 and 2022. All the cast were different.
As for the words on the reverse, there are indeed only half of them. That is because there were two orb cards - number one, which was ours, and number two. There were also two orbs in the show - one being found by Max and Liz when they kiss and she gets a vision of where it was hidden, and the other being given to Michael, one of the other aliens, at which time he is told that there is another, but they only work when they are placed together. However they are not actually placed together until season one episode twenty-two, at which point they activate and reveal a message from Max and Isabel`s mother - the very message on our card(s) - which, rather neatly, can only be read if you place both cards together, as it is across both of the cards, the words on our card being in bold type below, and that on card two being in standard type. And the whole message reads :
My children... You have lived before. On a planet in a galaxy not yet discovered where you
live now. My son, you were the beloved leader of our people. My daughter you were a brave
warrior. You both perished in a conflict that enslaved our planet, Your essence was
duplicated. Cloned. And combined with human genetic material so that you could be
re-created as human beings.
Our enemies have come to Earth. That is why the four of you have been sent. To use your
skills, your knowledge, your leadership to combat the enemy and prevent them from taking
over another race, another peaceful people. you will know the enemy only by the evil inside
them. But be careful, they have learned to mask it well. I ask only one more thing of you.
Learn enough to come back and free us ... Help us. I love you.
This was just one of the extras for a ninety card set issued as "Season One" in November 2000 by Inkworks - starting with five different promotional cards, then moving into autographs, a nine part foiled sectional puzzle of the cast, and six cards of the clues they were to follow each with a mock metal finish. You could also get the sectional puzzle as a mini sheet, uncut, for $69.95.
Lastly there is a box topper with three of the stars on, which is dated for 2001, and which, thrillingly, advertises the promise of new season two cards - but these never came about, leaving season one as was the only set..
Thursday, 15th January 2026
Now you may think that we are running out of date order, but Battlestar Galactica had more than one version, one screened in 1978 and one in 2004 - and this basic shape of Battlestar was used in both, though they did vary slightly in design and colour.
In case you are not fans of either versions, the plot is also primarily the same - a race of armed machines called Cylons attack humanity, after faking a desire for making peace. All the humans that can fit inside it get away on the Battlestar Galactica, hunting for a dream, called Planet Earth, which has long been believed to be the thirteenth colony, on a mission led by Captain Adama and his son. But all the rest of humanity, on all twelve colonies, are lost.
The second version was slightly more modern, much more diverse, and the male character of Starbuck, played originally by Dirk Benedict, was converted into a female, played by Katee Sackhoff. And surprisingly that worked much better, at least from my point of view. Another change was to make the character of Dr. Gaius Baltar more of a romantic lead under James Callis than it had been under John Colicos. This again worked exceptionally well. There were also new characters, including that of "six", a cylon, but designed as a femme fatale, rather than a metal soldier. In fact several of the characters are also revealed to be cylons towards the end of the 2004 version, which leads to a very interesting twist indeed.
Wonder Bread managed to issue cards of several great Sci-Fi films, including Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The cards were issued just in the wrapper with the loaves and it did not take much wriggling to see which card was in each, pretty much ensuring you got a complete set of thirty-six cards quite quickly.
The set was actually produced by Topps though, they were only circulated by Wonder Bread - however there is no word of this on the cards, or of any maker, they just credit Universal City Studio.
Actually the backs of this version is pretty basic, which makes me wonder if Topps purely supplied the images for the fronts.
I can tell you that there is a sleeper in this set, and that is card 12 - but there is not a word of why on the card. The truth is that the person on that card, "Croft", was Roy Thinnes, also known for another sci-fi series, "The Invaders", as well as many other television series. And for that reason this card has a bit of a cult following.
Roy Thinnes was also in "The X Files", as Jeremiah Smith, an alien clone and shape-shifter, with magical healing powers, who was actually a good guy, fighting against the Syndicate.Eventually he was abducted by a UFO, and disappeared, with it never being made clear what happened or whether he might have returned in later series.
You can see him on
- base card 51 of Topps "Season Three", issued in 1996
- base card 71 of Topps "Season Three", issued in 1996
- base card 88 of Intrepid`s "Contact" series, issued in 1997
- card A.9 of Intrepid`s "Contact" extra inserts "Alien Visitations" - in foil
- card A.9 of Intrepid`s "Contact" extra inserts "Alien Visitations" - in matt (sometimes referred to as "no shine"
- base card 62 of Inkworks "X Files Seasons 4 & 5", issued in 2001.
All of these, save base card 71 of Topps "Season Three", are sleepers too, as nowhere on the cards does it tell you that it is Roy Thinnes who played Jeremiah Smith, albeit for the most part, as when he shape-shifted into another body that other person briefly took over the role
Friday, 16th January 2026
So here I am with the reason for our week, the hit show "Stranger Things", which is being celebrated by the latest Royal Mail postage stamps. Now I have never watched it, and probably never will, but a reader has sent in a description which I much appreciate (and you will, too, when I tell you we almost squeezed another X Files set in and ended with Battlestar Galactica).
This card is ostensibly a postcard from Hawkins, Indiana, and that is the small town where the action takes place. That action started with just eight episodes, set in the 1980s, which started on Netflix in 2016, and is now on season five. The story is that Will Byers goes to see a friend and never comes home. His mum and brother go hunting for him, without success, and his friends also start to get involved, along with the local police force.
At the same time, more or less, that he went missing, a girl appears at a local diner. She is called Eleven, from the tattoo on her arm, and it is revealed that she not only has strange psychic powers, but she was formerly the property of the Hawkins National Laboratory, the cover for secret government experiments. And she manages to contact Will Byers, who has been removed to a very dark place called Upside Down, which is inhabited by vines and monsters, including something called the Demogorgon. In fact Upside Down is a wormhole which was created by Eleven, and it connects the Earth with the Abyss. It also has breaches, which allows a Demogorgon to come to the Earth, through the laboratory, and steal one of the teenagers. Four seasons later, more tattooed children have been discovered, the humans are growing up and discovering each other, and the Soviet Union are found to have a secret base beneath the local shopping mall, which burned to the ground, with several residents, in what became known as the Battle of Starcourt Mall. And along came an even worse monster, who the teenagers called Vecna in homage to a character in Dungeons and Dragons.
The fifth series is said to be the last, but there will be an animated series and perhaps a film.
The first card was a promo and it was given away at the New York Comic Con. That showed some of the cast and promised that the cards were coming soon at a store near you. Those cards were issued in October 2018 by Topps, as a set of a hundred base cards showing scenes from the series, plus . There were also character cards, character stickers, scene stickers, autograph cards, each available with five different coloured borders, costume relic cards, printing plates, and another set of a hundred cards showing the realm of Upside Down - and if you bought a whole box you were guaranteed to get a commemorative patch. You can actually also collect the base set with a different border, in the design of a waffle, and these are very sought after. As to why the waffle, they became Eleven`s favourite food after she left the laboratory and was taken in by the town. In fact they were Kellogg`s "Eggo" waffles, a bit of more than subliminal advertising.
The second series was released in 2019, and in 2020 there was another batch of autograph cards. Two years later, Panini joined in with a set of 168 stickers, and two new manufacturers, also entered the scene - YuMe Toys, whose packets contained five cards and a sticker - and Zerocool, whose cards started out as being art drawn, amazingly well, by someone called Butcher Billy, but would later move into actual stills from season four.
Then, in 2023, along comes Kelloggs, who printed cards to be cut out on twenty-four count boxes of Eggo waffles. These were a true package issue, and had no wording on the reverse.
In 2025 Topps re-entered the Stranger Things Universe, under a new brand called "High-Tek" - these cards have rounded framing and the backdrop behind the characters are patterns.
Our cards actually come from 2019 and are part of the sub-series called "Welcome to the Upside Down". They are numbered as HWK-1 to HWK-15, and show scenes on the fronts with mock postcard reverses. The checklist for this set is :
- HWK-1 Melvald's General Store
- HWK-2 Hawkins Middle School#
- HWK-3 Hawkins High School
- HWK-4 Benny's Burgers
- HWK-5 Castle Byers
- HWK-6 Hawkins National Laboratory
- HWK-7 Hawkins Police Station
- HWK-8 The Upside Down
- HWK-9 The Gate
- HWK-10 Hawkins Public Library
- HWK-11 Wheeler House
- HWK-12 Palace Arcade
- HWK-13 Merrill's Farm
- HWK-14 Hopper's Cabin
- HWK-15 The Junkyard
And so I must close the book for another week and try to get some sleep. A few of the write-ups are a bit short, but as they are online I have the rest of my life to return and update them, adding more knowledge as things come along. However the gen from the reference books, and the titles where such are missing, will definitely be added over the weekend.
Thanks for tuning in, and I hope you enjoyed the reading as much as I enjoyed the writing and researching...