The best that I can tell there are 3 main types of Strat cards.
- Original - Printed in whatever year that say. These are blank backed and have a slightly thicker card stock.
- Recreated - These have the same fronts but in addition they have a whole other set of things on the back.
- Super Advanced - How anyone calls these super advanced is beyond me. Yeah they have a little bit more color and the stats are a little different but Super Advanced they are not.
On top of those three main types there are a few variations. The ones I have seen are color and cut but who knows if there are more. Moving on to scans.
Starting at the beginning of Virdon's career this 55 Strat is of the Super Advanced variety. All of the Super Advanced have the first stat at the bottom as AVG.
All the colors on the back are also a sign it isn't original.
If you compare the fronts of these 1956 Strats to the 1955 you will notice the first stat at the bottom is AT BATS. That means that they are not Super Advanced.
Since there is stuff on the back these are also not original. They are however two different variations of recreated Strats because the colors are reversed between the two of them. Maybe this could tell a more knowledgeable person what year they are from or maybe not.
The 57 I have is of the Super Advanced type.
My 58 is also of the Super Advanced variety. They seem to be way more common in this type.
The back of this 59 makes it look like it should be Super Advanced but it is not. It is a recreated card with that uses the coloring pattern of the Super Advanced but the AT BATS is the giveaway.
Here is a side by side comparison of the regular next to a Super Advanced. The 1960 on the left is the first Original Strat-O-Matic card I have shown. It however is a Red Ink Variable which I am told is less common. Or at least that is what the eBay auction said.
The back is where you can see the difference in the original. The blank back is a dead giveaway.
The two 1961s on the right sure look the same but they are not.
Even the scan of the back looks exactly the same. What you can't see in the scan however is that the edge of the cards have little nipples from where they were attached together in a sheet. The edge of one of these has no nipples. It was printed individually instead of a sheet that one had to tear apart.
This 62 is another recreated card. It has no nipples just like the 61 I posted. These are the only two recreated cards I have without the nipples.
A 63 in the Super Advanced variety.
This is an original next to a Super Advanced 1964.
Again another Original next to a Super Advanced.
I got a whole bunch of these from Chris Rosen who runs Moonlight Grahams Marketplace. I just sent him and email saying I am interested in any Bill Virdon gaming cards he had and he sent me a list of all he had.
I promise next time I'll post something with a little more color.
2 comments:
It wouldn’t affect Virdon, but it should be noted that by 1972 the originals were NOT blank on the back. I grew up playing the ‘72 set.
My dad played this game as a kid and after he passed, I kept a bunch of the cards. I want to say they were from 1973 but I don't remember for sure. I wish I knew where they were now, I don't remember what I did with them.
Good post though, it was cool to see some again. Brought back some memories.
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