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1961 Post Cereal

The 1961 Post Cereal Baseball consists of 200 cards measuring 2-1/2" by 3-1/2". Post distributed the cards (six each) via the back panel of cereal boxes or through the mail where fans could order certain cards as part of a large pre-perforated sheet. The cards were similar in size to those produced by Topps, with all of the player's statistics and photo printed on the front. The reverse of each card remained gray cardboard - the thickness of the cardboard stock used for the actual boxes being heavier than that of the company's pre-perforated sheets. Post issued the cards as team sets with sequential numbering, starting with the Yankees (#1-18), followed by the White Sox (#19-34), Tigers (#35-46), Red Sox (#47-56), Indians (#57-67), Orioles (#68-80), Athletics (#81-90) and Twins (#91-100). Milwaukee topped the NL roster (#101-114), followed by the Phillies (#115-124), Pirates (#125-140), Giants (#141-155), Dodgers (#156-170), Cardinals (#171-180), Reds (#181-190) and Cubs (#191-200). Stars included Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays. Scarcities include Gil McDougald (#10), Bob Shaw (#23), Gene Woodling (#70), Chuck Estrada (#73), Chuck Stobbs (#94) (the key to the set), Chuck Cottier (#113), Bill Virdon (#135), Mel Roach (#163), and Roy McMillan (#183). McDougald, Shaw, Woodling, Cottier, Virdon, Roach and McMillan were only found on selected cereal boxes, Estrada and Stobbs were only available on the factory team sheets. Other price premiums exist between box and company variations, with some of the more valuable examples including Early Wynn (#22b) (company), Jim Lemon (#93a) (box), Gene Conley (#124b) (company) and Willie McCovey (#147b) (company). Some of the player details (such as their team) also vary between the hand-cut and company cards. Notable examples include #30 - Gene Freese, (listed with the Reds and White Sox), #41 Frank Bolling (Braves and Tigers), #57 Harvey Kuenn (Giants and Indians), and #142 John Antonelli (Cleveland and San Francisco). The run of cards from #91 - 100 takes this confusion one step further, with Twins cards cut from the box listing the team as "Minneapolis" and company-supplied cards listing it as "Minnesota." “Traded” or “Sold” information on the company sheets, which were issued some time after the cereal boxes went to print. One example of every variation would bring a master set tally to 357.

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