1929 Leader Novelty Candy Co.

I was going to post this in Gil's "best buy" thread but I realized that these cards don't show up nearly often enough to qualify. Also, they tend to be on the pricey side if/when they do show up. Still, it seems to me that the Leader Novelty Candy cards are largely unrecognized by the majority of prewar collectors, likely because of their scarcity/obscurity. So much so that they aren't even listed on the Old Cardboard site. So I thought it might be a neat set to discuss.

Leader Novelties measure up at 1.75" by 2.6" and come in a variety of tints: sepia, red, purple, and green. From what I've gathered, they were largely unknown until a group was auctioned off by Sotheby's in 1991 (Copeland collection).

Show 'em if you got 'em. Here's my one and only, a sepia Hack Wilson:

What do the backs look like?

Jay

sabrjay wrote:What do the backs look like?

Jay

Blank backs, Jay.

I agree these and the Uncle Jacks are a nicer, yet pricier option for a duotone set when compared to the w517s. The images are superior with these, and the color variations make collecting that way quite a challenge.

I have no examples of either set yet, mainly do to prices. However a Leader Bottomley, if available, would probably be enough to entice me.

Why the name Leader Novelty? Were they cut from boxes?

Detaiols! I wants details

Jay

sabrjay wrote:Why the name Leader Novelty? Were they cut from boxes?

I wish I knew the answers myself, Jay. The cards have the look of a candy box cut, but the edges are pretty straight on the ones I've seen. May or may not be a scissor job. The fact that the cards have no side borders leads me to believe that they were issued in horizontal strips, but that's pure speculation on my part. My Wilson has very light paper residue on the four corners of the reverse. Maybe that could be a clue of some sort if it's consistent across the other known cards.

As for the "Leader Novelty" name, my best guess is that's the candy brand. Obviously my knowledge of the set is incomplete, which is partially the reason why I posted about it in the first place. I know Frank Ward has handled some, as has Glen V. I was hoping perhaps some other collectors here could possibly shed some light on the issue for us.

Here are a few images of Leader Novelty cards from FKW's site (Maranville and Traynor, both sold):

I don't know much about these (nor the Uncle Jacks) either.
The Leader Novelty cards first blinked into existence about 15 years ago, not many were found. I think that today there are still less than 100 (maybe less than 50) representing maybe two dozen players. They are dated to 1929. I believe the UJs are 1932 or so. I think VCP and CP have examples of these sets.

I checked VCP. They show a Traynor with full borders, and list 20 cards to the set which they describe as: Set Description: Leader Novelty is believed to have inserted these cards into boxes of candy. They are miniature versions of the R316 and W553 sets. The fronts are printed in a green, red, sepia or red duotone. Backs are not numbered and blank.

I have a few of these, they are very cool!

ItsOnlyGil wrote:I checked VCP. They show a Traynor with full borders, and list 20 cards to the set which they describe as: Set Description: Leader Novelty is believed to have inserted these cards into boxes of candy. They are miniature versions of the R316 and W553 sets. The fronts are printed in a green, red, sepia or red duotone. Backs are not numbered and blank.

That doesn't sound right to me, Gil. The Leaders do share the same poses as R316 (Kashin) and W553, but there are a few major differences between the sets. For example, the W553's have an ornate border design. Also, the R316's don't contain the color variations of the Leaders. So I don't think one could deem Leader Novelty cards "miniature versions" of those sets.

BTW, I've never seen a Leader Novelty with full side borders. I'd be interested in seeing that scan (I'm not a member of VCP).

VCP is very hospitable.
You do not need to be a member to access their database (I am not a member either).
From the main screen, select SEARCH.
Type in Leader Novelty under set name, I made sure that e-cards were selected, but Im not sure it is necessary.
Hit ENTER, and you are there.
You just can not verify prices unless you are a member.
If you have any problem, I will go get the picture, but I may need help in posting it here.

Thanks Gil. Nice layout on the site, although VCP should probably correct their info on the set. Here's their scan of the Traynor. Not sure what to make of it, as it appears cropped around the edges and I'm not sure where the borders end. It does appear to have the side borders intact though, which I haven't seen before on the Leaders.

The cards are smaller in size than the Kashins, so why not call them "miniature versions of the R316"? However, they are not photographic cards, but printed copies available in several colors.

For comparison, here are some Uncle Jacks (maybe).

I love B&W photos, but these other colors really don't do anything for me. I like colorized issues like m116s. With BUs, I really like the B&W ones and don't like the other colors. I think it's because it's harder to make out details in other colors.

Jay

I agree with that observation Jay. However, that applies to viewing each card individually.
When several colors of the same card are viewed together though, the overall appearance of the group is striking, I think.

ItsOnlyGil wrote:The cards are smaller in size than the Kashins, so why not call them "miniature versions of the R316"? However, they are not photographic cards, but printed copies available in several colors.

Calling the Leaders "miniature versions" of R316's implies that, other than their size, they are identical to R316's (much in the same way that W517 minis are "miniature versions" of W517's). However, with their color and printing differences, that doesn't appear to be the case. I would agree that the two sets are closely related though.

r337man wrote:I have a few of these, they are very cool!

Which players do you have, Dan? Any scans to share?

Among the multi-color duotone sets other than Exhibits, considering only image sharpness, I would rank them sharpest to least sharp as follows:

Leader Novelty
w553
Batter Up
w517
Uncle Jacks


Comments?

Gil, I concur with that ranking. If we were to rank these sets again, this time according to rarity, would you agree with the following:

Leader Novelty
Uncle Jacks
w553
(big jump)
w517
Batter Up

Here's a scan of my one and only W553:

Ben,
I have no data, and have seen no study of these sets. I have watched them casually for several years, and have come away with an impression only.

I agree that Leader Novelty is less common than the others.
I am unsure whether UJs or w553 are next in scarcity. They may be close.
And low number batter ups appear more common than w517s, but the high numbers seem less common. I know that I looked for a Medwick for quite some time. And a reasonably priced Appling was no joke either.

But following this series of progressively more difficult subjects relating to these sets, will eventually lead to color rarity. Which I can only address (if at all) for the two more common sets.

Where is Dan? Probably watching my Giants giving the Cowboys a workout. 14 - 14 right now.

Hey sorry guys, Mom is ill and I have spent a lot of time at the hospital. Pops is wrecked but hopefully Mom will pull through. Please keep her in your prayers for us! She is 80, got sick before Christmas, went to the Dr and received the proper antibiotics. But then never took them without anyone knowing. Laid in bed til New Years day which allowed the nasty pneumonia to take over her body. We carried her to the hospital where they speculated that we didn't have a day to spare. She had surgery yesterday to remove 1000 CC's of mucas from her right lung. She is doing well without a ventilator and has a good fighting chance to make it thank God. <p>

Now back to cards to keep my mind occupied: I will pull my leaders out tonight and scan them. I don't believe I have any full bordered ones either. My Uncle Jacks set is almost complete, I think I am missing 4? A trul tough issue indeed. Dan

I tried to "give" one of these to Ben a while back, but he didn't want it It seems plausable that there could be a Leader for every player in the W517 & W553 sets - maybe more will turn up. Seven of these were a new discovery outside the hobby - a guy found them in a notebook - and some were uncatalogued at the time. In case the scan is too small, the players are: Mel Ott, Al Simmons, E. Combs, Ed Miller, E. Rommel, J. Judge, Hack Wilson, and O'Doul.

Dan, sorry to hear about your mom. I'll keep your family in our thoughts and prayers.


Guys, keep the scans coming. Here's about all I have in the way of Leader Novelty Candy--obviously it came out years after the cards but I like it anyway.



Compare to the bland Uncle Jacks wrapper:

Thanks Todd i appreciate it. WOW Glen! That is a great collection of those puppies. Dan

First and foremost, my prayers go out to Dan and his family for his mother's speedy recovery.

Glen - good to see you check in on these. Great scan too! Interestingly, all of your cards lack the side borders as well, except for the one in the bottom left (Miller?). I still think that they might have been issued in horizontal strips. That bottom left card could have been the end card on the left side, explaining why it only has the left side border.

Todd - that's a GREAT Leader Novelty wrapper you posted. The design is one of the nicest I've seen, even compared to other packs from that era (late 30's). It also confirms that the name of the cards is identical to that of the candy company.

From the small sampling of scans we've seen so far, it appears as though the order of scarcity in the colors is sepia (easiest), followed by red, green, and purple (most difficult). Obviously a very rough estimate but the more we see, the better idea we'll have of the relative scarcity of the color tints.

As for the Traynor scan from VCP, it's still the only one we've seen with full side borders on both sides. I have a feeling the scan has been cropped so that we don't see where the borders truly end. I'm skeptical about whether these even exist with two full side borders in the first place.

On a final note, I've received permission from Brad Green to post a scan of his Leader Grove from his website. Hopefully he'll chime in later on once he's registered. The Grove:

Good luck with Mom, Dan I will include her in my requests.

Regarding cards: I took a quick look around the net this afternoon, and came up with another nine Leaders - two of which had full borders. Some were interesting. For example, one on Leon's site appears miscut far enough to show a part of the adjacent card:





As can be seen, there is not much distance between adjoining images. It is unclear if these are manufactured on a strip or (more likely) a sheet.

Yet others have full borders, as I indicated. For example, a second Pie Traynor looks much like the first:



I wonder whether all Traynors are full bordered cards, and whether they are all purple.
Of the nine I found, one was purple, one green, two red and five brown.