Lot # 1743: 1975 to 1979 Hostess Panels Complete Set Collection (5 Sets, 242 Cards)

Presented is a very substantial and attractive collection of 242 three-card Hostess panels. From 1975 to 1979, Hostess issued these landmark sets of 150 cards on the bottom of boxes of Hostess snack-cake products, with one three-card panel appearing on the bottom of each box. The set was sensationally successful, and collectors all over the country were seen stocking up on Hostess products. Almost all the cards are scissor cut outside the dotted lines. Without reference to the neatness of the cuts, the condition of the panels ranges from Ex to Nr/Mt-Mt (with 15% lesser). The collection consists of the following: 1) 1975 Hostess Panels Near-Complete Set (49/50 Panels) Plus One Duplicate: Missing only #85/86/87 for completion. Keys: #28/29/30 Campaneris/Rose/Bell (Nr/Mt-Mt), 58/59/60 Ryan/Smith/Coleman (Nr/Mt-Mt), 73/74/75 Speier/Blyleven/Seaver (Nr/Mt-Mt), 79/80/81 Messersmith/Yount/Oliver (Nr/Mt-Mt), 82/83/84 Singer/Bench/Perry (Vg), 130/131/132 Aaron/Stennett/Petrocelli (Ex), 133/134/135 Schmidt/Lyle/Stargell (Vg), and 142/143/144 May/Fisk/B. Robinson (Nr/Mt-Mt). Includes a duplicate of #124 McCovey/125/126. 2) 1976 Hostess Panels Complete Set (50 Panels) Plus All-Star Team Album: Keys: #10/11/12 Oliva/Yount/Manning (Nr/Mt), 22/23/24 Bench/Tiant/Evans (Nr/Mt), 34/35/36 May/Seaver/B. Robinson (Nr/Mt), 64/65/66 Fisk/Perez/Rose (Vg-Ex+), 79/80/81 Ryan/Monday/Nettles (Nr/Mt), 82/83/84 Speier/Winfield/Schmidt (Nr/Mt), 94/95/96 Aaron/Bell/Braun (Ex-Mt), 112/113/114 Oliver/Simmons/Brett (Nr/Mt), and 136/137/138 Money/Eckersley/Jenkins (Nr/Mt+). 3) 1977 Hostess Panels Near-Complete Set (49/50 Panels): Missing only #130/131/132 for completion. Keys: #1/2/3 Palmer/Morgan/Jackson (), 4/5/6 Yastrzemsk/Munson/Bench (Ex), 7/8/9 Seaver/Rose/Carew (Nr/Mt+), 34/35/36 Yount/Garvey/Brett (Ex-Mt), 43/44/45 Schmidt/Winfield/Oliver (Vg-Ex), and 79/80/81 Hunter/Candelaria/Ryan (Pr due to spots of paper loss). 4) 1978 Hostess Panels Complete Set (50 panels): Keys: #25/26/27 Guidry/Kingman/Brett (Nr/Mt), 31/32/33 Murray/Lavelle/Stennett (Ex due to small wrinkle on Stennett card), 43/44/45 Templeton/Bench/Rice (Nr/Mt-Mt), 82/83/84 Hendrick/Ryan/Howell (Nr/Mt-Mt), 127/128/129 Torrez/Rose/Denny (Vg-Ex+), and 148/149/150 Bailor/Seaver/Munson (Vg). 5) 1979 Hostess Panels Near-Complete Set (43/50 panels): Missing the following seven cards for completion: #28/29/30, 31/32/33, 91/92/93, 97/98/99, 100/101/102 Montanez/Ryan/Smith, 121/122/123, and 136/137/138. Keys: #115/116/117 Murray/Clark/Whitaker (Gd+), and 142/143/144 Ashby/Lyle/Rose (Vg). This is an extremely attractive and sizable collection of these unusual, scarce, and underrated Hostess package-design cards. Total: 242 three-card panels and one album.