Saturday, May 23, 2020

Down the MSA Rabbit Hole



You may have noticed that I've recently been showing a lot of the disc sets from MSA.  It has been a fun and interesting dive down the MSA rabbit hole, but also a bit frustrating.

You know that I am a bit of a completist.  I don't like empty spots in my collection. My quest is to have all of the Cubs discs from all of the MSA sets.  The problem is that I have yet to find a master list of their sets. Instead, I've had to use a scatter-shot search.

First I searched on the Trading Card Database.  My query was a year and the word discs.  For example, searching for "1976 discs" gives me these results:


Then I'd click each of the results with word "discs" and see if they are MSA sets.  I did that for each year from 1974 through 2005.  I found their first set, a test set in 1975.  Their final set came out in 2002.

I also scanned through the index of the Standard Catalog.  I found a couple sets there that were labeled with the word discs though the TCDB did not use discs in their description. 

That is my frustration. Are there other sets that I missed?  I have no idea.

My research has turned up a total of 93 different MSA sets. The sets include 138 Cubs.  I have in hand or on the way 117 of them.  The 21 that I'm missing will not be easy to find.  I'm expecting it will take years, if ever, to end up with all 138.  But that is my goal.

Below is a list of all the MSA sets. Take a look.  Vintage collectors, do you notice any that I've missed?

1975   MSA Test - blank backs
1976Blank backs
Buckman
Carousel
Crane
Dairy Isle
Isaly's
Orbakers
Red Barn
Safelon
Towne Club
1977Burger Chef
Chilly Willee
Dairy Isle
Detroit Caesars
Holiday Inn
MSA Customized
Pepsi Glove
Saga
Wendy's
Zip'z
1978Big T/Tastee Freez
Papa Gino's
Saga
Wiffle
1979Wiffle
1980NONE ISSUED
1981FBI
MSA Mini
Peter Pan / Sunbeam Bread
1982FBI
On Deck Cookies
1983Roy Rogers Yankees
1984NONE ISSUED
1985Cain's
Jox Thom McAn
KAS
Kitty Clover
Subway (blank back)
1986Cains
Jay's
Jiffy Pop
KAS
Kitty Clover
1987Cain's
Jiffy Pop
Key Food
Our Own Tea
Super Stars
Weis Winners
1988Master Bread
Fantastic Sam's
Hostess Potato Chips
Jiffy Pop
Key Food
King B
Our Own Tea
Super Stars
Tetley Tea
Weis Winners
1989Bimbo Cookies
Holsum
Holsum Schafer
Key Food
King B
Master Bread
Our Own Tea
Rainier Farms
Super Stars
Taystee
Tetley Tea
Weis Winners
1990Holsum
King B
MSA Super Stars
Tetley Tea
1991Holsum
King B
1992Ben's Super Hitters
Coke Hardees
King B
1993Ben's Super Pitchers
King B
1994Innovative Confections
King B
1995King B
1996King B

Schwebel's Stars
1997King B
1998King B
1999King B
2000King B
2001King B
King B Legends
2002King B

7 comments:

  1. Pretty sure those 76' discs also had a blank back version

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  2. You’re right, and I have five of those on order. I don’t know why I didn’t include them on the list. I'll update the list. Thanks for the heads up.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. I think the '75 blank and '75 Test are one in the same. At least that's what it looks like on Ebay.

      Delete
  4. I was thinking about picking one player... and chasing down all of their discs. But I'm already chasing too many other rabbits right now.

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  5. Fantastic research, much appreciated. Your listing matches up what I have/need as a Mike Schmidt collector. The '88 Fantastic Sam's set comes in both circular - disc and square versions.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The 1976 Carousel set has approximately 30 variations as the discs were stamped on the back by the snack bar location that distributed them. The blank backs may be unstamped Carousels.

    ReplyDelete