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The Adventures of Mickey Mouse
Here’s something you don’t see every day: an uncut half-sheet of 1930s D52 “Mickey Mouse Adventures” bread cards, with 48 different cards arranged in four rows of 12 (offered in April 2007). The full issue consists of 96 cards featuring Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and other Disney characters, with the cards distributed through a variety of local bakeries. Different bakery advertising, recipes and offers could appear on the backs (I know of at least 13).
Apparently these sheets don’t come around very often, either. When Heritage offered another 48-card sheet in 2013, they filed it in their “Never Have Seen This Before” folder. That example measured 34” x 17½”, had a blank back, and sold for $794.68.
You can find a few individual cards on eBay, but vintage non-sports + Disney means they’re not exactly cheap!
1962 Topps Civil War News Original Artwork
Next up we’ve got the original artwork for the 1962 Topps Civil War News #46 “Vicious Attack” card.
Civil War News was an 88-card set released during the Civil War Centennial, and Topps certainly didn’t hold back with the artwork. The cards are packed with explosions, bayonets, blood and all sorts of battlefield mayhem. The artwork is generally associated with Norman Saunders and #46 depicts the fighting at Gettysburg.
What I love about seeing the original is how much more impressive the painting is at this size without the title box and other elements of the finished card. Here’s a graded example (see more on eBay by clicking here) so you can see how Topps turned the painting into the finished product.
I think if someone wanted to start a side hustle blowing up the original artwork behind non-sports cards for posters/prints, they could do quite well!
Lake Erie State Governors Cards
A set that Burdick nor Bray looked at?! I learned about this one flipping through Mastro’s August 2007 Americana catalog: the N559 Lake Erie Tobacco “State Governors” set, issued in the late 1880s for the company’s Ivory tobacco. Mastro offered this remarkable group of 35 different cards, noting that the find more than tripled the hobby’s knowledge of the issue and that most of the subjects were believed to be the only known examples. In May, 2014 Heritage resold the collection for $11,352.
And here’s a pretty incredible companion piece: the only known Lake Erie Tobacco advertising banner, featuring portraits of all 48 governors and announcing that the cards could be found in every package of Ivory Smoking Tobacco. Heritage sold the 20” x 26½” banner for $2,257 in August 2025.
Fleer’s Cops and Robbers
The next piece of random vintage non-sports awesomeness I wanted to share is one of Fleer’s earliest non-sport issues, the 1935 R36 Cops and Robbers set. The 35-card set can be found with five different color tints, along with white and gray card-stock variations.
The really cool part is that the cards were originally issued with perforated “Evidence Tabs” attached to the top. Collectors could remove and redeem the tabs for an amateur detective commission and official detective badge. Naturally, most kids did exactly that, making cards that still have their tabs attached pretty darn rare today. Here’s an example with the Evidence Tab still intact that Vintage Non-Sports Auctions sold for $238 back in March.
The set itself is pretty scarce, REA says it has offered only five complete sets in the past 20 years, but it’s obscure enough that individual cards can still be relatively affordable. You can find quite a few copies for sale on eBay.
Davey Crockett Saleman Samples
If you read The Post War Cards Newsletter, you know I’m pretty obsessed with salesman samples. I could use a little help with the 1956 Topps Davy Crockett samples for my archives. Take a look at these two backs, are they unique variations, and has anyone seen any others?
A Few More You Might Want To Check Out
Finally, here are a few interesting Leaf non-sport items I spotted for sale this week that you might want to check out.
Stay curious, and happy collecting!