1962 BELL BRAND DODGERS BASEBALL CARDS PREMIER COMPLETE SET All PSA / BVG Set
THE "BEST OF THE BEST" 1962 BELL BRAND DODGERS BASEBALL CARDS "PREMIER" COMPLETE SET! Bell Brand baseball cards derived their name from the free card offered inside select Bell Brand potato chips and corn chips. Beginning in 1958 and ending in 1962, the plastic wrapped cards were loosely placed inside both 29-cent and 49-cent packages.
During this period not only were baseball cards part of the giveaway, they also included football and non-sports cards. From the beginning, these cards were plagued with oddities and problems, but these still do not deter eager collectors from trying to complete their sets. Don't be fooled by the small volume needed for completion; individual cards are hard to come by and quality sets can take several years to assemble. Jumping on the popularity of the championship Dodger team, Bell Brand decided to reissue the cards with a fresh new look. They set out early in the 1960 season and took photographs of the players at the Vero Beach, FL, spring training facility.This gave the Bell Brand company an opportunity to offer the cards in their potato chip bags before it was too late in the season. The result was a 20-card set featuring popular Dodger players of the time with three of them being short prints. This new design was an obvious improvement that appealed to the fans. The cards were printed with a white border measuring approximately 2 1/2" by 3 1/2".
The pictures were now in color as opposed to the 1958 black and white photos. With a little help from the star-studded lineup and a World Series title, Bell Brand cards became quite popular. As you can imagine, these cards are frequently seen with multiple stains. Heavy grease from the chips quickly soaked through the wrapper and onto the cardboard surface.
It is a common occurrence to see cards that have sharp corners and perfect centering but that possess brown stains that lessen the appeal, especially when set against a white background. These problems certainly have an effect on the overall grading process.
Today, even if a collector is lucky enough to have a card still sealed in the original clear wrapper, staining is still prevalent. This, coupled with the fact that there are centering issues and that many cards from this era were well played with and often discarded, makes it a very difficult venture to put together a high grade set. Bell Brand cards in PSA 7 and above are very rare and are seldom seen or offered. Many of these cards are held in private collections by fans loyal to the Dodger team. It is not surprising that of the four years, the highest graded complete set so far only has 7.39 grade points. You can pay little attention to the book value when trying to obtain one of these high-grade cards. Mint - Card is near perfect, sharp edges, corners, surface with no apparent issues to the naked eye. Nr-Mint / NM - Card may have one slight imperfection - small corner issue, light surface or print dot, some minor centering issues. EX-EXMINT - Card may have a couple corner issues, maybe some light surface wear but overall presents nice. No creases at this grade.VG-VGEX - Card may have more corner/edge wear, card may present some surface issues such as a light crease, wrinkle, or wax/stain. Low Grade - Card may have multiple wrinkles, heavy corner/edge wear, will grade as Poor/Fair.