A Prize That Is Finally Mine

During the 2013 Industry Summit Famous Fabrics, to promote the upcoming Horrors of War II release, inserted three different relics in random packs. The three relics; WWII Navy Flight Suit, Vietnam Army Uniform and Spanish-American War Tunic, were limited to #/30 each for a total of 90 cards in the set.

 

I picked up the WWII and Spanish-American War relics right after the Industry Summit but the Vietnam relic card supply dried up. Since March 2013 I have been waiting patiently for a sign of any of the Vietnam relics to show up with no luck. Last week a Canadian dealer posted up two of them for auction, I was in heaven, and at $9.99 (plus $4 shipping) I was the only bidder so I won with no change in the price. I didn’t see what the second one sold for but at the $13.99 total price I paid was actually less than I paid for the other two cards ($18 & $24).

 

Here are all three of my cards together, a nice collection for a history buff like me. It is always a great feeling when you complete a set, even though this is only 3 cards it was a chase.

Part III- 2013 Horrors Of War II

Today is June 6^th, D-Day. 69 years ago the largest amphibious assault in history led to a beach head on the coast of Normandy which changed the tide of war for the Allies and allowed them to begin the final march to Berlin. In total there were 155,000 soldiers from 11 nations that took part in the invasion along with 195,000 naval personnel and 5,000 ships in support. I find it fitting that I end my three part review of the upcoming Horrors of War II release on an important day in the history of World War II.

 

Today I will cover the “big” hits, cut signature cards and art cards.

 

In a close out post covering Horrors of War Series II, Famous Fabrics has released a preliminary list of the cut signature cards that are included on the checklist. HoW Series I cut signature checklist was made up with a large collection of Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War with a number of veterans from other conflicts like the American Revolution, Gulf War, Cold War and War on Terror. The checklist from HoW Series II is similar but includes some additional conflicts like Carlist Wars (a series of Spanish Civil Wars), Crimean War, Franco-Prussian War, the French Revolution, the Mexican Revolution and Second Boer War. So far there are well over 150 veterans on the checklist from 19 different conflicts, and this is only a preliminary list too.

 

Like Horrors of War I the card designs and card colors are different for each conflict for example yellow for WWII, purple for WWI and blue for the Civil War.

 

 

The checklist for the art cards is also complete and contains 16 people, the Czar Nicholas II card has not been shown yet. Here is the list of 16 people on the checklist:

Benito Mussolini

Douglas MacArthur
Hideki Tojo
Winston Churchill
Jim Doolittle
Charles de Gaule
Joseph Stalin
Napoleon Bonaparte
Emperor Hirohito
Adolph Hitler
Heinrich Himmler
Erwin Rommel
Osama bin Laden
Czar Nicholas II
Franz Ferdinand
Dwight Eisenhower

 

 

There were multiple artists involved with creating this set with one of my favorite artists, Jared Kelley, creating 7 of the cards. He did 7 personalities x 10 cards each, so he did a total of 70 cards (out of 160 total cards). If you are interested in seeing more of his work, he has worked with Famous Fabrics/Sport Kings/ITG and Upper Deck; here is a link to Jared Kelley’s web site

 

Here are the cards created by Jared, he also did Czar Nicholas II but I have not seen that card yet:

 

Here are the remaining 9 cards; I do not know who the other artist(s) are at this time.

 

 

Being a history based set I feel very connected to these types of releases, they are educational and informative. As George Santayana said (and repeated by History teachers to this day in various forms) “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.

Part II- 2013 Horrors Of War II

At the end of the month Famous Fabrics will be releasing Horrors of War II, a follow up to the 2011 Horrors of War I set. This base set checklist begins where Series I left off so this is a continuation of that checklist. This 40-card set will include cards #49 through 88 on the checklist and each base card will be limited to #/40. The checklist begins with card #49- The Seven Years War (1754-1763) and runs through 17 different conflicts ending with card #88- War on Terror.

The base cards are only the beginning of the product. Last year we saw each $160 box contain 2 cards, one base card and one cut signature, this year there will be 3 cards per box. No price has been announced yet. There will be one base card, one cut signature and one special insert. The special card will be one of four inserts; a Military Relic card (similar to the Las Vegas Summit preview cards), a Military Patch Relic card, a Hand-Painted Art card or an original 1938 Horrors of War Buyback card.

The Military Relic cards will contain a uniform swatch from various military uniforms and they will be numbered to #/30 each. I believe there will be 40-42 cards on this checklist based on the numbering shown on preview images.

The Military Patch Relic cards have uniform patches and each card is 1/1, based on the numbering it appears that there may be 200 different patches.

The Hand-Painted Art cards have a 16-card checklist and each card will be #/10. Jared Kelley is the artist who painted the cards, I will cover the Art Cards tomorrow.

The 1938 Horrors of War Buyback cards are original cards that have been graded and slabbed by PSA; no other information has been announced about these cards.

I am a little confused about the numbering, there are only going to be 1,600 boxes printed total and with one special insert card per box there should only be a total of 1,600 special cards. The math just does not add up though when you look at the preview cards. Not counting the buy-back cards the numbering shown already equals 1,610 special cards, not to mention that if there are 1,250 Military Relic cards it means there are 41.6667 cards on the checklist (huh?). My guess is that these label numbers are just mock-ups and not actual numbers.

Part I- 2013 Horrors Of War II

One of my favorite non-sports vintage sets would be the R69 1938 Horrors of War by Gum, Inc. This set has some of the most vibrant and detailed illustrations I have ever seen and while they do depict violence there is something beautiful about the product. In 2011 Famous Fabrics released Horrors of War, now designated as Horrors of War I, a 48-card addition building on to the original 1938 set. What made the set quite interesting, besides the limited number of boxes released, was the addition of a 1/1 cut signature card that included the signature of a soldier or political personality connected to various military actions from the American Revolution to the War on Terror. Prices obviously range greatly from $30-40 range all the way up in to the thousands for someone like John F. Kennedy.

These signatures made the product so popular that it sold out as soon as it was made available, knowing that eventually a second series would be released I began wondering what Famous Fabrics was going to do to top their previous release. During the 2013 Las Vegas Summit Famous Fabrics made the announcement that Horrors of War II would be out this summer, June 27, and they even included three special relic cards in preview packs during the event to show one of those new additions to the upcoming set. I set out immediately to add all three cards to my personal collection, I was able to pick up two of the cards within the first week following the Summit but then it seems like the supply dried up and the third card has alluded me since.

The three cards contained one of three uniform swatches and the cards were each #/30 for a total of 90 cards being made. The uniform swatch is quite large, roughly 1.5x1.5 inches, and the card design highlights the relic. The front tells what type of uniform the piece is from and which war it was worn during. The back is pretty basic, the standard “Congratulations” message and a short description of the item. The cards are encased with the label including all the same info, the card number out of #/30 as well as the total series number out of #/90.

The first thirty cards are from a U.S. Navy Winter Flight Suit from World War II. My card is #21/30 and #21/90 and it is a beautiful reddish-brown leather fabric that is very similar to a WWII flight jackets but heavier.

The second thirty cards are from a uniform worn by the U.S. Army Rainbow Brigade from the Vietnam War. I do not have this card and I am unable to find these cards anymore, I waited on these because the price was pretty low and I figured to get the other two cards first. Now I am stuck waiting for one to show up for auction.

The final thirty cards are from a U.S. Army Tunic from the Spanish-American War. My card is #16/30 and #76/90 and it is a dirty-tan color that looks oddly like corduroy pants.

Being a history buff these cards are a wonderful addition to my personal collection, hopefully I will be able to pick up one of the Rainbow Brigade cards to complete the three card checklist. These cards are just a preview of one aspect of the upcoming Horrors of War II set, along with the military uniform relics we will also see Military patch cards, actual patches from various uniforms, and hand painted cards. They are also inserting original 1938 Horror of Wars buyback cards. I will do a preview of the new set shortly.

Part III- 2011 Horrors of War Cut Signature Cards

This is part three of a three-part story

Benito Mussolini- WWII

The main focus of the revived Horrors of War set is the inclusion of 1/1 cut signatures in each pack. With each pack/box containing a 1/1 cut signature and 1600 total packs/boxes being created that means that the checklist is 1600 people long. Talk about an amazing feat putting this set together.

Here is the complete checklist available on Famous Fabrics Ink’s web site.

Douglas MacArthur- WWII Version

Each cut signature card design is different for each military action to designate that specific war. In some cases, such as in the case of Thomas Pinckney and Abner Doubleday where they served in multiple conflicts they were assigned a specific war and included in that portion of the checklist only while others like Douglas MacArthur were included in multiple sections- MacArthur has a cut signature in the World War I, World War II and Korean War checklists. The WWII checklist is by far the largest portion of the set

Wilber Brucker- WWI

The checklist is amazing to say the least and includes soldiers, world leaders and other personalities tied to each military action. Here is the list of all wars including in the set.

American Revolution (1776-1783)

Boer War (1899-1902)

Civil War (1861-1863)

Cold War (1945-1991)

Great French War (1792-1815)

Gulf War (1991)

Korean War (1951-1953)

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

Spanish-American War (1898)

Vietnam War (1963-1975)

War in Iraq (2003-2011)

War of 1812 (1812)

War on Terror (2001-2011)

World War I (1914-1918)

World War II (1939-1945)

Prices of the cut signatures range most topping $100 easily and as far as I know none of the major signatures have been pulled yet. Some of the bigger names include Fidel Castro, JFK, Saddam Hussein, Adolph Hitler, Erwin Rommel, Benito Mussolini and Douglas MacArthur.

Erwin Rommel- WWII

Robert Mason- Vietnam War

Jame Tallmadge- War of 1812

Part II- 2011 Horrors of War Base Cards

This is part two of a three-part story

In 1938 Gum, Inc., released the 288-card Horrors of War set over two separate releases, now 73 years later Famous Fabrics Ink has released their “addition” to Gum, Inc.’s original set. The new 48-card base set picks up where the original set ended, the onset of World War II, and includes cards from WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraqi War and The War on Terror with the final 8 cards (covering the Iraqi War and War on Terror) being only available as case toppers. All base cards are encased with the regular base cards having silver labels and case toppers having green labels (The promo materials showed gold labels on all of the base cards but the live product actually has silver labels on the base cards and green for case toppers).

 The set is extremely limited with only 1,600 total boxes being produced. Each $160 box will contain 2 cards, 1 base card #/40 and a 1/1 cut signature card. Interestingly they have numbered each base card #/40 as well as #/1600 to designate where each card stands within that specific card number on the checklist as well as overall in the entire base set run.

The product is still pretty new, released 8/11/11, and there are only a couple of base cards available for auction right now and the prices really range starting at a dollar or two all the way up to $150, which is insane considering you spend another $10-15 and you can purchase a 2-card box which comes with a base card and a cut signature card. Someone posted a complete 48-card base set for $4800, which I guess would be a fair price if you were looking to build the set.

 I am not a fan of the illustrations used with the updated set, it is obviously not as bright and much tamer in comparison to the original set which can be attributed to a by-product of our "P.C." world and bleeding hearts that would file a lawsuit because "Won't somebody please think of the children?' (Admit it, you all read that in Rev. Lovejoy's wife's voice) . In all honesty I do not see this set holding up to the test of time like the original and the only real selling point to the set is the cut signatures.

#2- Hitler Visits Mussolini

#6- Rommel, the Desert Fox

#13- PT 109

#36- Kent State Massacre

#44- Osama bin Laden

#45- World Trade Center

Part I- 1938 Horrors of War

This is part one of a three-part story

In 1938 Gum, Inc., a Philadelphia based candy company owned by Warren Bowman (yes that Bowman) looking to create some buzz created the “Horrors of War Bubble Gum” set, each penny-gum came with a single card depicting the horrors of war. The set, designated R69 1938 Horrors of War, included an illustration on the front and a description on the back.

The initial 240-card set, included illustrations showing the atrocities of the ongoing Chinese-Japanese War, the Ethiopian War (Italian invasion of Ethiopia) and the Spanish Civil War. The set sold so well that Bowman decided to release an additional 48 cards showing the horrors that were happening in Europe that eventually lead up to World War II (Germany’s annexation of the Sudetenland). These final 48 cards did not sell as well as the original 240 cards but are now among the most coveted cards in the entire 288-card set due to their scarcity with the 3 cards containing Adolph Hitler demanding a premium (Cards # 277, 283 & 286). Bowman even brought in additional staff including artists, illustrators and distributors just to keep up with demand.

#277- Hitlers Border Tour Raises War Scare

Warren Bowman later went on to say that the reason he created the set was because he wanted to try and teach peace by exposing the horrors of war. Obviously there was a controversy with some saying the set was created solely to make money based on shock value while others, rumored to include President Franklin D. Roosevelt, supported the set as a way to show the violence that was happening around an isolated United States. Some would claim the set was created as war propaganda and some would claim that the cards were to be used as an educational tool.



Original Artwork

 Since the initial release in 1938 we have seen Bowman release similar sets, one of the more notable sets being the 1951 Bowman Red Menace set, we have seen reprints and we now see serious collectors hunting down the original artwork used in the set along with proofs. With well over 10,000 Horror of War singles having been graded only 16 proofs have been graded and are demanding $5,000 or more with original artwork selling near $10,000 for authenticated pieces. There are many ungraded base cards that can be picked up for less than $10 and is a great way to collect one of the most significant non-sports sets ever. Violent nature aside, this set is easily one of the most beautifully illustrated card sets of the first half of the 20^th Century.

Proof

Can you believe that you could have picked up the complete first-series 240 base cards for only $1 in 1938 or you could have taken your chances and bought each card one at a time for 1 penny each ($2.40 if you never pulled a double). Partial sets now are selling for well over $1,000 depending on how many cards are in the lot.

1938 Horrors of War Display Box

Additional cards showing the variety of illustrations, some quite gruesome, that are included in this set:

#3- U.S. Marine Shot While Aiding Americans

#21- The Siege of Toledo

#67- Women Fighters In Spain

#71- The Emperor Leaves Ethiopia

#72- Profile of Attack on American Legation at Addis Ababa

#88- Human Hands Warn Newspaper Publishers