Baseball

Rare Vintage Roberto Clemente Baseball Cards by Food Companies Quite Valuable

It should be fairly obvious to say that you have to be famous, historic and revered to get a day of the year named after you. Roberto Clemente was all three. And guess what – It’s time for Roberto Clemente Day! Collectors Dashboard wanted to take an unusual look at Roberto Clemente’s baseball cards beyond his Topps cards.

Did you know that there are rare vintage Robert Clemente baseball cards that were issued by food companies?

Vintage baseball card collectors and sports card collectors may just think of bubble gum cards, or tobacco cards if they go back a century or more. Wax packs of yesteryear and foil packs from Topps, Panini, Fleer and other issuers have some competition from unusual sources — food companies. This isn’t about McDonald’s or other cards that may have used licensed images.

It is easy for vintage sports collectors to overlook or forget about the rare baseball cards that have been issued by major food companies and regional food companies over the years. Roberto Clemente joined baseball superstars and common players in these. Other top stars who have rare and valuable food-issued cards include Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax and others.

Scarcity in sports collectibles is the same as supply in economics and finance. As long as the scarcity is not limited to obscurity, the demand by collectors can command very high prices for these cards. Many of the food company issued vintage baseball cards are quite rare and some are now very valuable.

Roberto Clemente cards had seen their values rise in recent years. That took place even before the 2020 surge that went parabolic in early 2021.

Clemente’s tragic death in a plane crash while he was still playing put him straight into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1973. While he was a great hitter, he was also a phenomenal fielder. Here are just some of his career stats. He racked up 3,000 career hits, had 1,305 RBIs, hit hit 240 home runs, and ended with a .317 career average. He also had a .973 fielding percentage. From 1960 to 1973, he only dipped under a .300 batting average in one season — with a .291 average in 1968.

Here are several vintage Roberto Clemente baseball cards that were issued by food companies.

KAHN’s WIENERS – Greasy Meat & Baseball Cards… What Could Go Wrong?

The 1957 Kahn’s Wieners baseball cards was a mere 29 card set issued by the Ohio meat company. That brand started back in the 1880s, but dabbling in baseball cards was thought of long after that.  The cards are larger than traditional cards with rather dull black and white photos of players from the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The set also includes Frank Robinson, Dick Groat, Ted Kluszewski, Bill Mazeroski and others. Guess which card is the Cornerstone card of the set. Yep, it’s Robert Clemente!

This 1957 card is quite rare to find in any of the “investor grades” because of how the cards were released with greasy food. An example graded as PSA 6 sold on December 6, 2020 for $8,100.00 via Robert Edward Auctions. eBay also has a full set up for sale with a $5,500.00 Buy It Now price and the Clemente card is graded a PSA 2. (Image provided by Heritage Auctions)

1957 Kahn's Weiners Roberto Clemente

Kahn’s was actually an active issuer of cards, and there are multiple other years after 1957 that Kahn’s was issuing baseball cards. A zoomed out version of the image appears to have been used for the 1958 Kahn’s issue and variations were used for the poses in 1959, 1960 and 1961. Kahn’s kept producing cards and by the 1966 issuance the cards appear rather dated in design (and probably weren’t considered attractive even then).

POST CEREAL- Some baseball cards on your cereal box?

Post Cereal is perhaps the most commonly known and most widely seen. These cards used to be worth significantly less in prior trading cycles. The 1961 Post Cereal card for Bob Clemente (#132) can be purchased for close to $100 in ungraded condition, and some may cost much less if the cut is way off and/or if there are wrinkles. Here are some sales notes as of September 15, 2021:

  • eBay currently has an example that is graded SGC 8 (NEAR MINT-MINT) in a Buy It Now format for $6,000.00.
  • Dean’s Cards has an example that is ungraded with clean perforations for sale at $150.00 for the more price-conscious buyers.
  • Brigandi Coins & Collectibles also had an autographed example of the 1961 Post Cereal Clemente card (only 1 of 2 known to exist) by BGS at $5,750.00. PSA’s population of these cards are only 88 “Hand Cut” Clemente and 162 in the “Perforated” Clemente.

1961 Post Cereal Roberto Clemente

(Image provided by Heritage Auctions)

The Post Cereal cards of Clemente from 1962 do list him as Roberto instead of Bob (as in the ’61 set). These cards are a more zoomed out facial batting image from the 1961 card. It is more readily available and the cut cards may sell for under $50 in eBay auctions. PSA’s population report shows two variations. There are 432 graded examples of the Hand Cut with Red lines cards and another 71 graded examples of the Hand Cut with blue lines. As a result of the cuts, the largest populations of graded cards are Authentic rather than with a numeric grade. Of the more common red lines, only 11 PSA 9 and only 4 PSA 10 examples are known to exist.

Post also has a 1963 release with Roberto Clemente on the name. Its image almost looks like a driver license image, except he is in inform and in front of mostly empty stands. Cut versions of this card sell at a steep discount to the 1962 and definitely versus the 1961 cards. PSA’s total population report for the Hand Cut ’63 cards is 165 graded examples, with no PSA 10 and only 9 PSA 9 examples. The largest population is Authentic with 51 examples. These will still sell for under $50 in lower grades and may sell for under $10 or $20 in ungraded conditions.

MILK DUDS – The 1971 Milk Duds boxes….

For card collectors looking for scarcity over beauty and over eye appeal, the 1971 Milk Duds candy box is considered a card. Most appear as a whole box now, and they are quite rare. Obviously some kids would have torn the card or cut the card off the box, but the valuable examples are the graded whole boxes that have been folded. (Image provided by Heritage Auctions)

Roberto Clemente Milk Duds baseball card

The Milk Duds boxes are not very common. PSA’s count for the entire set registry is just 1,780 examples and only 93 of those are for Roberto Clemente. Only 3 examples at PSA 9 and only 6 examples at PSA 8 exist. The bulk of the grades are 39 examples at PSA 5. These rarely come up for sale, but here are some of the recent dates and sales tracked by PSA by grade:

  • PSA 5 on 2/19/2020 for $298.00
  • PSA 8 on 7/22/2019 for $420.00.
  • PSA 5 on 5/15/2019 for $177.50
  • PSA 6 on 3/20/2019 for $392.77

KELLOGG — More Clemente Cards & Cereal

Kellogg issued baseball cards in their cereal for a while. Unlike Post’s early 1960s versions, these were among the earliest cards to use harder cards with glaring reflective and shifting surfaces. Because these cards are harder than most, they still sell quite high in ungraded conditions. eBay showed the following ungraded sales in auction formats with multiple bidders:

  • 1970 for $95.00 on September 14, 2021 after 23 bids.
  • 1971 for $272.00 on September 14, 2021 after 34 bids.
  • 1972 for $89.00 on September 14, 2021 after 25 bids.

A 1970 Kellogg’s #27 Roberto Clemente graded PSA 8 sold for $241.50 after 20 bids on September 5, 2021. A different PSA 8 example sold for $202.99 after 4 bids on June 20, 2021 and an ungraded example sold for $169.50 on August 22, 2021 after 14 bids.

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There are some other images of Clemente that have been used, but these are the main cards you will find issued by food companies.