Collecting and Translating the 1973 Calbee Bat-Backs (Part 1)
1973 Calbee #5 (bat-back) and #6 (flag-back) This post marks the first chronicling my quest to collect and translate all the 1973 Calbee “bat - back” cards. ‘ 73 was the first year the snack food company issued its still-ongoing baseball cards, with these bat-backs representing the very first off the line. The 91 odd cards by number (more exist by way of variations), preluded an expanded “flag-back” set of 368 cards. This complete ‘ 73-'74 Calbee set (in which all the original bat-backs were reprinted as flag-backs) is functionally impossible to complete because of its dozens of mythical super-short printed cards which can go for hundreds of dollars even in poor condition — when they actually surface. The original bat-backs, therefore, offer a more realistic (but still very tough) alternative. It appears still unconfirmed whether the bat-backs served as an actual test issue or if a decision was simply made to change the backs to the flag design and reprint and incorp