Sunday, October 18, 2020

Cash, Credit, or Perma-Graphic?

This Perma-Graphic credit card arrived in the mail recently (front and back shown). It was originally issued by Topps in 1981, but it's still good today.

 




The cards are printed on plastic of a similar thickness to any other valid credit card. Similar length and width, too.

And just as with many other brands, they're available in a variety of designs. I went with Keith Hernandez here, who'd soon win the first of his two World Series Championships. By this point he'd already won three Gold Glove awards and taken home a share of the 1979 MVP award. Pretty good player to represent your credit rating, don't you think?

As for the full list of designs on offer, there are 32 in all, with many of the big names you'd expect. The first five cards will give you an idea: Bench, Schmidt, Brett, Yastrzemski, Rose.

And if that's not enough, there's this (in fine print at the bottom of the card):

AS A COLLECTOR OF THE LIMITED EDITION SUPER STAR CREDIT CARD SERIES YOU ARE RECOGNIZED AS A LOYAL BASEBALL FAN AND A MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING OF THE ELITE SUPER STAR FAN CLUB.

Surely your local department store manager will recognize that you—in good standing of the elite super star fan club—can charge items throughout the store with no limit. 

Why not pick one up for yourself today?


(Note: I am an unpaid spokesperson)

9 comments:

  1. These are really neat, and I'm guessing there was nothing else like it in the hobby at the time. I wonder how these were issued, my guess would be they came in single-card blister packs with cardboard backers so you could see who you're getting. I was only a year old though so I'm taking a wild guess.

    The 1995 Studio set was my first experience with baseball "credit" cards.

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    1. I don't think they were ever issued in stores, strictly a mail-in purchase. At least that's all I ever saw.

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    2. I hadn't even thought about how these cards were issued. And I wasn't collecting in 1995, so that Studio set is new to me. Good information, guys!

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  2. I absolutely love these. They're some of the coolest -- and strangest -- cards of the '80s.

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    1. Agreed. And I suppose they'd make the perfect "wallet card", wouldn't they?

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  3. I have a complete 1981 set. Love the team logos. Thought I wrote a set spotlight post on them, but can't seem to find it.

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    1. Well done on the complete set, Fuji! Maybe there's a spotlight post in your blog's future.

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  4. I love these a lot. I used to pine for them while reading ads for them in Baseball Digest. These '81s are the best of the bunch and I need to get more of them.

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    1. Agreed. The '82s and '83s just don't have the same appeal. Going to see if I can find an example of a magazine ad somewhere online.

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