It's really a wonder that I had no idea that this set existed until a couple of weeks ago. I've been trying to find a SSPC baseball set on the cheap for quite awhile so I pretty regularly scrounged through eBay searching for 'sspc baseball complete'.
Then one day this '200 Years of Freedom' set wiggled it's way through the eBay filters. With my interest in memorabilia items political/presidential related and the fact that it cost just seven bucks I picked it up. I wasn't sure what I was getting exactly other than a sealed 45 card set put out by SSPC to commemorate the '76 Bicentennial celebration. It showed up this past week.
I thought it might breeze trhough the entire 200 years but the focus is the American Revolution. The cards feature heroes, battles and key moments of the war.
The cards have the same 'semi-glossy' look and feel as TCMA's SSPC baseball and the Renata Galasso issues.
The backs especially resemble the Galasso sets in that they share the same red/blue printing.
Two things I noticed right away upon taking off the clear cello wrapper. First of all the cutting or trimming process in producing the cards resulted in them varying in size quite noticeably and many of the cuts were rough resulting in 'fuzzy' edges. Those things are not seen in the scans but are very obvious in hand.
It's an interesting little set. I'm glad I picked it up but I'm also glad I didn't spend much on it. I saw some listed with an asking price of up to $30.
All the Revolutionary 'superstars' are included.
As are some of the lesser known contributors.
Some of the cards which depict famous scenes are made from better reproductions of paintings than others.
Big George gets two cards.
Here are a few more backs. I'm not up to 'fact checking' these things like I did the Civil War News cards.
Here is the complete checklist:
1 The Declaration of Independence 2 The Declaration of Independence 3 George Washington 1732-1799 4 Paul Revere 1735-1818 5 Minutemen 6 Battle of Lexington April 19, 1775 7 Ben Franklin 1706-1790 8 Sam Adams 1722-1803 9 Patrick Henry 1736-1799 10 The Battle of Bunker Hill June 17, 1775 11 Thomas Paine 1737-1809 12 Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826 13 John Hancock 1737-1793 14 Nathaniel Greene 1742-1786 15 Robert Morris 1734-1806 16 Marquis de LaFayette 1757-1834 17 Henry Knox 1750-1806 18 Washington Crosses the Delaware December 25, 1776 19 Capture of Hessians at Trenton December 26, 1776 20 Horatio Gates 1728-1806 21 Alexander Hamilton 1757-1804 22 Charles Lee 1731-1782 23 Benedict Arnold 1741-1801 24 John Paul Jones 1747-1792 25 Serapis vs. Bonhomme Richard September 23, 1779 26 Battle of Saratoga 27 Nathan Hale 1755-1776 28 Benjamin Lincoln 1733-1810 29 John Adams 1735-1826 30 Casimir Pulaski 1748-1779 31 Battle of Princeton January 3, 1777 32 Death of Mercer at Princeton 33 Anthony Wayne 1745-1796 34 Betsy Ross 35 John Stark 1728-1822 36 Battle of Monmouth June 16-July 5, 1778 37 Francis Marion 1732-1795 38 Valley Forge 39 Frederich von Steuben 1730-1794 40 Comte de Rochambeau 1725-1807 41 "We fight, get beat, rise and fight again" 42 Cornwallis Surrenders at Yorktown 43 Resignation of Washington 44 George Washington 45 Spirit of '76
Card #2 shows the Declaration document itself. So if you've ever wondered what the Declaration of Independence looked like at less than 2.5x3.5 inches here 'tis:
All in all it's a neat but totally unnecessary little novelty set. And yes, I did find an SSPC baseball set for a good price. I'll talk about that another day.
Very cool. I need to hunt down a copy, I never knew it existed until reading your post. I had a direct ancestor at the Battle of Lexington & Concord. Luckily he survived or else I would not be here.
ReplyDeleteJust finished a job in Lexington. History everywhere you looked
DeleteWow, nice find. I'd never heard of this set either.
ReplyDeleteYou can tell I come from the metropolitan New York area because my reaction to the Casimir Pulaski card was "Hey, it's the guy the bridge is named after!" (For those not familiar with the area, the Pulaski Bridge is one of many bridges within New York City).
Another one I will have to track down Two in a row
ReplyDeleteFrankly I'm stunned that there is actually something you don't own. Two things no less!! I bet if you jumped back on the Segway and rode around that four acre hobby warehouse of yours you might find these.
DeleteSeriously I went looking for the Capital Publishing cards you had on Twitter. No Orioles. And some of the big names are very spendy. Neat set though.
Never seen or heard of this set before... but I love it. Might need to target one of these on eBay. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks I will be looking for one of these.
ReplyDelete