1954-55 Parkhurst Lucky Premiun gift list?

zackmak · 03-04-2021, 03:57 AM

According to https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/, they have this to say about the insert/parallels that were in the 1954-55 Parkhurst set:

Lucky Premium

New for 1954-55 Parkhurst was the Lucky Premium promotion. As kids opened packs and flipped over their cards, they would have found backs without biographies or statistics. Instead of all this key information, there was instead an off where they could send in the card and either cash or a money order to get a great item. For $4.75, you could get a pair of leather hockey gloves, or $1.50 would get you a miniature camera which boasted the ability to take 16 photos, timed exposure, and a 50 mm lens.

There was also a third offer for a gift list featuring other items. It had a spot on it for a postage stamp, much like a postcard, and kids filled in their mailing address to see what else they could potentially buy from the folks at Parkhurst.

All told, 57 different Lucky Premium cards have been discovered over the years. The number seems a bit odd when considering that the regular set’s production sheet likely had a total of 100 cards on it. A total of 20 players feature the Lucky Premium catalog offer on the back while 18 have the offer for gloves, and 19 of them showed off the camera.

Does anyone who collects Parkhurst have a copy of this gift list/catalog that was mailed to the collector? Or know where there is a scan of it online?

forceplay sport · 03-06-2021, 07:10 PM

my hockey card almanac says they are part of the set, but no other info.

zackmak · 03-07-2021, 10:38 AM

Got in touch recently with vintage hockey card collector 'extraordinaire', Bobby Burrell, who wrote the book 'Vintage Hockey Collector', and he said he did look for it to put it into his book, but he has never come across a physical copy, or even a scan, of this catalogue. He put out his book in 2006, with an updated version in 2015, so there were many years to re-research 'unfound/unconfirmed' items for the updated copy.

That's not to say Parkhurst never fulfilled the mail-back, nor does it mean these catalogues don't exist any more, of course. Like a lot of vintage things, coming across a specific item - especially limited-run promotions such as this (in Canada's smaller population, no less, vs. if Parkhurst series were distributed across all of North America and thus more chances of redemption) that also relied on the customer's initiative to mail their card back - you would need A LOT of things to line up so it can be viewed in front of your very own eyes.

I'm sure the catalogue is in someone's collection - one copy could have been displayed at a show but you had to be there by pure chance to see it on that day, in that specific location in the country the expo is being held in, etc. etc.; or, the owner(s) never bothered to post it online...but if they did, having it easily pop up in your search results, having the inquiring fan look for it with proper, thorough searching tools at the times the photo was actually existing online to even do the search, etc. etc. It's like all these 1/1 cards....unless someone posts a pic of them, how do we even know they exist, even if Upper Deck stated it exists in their checklist. Even further, I understand Upper Deck has inserts they don't even announcee...good luck making a checklist and price guide, then LOL.

I'm sure Bobby Burrell - who I have no doubt put his A-game into making this book as complete as possible and researched to no ends - ran into these challenges that had 'luck' in the driver's seat, and there was nothing he could do about it, except report his findings.

So that puts an end to my search. Disappointing, but it is what it is. Unsolved mysteries add intriguing fun to collecting, for sure.

GOTcollector · 03-10-2021, 09:49 PM

Just picked up a George Armstrong LPB PSA 5.5. Theres been a lot more of these cards discovered since that article came out in July 2019, theres 52 different ones I can find listed on ebay. Never knew they were somewhat of an insert or chase card, I wonder how rare they actually are?

sthoemke · 03-10-2021, 10:25 PM

Of the 75-card WRESTLING set, 62 cards have "Lucky Premium" backs.

The 13 cards that do not have the backs are cards 3, 6, 8, 23, 25, 27, 47, 50, 51, 53, 70, 71, and 74.

At one time, I estimated from bulk lots sold, that the ratio was about 3 to 1. That was before there was interest in the variation, and I suspect the number of "Lucky Premium" backs to come up for sale to be quite a bit scarcer than that original estimate.

It is unknown if they were short-printed. I'd guess many were originally redeemed, taking them out of circulation.

GOTcollector · 03-10-2021, 10:35 PM

Sorry I should have specified when I said I could find 52 examples on Ebay I was referring to hockey cards only, I wasnt counting the wrestling ones.

03-10-2021, 09:49 PM	#4
GOTcollector Member Join Date: Feb 2020 Location: Canada Posts: 419	Just picked up a George Armstrong LPB PSA 5.5. Theres been a lot more of these cards discovered since that article came out in July 2019, theres 52 different ones I can find listed on ebay. Never knew they were somewhat of an insert or chase card, I wonder how rare they actually are? __________________ Collecting anything GOT

03-10-2021, 10:25 PM	#5
sthoemke Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Parts Unknown Posts: 6,530 sthoemke sthoemke	Of the 75-card WRESTLING set, 62 cards have "Lucky Premium" backs. The 13 cards that do not have the backs are cards 3, 6, 8, 23, 25, 27, 47, 50, 51, 53, 70, 71, and 74. At one time, I estimated from bulk lots sold, that the ratio was about 3 to 1. That was before there was interest in the variation, and I suspect the number of "Lucky Premium" backs to come up for sale to be quite a bit scarcer than that original estimate. It is unknown if they were short-printed. I'd guess many were originally redeemed, taking them out of circulation. __________________ [signature goes here]

03-10-2021, 10:35 PM	#6
GOTcollector Member Join Date: Feb 2020 Location: Canada Posts: 419	Sorry I should have specified when I said I could find 52 examples on Ebay I was referring to hockey cards only, I wasnt counting the wrestling ones. __________________ Collecting anything GOT

03-06-2021, 07:10 PM	#2
forceplay sport Member Join Date: Jan 2019 Posts: 145	my hockey card almanac says they are part of the set, but no other info.

03-07-2021, 10:38 AM	#3
zackmak Member Join Date: Sep 2020 Posts: 44	Got in touch recently with vintage hockey card collector 'extraordinaire', Bobby Burrell, who wrote the book 'Vintage Hockey Collector', and he said he did look for it to put it into his book, but he has never come across a physical copy, or even a scan, of this catalogue. He put out his book in 2006, with an updated version in 2015, so there were many years to re-research 'unfound/unconfirmed' items for the updated copy. That's not to say Parkhurst never fulfilled the mail-back, nor does it mean these catalogues don't exist any more, of course. Like a lot of vintage things, coming across a specific item - especially limited-run promotions such as this (in Canada's smaller population, no less, vs. if Parkhurst series were distributed across all of North America and thus more chances of redemption) that also relied on the customer's initiative to mail their card back - you would need A LOT of things to line up so it can be viewed in front of your very own eyes. I'm sure the catalogue is in someone's collection - one copy could have been displayed at a show but you had to be there by pure chance to see it on that day, in that specific location in the country the expo is being held in, etc. etc.; or, the owner(s) never bothered to post it online...but if they did, having it easily pop up in your search results, having the inquiring fan look for it with proper, thorough searching tools at the times the photo was actually existing online to even do the search, etc. etc. It's like all these 1/1 cards....unless someone posts a pic of them, how do we even know they exist, even if Upper Deck stated it exists in their checklist. Even further, I understand Upper Deck has inserts they don't even announcee...good luck making a checklist and price guide, then LOL. I'm sure Bobby Burrell - who I have no doubt put his A-game into making this book as complete as possible and researched to no ends - ran into these challenges that had 'luck' in the driver's seat, and there was nothing he could do about it, except report his findings. So that puts an end to my search. Disappointing, but it is what it is. Unsolved mysteries add intriguing fun to collecting, for sure.