US Wars and The FBI

BGC 009

Vietnam will always be a controversial and unpleasant topic for most Americans. Some might even argue that it is not an appropriate subject for a trading card set. When it was announced in 1988 that Dart Flipcards, a Canadian company, was about to release a 66-card set about Vietnam, there was an initial wave of protest, no doubt magnified by the stereotypical coverage of the electronic and print media. Had any other card manufacturer produced the set, the criticism might have been warranted, but once the set was made public, the derision turned to admiration. This was not a set that glorified war in artwork or in word, nor propaganda on behalf of either side. Instead, Dart created a trading card set based on nothing but the facts, and in so doing, established a benchmark for excellence and a reputation for integrity.

The series consists of 66 titles and most text descriptions are in French and English as the set was sold in both the U.S and Canada. It was produced as a limited run and the printing plates and film were destroyed. Complete set.

Price: $100.00

BGC 008

The artwork and text of this 48-card set entitled ‘THE SECOND WORLD WAR” were not plagiarized from other sets, so the W.S. Corp. printed its name on the cards. The artwork fronts are all horizontal, and the set title and card captions are printed in red panels above and below the picture. The backs are vertical (notice the similarity between these and the reverses of “THE NIGHTMARE OF WARFARE” series), and the print is black and the print is black on gray stock. Some card captions vary slightly from front to back and a “(C) W.S. 1939, N.Y.C.” line is found on every card reverse at the bottom. The cards are numbered 125-172. Some machine-cut cards have been found, indicating that this series may have been marketed in another manner besides strips. This collection holds 30/48 cards.

Price: $900.00

BGC 007BGC 007

It almost see that the art department at Gum, Inc. went crazy producing the “WAR NEWS PICTURES” series since there are so many style and color variations in the set, which contained 144 cards. There are seven distinct groups of cards: 1-48, 49-72, 73-84, 85-96, 97-108, 109-120, and 121-144. The first 120 cards bear a tiny subseries code number in the bottom-right corner on the reverse. Fortunately, the words “WAR NEWS” are somewhere on every card, the one common detail which makes cards of this series easy to identify.

Gum, Inc. began distributing WAR NEWS PICTURES in 1939 and continued into 1940. The initial wrapper was semi-clear wax with the world “WAR” set on a red center and the advertising copy on it tried to tie in WAR NEWS PICTURES with the fabulously successful “HORRORS OF WAR” series which preceded it: “START IMMEDIATELY TO SAVE THIS COMPLETE SERIES. Complete sets of the first 240 Horrors of War cards, published in 1938, are now very valuable. Don’t miss the opportunity to get all of this new series of picture cards.” If that was not enough, another advertising panel on the wrapper described the current set as “news pictures and illustrations of the current HORRORS OF WAR in Europe.” The wrapper bears a 1939 copyright date.

The second wrapper associated with the set carries a 1940 copyright date and has a white and black newspaper design set on a yellow center. By that time, the public had already come to the conclusion that War News Pictures couldn’t match Horrors of War in style and quality, so the attempt to link the two sets by advertising propaganda was abandoned in favor of passing off the cards as “valuable classroom material”. J. Warren Bowman, the owner of Gum, Inc., was a man always in search of a promotional gimmick: convincing teachers to allow bubble gum cards in the schoolhouse was the kind of challenge he enjoyed!

Three additional elements of this set are fascinating to collectors. First, the subseries numbered 49-72 carries the identical color artwork of 24 cards of Gum, Inc.’s “THE WORLD IN ARMS” set, which was also issued in 1939. This is the only run of full color cards in the War News Pictures, and only Bowman would dare to make two sets out of the one! Secondly, advertising on the last run of War News Pictures cards (121-144) suggests that more cards above No. 144 were planned – but none were ever released to the public. Finally, the set contains 12 of the rarest of all 1930’s cards: numbers 109-120. Over the years, collectors have constructed several theories to account for the scarcity of these cards, but no reliable information about them has been confirmed. Very few complete sets of War News Pictures are known to exist because these 12 cards are simply not available. This collection holds 106/144 cards.

Price: $1500.00

BGC 006

The most interesting aspect of the strip card set titled “WAR SCENES” is that it has three back varieties. Type 1 backs are printed in blue ink and have the manufacturer’s name (MP & CO.) and a “Made in USA” line at bottom. The other two back types are devoid of company name or origin lines and differ only in color of ink: lavender or black. All card number have been found in each reverse-side ink color. The front artwork is the low grade, fast-production type characteristic of most strip card sets. The cards are numbered on the back only, and titles may vary slightly between front and back. Offered here are 32/48 cards.

Price: $600.00

BGC 005

ARMY, NAVY AND AIR CORPS. The rough color artwork characteristic of the W. S. Corporation is found in this set of 48 cards entitled Army ★ Navy and Air Corps. Issued in 1942, the cards were originally distributed in strips, and single cards have one or two rouletted edges. The set title runs across the top of the card in a white panel while the individual caption is located at the base in a large, red border. Each card is numbered front and back (601 to 648), and a short text appears on the reverse. The cards are landscaped and measure 2 ⅜ × 2 11⁄16 inches. I hold 27/48 cards

Price: $600.00

BGC 004

This is the intact strip card version of AMERICA AT WAR, issued in 1942 by the W.S. Company. It is one of the last sets to be produced before war time material restrictions shutdown trading card production. Rare to find intact.

Price: $1400.00

BGC 003BGC 003

ACTION GUM was hardly “The Greatest Card Series Ever Produced” (as Goudey Gum did claim on the back of every card), but it is popular among collectors. None of the 96 cards in the set refers to a wartime event, so it is believed that the date of the issue was 1938-1939. The color artwork and texts of Action Gum cards are bland when compared to War Gum and Horrors of War. Offered here is the complete set.

Price: $1400.00

BGC 002

One of the last sets to be produced before war time material restrictions shutdown trading card production, AMERICA AT WAR was issued by the W.S. Company in 1942. Complete set of all 48 cards.

Price: $900.00